| Title | : | Suicide Squad, Volume 1: Trial By Fire |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1401230059 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781401230050 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 229 |
| Publication | : | First published December 1, 1987 |
Collecting: Suicide Squad 1-8. Secret Origins 14
Suicide Squad, Volume 1: Trial By Fire Reviews
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This one got somewhat of an unexpected response from me, sort of like the times in the car when I’m driving and my son will hand me a chip or puffy snack thingy and it’s…
“Tastes good, huh, Dad!”
If you like chewing on a salty piece of hot coal, then yes, I thought.
After I recover the power of speech and wipe away the sweat and tears, “Pass me the water.”
“Sure.”
There’s a drop left.
So, this book was a surprise. In a good way. Sometimes I’ll take an older comic book collection out of the library, because: a) I’m jaded and a smug ass and I want something to make fun of; b) I’m older and I’m bursting with nostalgia and want to recapture those days of crunchy, yet fun comics; c) My library won’t order Vampirella.
For some weird reason, someone at my library branch has ordered the entire run of John Ostrander’s Suicide Squad. This volume includes the evolution of Suicide Squad/Task Force X from the days they kicked Hitler’s army of Nazi dinosaurs (or Nazi robots) (or Nazi dinosaur robots) (or Nazi somethings) asses as well as Rick Flag and his daddy, Mr. Flag’s involvement with the group.
This one is a period piece of sorts – tying into late ‘80’s politics…
(Paging Ollie North)
…including going up against the Commie hordes wherever and whenever they may threaten Mr. and Mrs. Joe Front Porch Apple Pie Eating America.
Evil, liberty-threatening Canadian Commie bastards!!!
Sadly, storylines dealing with hate are timeless…
Ostrander does try to give Amanda Waller’s anger and righteousness some basis in her past, instead of just having her come across as some callous, order-spewing shrew as she has been portrayed.
So Flag with some help, leads his version of the Suicide Squad…
With the usual time off your prison sentence if you play ball, your arm (as opposed to your noggin) gets blown off if you don’t.
Your days of being a concert pianist are now a thing of the past, mook, whose name I’ve forgotten.
Readers of the latter day run, will recognize Deadshot (who, here, likes his emotionally detached hookers) and Boomerang. Boomerang’s the team’s racist, sexist and sneaky, crafty a$$hole, who employs some weird Australian slang.
In the modern version, he’s cheeky and kind of fun to have around. Here, like just crikey(!) and throw a shrimp on the Barbie, mate, you hope he sits on one of his exploding boomerangs.
Ostrander integrates the subplots fairly well and there’s a bunch of ‘em. One of my favorites is counting down the time when June Moon finally blows her top and the increasingly less cooperative The Enchantress takes over (I’ll get you, my pretties…). For good. Because Evil -> Hot -> Good times for everyone.
What the hell is with the green (?) Halloween witches hat?
Ostrander isn’t afraid to knock off some characters either.
Bonus points for that.
The BIG fan boy question.
Jeff, why isn’t Harley Quinn in this?
Harley Quinn was produced from a fevered Paul Diniwetdream for the DC Animated Universe a few years later, so, no Harley.
Bottom Line: So, no Harley, but some strong writing and efficient art goes a long way to making this a book of interest. Ostrander tried to distance himself from the “comics are just for kids mentality” with some bleak, less-than-super heroics and adult-ish storytelling.
The next volume: Bats checks out the shady goings on of the Squad and the Suicide Kids mix it up with The Doom Patrol and the Justice League. Also, Squaders drop like hotcakes, so we’re gonna need a whole bunch more Squaders. -
The surprising thing about this for me is that ‘Suicide Squad’ is just the team’s nickname. Officially, it’s supposed to be known as Task Force X. So this has obviously had to be put out by DC in the days before Marvel apparently got a copyright on the letter X.
I didn’t read this back in my ‘80s teenage comic book nerd days, but I’ve heard good things about this run by Ostrander for a while. James Gunn saying he was using this version as his template for the new movie was enough to finally put some on hold at the library, and I’m glad I did.
