Written by Christopher Priest
Illustrated by Carlo Pagulayan
Published by DC Comics
The brutal final battle between Batman and Deathstroke comes to a head here! This is a character based issue with an excellent ending. Priest has written a great, classic six-parter and it’s completely awesome. It had me on my toes throughout and it did not let up.
We get a flashback to open the issue of Bruce as a young boy falling into the not-yet formed Batcave.
We then flash forward to a beaten Batman laying next to a beaten Deathstroke. They then sucker punch each other which I found hilarious.
Priest always injects even his most serious stories with a healthy sense of humor.
Then, the two of them try to get out of the Batcave.
They are both wounded so they help each other to get out of it. Their conversation as they do is funny as heck. They despise each other yet they maintain a certain amount of respect.
While this is going on, Jericho and Robin are trying to track their respective fathers down. Eventually, Batman and Deathstroke make it out of the cave. The issue doesn’t end with a big typical fight. Instead, Priest just writes a good story. And that’s all we ever needed here.
The question of “Is Damian Slade Wilson’s son?” is answered by the end. Since it was the catalyst for this six parter, the answer had to be satisfactory. Suffice to say, it definitely is. It’s done in a simple, yet effective way. This is some great stuff here. Priest doesn’t play it safe, and it’s great. The art by Pagulayan was perfect here too, and he was firing on all cylinders. I can’t wait to read it again.
RATING: A
