Deathstroke #9-10 is a change of pace story consisting of four vignettes, titled “Four Rooms,” which introduces the venerable Dr. Arthur Villain to the series who has a yet-to-be-revealed relationship with Slade and ends up bonding, in a sense, with Jericho. Rose travels to Vietnam to learn more about her Hmong heritage from her mother’s family, and, while held in SuperMax (Colorado federal prison), Slade regales his interviewer with a pre-Deathstroke story from his past.

Guest artist Cary Nord really hits this thing out of the park with elegant Russ Heath-meets-David Mazzucheli brushwork as he effortlessly handles the driving heat of Vietnamese hill country or Minneapolis metropolitan snow, military hardware to classic weaponry and everything in between. This is really lovely stuff and a story that sets the stage for dramatic new turns for the Wilson family.