Enemies and allies are pretty much the same thing to Deathstroke when you get right down to it.
What They Say:
FLASH FACT: The death toll rises as Deathstroke’s journey nears its end. But when he finds his daughter, he also finds something else, something he could never have anticipated…
The Review:
The story that’s taken place in this Deathstroke miniseries has been kind of odd at times but also rather fitting in seeing him taking on the life of a pirate of sorts in the open seas of what’s left of Western Europe. It offers up a lot of possibilities when you get down to it and with his personality it’s definitely something that he can take on easily. The problem that he ran into here though is that the scale of events got so big at times that with him working a very personal mission to find his daughter, he made some choices that have pushed him in difficult directions. And what made it even worse is that with the forces riding the open waves, there’s a lot of people that want to take him down a peg. And some surprises as well.
The introduction of Jenny Blitz in the previous issue brings a lot of complications all of its own here as she’s got some immense power as we’ve seen but also someone who wants her back known only as the Caretaker. With him being her creator, she’s been shuffled around in the same way as Rose and some of the other girls of the seas so she’s in an unfriendly mode. But Deathstroke pushes her buttons all the more since he sees her as a valuable tool to getting Rose back. As well as someone that can hold up against him and his personality, even if he is old enough to be her father if not grandfather by his looks. The brief but bright relationship that they have here is a whole lot of fun since they’re both using each other for their powers and abilities as well as their bodies.
The issue does deal with him getting in the same area as his daughter, and it has a rather storybook ending in fact, but I was really amused by the way the book decided to spend time on a mutiny on board his ship. The rogues he’s got on there aren’t exactly the most loyal type, but there are some that are (and some that died in the previous battle as well) and they’re the ones targeted first. There’s a good use of powers here that tips off Deathstroke and that gives him the advantage, though surely he would have done fine even without that. But it’s fun to see him get positively angry about what’s going on while keeping Jenny off to the side, only letting her get involved when she just so adorably asks to kill someone and he agrees only if she can make it be really painful.
Digital Notes:
This digital edition of Deathstroke from Comixology features just the first printing cover of the issue with no additional extras included in the book.
In Summary:
I’ve long enjoyed Deathstroke as a character and really liked the way he was utilized in the Flashpoint world as it’s one that makes sense for him as a character, both in action and motivation. While the primary drive of finding Rose is a solid one, it’s more the setting that worked for me in seeing him captaining a large ship, building an intriguing crew around him (poor Clayface!) and even finding himself some action with the opposite sex in the middle of it all. This issue does wrap things up well enough for the tale and while it largely stands apart from the core storyline, it’s the kind of great little side story that doesn’t impact things but gives us a glimpse into a big dose of what if in a great way. It’s a guilty pleasure book to be sure and one that I definitely liked.
Grade: B
