Writer: James Bonny
Penciller: Tyler Kirkham
What fun I’m having.
The suspenseful plot line weaving its way through the latest Deathstroke adventure (a headlong quest to track down his kidnapped daughter, Rose, which began in Deathstroke #11) is storytelling dynamite. Not only has the ride included numerous twists and turns to keep readers on the edge of their seats, it’s also been uniquely entertaining with a plethora of heroes and villains masterfully paraded in and out of the story to keep things fresh… and it’s not over yet!
Picking up from last month, issue #15 starts quickly with Deathstroke in a bad way facing Lex Luthor’s army of Bizzaros, which at last we knew, was the final obstacle between him and his daughter. But after some swift physical maneuvering and quick negotiations Slade defeats the Bizzaros and reaches his destination—Rose’s location—only to find that bad intel from a trusted friend has given him false hope. Instead of the DNA tracker finding Rose, it leads him to a package in the LexCorp mail room containing her DNA covered hair comb. At first Slade’s not sure what to make of the situation, but a near simultaneous attack from a crazed shooter immediately following his discovery of the package reveals betrayal from his closest ally, Victor Ruiz, who provided him with the tracker. By the end of the issue we get an introduction to the Lawman (a visually fearsome character), who has Rose in his custody to view the entire mailroom incident, and a visit from the Red Hood to act as mediator between Deathstroke and his betrayer.
Wow! Just when it looked like things were winding down to a conclusion they turned on a dime and increased intensity. Now that’s good writing.
Also deserving of kudos for the success of this issue, and current storyline, are Tyler Kirkham and the rest of the Deathstroke art team. It takes an awesome talent to do justice to this kind of action and Kirkham continues to prove that he’s just the man for the job.
As a final note, by virtue of my being a huge Back to the Future fan, I feel obligated to mention my appreciation for the Doc Brown reference during the final scene depicting the defeat of the Bizzaros. Although maybe not quite subtle enough to be considered an “Easter egg,” I love finding these kinds of creative gems; they add value.
