This review contains spoilers.
Jazz hands!
Deathstroke #13 is written by Tony S. Daniel and James Bonny with art by Paolo Pantalena. In this issue, Deathstroke and Harley Quinn take on Snakebite in an attempt to learn what Waller knows about the disappearance of Rose Wilson.
Previously on Deathstroke, Rose Wilson, the daughter of Slade Wilson/Deathstroke, has been kidnapped and it appears that the Suicide Squad is behind it. Slade makes a plan with Catwoman to break into Belle Reve in order to interrogate Amanda Waller. However, Slade’s arrival lets all of the prisoners loose including Harley Quinn and Snakebite. Snakebite kidnaps Waller for mysterious reasons while Harley makes a deal with Slade. She will tell him what happened to Rose if he kills Waller.
The comic begins with Deathstroke, Catwoman and Harley Quinn taking on some Belle Reve guards. Once they are dispatched of, the trio hear demands from Snakebite giving away his location. Catwoman chooses to leave and wait for the time to extract Slade while he confronts Harley Quinn who reveals that she has no idea about what happened to Rose. After this, they find Snakebite and Deathstroke takes him on. Slade is able to defeat Snakebite but not before getting poisoned. After the fight, Waller also reveals that she has no information on Rose. Catwoman rescues Slade and they fly off. The issue ends with the reveal that the kidnapping was faked and that Rose is working with a mysterious figure who wants to kill Deathstroke.
Positives
The twist at the end is fantastic. I love the reveal that Rose is in on the plot; it’s consistent with her personality in the New 52 and also fixes issues I had with the idea that someone was able to kidnap Rose Wilson. That seemed a little ridiculous to me.
I like Pantalena’s art here much more than Tyler Kirkham’s in the previous issues. While I loved Kirkham’s level of detail and grit, I always hated him drawing Harley Quinn because he seemed to have a tendency to draw Harley in an overly sexual manner. She was always in weird poses that showed off her curves and came across as unnecessary. Here, the art still has a level of detail but has a more cartoon look to it. It actually works really well; the action is a little more fun and Harley and Catwoman are drawn as people instead of sex objects.
The fight between Deathstroke and Snakebite is really cool. Despite Slade’s enhanced abilities, Snakebite is actually a threat to him. It makes the fight more interesting since I don’t know how Slade is going to win during the fight.
Negatives
The fact that Waller and Harley don’t know anything makes these issues fairly pointless. The Belle Reve break in could have easily been two issues as opposed to three. I wish Slade had found out a little more information over the course of these issues. He gets a vague hint from Snakebite and that’s it.
Kirkham drew the cover for this issue and Harley is in one of those ridiculous poses I mentioned earlier. It glorifies sexuality without a purpose. Sex has nothing to do with Harley’s character in this series so it’s pointless to draw her like that besides basic titillation.
Verdict
Overall, this is a pretty strong issue. There is good action, the character interactions are fun, the art is fun and there is a cool twist at the end that makes me excited for the upcoming issues.