There’s a lot of fun to be had with the idea of the government using a bunch second tier super villains as disposable operatives in the DC universe. Sending this motley crew to wipe out a super terror cell or rescue a political prisoner in the Soviet Union has that realistic in a comic book sort of way mentality that I enjoyed in the better stuff of this era.
And that outfit that Captain Boomerang is wearing is something else! -
The early Suicide Squad stories from the 80s are a mixed bag. Some issues are really good, and especially as the series progressed. In fact, one of my favourite illustrated stories ever is from this 80s run, namely
Suicide Squad #26 in which Rick Flag, well, um. But I’m getting ahead of myself – this specific volume only deals with issues #1-#8. One can only hope that these collections continue to be printed and that it will eventually lead to the coveted story above. Interestingly though, the events that come to a head in issue #26 are actually put into action right here, in this collection.
But back to the review: in essence these are second rate villains dealing with villains unworthy of even being called second rate. William Hell? Really? I suppose Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Amanda Waller, and perhaps Bronze Tiger, are the only names that might ring a bell to non-hardened DC purveyors. Deadshot even has one or two limited series’ to his name, and Ms Waller has a finger in just about every pie in the extended DC Universe. And yet, these are often the characters that I’ve enjoyed reading most over the years. Superman and Batman has become so commercialized it’s to cry for.
The 80s art is cool and some of the stories carry themselves well, but then again some others don’t. Like I already mentioned: mixed bag. Of the motley crew, I probably like Rick Flag and Deadshot the most, while Captain Boomerang’s dialogue makes for some interesting reading. All in all, it has an enormous amount of nostalgic potential, so if you’re reading this to be transported to a place and time where everything was just fricking cooler (just remember, it’s really only your mind playing tricks on you) then this will be right up your alley. I could practically hear the school bells ring and smell my mom’s cooking while I was reading this. Also, there’s a fair bit of focus on the relationships between the characters and on the drama and intrigue that stems from this.
It’s edgier than some of the other retro stuff out there (characters are actually killed off), but DC’s New Format line for mature readers (read: Vertigo) was looming just around the corner, and it’s not quite at that level (yet) in terms of violence, gratuity et al.
Should you be reading this? Well, there is a film in the making and in my personal experience the older stuff is always better. Or, if you prefer, you can probably go with the New 52 Suicide Squad (which, at the time of writing I haven’t read yet). I would certainly recommend this to readers who read the illustrated medium in the 80s, since it will certainly take you back.
One Last Easter Egg
Mark Shaw makes an appearance towards the end of this collection, as some random dude called The Privateer. He was much more interesting as Manhunter, but I’m at a bit of a loss when it comes to continuity. Was that before or after this? And speaking of Mark Shaw as Manhunter, I wouldn’t mind a bit if DC were to collect that run from the 80s, I remember it fondly especially the “Turf” issue (
Manhunter #17 – Ed).
So now, a rating. And how to go about it?
For the nostalgia attached to this series: 4
For the stories, some are really good, but at this stage the series was still finding its feet (there is better to come): 3 -
It's amazing how much this book is still relevant today. The first story is a secret origin and is so-so. However, the first issue of the actual Suicide Squad could have been written today. The squad is sent in to take out a super-powered terrorist group entitled Jihad. I was shocked how much this parallels today when Jihad takes out an airport. The squad is a mixed bag of soldiers and degenerates like Captain Boomerang. This makes them quite dysfunctional and supplies a lot of drama. This version blows away the New 52 Suicide Squad.
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This was okay. I got kind of bored half way through. Ostrander can be great writer. Loved his Spectre, but this didn't do much for me. Some funny moments, cool political commentary too but the art wasn't really for me and the dialogue could go on, and on, and on...So overall just decent.
