I have never understood the appeal of Deathstroke. At mask value, he’s a mercenary with a generic set of super strength, healing, and the ability to shoot guns well. Under that mask is a guy who beats up teenagers and kills lots of people for money. For me, the character was all sparkle and no substance. There was never enough to make me pick up a comic starring him. Even when Tony Fleecs was announced as the writer of Deathstroke: The Terminator, I was still hesitant because I just didn’t give a hoot about Slade Wilson. But I write this today to tell you I was wrong. Tony Fleecs, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Ivan Plascenia, and Wes Abbott have blown the doors off the hinges with this Next Level take on Deathstroke.
Tony Fleecs work prior to Deathstroke: The Terminator is what made me pick up this issue as soon as I could. Previously, he co-created a series called Local Man with Tim Seeley. That comic uses the tropes and vibes of 90s comics to tell a really sad and human story about a washed up hero. It was from there that I promised myself I would buy any book he works on and I was not let down.
Deathstroke: The Terminator #1 follows Slade Wilson on a typical mission. Lots of big explosions, a kick-ass motorcycle scene, and violence galore. Carmine Di Giandomenico illustrates Deathstroke with so much style. A panel towards the beginning of the issue feels like it belongs in a big summer blockbuster trailer. The way Giandomenico draws Deathstroke with Plascenia on colors just leaves the character dripping with menace. Matched with Wes Abbot’s fantastic lettering and SFX work, it makes the characters action moments soar.
But the real reason I loved this issue wasn’t the action at all. It was the running narrative of a broken old man who isn’t sure he can handle change. Throughout the issue, Slade is writing a letter to his estranged daughter Rose. He was nudged to reach out by his best friend Wintergreen, who Rose treats more like a father than her own. Wintergreen tells Rose that Slade needs people in his life other than himself. But what Slade himself lays out in the letter, spread across the issue, is a portrait of a man who is becoming something else.
Deathstroke: The Terminator is interested in exploring the character on a different level, exactly what I was hoping Tony Fleecs would bring to the character. There are some truly strong character moments of Slade regaling Rose, and us, that he has always just been a weapon that knows how to take orders. But the issue is careful to never make him all that sympathetic. As a reader, he isn’t showing us how he’s a better person than we realized, but instead a cold broken man who doesn’t know how to regulate his own feelings, one who can easily toss an exploding van at a group of trained soldiers. While many other stories starring a villain often humanize them to a point where you forget they are a mass murderer, Deathstroke: The Terminator doesn’t lean into that.
Slade talks about how he is changing in the issue but not in a positive way. He is growing older and angrier with the passage of time. It’s not a letter to his daughter about how he is willing to change to be a better father but more so an admission that he is who he is. But there are very human moments showing that he does love his daughter and wants the best for her. It’s just that sometimes what’s best isn’t the person you wish it would be.
With the issue ending on an explosive finale, I am excited to see where the series progresses too. I am far more interested in a character who is complex, evil, and has their back against the wall instead of trying to paint over the face of DC’s biggest killer for hire with a sappy empathetic story of redemption.