Deathstroke #20

It's strange that Majestic is the big threat in this issue and yet here we get Terra on the cover.

John Lynch has a problem. He manipulated the genes of a man named Bronson so that when Bronson's meta-gene was activated by a creature named Spartan, Bronson would become a living god. But now Lynch doesn't like the idea of having a living god that he isn't in control of running loose in the world. He has decided to kill or capture him. His plan? Well, Plan A was to nuke Majestic. But that didn't work. So Plan B is not get killed by the now pissed off living god. But what is Plan B?

Surprisingly, Plan B does not involve shooting many, many bullets at Majestic. That was an old Team 7 plan and Lynch retired it after Amanda Waller shot him in the face. Plan B does involve a Wilson Family Reunion. Besides winning Majestic to their side by offering him a bowl of the Famous Wilson Buffalo Chili Pancakes or Jericho's Homemade Jam-filled Chitlin Chunks or Rose Wilson's Sweet Potato Tea (I can't vouch for the deliciousness of any Wilson Family Recipe. They're a strange bunch), I can't think of any way the Wilsons will be of any help whatsoever. Well, okay, Jericho can control Majestic. But why did Lynch specifically need Rose along? To convince Jericho to play nice? How would that work when, according to Deathstroke #0, they never even had a chance to know each other? Fuck, Rose never even had a chance to be born! I suppose Adeline could have been pregnant when her and Baby Joseph pretended to blow up and left Slade forever. But that just gets into other problems as seen last issue.

Anyway, why did Terra tag along? Is she Plan C? And when is Geoforce going to send a fucking postcard to his sister? You would really think that a missing Markovian Princess would be a much bigger deal! Do they just not care that she's missing?

The title of this issue is "Prodigal Sons" and I understand why this phrase is used in this context due to the misunderstanding of the adjective used in the Biblical story. I've bitched about this before so I'll keep this short. Here's the definition of "prodigal":

Adjective: Spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.
Noun: A person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way.

So this story is about Majestic (as Lynch's returning son) and Jericho (as Deathstroke's returning son) going on a shopping spree?

At the end of last issue, Jericho took control of Majestic.

"Majestic: Having or showing lofty dignity or nobility; stately." It might be time for a name change, even without Jericho behind the wheel.

When Majesticho drops the plane on Lynch's base, Adeline is crushed under the rubble. Before she dies (again?), she's able to talk to Slade without Jericho's influence and tell him that she could never hate him and that there was nothing to forgive. I know deep down in the brain in my heart that I should simply ignore Liefeld's Deathstroke history but I just can't! According to Liefeld, Slade believed Adeline was dead for many, many years. He often visited her grave while carrying a framed photo of her underneath his trenchcoat. He also thought that Jericho had died. But here he is acting as if the Preboot relationship he had with his family takes precedence over the New 52 history! So shoddy, DC. The overall continuity on The New 52 is nearly as bad as the continuity on my first comic book, JC Presents.

The quality improves greatly when I get around to my second comic book, Arrogance, many years later.

Deathstork Deathstroke realizes they're all about hip deep in a whole batch of love gravy as he rounds up his famly. Terra is super pissed off to have been brought into this mess but since she's bound to be Deathstroke's surrogate child, she's ready to do her part. And her part, she realizes, has to do with the dormant volcano that John Lynch's base has been built on top of. I suspect Rose Wilson's part of the plan is to calm down Jericho. I'm sure Lynch knew Jericho would be seduced by Majestic's power and turn on them all. So now Rose has to make some banana sandwiches so Jericho remembers the good times before their dad left. I'm not sure how he's supposed to remember things that never happened. Perhaps Rose has the power to implant false memories.

I see he's familiar with her work.

This doesn't last long before Majesticho escapes and explodes through the floor yelling, "Was that seriously your best shot?" Come on, Jericho! When is the first attack ever the best shot? And yet the opponent always automatically assumes that it is and that it indicates the future outcome of the battle. I suppose Jericho would know for sure if he'd sent Stillborn or Deadstill or Miscarriage or whatever his name was to test out Terra's limits instead of Deathstroke's.

Speaking of the Deadborn issue, that was possibly the worst issue of The New 52 including all of Howard Mackie's grammar disasters. Zealot appears in the issue simply to sleep with Deathstroke and receives one entire line. A super hero in her own right, and she isn't even allowed to help battle Deadborn when he attacks. The battle takes place on foot and on motorcycle and on a train. Maybe. I forget all the details! And then it ends with Deadborn missing an arm and running from battle yet declaring that Slade lost by winning. Or something. Ugh. What a piece of shit!

