Review: Deathstroke Inc.

SYNOPSIS

*Spoilers*

Black Canary and Deathstroke have had quite the tumultuous relationship. They've fought hand in hand and head to head throughout the years. Recently, they've both been employed on a super secret mission by an organization ironically called T.R.U.S.T. A lesson in life is that whenever someone emphasizes that they can be trusted, they are usually the most untrustworthy people. So, the name of the organization itself implies a fat, indigestible chunk of foreshadowing. Who are you trying to fool T.R.U.S.T.? ; Black Canary and Deathstroke, that's who. Not so smart.

Black Canary exercises her most overlooked superpower: a powerful woman's intuition. Oracle is getting the lowdown on T.R.U.S.T. for Black Canary and has found out that, big surprise, they shouldn't be trusted. Meanwhile, Deathstroke has received some revelatory information from Cheetah on a previous mission. However, the veil is not completely lifted just yet. Deathstroke thinks Black Canary is on the take and tries to lob her head off. Eventually, the two adults talk their problems out and realize that they were both getting played.

Unhappy that they were both used as pawns in some sinister scheme, they decide to let bygones be bygones and join forces to take down T.R.U.S.T.. Of course, it's not going to be that easy. The mystery unravels as some familiar faces crash the party and violent melee ensues. But wait, there's more! It was all an illusion perpetrated by a ragtag team of B-list villains. The motive still isn't quite clear, to me at least. Canary and Deathstroke end up getting zapped to an alternate dimension in the multiverse. Without giving too much away, if Black Canary thought Deathstroke was a tough opponent before, hold on to your fishnets, Dinah; it's about to get spiritual.

THOUGHTS

Although the title was a bit misleading and had dashed my assumptions as to what it was going to be about (an actual task force organized by Deathstroke that goes on wild assassination missions with colorful cameos in each issue), this is still shaping up to be one of my favorite DC titles this year. The story itself is a pretty common formula in most comics: hero inspects a mysterious organization with questionable motives; hero gets mislead and manipulated; the unsuspecting boss is actually a dastardly villain in disguise; the hero finds out too late and gets thrown into a perilous, life-threatening situation; etc...

But, Joshua Williamson does an amazing job with his pacing of the dialogue and action. The story is not too convoluted with arbitrary and excessive details so as to confuse the reader and "intensify" the mystery. Everything is laid out and presented in an easy to digest meal. Plus, it's very obvious that the staff is having fun with this issue as it doesn't take itself too seriously. Most of the times with deep undercover, secret-ops stories like this, the world is very grounded and everything occurs within a 10-mile radius. In the previous issue, Deathstroke and Canary wound up in a fantasy land with unicorns and other fairytale creatures. Seeing Deathstroke ride majestic on a rainbow equine was all I needed to see to make me fall in love with this story. The end of this issue (#4) has our heroes stuck in a multiverse limbo where anything can happen.

Overall, the dynamic and history between the two main characters makes for an interesting read in itself. Think: unlikely buddy cop team-up movie, but instead of comedic relief, you have two Dirty Harry's. What makes me want to pick up the next issue? As mentioned earlier, the characters now have to escape the inescapable. Not only that, but the team has hit their inevitable divide and the villains are free to run amok. I really don't care about the villains or their motives though. They're secondary to the stars of this comic. It's just fun to watch Canary and Deathstroke jump from unexpected world to unexpected world and flawlessly cooperate as a functional team-up. Gotta' love professionals!