The pieces are in motion but not firing quite as planned.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Parker
Art: Matthew Dow Smith
Colors: Tony Avina
Letterer: Deron Bennett
What They Say:
Back on dry land, Deadshot returns to Waller’s service.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Hell to Pay series has been an interesting read as it’s worked in a kind of unconventional way. The first two installments were almost standalone in their nature and then Jeff Parker gave us a trio of issues focusing on a mission to a hospital ship that Scandal had taken over. This gave us a lot of fun action and creativity for the artists to deal with. This issue has a few different things in motion, which is good for Matthew Dow Smith as he gets to play with some fun parts of the DC Universe, but it’s still keeping the reader a bit on the outside with what the goal is here for Waller. Not that she doesn’t have her issues to deal with by the end of the book, which is a nice change of pace for the tough character.
Parker hasn’t had a chance to dig into Deadshot until now but it works nicely as we get him doing a hit on some national leader for a client that paid up front and big, which is proper. He’s doing recordings while on the job for his daughter and I like how he handles it all as though she’s likely to take on the family mantle someday upon learning the full truth. The job itself is fairly straightforward but I like the methodical aspect of it with some tinges of pride toward his daughter mixed in. Of course, as good as the job goes he doesn’t quite get what he wanted as it turns out he didn’t handle things to full specification and had the money rescinded. Which is a big deal in itself but discovering that the job was from Waller and part of a larger play she’s making? Yeah, he screwed up and has little recourse, which is fun to watch.
What Waller is up to is still a mystery but having her back in New Orleans with the team trying to reconnect with Blood and Xanadu had me hopeful until it turned out they had booked it to Boston. THere’s a nice bit of action in the mix with a werewolf clan that tussles with the Squad a bit, not that they do much good or come away alive, but it plays well and was hilarious just to see Polaris off hunting up some good medication. The more intriguing part is that we get some teases from Blood about what he knows but it shifts gears to the Spectre taking over and making it clear to Waller that she has much to fear from him. For a character that never shows fear or weakness, seeing how his visit impacts her is definitely striking and really works well as the installment ends with the visual design.
In Summary:
While it may not feel quite as focused as it’s touching on a few areas, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay works a transitional installment here as it moves from one part of Waller’s larger mission to another. It has some really fun moments and it lets Parker and Dow Smith play with Deadshot for a bit in a way that feels completely in-character with this interpretation of it. I like Dow Smith’s artwork from some other recent things I’ve seen of his and the rougher side definitely works here to set the right tone for the French Quarter. I’m still intrigued but wish it had just a bit more meat on its bones.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: April 25th, 2018
MSRP: $0.99