The Good

Sometimes, when a creative team is working on their final issue of a series, they do one of two things: Phone it in or give a sappy final story that really reflects how the creative team feels about leaving the project. Now, I'm not sure whether or not this team knew their run was coming to a close, but I simply loved this final issue. They don't phone it in, and it's not sappy.

The whole issue revolves around Slade delving into his past at the moment that changed his life forever, when his father gave him up to some gangsters in order to settle a $10,000 debt. His dad was a scumbag, piece of trash, gangster, which explains a bit of Slade's psyche, except he has a hidden heart of gold.

It has great transition between the past and the present, giving more insight into what makes Deathstroke who he is and his relationship with his deadbeat dad. While there are some other loose ends being tied up in this issue, the best moment of issue 8 is when Slade visits his sick father and gives him a piece of his mind and lets him know "I'm better than you, father. And I always will be." A nice "F-U" moment to a horrible person.

Great art team on this issue featuring Eduardo Pansica on pencils, Art Thibert on inks, and Jason Wright on colors. There's great attention to detail from the facial expressions, to the crumbling bricks on the wall. All three of these artists come together to paint a vivid picture for a character who usually just kills people left and right. A couple of great splash pages as well that you will enjoy.

The Bad

Last issue with Higgins as the writer... I'm a bit bummed. I really enjoyed where he was taking the book and the character. He made me care about a character I felt was a joke in the past. I'll keep my head up, since I can still catch his work on Nightwing, but it just won't be the same. Thanks for your time on this book Kyle. It was awesome.

The Verdict

A great ending to a great run by this creative team. They truly made this a character that was accessible to new readers in the DCnU, and I applaud them for paving the way for the future creative teams and building on an already well developed character.

I loved how this issue dealt more Slade's past and his father. It gave the character a lot of depth and gave new readers more insight into his past. The issue flowed incredibly well and I loved the art team on this issue because there was great attention to detail.

On the downside, I'm a bit bummed that Higgins will not be writing this series anymore because he got me excited about a character I never cared about.

Overall, I highly recommend this issue not because it's the last issue of a great run but because it stands out on its own and actually adds something to the character.

Welp, All that's left is too wait for Rob Liefeld to take this over. I'm sure it'll be good, right? ....right? Guys?

Will that is the end of a great Deathstroke run. Now here comes Rob Liefeld to destroy another title

Yeah, it was a great Deathstroke run. I didn't read a lot of him pre-52 but Higgins really made me care for him. It's a shame that Liefeld will take over after this. Judging by the solicitations for next issues, I will certainly drop this title :(

An underrated run to be sure, with each chapter building naturally to the next. Hopefully will gain a reputation as a hidden classic.

I completely disagree with this review. No matter what depth this arc with some character development seems to add, it did so by completely removing the years of character development he already had.

This run destroyed waayyyy more than it added to the character.

You want a run that only adds to the character? Try New Teen Titans or Wolfman's very own Deathstroke the Terminator. Even John's run on Teen Titans built upon what already was there. Those were great runs.

My guess is, people who "applaud" this run did not now anything about the character's past.

What Higgins did was basically turn a character with his own set of morals forged by his experiences and complex relationships to his best friend/father figure Wintergreen, his wife and his different children (Grant, Joseph and Rose) into a 90's Image uberbadass with absolutely no depth to him. Then, he just added a little depth by the very end of the run and we are supposed to applaud him for it? That does not make ANY sense.

@DIOMJK said:

Welp, All that's left is too wait for Rob Liefeld to take this over. I'm sure it'll be good, right? ....right? Guys?

I'm holding out hope that it will end up being decent as an unintentional self-parody, considering it's Liefeld and Lobo. Maybe that'll let it cling to enough sales to just get a new creative team than an outright cancellation. It could work, ONLY because of Lobo.

@The Mighty Monarch: Maybe, but all the irony in the world couldn't make me like the art. Still, I bet there's more than a few laughs to be had if he treats Lobo, a satirical character, seriously.

@DIOMJK: I don't know about that, I for one, LOVE Rob Liefeld's art. It's just so damn terrible, that analyzing just how awful it is ends up being extremely fun. XD

@The Mighty Monarch: Oh man, I would be such a huge fan of his if it turned out his entire career was really a kind of parody, and everything he did was just one big joke we never realized. I would look at Hawk and Dove in a whole new light.

@DIOMJK: It would explain how he gets far more work than he deserves.

@DarthShap said:

I completely disagree with this review. No matter what depth this arc with some character development seems to add, it did so by completely removing the years of character development he already had.

