Review: Deathstroke Vol. 3- Suicide Run

Quick Summary

Pros: The action is exciting and has a nice level of diversity to it. The main story is compelling and is filled with a variety of unexpected twists and tantalizing mysteries. The artwork looks good in most places.

Cons: Rose Wilson is written poorly.

Overall: A compelling story, good art, and lots and lots of action turn this volume into a truly exciting affair. It highlights Deathstroke, as he is forced to push himself to the absolute limit and take down anyone in his way. In addition, a narrative full of twists and turns keeps things fresh and interesting the entire time. This is a volume for those who like action or for those looking for a solid Deathstroke adventure.

Story

Though the previous volume was a dip in quality for the series, Deathstroke Vol. 3: Suicide Run puts this quality level right back on track. Tony S. Daniel weaves an exciting story about a man who will do anything to protect his family. This leads Deathstroke to take on a number of interesting enemies, while constantly dodging deception and searching for truth. The only significant problem is that Rose Wilson is written rather poorly, though this is only a small fraction of the narrative. All in all, this is a solid read that proves to be entertaining from beginning to end.

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Like the two previous volumes, Suicide Run‘s biggest success is the over-the-top action found on nearly every page. Deathstroke is constantly finding himself in the middle of incredibly dangerous situations, including a fight with the Suicide Squad, a brawl at LexCorp, and even a quick battle with Batman’s protégé, Red Hood. Each of these situations is fun to see play out and each one is exciting.

In addition, Daniel keeps these action oriented moments fresh by keeping them diverse. For example, Deathstroke’s fight against the Bizarro horde at LexCorp feels incredibly different from his one-on-one fight against Red Hood. This prevents the volume from feeling repetitive and keeps the action exciting.

When it comes to story, Suicide Run also performs well. Deathstroke’s hunt for his daughter is a compelling premise that is easy to sympathize with. The constant deception surrounding this mystery also keeps things exciting, since readers are never sure what to expect next. This is especially true when it comes to a double-cross from Deathstroke’s associate. Though I was initially skeptical of his associate, the story lured me into a false sense of security, which made the double-cross even more unexpected. Overall, watching Deathstroke look for answers is nearly as entertaining as watching him beat up his enemies.

Though the mystery of Rose’s disappearance is entertaining from Deathstroke’s side of things, it proves to be far less so from Rose’s side of things. Instead of being the confident and powerful woman that she was in previous volumes, here, Rose is essentially a cowardly damsel in distress.  She is constantly crying, proves to be easily manipulated, and is generally uninteresting. Hopefully, the next volume will give an explanation for her actions because, right now, her character is worse than ever before.

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Art

For the most part, the artwork in Suicide Run is good throughout. Tyler Kirkham does a wonderful job with making this book look like the action-packed thrill ride that it is. There is a great level of detail that highlights the characters’ strength and power, which gives every hero and villain a formidable presence. This, in turn, makes the action sequences feel more significant and makes the entire volume feel more bombastic. Overall, this is a good looking book with some great looking characters.

However, there are a few moments where the artwork is noticeably less than stellar. A few pages feature panels that appear to be copy and pasted from earlier, making the work look just a bit less original. In addition, faces occasionally look too perfectly posed, causing the character to look like a model at a photoshoot rather than a superhero in the middle of a fight. These problems are minor, but they do bring down the overall quality of the art.

Continuity

Deathstroke Vol. 3 Suicide Run continues the story started in Deathstroke Vol. 2: God Killer (Review).

The story here continues in Deathstroke Vol. 4: Family Business (Review).

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Deathstroke’s brief tenure with the Suicide Squad is brought up a number of times. This took place in New Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Pure Insanity.
• The “unique clones” that Deathstroke stumbles upon at LexCorp are first mentioned back in Forever Evil (Review).
• Red Hood’s new career as a work for hire style hero began in Red Hood/Arsenal Vol. 1: Open For Business (Review).