[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Priest
Pencils: Joe Bennett
Inks: Mark Morales
Summary
Slade and Rose are taking a road trip to Gotham! However this is far from a father and daughter bonding time! As Slade closes in on the person that put a contract out on his daughter, the clues start to point to one person — the Dark Knight! But what would Batman’s motives be for wanting Rose, and was she the actual target or was it Slade himself?
Positives
Priest tells us an impressive story in Deathstroke #4! Hitting the road and on the way to Gotham City, Slade and Rose are on the trail of the Batman! I laughed during some parts of the book with the conversation between Rose and Slade. It’s obvious that Slade cares about his daughter, but he’s so cold and heartless you can barely tell. It’s during a phone conversation with Slade’s friend Wintergreen that Rose finds out truly how Slade thinks and why he treats her the way he does. Wintergreen sums up perfectly why Deathstroke is considered a super-villain and not just a mercenary or typical bad guy. It’s during this conversation that Rose realizes that Slade’s actually been looking out for her well-being the entire time and even in his rudest of comments he’s really just looking after her well being.
Negatives
I was so angry that Priest and Bennett denied me a full fight between Batman and Deathstroke! Although toward the end of the book we get the battle we all want, it’s very brief and I hated that. There’s a reason for the fight being brief and it’s completely justified. It’s just that Priest really teases you here with the fight of Deathstroke and Ravager vs Batman and Robin! Bennett and Morales do such a wonderful job of delivering the fight that when I got to the last page I mad because I wanted more! Priest, if you’re reading this review, we definitely want to see a round two of that fight! The encounter between Damian and Rose I found most entertaining.
Verdict
Deathstroke #4 is a great read! It starts off pretty slow because of the “road trip” vibe, but because of the world of Slade Wilson we soon get nothing but action throughout! I’m particularly enjoying the connection that’s starting to form between Wilson and his daughter especially. If you’ve been reading the previous issues, the relationship between Rose and Slade is slowly evolving and I enjoy that. When we look into Wilson’s history and see his immense losses, especially with his own sons you can see why he hesitates to be close with Rose. Priest does a great job of explaining all of it perfectly and I have to admit that although he’s a cold-hearted murderer, Deathstroke has some good fatherly moments about him too! If you’ve even been a fan of Deathstroke, or even remotely curious about his backstory then I definitely suggest you read this issue!
