When I realized this book had no Gail Simone, no Nicola Scott, and no team I went into it with fairly low expectations. Ostrander and Calafiore are talented people, but it can be tough to jump into and out of characters in single issue bites.
Maybe it was because my expectations were so low, but I really enjoyed it. I got a serious Deadshot as Jules from Pulp Fiction. A hired killer who is trying real hard to not simply descend into being a psychopathic murderer. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men." There are two flashback scenes, Deadshot coming home to his old house filled with gangbangers and Deadshot crashing a Wayne party where his parents are in attendence. Both give really nice insight into the character, showing his ruthlessness, skill, and the demons that haunt him. Also clearly established a strong connection between Deadshot, Bruce Wayne and Batman, something with which I was unfamiliar. It could certainly be new.
My only major complaint about the issue was the clumsy use of a priest figure to frame the flashbacks and (over)explain to Deadshot how Batman's disappearance is affecting him. Not sure I buy the explanation, but even if I did I was not thrilled to have a practically omniscient character lay it all out like that. Still, Deadshot seems to have some surprising depths and this issue explored them while still giving us the kind of ruthless anti-hero action we want from a Secret Six comic. The Calafiore art was really good as well. Not quite Nicola Scott, but a similar style. Very solid layouts.
Finally, if I can nitpick (and I wouldn't be a comic fan if I didn't), it really annoyed me that there were back to back typo/grammatical errors in this issue. As Lawton meets his parents he says "You loathes one another". I could almost write that off as an odd speech affectation, but then the very next talk bubble they drop a word (probably "know") saying "They still don't how you tried". Where is the proof reading people? Surely you have college educated interns who do this for free kicking around? Or your mom? Someone?
Story: 4 - Very Good
Art: 4 - Very Good
