Flashpoint: Deathstroke and the Curse of Ravager #2

Jimmy Palmiotti, Joe Bennett, and Tony Shasteen

"Red Tide:" Deathstroke the Terminator, Slade Wilson, is one of the deadliest assassins alive and in the world of Flashpoint he is not much different. Now captaining a ship manned by other supervillains, Slade searches the seas around the sunken continent of Europe, while searching for his daughter.When we last left Slade, he had just defeated Warlord's main vessel, but before he could fully pillage the other ship, Aquaman and Ocean Master arrive and the Atlantean king stabs Slade through the chest.

Summary: The Atlanteans begin slaughtering the crew, beginning with Machiste who is quickly decapitated. The Tattooed Man is quickly eviscerated by Ocean Master as Aquaman punches a hole through the Scavenger's head. 5 pages in and we are rivaling Grodd of War for violence condensing. Clayface is tackled by Aquaman into the ocean and the villain is pushed down so far into the water, that his eyes pop out and he begins to dissapate... but then again, that guy's near impossible to kill so maybe he'll come back. Icicle is knocked into the Slade's quarters, and survives, but releases the glass encased girl they lifted last issue. Aquaman returns to the ship and calls his brother to go... that there is nothing on this ship, just scraps. Slade tries to shoot Aquaman but passes out before he can get the shot. We cut over to Warlord on a hip who has gotten word that Slade's ship is still in his waters, so he heads out for revenge. Slade wakes up from the Eel shaking him and just repeats his daughter's name over and over. Icicle wakes up near the captive Sonar who Icicle agrees to rescue. The two climb up to the main cabin, where Eel is trying to revive Slade, acting as a defibrillator. Sonar agrees to help Slade heal and gets ome metal shrapnel out of the assassin if Sonar can be second in command and is no longer a prisoner, to which Slade happily goes along with. Slade gets healed up and he and Sonar discuss whether or not to dive down into the Louvre beneath them or to get out before Aquaman comes back. In the end, they honor the fallen crew members and start heading out. They don't get too far before Warlord fires a cannon and barely misses the ship. Warlord and his fleet ask them to surrender or die, which Slade responds with shooting Warlord through the eye. Before either side can get another shot off, Warlord's ship explodes, followed by the other two. Turning around, they see the girl from the containment unit, Jenny Blitz, who apparently can blow things up with her mind. Due to this startling revelation, she decides she should be captain now.
Highs: Lots of violence without being too over the top. Writing is not bad. Plus, Pirate Deathstroke is an awesome idea.
Lows: The art is shakey in places where it should be really simple, and I'd like to see the story advance more than it is.
Verdict: A-. Again, a great Flashpoint title that doesn't seem tethered to the main series very much... which is pretty awesome. James, we haven't really heard from you in a while. What are your thoughts on Pirate Deathstroke?