Deathstroke #17

When does Slade have time to spend his money? Does he ever get a chance to relax?

Do I need to read this comic book? People try to kill Deathstroke. Deathstork Deathstroke kills people. Stupid lines of dialogue are said. If the story runs two issues, this one will end with Deathstroke in dire circumstances. But he'll overcome in the next issue and kill more people!

You know what would be a revolutionary idea? Having an interesting story backing up this violence and mayhem. Is that too much to ask? I suppose the story behind this fracas will be that Deathstroke is hurting someone's business, so they need to have him killed. And I guess that's good enough for a Deathstroke comic book at DC these days.

Whenever people wonder how to break into the business as a writer, they're always told to produce scripts that highlight something new about a character, or to show an aspect of the character in a different light. They always recommend taking a different tack than expected. So why is it once a writer is established, those rules go out the fucking window? I haven't seen one surprising moment in Deathstroke yet. Maybe Higgins did something somewhere but it's hard to look past the giant mountain of shit Liefeld placed in the way.

Oh wait! Liefeld took a different tack! Remember how Higgins' last issue showed that Slade's prime motivation was to prove to his father that he was better than him? And then the very next issue by Liefeld, Liefeld shows that Deathstroke's prime motivation is his dead wife! I guess that was surprising!

This issue begins with Slade confronting some guy named Tomo on a bullet train in Japan. Slade does this because he heard this guy was trying to kill him. So what better way to take care of the problem then by confronting it head on? Apparently this guy Tomo knew that Deathstroke would try this, because he's not alone on the bullet train (no, no! He is alone when it comes to other passengers. But he's not alone when it comes to his bajillion ninjas! Or 9,999 according to the cover).

Good thing he was "listening" then! He's very stealthy at it. I usually cock my head to the side while looking off at a distant point of nothing to listen.

Slade might not be that stupid, but he's definitely not as smart as he thinks he is. He's obviously pretty predictable if someone can put a hit out on him and then wait around paying 9,999 ninjas to act as bodyguards. Tomo didn't even have to go after Deathstroke. I guess you just Tweet "I'm going to fucking kill Deathstroke!" and Peabody gets an alert and Slade goes off to kill the Tweeter.

For those readers that haven't picked up a DC comic book in the last 30 years, Deathstroke mentions how he's no ordinary man and how he has strength, senses, and reflexes far exceeding those of a normal person. He doesn't say anything about his ability to regenerate so I'm still foggy about whether that power has continued in The New 52 [While perusing Issue #4, I see Christoph says, "If only we all could speed up healing with just a thought." So I guess he does have his healing powers! Although I remember they seem to be acting a bit wonky.].

Apparently nobody is that stupid. But all y'all sure are fucking predictable.

Tomo tells Slade that he and his ninja clan were hired to kill Deathstroke by some guy named Jenner Collins as "repayment" for Slade's assassination of Jenner. I have no idea who this Jenner Collins is. It's possible it's the guy that sent all the Legacy people after Deathstroke since his will stipulated that his fortune go toward killing Deathstroke even after he died. And then Deathstroke killed him. Or perhaps he's just some random rich guy that knew Slade was out to kill him and placed a hit on Deathstroke in his will. Or maybe after Deathstroke is finished killing 9,999 ninjas, he'll get the full story out of Tomo while dragging him face first behind the bullet train.

I imagine I'll read a bunch of pages of ninja fighting now. BRB!

Oh really?! Issue #2: Kills dozens of people for free while saying things like, "At least make this interesting," and, when more arrive, "That's more like it" and "Now we're talking." Then the news crews arrive and he says, "Keep coming. I want you to take your best shot--I welcome it. Because at the end of the day, all of this tonight...this is nothing but fun." Doesn't sound like an offended man to me! And just a few issues ago, Deathstroke accepted the job to kill Koschei because it was a challenge! The negotiations were shown and no mention of money was ever offered. Just "the challenge." Oh well. I guess now it's offensive.

Ignoring my cynical hyperbole in the last caption, I'd forgotten how decently Higgins kept up Deathstroke's going out on jobs while earning money and trying to keep up his fading reputation. He certainly didn't do freebies! And then Liefeld had him go after Lobo for a few issues and he was apparently paid well for that too. Then Stillborn attacked and he would have killed him for free because that guy was an idiot. And he might have been paid for the Koschei the Deathless job but I think he really just wanted to rid the world of a guy with better regenerative powers than he had. So I think Deathstroke actually makes a pretty good point here. He's being used by someone to try to thin the ranks of this ninja clan and he refuses to be manipulated like that. So there. I don't always have to obstinately misunderstand the comic books I'm reading for a rant or a joke! Although mostly I'll still do that. I just wanted to point out that I don't always mean what I say. I just mostly do!

Because there are too many ninjas and Deathstroke doesn't do freebies anymore, he blows up a train car and rides the front half of the train to safety. Because in the case of an explosion, the good half of the train would just keep heading on to its destination. Or perhaps Slade merely needs the extra hundred yards or so before the train stops as a head start to get away from ninjas. Deathstroke is forced to not kill the guy trying to kill him. But, I guess, in the end it doesn't matter since Slade "got what he wanted." I thought what he wanted was to kill the guy trying to kill him but then again, I'm usually wrong about shit like that. The losing participant of a fight always just seems to be seeking "information" about the fighting styles of her opponent. Like Deathstroke against Koschei the Deathless. And Stilldead against Deathstroke the Terminator. And now Slade again. Except I guess Slade didn't actually lose. He just kind of lost.

Deathstroke's goal was to plant a radioactive fingerprint on Tomo that Deathstroke could trace back to the person behind it all. And that's what happens! Deathstroke breaks in on Tomo apologizing to his father, Master Sukesada, for failing to kill Deathstroke. This must be the part where Deathstroke gets captured by the bad guys so that he can overcome next issue! See here in the penultimate page? It's probably where Deathstroke loses.

See how...hey! That's not supposed to happen! But if Deathstroke beat the bad guy, how come this story is going to continue?

Oh! I get it. That's why nobody knows who the fuck Jenner Collins is!

Deathstroke #17 Rating: +1 Ranking. Once again, a much better issue than Liefeld and his legacy left behind. I liked that Deathstroke's reason for not killing this old man and his son immediately was because he felt he was being used by someone to get him to kill for free. That really calls for restraint from someone who generally just likes blowing people up and shooting possible partners indiscriminately. One other thing about this comic book: has anybody noticed how many stories about daddy issues are taking place in this thing? Sheesh!