Deathstroke Inc. #1

Deathstroke Inc. #1

DC Comics 2021

Written by Joshua Williamson

Illustrated by Howard Porter

Coloured by Hi-Fi

Lettered by Steve Wands

After suffering too many losses, Slade Wilson decides it’s time for a change. When he’s enlisted to work with an ages-old secret organization called T.R.U.S.T. who want to take down the heavy-hitter villains, he’s all in. They’ll supply him with an all-new team and resources for his new mission into the depths of the weirdest parts of the DCU, including a new partner…Black Canary! Wait what?! Enjoy explosions, kick-ass action, and new outrageous adventures as DC’s meanest S.O.B. gets tangled up in a major mystery building in the shadows of the DCU.

Okay colour me intrigued and here for the long haul. I was a little worried with the title of the book, which is both on trend and yet misleading but that’s okay it’s all done for the popularity of the character. Now I’ve not heard of this organisation before and since Checkmate I have been saying we need to see more of these spy type organisations though this feels like a shadowy one without the spy aspect more like a direct assault on super villain bases with an even more ambiguous leader with their own agenda and I can’t wait to see how T.R.U.S.T. is exposed for what it really is.

I like the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter really brings their personalities to the forefront. The pacing is excellent and as it introduces us to the story, the characters and their niche in this world it raises more questions as it intrigues the reader.

I like how we see this being structured and how we see the layers within the story begin to emerge and grow. Joshua is good at this too because the avenues that are opened up here are fantastic and they add this wonderful depth, dimension and complexity to the story. He understands how to write characters who do, don’t or won’t cross certain lines and yet make it come damn close to it. Everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as moving the story forward exceptionally well.

The interiors are nice. The linework we see really has some great flow to it and thanks to the varying weights and techniques the detail we see within the work really stands out nicely. Backgrounds are utilised fairly well, we could always see more of them in use, as they enhance and expand the moments as well as work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a strong, talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a great understanding of how colour works.

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One thing I will say is that I doubt Batman would let this organisation anywhere near his gear and technology, so regardless of Hiro I question this aspect of the story. Even with his current state of mind I’m not buying it 100% so I wanna see Bats either come after them or Hiro and see what the whole deal with this is really about. This has some great strong writing and on point characterisation along with this great classic comic book style interior that makes for a fun, interesting and intriguing read.