This run destroyed waayyyy more than it added to the character.

You want a run that only adds to the character? Try New Teen Titans or Wolfman's very own Deathstroke the Terminator. Even John's run on Teen Titans built upon what already was there. Those were great runs.

My guess is, people who "applaud" this run did not now anything about the character's past.

What Higgins did was basically turn a character with his own set of morals forged by his experiences and complex relationships to his best friend/father figure Wintergreen, his wife and his different children (Grant, Joseph and Rose) into a 90's Image uberbadass with absolutely no depth to him. Then, he just added a little depth by the very end of the run and we are supposed to applaud him for it? That does not make ANY sense.

I agree completely. I stopped reading Deathstroke months ago for this very reason. Liefeld won't make things any better.

Loved this new take on take of Slade sad to see the run over. Not expecting to like it after Liefeld takes over.

Already don't like his version of the costume.

Liefeld is stuck in the 90's... his art needs to evolve. Giving him complete control over the title is just a mistake...

I hope I'm not missing anything since I haven't picked up this title. If he ever gets involved with the Teen Titans again or the new Ravagers series I will have to probably start picking it up.

@ThanosIsMad said:

@DarthShap said:

I completely disagree with this review. No matter what depth this arc with some character development seems to add, it did so by completely removing the years of character development he already had.

This run destroyed waayyyy more than it added to the character.

You want a run that only adds to the character? Try New Teen Titans or Wolfman's very own Deathstroke the Terminator. Even John's run on Teen Titans built upon what already was there. Those were great runs.

My guess is, people who "applaud" this run did not now anything about the character's past.

What Higgins did was basically turn a character with his own set of morals forged by his experiences and complex relationships to his best friend/father figure Wintergreen, his wife and his different children (Grant, Joseph and Rose) into a 90's Image uberbadass with absolutely no depth to him. Then, he just added a little depth by the very end of the run and we are supposed to applaud him for it? That does not make ANY sense.

I agree completely. I stopped reading Deathstroke months ago for this very reason. Liefeld won't make things any better.

But isn't that the point of the New 52? They are changing the origins. What happened before basically doesn't have to make sense or even belong.

@DarthShap said:

I completely disagree with this review. No matter what depth this arc with some character development seems to add, it did so by completely removing the years of character development he already had.

This run destroyed waayyyy more than it added to the character.

You want a run that only adds to the character? Try New Teen Titans or Wolfman's very own Deathstroke the Terminator. Even John's run on Teen Titans built upon what already was there. Those were great runs.

My guess is, people who "applaud" this run did not now anything about the character's past.

What Higgins did was basically turn a character with his own set of morals forged by his experiences and complex relationships to his best friend/father figure Wintergreen, his wife and his different children (Grant, Joseph and Rose) into a 90's Image uberbadass with absolutely no depth to him. Then, he just added a little depth by the very end of the run and we are supposed to applaud him for it? That does not make ANY sense.

I agree also

Liefeld's taking over next issue, right?

Time to ditch what was an excellent book....

@wmwadeii said:

I hope I'm not missing anything since I haven't picked up this title. If he ever gets involved with the Teen Titans again or the new Ravagers series I will have to probably start picking it up.

@ThanosIsMad said:

@DarthShap said:

I completely disagree with this review. No matter what depth this arc with some character development seems to add, it did so by completely removing the years of character development he already had.

This run destroyed waayyyy more than it added to the character.

You want a run that only adds to the character? Try New Teen Titans or Wolfman's very own Deathstroke the Terminator. Even John's run on Teen Titans built upon what already was there. Those were great runs.

My guess is, people who "applaud" this run did not now anything about the character's past.

What Higgins did was basically turn a character with his own set of morals forged by his experiences and complex relationships to his best friend/father figure Wintergreen, his wife and his different children (Grant, Joseph and Rose) into a 90's Image uberbadass with absolutely no depth to him. Then, he just added a little depth by the very end of the run and we are supposed to applaud him for it? That does not make ANY sense.

I agree completely. I stopped reading Deathstroke months ago for this very reason. Liefeld won't make things any better.

But isn't that the point of the New 52? They are changing the origins. What happened before basically doesn't have to make sense or even belong.

The point of the New 52 was to make good reads for both old and new fans. I really do not see how an old fan can like this comic book that stripped the character of all his personality only to give a small spark of it back in the end.

I was not thrilled with Higgin's work until I read all the comics together. It made me appreciate his work much more. Looking forward to his final issue.