When the 2016 Deathstroke series ended it was said by it's editor that it might have been the last Deathstroke solo series ever. So the announcement of Deathstroke Inc excited me a lot since it was so unexpected to me. The premise, that being Slade and Black Canary hunting super villains for a mysterious organization was nothing short of perfect. I'm still waiting for that comic.

My first issue is how Slade doesn't feel like the protagonist, Black Canary feels more like the focus and Slade is just a side character really for the most of it, and a boring one at that. This isn't the first time the two worked together, years ago back in Birds of Prey the dynamic between the two was established. But since that was Black Canary's book it made sense for Slade to be just a side character. Slade doesn't really do anything "cool" until the very end of the book, and there is a lack of weight when he does. He becomes "the King of Supervillains" so easily, it does not feel earned. The part about hunting super villains isn't put to good use, it's as if the comic had no real interest in it and only existed as a prelude to an upcoming event. It even does the classic and hated "oh these two characters are going to fight, except, not really" sometimes. And of course, the "oh this character died, ops, he's back!". Can we ban these cliches from comics books already?

It has it's moments, don't get me wrong. It gets the job done, some parts are fun to read, this isn't a horrible comic by any means, but it could have been so much more. I look at the pages and I see good ideas that deserved more time. I see characters that need more development. I see potential, wasted because DC wanted to do a big event.