A Funeral For A Killer In Deathstroke #44
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Deathstroke the Terminator is dead, killed by Red Arrow of the Teen Titans. A funeral has been orchestrated to see Slade Wilson off to the great beyond. Superman watches over the funeral, and Jericho wants him to take the opportunity to round up some of the world’s worst villains. While communicating Superman, however, Jericho is also taking his frustration out on the Teen Titans. Back at the funeral, the Legion of Doom arrives to pay their respects to Deathstroke.
Deathstroke #44 follows “The Terminus Agenda” with “Deathstroke R.I.P.,” seemingly committing to keeping Slade Wilson dead–at least for the time being.
A massive villainous ceremony sending off Slade Wilson is a pretty damn good way to start off the story considering Deathstroke is the world’s greatest assassin. The likes of Dr. Light, Deadshot, Two-Face, Killer Frost, Raptor, and Talia al Ghul are in attendance even before the Legion of Doom arrives.
Of course, nothing involving Deathstroke is ever that straightforward, and there seems to be more shown by some of the twists that take place involving the Legion of Doom, Dr. Light, Jericho, and Rose.
The complex emotions being felt by Jericho are interesting. He knows the kind of man his father was, but he still hopes that, at least in death, some good can be done in the name of Slade Wilson–even if that doesn’t change the kind of man Slade was.
The story does have me worried that Christopher Priest may be looking to take leave of Deathstroke in the near future. His run with Slade Wilson has proved to be among the best books of DC Rebirth, and this issue proves that he still has a lot of gas in the tank when it comes to Slade and his support cast.
Fernando Pasarin continues to be an artistic powerhouse with this issue. He can put together a splash page with the best of them, rendering numerous characters in impressive detail. He can also do close-up detailing well too, and Deathstroke is in good hands with Pasarin behind the artistic wheel. Ryan Winn’s inking is excellent too, and the color art of Jeromy Cox serves the book fantastically.
Deathstroke #44 kicks off “R.I.P.” with a supervillainous funeral for the world’s greatest assassin accompanied by the complex grief of Slade’s children. It’s a solid read and earns a recommendation. Check it out.
Deathstroke #44 comes to us from writer Christopher Priest, artist Fernando Pasarin, inker Ryan Winn, color artist Jeromy Cox, letterer Willie Schubert, cover artist Giuseppe Camuncoli with Cam Smith and Wil Quintana, and variant cover artist Riccardo Federici.
Final Score: 8/10
