Writer: James Bonny
Penciller: Paolo Pantalena
Whoa! There’s new villain in town. His name is Snakebite, and he made his first appearance in last month’s issue, Deathstroke#12. He’s back again this month, and in the spotlight, as the featured nemesis creating havoc for both Deathstroke and the head of the Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller.
If you haven’t yet had the privilege of being exposed to Snakebite, he’s a really cool character. One look at him on this month’s cover (a B&W and Color image can be seen below) is enough to solidify my enthusiasm. In addition to his awesome visage, the character’s backstory (an illegal experiment gone awry, explained in detail in Deathstroke #12 and re-visited again in this issue) is very well put together. Curiosity alone, and his second consecutive appearance in the Deathstroke title, should be enough to qualify this as a must read.
Although Deathstroke’s main goal in the current storyline remains to find his kidnapped daughter, Rose, there’s other multi-faced goings-on inside the Belle Reve Penitentiary causing the mission trouble. Not only is Harley Quinn still hanging around with her own narcissistic agenda, there’s also Catwoman, who showed up last month as a planned participant to rescue Deathstroke from the prison, but now that the stakes are higher wants no part of cooperating. And now, to severely complicate matters, Snakebite has emerged with his own personal agenda of getting revenge on Deathstroke and Waller. As is standard for any Deathstroke comic, these complications lead to plenty of action, which is entertaining to a point, but a focus on action shouldn’t stagnate the pace of the story’s plot; even babes eventually need meat instead of milk.
While Snakebite and some pretty great artwork saved this otherwise mediocre issue, at least from a plot-driven standpoint, the current storyline is beginning to drag (we’ve been stuck inside the penitentiary for the past three issues with virtually nothing happening).
Next month promises a bizarre issue involving Lexcorp and hopefully a more in-depth delving into the current “missing Rose saga.” I look forward to finding out how things end with Snakebite at the penitentiary and also to seeing him in future issues.
