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Deathstroke #2 – Review

When the very first problem your comic has is on the cover, you know you have a bumpy ride ahead of you. After a promising first issue, Deathstroke seems to have only been a one hit wonder, with this second issue having pure action that is not as much fun as it could be, but barely moves the plot forward while falling prey to several clichés and featuring only one interesting character. Slade Wilson may be considered an over the hill mercenary who can hold his own, but when his contact betrays him by paying everyone in the bar to kill him Slade takes it a little personally. DC Comics New 52: Deathstroke #2 (2011) written by Kyle Higgins and drawn by Joe Bennet.Death is not unexpected in a Deathstroke comic – it's in the name, but never has one word so eloquently summed up a comic. The story, written by Kyle Higgins, barely moves forward, with the entire issue jam-packed with action and little dialogue.  While the action is not poorly constructed, it is all that is offered by this issue. There are more explosions and bloodshed than panels, but it does not make me question the issue's supposed teen rating, because there has been much worse and this comic never gets too graphic.  No limbs flying off, just a lot of blood. The enemies Deathstroke faces are also a problem. He starts off fighting in a bar with numerous contenders hired to kill him. This could have been a very intense scene that lasted several pages, but instead is child's play for Deathstroke and goes by too fast, only to get to the problem featured on the cover: Deathstroke fighting DC's poor-man's version of Transformers with bad paint jobs. And they pose as much of a threat to Deathstroke as the bar fighters did! The only character that needs to be interesting in this series is Deathstroke, and although he says little, he does still manage to prove he is a badass with all the mayhem he causes and his "come and kill me, if you can" attitude. But he may be a bit too badass. The first issue solidified Deathstroke as a fighter without having an overdose of action. This issue shoves the action in your face as if trying to prove how strong Deathstroke is. We know he is strong, now deliver a solid story. The first issue of Deathstroke also had a well paced story. It was not the best of the New 52, but was a very promising start ruined completely by this issue. This issue went by way too quickly and could have conserved its pages with more talking and less fighting. Joe Bennet's artwork can sometimes be an issue. The artwork in the bar-fight scene made it look like Deathstroke and everyone else were crammed into the panel and it was hard to tell what was going on. But when Bennet takes a breather and has full panel shots, although they are costly wastes of room, they are always well drawn, especially the explosions he and Higgins love throwing into the comic so often. This comic had the potential to be so much more than just an all out brawl with everyone against Deathstroke. The character is too powerful, seemingly at Superman's level, and needs to be explored emotionally as well as physically. If you love non-stop action, there are plenty of other books that can still give you that and a good story. If I want to see blood, I will read a horror comic – it is the perfect season to read them. This title is unfortunately a pass, but I am crossing my fingers that the third issue can capture the great potential the first issue of Deathstroke had and run with it.
Rating
3.7

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About / Bio
An all-around nerdette, I’m a comic book connoisseur, horror aficionado, video game addict, anime enthusiast and an aspiring novelist/comic book writer. I am the head of the comic book department and the editor-in-chief of Entertainment Fuse. I also write and edit articles for Comic Frontline. I am also an intern at Action Lab Entertainment, a comic book publisher at which I edit comic book scripts, help work on images in solicitations and help with other comic book related project. My own personal website is comicmaven.com.

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