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" In the latest of our comprehensive series of reviews of DC Comics&amp;#039; 52 relaunched titles, we take a look at Deathstroke #1 Who&amp;#039;s it by? Deathstroke #1 is written by Kyle Higgins and illustrated by Joe Bennett and Art Thibert. What&amp;#039;s the history? Deathstroke the Terminator made his debut in Teen Titans #2 in 1980, and has cropped up as a villain and occasional antihero in myriad titles since. Created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, Slade Wilson is a meta-human supersolider-turned-mercenary, and one of the most proficient assassins in the DC Universe. Although Deathstroke made a name for as a Titans antagonist, the character&amp;#039;s popularity saw him feature in countless crossover events, and eventually his own solo series. Wilson has done battle with almost every major hero in DC&amp;#039;s cannon, and come out on top more times than most. A run-in with Green Arrow during the Identity Crisis miniseries cost him is right eye. Deathstroke was a founder member of Lex Luthor&amp;#039;s Secret Society of Supervillains in the Infinite Crisis event, and assembled the Titans East with Batgirl, Bombshell and several others. More recently, Wilson had a part to play in the Blackest Night and Brightest Day events. What&amp;#039;s new? This is Deathstroke&amp;#039;s first ongoing title since his solo series drew to a close with issue #60 in 1996. Wilson is an aging character in the relaunched title, though there&amp;#039;s plenty of life in the old dog yet, as those that cross him quickly find out. The gun-for-hire still bears Green Arrow&amp;#039;s mark, wearing an eye patch to conceal the damage. Writers who have tackled the character in recent years have examined his role as an unlikely parent, but there is no sign of this being a focal point yet. Writer Kyle Higgins boards the title off the back a wealth of Batman work, which should serve as a good basis for tackling Deathstroke as the character has long been considered an anti-Batman. Penciller Joe Bennet has drawn the character on several occasions, most recently in the Deathstroke and the Curse of the Ravagers miniseries.  What happens? Deathstroke is a mercenary looking for action, and he finds it in the shape of two assignments. The first sees him dispatch a band of Russians, the second pairs him up with a group of budding assassins called the Harmory, on a mission to take out a German scientist bearing more than a passing resemblance to Nosferatu. Anyone who is familiar with Wilson&amp;#039;s character will tell you he&amp;#039;s a lethal killing machine, but he&amp;#039;s openly derided by his employers, targets, and fellow assassins throughout the issue due to his age. It&amp;#039;s the metahuman who gets the last laugh, though. What&amp;#039;s the verdict? Deathstroke #1 is one of the strongest &amp;#039;New 52&amp;#039; titles to date. Everything about the comic is bold and gritty, from Higgins&amp;#039;s punchy dialogue to Bennett&amp;#039;s explosive splash pages. Writer and artist are on the same wavelength throughout, and the result sees the character recapture his former glory. Wilson has served as an antihero on occasion, but there is no hint of that here. He&amp;#039;s an out-and-out villain, and it&amp;#039;s refreshing to see the new DC Universe from this perspective. The reader doesn&amp;#039;t get into the character&amp;#039;s head much, but his actions speak louder than words. The two main action set pieces carry the comic along at breakneck speed. We&amp;#039;re barely a page in and Wilson is chopping down Russians. He later forces his way on board a cargo jet in midflight by tearing off a reinforced door. Never one for subtlety, Deathstroke blows the plane out of the sky all for the sake of a single contract killing. Bennett presents Deathstroke as a quintessential badass who takes no flack from anyone. He toys with the fans throughout, suggesting that the lone wolf has teamed up a bunch of cocky teen assassins referred to as the Harmory. Deathstroke #1 relies on action and shock value to pull the reader in, though it works well as a launch title. There&amp;#039;s scope for Higgins to explore other aspects of the character in future issues, and the title will be weighed and measured on the writer&amp;#039;s ability to do this. If nothing else, it&amp;#039;s good see Slade Wilson with his own ongoing series once again, especially one with the potential to rival the Wolfman and Perez era.  &amp;gt; Buy the digital version of Deathstroke #1 &amp;gt; Read our review of Men of War #1 Watch The New 52 introduction video from DC Comics below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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