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Minha introdução ao Esquadrão Suicida, infelizmente, foi, através dos Novos 52, por isso nunca gostei muito das histórias do grupo. Contudo, sempre ouvi falarem muito bem da fase John Ostrander, mas eu era muito novo para ter acompanhado quando saiu no Brasil. Com esse encadernado da Panini pude conhecê-las, só não sabia que era tão boa assim. Certamente um dos melhores títulos de "super-heróis" que li nesse ano. Ostrander desenvolve uma dinâmica extremamente interessenta entre os personagens que escolheu para trabalhar, utilizando de maneira cirúrgica e magistral as habilidades de cada um. Presta uma homenagem ao Esquadrão Suicida original, usa com sagacidade intrigas internacionais e as artimanhas que envolvem toda essa mitologia de agentes secretos. Mais que isso, ele põe o dedo na ferida da política internacional, da politica doméstica dos Estados Unidos e na história de Guilherme Hell, assustadoramente atual, mostra como falsos heróis políticos são construídos através de discursos de ódio. A arte de Luke McDowell é competente, mas o que segura mesmo a publicação é o roteiro de Ostrander. Gostei demais dessa edição e já quero a continuação!
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Wow this was really good, I’m really surprised this was written in the 80s it feels like a modern comic (aside from the boring secret origins issue). Suicide Squad has always been one of my favorite DC franchises, the concept of a cover ops team that uses inmates super villains to mark down their sentence is brilliant. Ostrander works this concept very well, he does a good job at throwing in politics with this series which is something the newer Suicide Squad books don’t really do. I found the all characters in here very endearing in some way aside from Captain Boomerang. Amanda Waller is a stand out character, her origin is very grounded and Ostrander does a great job making her a strong character. She uses the pain in her life to try to do good so people will never have to go what she went through. She��s strong and ruthless at times, she’s a lot different from the average female character that we see in superhero comics. She’s sort of DC’s equivalent to Nick Fury except she has a more interesting backstory (at least in my eyes).
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To start with, this is an incredible artifact of the '80s. I particularly love the intricate history detailed in the issue of Secret Origins, which shows how carefully the DC editors polished the backstory of the post-Crisis universe before releasing it to the public — something that modern DC could have learned from, as their nu52 history was changing on a weekly basis post-reboot. But, beyond that, you have bright colorful artwork, laughable rogues, occasional footnotes, and a grimdark that is so far from the modern idea of grimdark that it's almost unrecognizable (and a lot more fun!).
There are also some great stories here, all tightly compressed, unlike the meandering stories of the modern-day. The Jihad story (1-2) immediately sets out to characterize long-time characters like Boomer and Deadshot, while also offering a tense story. The Darkseid story (3) offers great connections to Legends, and thus the early post-Crisis universe. The Heller story (4) shows off the social conscience of these early stories. The Russian arc (5-7) offers a great look at the Cold War, but also at the Pyrrhic victories that were so common for the Squad, and which made for such great stories. Finally, the final story (8) is just character. Wow!
And the real heart of all the Suicide Squad stories is that character. Years before the Secret Six or Superior Foes, Ostrander does a great job of turning these villains into characters that you love ... no matter how much you despise them.
As a whole, Suicide Squad rocked because it was so unlike anything else in comics at the time. Even today, it's deeply characterized and surprising for the medium. This first volume is definite 5-star material, because it hit the ground running.
Now if DC will just stick with these reprints THIS time. Unfortunately their record is pretty bad; I wouldn't have picked up vol 1 if vol 2 weren't already on their schedule for 2016. Fortunately, the movie will probably keep them honest! -
I remember reading the original issues of this series back in the early '90s, courtesy a friend who owned the entire run. Some 20 years later? I was surprised by how much fun the comic still was.
It's such an easy concept (convicted super-villains go on black ops missions for the government in exchange for reduced or commuted sentences) that it's surprising that it's never been revived successfully, or that the option for a television series went nowhere.
