[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers!]
Writer: Priest
Pencils: Carlo Pagulayan
Summary
Slade Wilson is after redemption! After the events of traveling through time to attempt to save his dead son, Slade has returned with a new purpose! Now, the mercenary is attempting to put together a team–of heroes! Is Deathstroke really attempting a change? Or is Slade Wilson up to another elaborate plan?
Positives
I finally get to see Slade Wilson attempt to make a change into a hero! Ever since I started reviewing Deathstroke I’ve seen small hints of him going towards a more heroic route. Now we finally see Slade going the lengths to make it so. He recruits his daughter Rose, his son Joseph, Wintergreen, his ex-wife Adeline and even the former Teen Titan Tanya joins the group! Slade even finds them a base to operate from! I can’t wait to see how this new team even works together given how the past few issues have played out.
Negatives
I have no complaints at all about this issue. Priest has shown us slowly the transformation of Slade Wilson over the course of these issues and it’s been a great ride! I’m sure that everything that Slade has done to each of these characters will come up again at some point too. This new team is sure to have a lot of internal conflict, so I hope that Priest really takes the gloves off with how he treats these characters.
Verdict
Deathstroke #20 isn’t memorable because of action, or any one particular moment, but it’s memorable because it serves as a turning point for Slade’s story. Everything he’s done from murder, to betrayal, to the lies–all has to be redeemed and paid for. My only concern is that I’ve grown so attached to Deathstroke that I really hope that this isn’t some elaborate deceit. Only Deathstroke knows his intentions–and Priest does a great job of showing them!
