When Batman discovers a mysterious package containing DNA test results proving that he is not Damian Wayne’s biological father, the Dark Knight sets his sights on his son’s true father-Deathstroke! But Damian Wayne can’t really be Slade Wilson’s son-can he? And who sent the package-and why? The ultimate custody battle ensues as the World’s Greatest Detective and the World’s Deadliest Assassin clash in this instant classic!

It’s always noteworthy when Deathstroke and Batman cross paths, it’s a special event when the writer is master scribe Christopher Priest.

In Deathstroke #30, the first issue of this six part arc, Priest uses a Venn diagram with genius effect, breaking the characters down he’s able to intertwine their worlds by connecting then through their aides de camp, the relationships with their son’s and past histories with Talia Al Ghul.

The art team of Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, and Jeromy Cox take Priest’s hot script and turn in slick art filled with action and cool shots of the two badasses going at it. And as nice as the action is, I really enjoyed the moody Batman doing his detective scenes the most.

My one criticism of this issue is it felt more like a Bat book, which makes me wonder why he hasn’t written one of the main Bat titles before. All in all a great start to a great read, buy it, I’ll be adding it to my pull list.

Story: Christopher Priest Art: Carlo Pagulayan
Inks: Jason Paz Color: Jeromy Cox Letterer: Willie Schubert
Cover: Lee Weeks & Brad Anderson
Group Editor: Brian Cunningham Editor: Alex Antone Assistant Editor: Dave Wielgosz

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review