Deathstroke #35 Review

Who's the Daddy

Writer: Christopher Priest
Artist: Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 5, 2018

It's time to wrap this whole Deathstroke vs Batman thingy up and I am glad.  I was so excited about this story, but it has started to drag a bit and I am ready for something new.  So, how was the finale?  Let's find out...

We open with Batman and Deathstroke still in the Batcave and still fighting.  It's a "They Live" type fight meaning it goes on forever.  That's not a bad thing, but the repeating dialogue is a bit.

We see that Alfred and Wintergreen are letting them duke it out a bit before they knock them out with gas and indeed, the Feds have raided Wayne Manor.

We then find out who set up the DNA tests that started this who thing in the first place and it's not as shocking a revelation as I'd have liked.  It is a two-pronged deal, but again, not shocking.  We continue with Jericho showing up and helping out in his unique way.

There is a nice little moment in the cave when Damian and Dick find Slade and Batman, but it felt forced to fit the story and dialogue going on at the moment.  We do end with a couple twists but nothing crazy enough to get me excited and then Priest kind of messes with the reader by withholding some information and while solving the big mystery, makes it seem like this whole story didn't matter too much anyway.

This ending fizzled out for me.  Yea, we get some answers and Priest gives us the switcheroos that are par for the course in this book...but that's the problem.  It's starting to bore me.  Where I used to be excited about the double crosses and misdirects I now want some solid footing and a clear-cut story.  The book remains clever, but I am tired of clever.

The art is something I am not tired of.  I love the look of this issue and a big part of my score is because of that alone.  Carlo Pagulayan is one of my favorite artists and this issue doesn't sway me from that at all.

Bits and Pieces:

The ending to this (overly) long story seems content to be clever for clever sake and it ends with a fizzle instead of a bang.  We get some answers, but not all of them and I am glad this story is over.  I hope Priest gets his footing back and decides to tell a good story from here on out because he seems content to just prove he is the smartest guy in the room with this book.

6.0/10