Deathstroke #1 - "The Professional, Part One: Among Thieves"

[laughing_tree]

'This is a likely case of casting against type, which is why I said yes. If I were editing Deathstroke, I’m not sure I would have picked me, which then made me interested in taking a swing because it’s been a very, very long time since a publisher last selected me for a project based on my actual writing as opposed to my being, y’know, a Republican. I would never have pitched for Deathstroke (although I did write Conan for a long time–shameless plug for Dark Horse which has reprinted most of my run). But it occurred to me that somebody, somewhere, at DC actually gave this some thought– gave *me* some consideration past my ethnicity– which earned my respect for DC because I felt like this was an earnest creative decision more so than, “we need a Republican to write this.”' - Christopher James Priest











Wintergreen and Deathstroke take down Clock King, who they discern doesn't actually have time-related superpowers but only fakes them via hallucinogenic gas and audio hypnosis (hence the constant tik-tok sound.)

Comments

[nyadnar17]

.....shit I forgot how smart you had to be to read a Priest book. Its like a damn Lupe Fiasco album.

[beyondthefringe]

Seriously. I read that explanation several times, trying to follow that plan and line of thinking.

[superboyprime]

You can say that again.

Okay, let me see if I have it straight... Deathstroke's hired to kill Clock King, who's under the protection of President Bland. Deathstroke helps Bland get a certain Congressman re-elected so that, in exchange, Bland will give Clock King up. However, it was really Bland who secretly hired the hit on Clock King in the first place, knowing that it would lead to Deathstroke's help with the Congressman.

But it turns out Deathstroke actually knew what Bland was up to all along. He betrays Bland by arranging things so that the Congressman commits suicide shortly after getting re-elected. He nevertheless still goes after Clock King because a contract's a contract, even if he went into it with a hidden agenda. When he finds Clock King, Clock King sells him information -- where Wintergreen's held captive -- in exchange for sparing his life.

Deathstroke needs help to rescue Wintergreen, so he enters into a contract with two of Bland's soldiers to keep their families safe. The two soldiers help him.

Clock King attempts to kill Bland for betraying him, but Deathstroke stops it because Bland's death would destabilize the country, which would endanger the two soldiers' families, which he's under contract to keep safe.

HOWEVER, it turns out Bland's real plan all along was to get Deathstroke into a situation where he'd switch costumes (which he had to do rescue Wintergreen, because he needed to pass a corpse off as himself) because some mysterious "admiral" is paying him big money to make that happen.

That look about right to everyone else?

[zapbiffpow]

Deathstroke stops it because Bland's death would destabilize the country, which would endanger the two soldiers' families, which he's under contract to keep safe.

I don't get the terms of the two soldiers' contract, but the rest...holy shit. Look at those transactions.

Any recommended prior work from Christopher Priest? You guys seem to have experience.

[doctornone]

Try his masterpiece Black Panther run collected in four tpb.
His Power Man and Iron Fist run was a huge improvement on what came before.
The first two Quantom and Woody tpb's
and what I think is sadly underrated his Ray and Justice League Task Force run

[tianyulong]

Man this whole Rebirth thing has been just fantastic, can't think of one comic in this lineup that's fallen flat.

[dcbanacek]

*Cynical mode engaged* I wonder if this DC Rebirth is like the old "New Coke" fiasco from back in the day.

[mrstatham]

So New52 was New Coke, designed to make us think about how great DC was before the New52... Even though there was massive problems like grimdark and child!death before, too?

Still, makes sense.

[silverhammerman]

I literally cannot credit that level of forethought and long term planning to DC.

[sarahnewlin]

I still can't see Joe Mangatello as Deathstroke. He screams......basic

[gmm2.livejournal.com]

Then it's a good thing Joe Manganiello is playing him, isn 't it? ;P

[thanekos]

" How's your stroke coming along? "

If it turns out that's the origin of his name..

(The scene's not a stretch to imagine.)

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I think that was my favorite part. Not that I didn't like the other stuff, but...

[donnblake]

Is... Republican an ethnicity now?

[tcampbell1000]

Seemingly more so with every passing month, really.

[junipepper]

Well played.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Pretty sure it was a joke ;)

[laughing_tree]

Yeah. In case it's not clear, he's using it as a humorous euphemism for black.

[donnblake]

Okay. I *thought* he was going somewhere like that with it, but I'm not terribly familiar with Priest or his work.

(Although, based on this, perhaps I should change that.)

[wizardru]

I have never before actually wanted to read a Deathstroke comic.

This has changed things. I had heard Priest was quite a writer...now I see it in action. This is what comics for smart people looks like.