This first volume has a lot of setup for stories to come—John Ostrander clearly had faith it would be around for a while—but does so while keeping the book brisk and entertaining. His usage of old, forgotten characters from DC Comics is great because they're virtually blank slates, and while he presents enough information to catch new readers up, he can then do whatever he wants with them.
And of course, the rotation of second-string members of the Squad (depending on who is needed for a mission) and the constant threat of death and/or capture keeps things unpredictable, but never feels gimmicky. It adds an extra level of thrill to the series, and over the years Ostrander certainly proves that no one is safe.
I'm delighted a second collection is already on the schedule, because this is a series too good to be confined to back issue bins. -
The story bored me to sleep, but I liked the characters individually and the characterization.
At least, I can safely say that I know all of Rick Flag's backstory and certain traits of some of the Squad's members. -
Suckered again by War Rocket Ajax' rose-coloured memories of old comic books. That. Don't. Age. Well.
Amanda Waller chewing out Ronald Reagan about missing social programs. Life lessons about drugs and gang violence in the 'hood. Pretty terrible "secret origin" story for this team, but pretty much stock from the 80's.
The first outing is much better. Clear setup and go - classic premise: go do this dangerous mission or you die (and for some, *and*). I've read the New 52 Suicide Squad (with Harley Quinn), and it seems like this formula has stuck for a good long time. Maybe it's something plucked from the collective unconscious. Maybe it's just a cheap gimmick. Works well enough to make for a compelling story though - hell, didn't they do this in Predator?
Second dust-up with Darkseid's Furies, including one ridiculously named Stompa. Who stomps. Every time she kicks something, we see a great giant STOMP sound effect. In case you didn't grok the subtle origins of her code name.
Unfortunately, after the first mission, the stories get a little too tidy and done-in-one. Other than the "drama" of Waller's methods or the stresses among the Squad, everything just closes up at the end of each story. As much as I'm supposed to enjoy short stories like this (the backlash against long arcs notwithstanding), I just don't feel it here.
Maybe it's the naive morality tales - killers proclaiming democracy, or "court of public opinion" or whatever "we got 'em this time" cake they're feeding us. "We'll fight the battles as they come. One by one. It's the best any of us can do."
Is *this* what people say is the best SS stories? Ostrander just trotting out the cliches, in between some 'edgy' scenes of near-bloodless violence? I guess this was bleeding edge in the 80's, but as with most stories from then, it ain't holding up.
The basic plots are good enough for a weekly TV show - escaping Russians, infighting, plans that go sideways as soon as they're executed - and perhaps they were actually fresh/new in the 80's - but they feel pretty stock-standard right now. I feel like I'm watching one of the *better* episodes of Scorpion or Hawaii Five-O (the remake) or even a bad TV adaptation of The Losers or Red.
For some reason, the Penguin gets involved in these missions, and it's a trip to see how they portrayed him as an ineffectual semi-smart guy who still talks with the "waug waug waug" Burgess Meredith method acting. Was he really that much of a buffoon across DC back then? I much prefer the ruthless and unpredictably dangerous character we have now.
Then: oh. My. Western Idiotic Gods. What kind of 80's Commie-Russian stereotypes are these? Hammer & Sickle (complete with trademark weapons), a fat dude in Cossack-hat-and-beard named Molotov? Man but sometimes comics are unimaginative in their fictional universes.
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Suicide Squad:Trial By Fire collects Issues 1-9 of the 1st volume of the SS. The Suicide Squad has become more popular in recent times with their own movie, but this is a look at the original Squad. Some will see similarities in the plot and that is to be expected.
The Suicide Squad is formed by Amanda Waller and officially known as Task Force X. It is made up of criminals who do work for the US government in return for getting their sentences reduced. If they are caught or killed, they are deniable assets. Some of the members will be familiar from Deadshot to Col Flagg and Enchantress. The rest of the Squad is made up of B and C list villains who are there to get killed in the plot.
