Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Parker
Art: Stefano Raffaele
Colors: Tony Avina
Letterer: Deron Bennett
What They Say:
Everything’s going their way, but can this team keep their act together?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Getting this incarnation of the Squad into motion the last time around. Jeff Parker got to have a lot of fun with this group as they went to save Scandal and Knockout from what the remains of Vandal’s vast criminal empire wants from Scandal. It was fun and full of action, which the book needed, but it’s in this installment that the humor moves up a few notches and clicks even better. It also works well with Stefano Raffaele on the art duties this time as they get to work with some fun character moments and big set pieces when you get down to it. How often do you get to play with a giant and a helicopter on a boat, after all?
While the fight did get underway fairly well when you get down to it the last time around, even with the invading pirate force on the hospital ship in the mix, this one shows just how quickly it can go bad. Part of it is that Polaris, in his efforts to find Scandal inside the ship, comes across a big pile o’ pills that essentially puts him in a happy place instead of keeping guns from working. That turns the rest of the mission into a bit of a mess, though a bloody bloodless one. Captain Boomerang’s aluminum boomerangs work pretty well with the heads they slice off and we see how the sharks are getting some tasty meals and our resident coyote type villain is slicing and dicing as well. There’s hints of progress that allows for Waller to get a bit of a dialogue going with Scandal, including informing her of her father’s demise.
Where things go very bad is when the pirate group brings out Zuel to go up against the Squad, which reveals herself to be Giganta. She’s always a fun character in the right hands and Jeff Parker just runs with it as she stomps on Miss Clay, tosses Bane around, and other little fun bits with just the right kind of humor. That’s done up even more by Harley as she’s trying to take her out physically while spouting her puns all while giving commentary to Waller about what’s happening. It’s a lot of fun to watch unfold because it’s pure classic comic goodness at that point (I dislike the head slicing bit, but it is the Squad) as we get big and fun action pieces tied with puns and other comical bits that just reminds me of my younger reading days of comics.
In Summary:
While the plot per se doesn’t really advance with this installment, Suicide Squad moves the action forward and that’s the book’s advantage. There are a lot of fun scenes to be had here as the two sides go at it all while Waller tries to reassure Scandal – mid-action – that she’s looking out for her based on past interactions. It’s fun and has a good flow to it with the script while Stefano Raffaele keeps it light in all the right ways with comical expressions as needed and a kind of surreal feeling with some of what Giganta gets accomplished across it. It’s definitely a fun part of the larger story and it feels necessary after the first fairly serious three issues.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: April 11th, 2018
MSRP: $0.99
