What Makes A Villain? Deathstroke #49 Reviewed
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
We open on Jericho floating in space and questioning what it truly means to be a villain. He reflects on his life and his choices before his thoughts turn to earlier, when he found Rose and Terrence unconscious in a dumpster. They had a run-in with Deathstroke, but not the Deathstroke they know. Rose barely managed to fight him off and get Terrence out of Joseph’s apartment. This Deathstroke later went after Adeline but was interrupted by Wintergreen, and this is where things take a turn. This is also where Jericho finally catches up with this Deathstroke.
Deathstroke #49 focuses upon Jericho once again as the man contemplates what kind of person he’s turned out to be. Was he good? Bad? Or can a person be just one? Does a person get to choose?
We learn where this new Deathstroke came from, though the explanation was fairly easy to predict. I won’t spoil it here, but your first instinct was probably correct.
Joseph and Rose try to hash things out, to a point, in this issue. There may be no truly burying the hatchet for these siblings; the wounds left by Slade Wilson may just be too deep.
Deathstroke #49 is contemplative, dry, and grim, as Christopher Priest comics so often are. That’s why I so often adore his work, and it’s sad to see his brilliant Deathstroke run coming to an end with #50.
Fernando Pasarin once again provides brilliantly detailed artwork, bringing this story to life in a vivid and vibrant manner. The action scenes look quite good here, and they sequence well. Oclair Albert and Vicente Cifuentes give the book a very good inking treatment. Jeromy Cox’s color art is well-balanced and pops off the page.
Deathstroke #49 is a thoughtful and compelling penultimate issue for this villain-centric DC series. We dive once more into the mind of Joseph Wilson, aka Jericho, as he watches the mess left by his father and himself tear his family apart. It’s a damn good read and is easily worth a recommendation. Check it out.
Deathstroke #49 comes to us from writer Christopher Priest, artist Fernando Pasarin, inkers Oclair Albert and Vicente Cifuentes, color artist Jeromy Cox, letterer Willie Schubert, cover artist Stephen Segovia with Rain Beredo, and variant cover artist Skan.
Final Score: 8.5/10