This first volume starts with the founding of the Squad and then they run a variety of missions. This was a series that started in the late 80s and the stories and art show their age.Some of the stories are quite good, others not so much. For its time it was a more gritty comic than the other 80's fluff out there-characters actually do die in the Suicide Squad, but generally it's left to very C list characters. The artwork is the typical 80's work that just does not stand the test of time well, though some of the covers were extremely well done.
All in all it was an interesting read, but the slightly cheesy writing and the dated artwork really dampened my enthusiasm for this book. Still it is a nice blast from the past and a great way to get familiar with the Suicide Squad before moving on the the newer versions of the Squad. -
Viejo título de culto relanzado en su época con un gancho más superheroico, donde un grupo de villanos trabaja confidencialmente para el gobierno rebajando así sus condenas. A la atractiva premisa se suman los buenos guiones de Ostrander, empapados por la Guerra Fría y logrados en lo coral. Lectura reconfortante, más allá del amargo período recogido.
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Consider the Reagan era of international politics. A decadent Soviet Union, CIA ops still running wild all over the world, and odd Middle-East oligarchs demanding favors. This is all an excuse for cynical laughter in Giffen and DeMatteis' JLI, which pretends to be naive enough to believe in US-led United Nations policing, while cracking a few jokes every now and then. The humor in Suicide Squad exists as a nervous break, and mostly as a wink to the reader, who recognizes some of these oddball characters from the background of DCU comics.
As expendable soldiers, the Suicide Squad could only be led by the volcanic Amanda Waller, who embodies a Jack Kirby motto, "anger will save your life". Of course she's as much a shrink case as her freak operatives, because she's the one who has to juggle with the distorted internal affairs of the day. For instance [spoiler], when a Central City vigilante turns out to be recruiting felons for a supremacist organization, Waller is asked to dirty his image, rather than take him down. Even doing good is too complicated in this series. However, much like its lighter counterpart, Justice League International, SS's nuanced version of global action actually serves to ridicule a diplomacy of balanced interests; only loose cannons that don't serve any flag can come to realize this.
Luke McDonnell's art is quite uneven, though SS is probably his best known piece of work. What happens is his storytelling techniques fail him in some key moments of the story (like the Female Furies finale), and then, when you're distracted, he puts in something truly cinematic (the driver-Black Orchid reveal, or the whole Russian winter sequence). Nevertheless, it's now rare to find an all-action superhero comic that doesn't use two-page spreads for all-out brawls, or closeups for witty dialogue. There's a true attention to detail that shouldn't be ignored here, and by the way, look out for the moody colors, including the soft tint of rosy to lilac tones, which makes everything a little more feverish. A comic of having-your-hands-tied-all-of-the-time, which is perhaps best represented by the character Enchantress, an old-school witch double, somewhere between the Hulk and the Negative Man, who grows in sadistic desire as much as it is kept locked up. As long as I remember, I haven't seen the prison genre in superhero comics, but there's an outline here somewhere, and it has nothing to do with 'Arkham Asylum' or the G. Johns 'Iron Heights'. -
Not that I have any interest in the film (which looks like another tragic, confused DC attempt to ape other, better superhero films), but this opening to the title's definitive eighties run ain't bad at all. Yes, in places it's stilted and over-reliant on lengthy thought bubble narration, especially compared to contemporaneous comics such as JLI, and the topical references sometimes clunk. But the damaged leads, the tensions between them, the impossible situations they're throw into...it sucked when superhero books in general got hooked on this darkness, but seeing its early, appropriate deployment is still a thrill, whether that's the sheer psychopathy of Captain Boomerang or Deadshot's affectless PTSD. And along the way it keeps predicting other odd little bits of pop culture, from magic addiction in Buffy to the ending of Titanic. Hell, with a passing reference to the Keene Act, it even anticipates the current merger of Watchmen with the DCU, albeit minus the utter sulky shitness Geoff Johns brought.
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Nice if somewhat offbeat comic series about a group of villains turned into anti-heroes. Not bad stories overall. Recommended to old DC comic fans
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The art in this book is exceptional, with Luke McDonnell and others really exploring the variety of DC characters available, their cosmic powers and fight sequences, etc. A definite joy to look at.
