COMIC BOOK REVIEW - Deathstroke: Gods Of War
By The Masked Medic
Ever since I started this venture, I’ve been making my way slowly through DC’s New 52 novels, which I’ve been enjoying a lot. A part of me feels like maybe I’ll never catch up to the modern-day runs, but I thought with the speed at which I’m reading some of these series, I might get there eventually. So, having finished Volume 2 of Deathstroke a while back, I thought, let’s start Volume 3!
‘Gods Of War’ starts with Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke the Terminator, receiving a mission to kill a wanted man. However, it appears that the kill won’t be easy, and he finds himself up against an army that almost takes him out. He manages to escape, just, and finds a man named I-Ching, who owes him from a job long ago. Deathstroke collapses in front of him, only to wake up and find himself decades younger, and more interestingly, with both eyes working and uninjured. But there’s no rest for the wicked, and despite his confusion, his next target is revealed to be someone called Odysseus, who is supposedly responsible for the army that tried to take Deathstroke down. A character called Red Fury gives him this information along with a truth serum that will reveal what has happened to him. As sceptical as he is, he gives it a try, only to end up in a vision in which he finds out that Odysseus is his father and is using his son, Jericho’s powers to control a whole host of people. Slade doesn’t know if the vision he’s seen is true or not, but he knows he needs to find his son. When he gets told that Jericho has ended up in Gotham City, he heads over there immediately. But we all know you don’t go to Gotham unannounced without a certain Crusader turning up. Can Slade find Jericho before Odysseus does? And is Odysseus who Slade’s visions claim him to be?
I always say that I don’t like the excessively violent characters, and that is generally true, but sometimes Deathstroke is the exception. He is one of my favourite villains, and I just think he’s badass. That being said, there were certainly times in this novel when I was genuinely wondering what the hell was going on. There was very little character development because every 2-3 pages, it felt as if I was being introduced to a new character that I wasn’t even sure was going to make it through the story. The second half of the novel certainly felt more coherent, and I enjoyed Slade’s adventures in Gotham!
The artwork and covers were done by Tony Daniel, who I think has one of the best styles, and I thoroughly enjoyed perusing the larger panels. He has a great ability to draw not only details and faces, but also to create wide landscapes which are dynamic and bold. Overall, not a bad novel, perhaps a little confusing in some places, but glad to return to Deathstroke’s adventures!
Favourite Panel:
This is what Ben Affleck’s Batman could’ve been!
Favourite Character:
There are genuinely quite a few good characters in this novel, but I have to give it to our titular character. Despite being at a disadvantage, he still comes out on top!
Rating:
Story Arc: ★★★
Character Development: ★★½
Artwork: ★★★★
Enjoyability: ★★★
Re-readability: ★★½
Level: Advanced