“Twilight,” Part 05
Writer: Christopher Priest
Breakdowns: Larry Hama
Pencils: Carlo Pagulayan & Roberto J. Viacava
Minor Spoilers Ahead
This issue of Deathstroke brings about a certain finality to the “Twilight” arc. With only two issues left, this is the perfect set-up for a fight. I have to admit that I’m a little worried – we still have to see a confrontation between Slade and Joseph, as well as the reveal and (I would wager) fight between Tanya and Slade, AND a conclusion to Rose’s arc… and that’s a lot to cram into two issues. Putting that aside for the moment though, I did really like this issue. Seeing Slade come out and be a “hero” under the guise of Twilight… this arc is finally beginning to make sense now. Oh and I totally didn’t buy Tanya’s death for one second, but that’s mostly because I’ve seen the cover for the next issue and she’s on it, so I was extremely skeptical when Deadline “killed” her.
In terms of character development, this may be one of the most important issues in the series. We see Slade, Joe and Rose all go through some kind of development in this issue, even if the latter two don’t get as much “screen time” (page time?) as Slade. I’m expecting big things for Rose in the coming issues and somewhat hoping her story leads into a solo series with Priest writing her, because that would be phenomenal. Watching Slade pretend to be a hero was also one of the things I feel this entire series has been leading up to. The focus so far has been on showing Slade’s humanity, so watching him become basically Daredevil wasn’t as cheesy or lame as it could’ve potentially been – it was actually really fun!
Yet again, the art in this issue is fantastic. We have Larry Hama on breakdowns, Carlo Pagulayan & Roberto J. Viacava on pencils, Jason Paz & Sean Parsons on inks, Jeremy Cox on colors, and Willie Schubert on letters. Wow. What a team. Every issue I’m amazed by how consistent the artwork is and how real it feels on the page. Deathstroke has probably the best art I’ve seen for the character for quite some time – it’s edgy, but feels clean, and it’s all-round a wonderful piece of art to look at. This newly designed “Twilight” outfit too is absolutely wonderful and was a lot of fun.
Negatively, there isn’t much to talk about. Perhaps it’s because I’m just very forgetful, but I didn’t follow some of the start of this issue, but as I read on I picked it up. I’ve found that over the course of this series – when I started reading it, I had never really picked up a solo Deathstroke series before. I had only ever seen him as a villain in various other comics, TV series or games, but this series has made me fall in love with the character. Priest is doing a wonderful job at showing his humanity and almost crafting a family drama around him, which is insane to me. We’re now approaching the twenty issue mark, and I know that it’s around this time that a lot of series get cancelled or wrap up, but I severely hope that this book keeps running.
Conclusion
All in all, I really enjoyed this issue. It’s mostly a set-up story wise, but it carried some of the most important character development to date. With only two issues left, “Twilight” is coming along as one of my favourite arcs not only of this series, but of the entire Rebirth line-up.
Images courtesy of DC Entertainment
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