Majesticho notices Adeline is dead and gets sadgry. That's where you get really sad at reality and then get really angry at whatever you want to blame on reality other than yourself. Majesticho takes out his sadgry on Deathstroke because he's the father. Remember my Phantom Stranger rant? It all comes down to Daddy Issues!

And then Deathstroke realizes the non-family reunion reason Rose Wilson was brought in for the fight.

I didn't realize Invulnerability was a "power" that could be on or off. How is it generated? Is it like a tiny field surrounding every cell of the body that acts like a force field? And Rose Wilson can kick right through that shit? Does that mean Rose could operate on Superman and fix his teeth and clip his nails and cut his hair and shave his back? Rose should become a personal assistant to the Super Powered.

Once they've uncovered Rose Wilson's super secret power, Deathstork Deathstork Deathstroke and Rose manage to knock Majesticho unconscious. That simply means that Jericho transfers his consciousness back into his own body and Grant's and Terra's for good measure. Deathstroke takes out Terra quickly since she's the only really dangerous one left. And then Jericho threatens to make Grant kill himself unless Deathstroke gives up.

Jericho, you stupid jerk. You don't need to stand directly behind him when he does it!

Sheesh. I really have to read the next couple of pages with my brain dialed into the off position (as opposed to the "barely on" position I usually enjoy setting it to). I get the need for finding a cool, actiony way for Jericho to get his throat slit that's still, ultimately, Slade's responsibility. But this! Jericho controlling him and standing right behind him? The long sword held up so awkwardly to not really slit Grant's throat but to drive it straight through? I don't normally like using the word "contrived" since all works of fiction are ultimately "contrived" to a greater or lesser degree. But this? Holy fuck. I can only imagine that Justin Jordan and his creative team were sort of looking askance at this whole scene with a bit of a grimace on their faces and kind of shrugging and thinking, "Eh. Good enough."

Really, I'd rather Jericho had grabbed a hostage that he couldn't control and threatened to kill the person as he held him/her to his chest. And then Deathstroke could have done this same thing but with his own sword. This set up is just ridiculous. But it's comic books and ultimately I find the ridiculousness at an acceptable level!

Rose freaks out and attacks Slade while yelling, "Do you know what you've done?!" Slade kicks her in the face and answers in his own mind. Yeah. He knows what he's done. And it may be the only time in this entire run of Deathstroke since he killed the young kids that wanted to partner with him in the first issue that I feel his character is being done justice.

I'm exaggerating a bit. I did like some of the Kyle Higgins stuff before Liefeld took over. SOME! Not all! Some teeny, tiny percentage! Like maybe the issue before Liefeld took over where it was revealed Slade's drive came from *gasp* Daddy Issues!

The issue ends with Majestic hooked up to an IV full of sedatives, thanks to Rose Wilson's latent gen power. A.R.G.U.S. comes in to clean up and they take Majestic with them to either get counseling or take over Gypsy's now empty cell in The Circus. Lynch is missing and presumed dead. Grant and Jericho are not mentioned but my guess is they're dead and Jericho now resides in whoever the fuck he wants as a ghostly consciousness since one of the A.R.G.U.S. agents has glowing eyes. And Deathstroke never has to deal with his family again! Well, I guess he does. At some point, he'll need to make nice with Rose and battle Jericho to the death.

Deathstroke #20 Rating: +2 Rating. For a comic book that didn't have any idea what it was doing for most of its run, it actually ended on a positive note. Well, not a positive story note! Lots of people died and shit! But it was done well and I liked Slade's characterization in this better than anything I've read him in yet. I think.

And let me say this about Daddy Issues versus Mommy Issues. I don't want to give the impression that I think everybody's lives are ruled by the relationship they have with their father! I think a bad relationship with a father can really screw up a person's life. The problem with Mommy Issues is that a good relationship with a mother creates Mommy Issues! A mother needs to walk a very thin tightrope to do a really superb job caring for her child while giving the child enough freedom to provide for themselves when it's time to live on their own. A person with Mommy Issues becomes a Momma's Child. They often allow their mother to over provide for them and feel way too comfortable living at home well into their thirties. So Daddy Issues and Mommy Issues really take two different tacks. Daddy Issues generally arise from an absent or emotionally unavailable father. Mommy Issues are generated from a mother that's too overprotective and too loving. Both issues can create wildly successful people or horrible failures. None of them indicate a specific adult that will be created. Except maybe Daddy Issues create more strippers and Mommy Issues create more virgins*.

*Most of my research comes from Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac on Poor Parenting. Pink Floyd based their rock opera, The Wall, on this book.