Veteran writer Christopher Priest returns to comics for the DC Comics Rebirth event in Deathstroke, Volume 1: The Professional. Priest, ever the professional himself, utilizes all the standard tools that has made his arsenal familiar: quippy dialogue, chapter headings, sometimes-confusing flashbacks, and, oh yes, planting the seeds for a long play. For the most part, his devious tactics are all on point, but with this collected edition falling under the Rebirth project, the mighty Priest may have failed in one main regard: this series was not all accessible for the new reader that DC was obviously attempting to recruit, especially, perhaps, after the character’s long-run on CW’s Arrow.

The Professional does not get into an origin, or at least, not linearly, which is as fine as it is stylish. Priest has the reader immediately jump into action as Slade Wilson, Deathstroke, politically, if not violently, acts with an African government in order to rescue a friend. And then Wilson’s family arrives. Using the term “dysfunctional” as a description for this family is akin to calling President Trump “loud”. The dynamics are fun as the mystery begins. Again, Priest is no doubt looking into the long play. Wilson kinda-sorta teams up with his illegitimate daughter, Rose, the would-be assassin called the Ravager, in order to find out who put a price on her head. The two go on a road trip to Gotham City as their dynamic plays out like a paranoid version of Clint Barton and Kate Bishop from Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye run.

For those coming in fresh, again, which one assumes is one of DC’s main sticking points, almost none of this would make sense. Rose’s genealogy, the lives-and-deaths of Grant and Joe, Slade and Adeline’s marriage, all falls back onto the heavy pre-52 continuity that old-time fanboys such as myself enjoy, but could be a huge question mark emoji for younger millennials.

Carlo Pagulayan, and especially Joe Bennett, provide thick, beautifully laid-out pencils, but at times the similarity between characters without the surname of Wilson, lends to some of the confusing narrative. Speaking of returning vets, much appreciation to seeing Larry Hama’s name grace the credit box for breakdowns on issue one.

Priest has laid the groundwork for what can be fun run, especially now that the obligatory Batman guest spot is out of the way. Maybe this will also give Priest the chance to clarify his narrative and make Deathstroke more Leon and less Walter Sobchak.

Thanks to both NetGalley and DC Comics for the advance preview of the new Deathstroke title. Reminds me of my letterhacking days and receiving similar advance copies for solicitation. I’m glad to be able to contribute such reviews again.

This volume was enjoyable but not anything outstanding. The art is good, but the story was somewhat confusing to follow for the first couple issues. However, it found more focus as it went on, and there are some interesting characters and dynamics at play in the latter sections. There's definitely some appeal here for fans of DC, Deathstroke, and antihero story-lines, but , as my comics introduction to the character, it wasn't bad, wasn't particularly memorable.

This was just okay. I will admit I was excited to see the return of this title character, but it felt rushed and not believable. Entertaining slightly, but really average.

This Rebirth-branded volume of Deathstroke provides a lot of Slade Wilson's backstory and was a very entertaining read. It was interesting to see Slade bonding with his daughter in his warped way, and great to have Batman and Damian involved. I'm looking forward to future volumes of Deathstroke. Highly recommended.

When Deathstroke was announced during the DC New 52, I was extremely enthusiastic about getting my hands on the first issue. That being said, when I finally did, I was disappointed because, although the art was fantastic, the actually story was lacking.

When Deathstroke was announced as one of the DC Rebirth books, I had no expectations or enthusiasm. Being disappointed before, I just figured it would be another book in a line of many; I was wrong. Deathstroke was a refreshingly story driven narrative that really grabbed the reader and had them wanting more. Having read Priest's previous work on Black Panther, I was pleased to see the same caliber of story being written for Deathstroke, a fantastic character that has received lackluster stories in recent years.

This is a Deathstroke story that fans should be reading; I would definitely recommend this to any comic book reader or fan of Deathstroke due to any other form of media.

Christopher Priest is a mythic hero who can pull worlds and storylines out of thin air like magic, everything he touches turns golden and sets a new standard for greatness in the Comic World.

In Deathstroke he created a character who is a villain but at the same time you can’t help but want to root for on some level. The plot is so full of depth and makes reading about a mercenary who bounces between being straight up evil to questionably ethical intriguing; it all depends on your perspective. The book does a good job of showing the balance without trying to convince the reader to pick a side. Priest did a good job adding in the female counterpart to mimic a father/daughter relationship especially as it illustrates a completely different side to his persona.

The only huge flaw was some of the back and forth because it was a little confusing but eventually the story leveled out so it wasn’t horribly bad.

The artwork was detailed and realistic with a good color palette that helped to set the scenes. It was nice to see such a diverse set of characters.

I feel like I came into reading this at a disadvantage: I know very little about Deathstroke (mostly just pulling snippets from his cameos in other series and from the Teen Titans TV series) and for a volume 1 it didn't do much to help me learn who he is.
Which is weird, because it spends a lot of time with scenes from his past. But I think the problem was that I didn't understand many of those scenes (or the story arc as a whole) very well because it was so narratively jumpy. It would cut elsewhere and I'd wonder "who is this? When did this happen, exactly?" Even the stuff that I later came to realize are in the current timeframe of the DC universe.
So yeah... Art was fine, the action was fun, and I am under the impression that I would enjoy the characters featured a lot more if I understood more of who they are.

Great artwork but lacking in story and action and sometimes confusing with all the inter-laid flashbacks and alternate viewpoints.