The concept is also pretty strong. Kind of like the David Ayer "Suicide Squad" film, but with a bigger cast of DC villains going on adventures, and with more depth of potential villains to fight.
But unfortunately, the writing and execution, while never completely terrible, seems kind of muddled and often uninspired in a disappointing way. It seems like on of the core tenets of the group's thing, the government supervising the villain team, overwhelms the stories and makes them more procedural, slow, and ultimately forgettable than necessary.
Their introduction and sort of "pre-debut" in "Secret Origins #14" is maybe the most successful issue in the collection, even though its' a crazy mishmash of ideas. Basically, in war times there was a "suicide squad" because there were soldiers who went on dangerous/suicide missions, and this somehow leads into using DC super villains, framed with Amanda Waller talking to Ronald Reagan.
It doesn't make a lot of sense, but you spend the issue wondering what is happening to those involved and how it leads to the present day squad, so it's successful by being kind of overly complicated.
But I feel like this mix of US Military and DC Super villains creates a muddled storytelling that taints partially the following issues.
"Suicide Squad #1" has ingredients that seem to imply success. The debut of the villains-as-heroes-squad, plus some pretty cool bad guys in the Jihad, a terrorist villain group with a lot of explosive and laser based powers.
But instead of having the implied fight/adventure, the entire issue involves speeches to the Suicide Squad inside headquarters, or briefings about the mission. 2o pages, and there's no battle until issue #2. What a cheat, maybe the worst issue of the bunch, not an awesome debut.
The rest of the issues fall into this boat. There's some interesting ideas, some ok characters and action, but there's either a dependence on military strategy talks or an attempt to shoehorn character strife by having overly melodramatic and arguably inauthentic character whining or forced team in-fighting.
All of those elements can be great aspects of a script, but these things get repetitious quickly and feel like they don't build towards things in the actual stories.
Just bland cynicism.
"Suicide Squad #8" at least tries to be a different kind of story, talking about what happens to characters behind the scenes of their military missions. Nothing too disagreeable, but a lot of the emotional decisions are inauthentic/crazy, and a lot of characters who should be teammates (at least, if not friends) punching each other for little or no reason, just to make characters and the reader feel bad.
It seems like emotion filtered through the prism of 80's action movies, and it's as uncomfortable and dumb as that sounds. To be fair, there's a basic curiosity/hope that things get better for characters, but it could've been so much better.
I rate this book 3/5 despite its shortcomings on account of strong artwork, and the basic premise at least being promising to wonder where it could lead and what will happen to the characters. I sometimes feel like I care more than John Ostrander's writing does. -
Suicide Squad Volume 1: Trial By Fire by John Ostrander and Kim Yale is 80's action Suicide Squad more influenced by the 80's TV show the A-Team then anything else. I wanted to read this in anticipation for the movie coming out that will have lots of obscure characters from the series, and I thought the 80's Suicide Squad would be a good place to look. I got to learn a lot of the history of the squad originally called Suicide Squadron during World War II. I found out that The Penguin was briefly a member. The main members are Deadshot, Enchantress, Captain Boomerang, Bronze Tiger, Nightshade, and lead by Randall Flagg commanded by Amanda Waller. Suicide Squad Volume 1: Trial By Fire collects Secret Origins 14 and Suicide Squad issues 1-8.
The Plot: We get a brief but through history of how the Suicide Squad was created, starting in World War II when it was called the Suicide Squadron and ran by Randall Flagg's father, it wasn't about super heroes, just extreme impossible missions. Different versions of the Squad were used in Vietnam and Korea. Amanda Waller is calling for a new Suicide Squad that is Super Villain based, using criminals on the missions, since they're expendable. There first mission is stopping a terrorist organization called the Jihad. The next is against a super hero that only arrest people of color and is a member of the Aryan brotherhood. A three part issue of the Squad rescuing a Russian political figure, featuring the Penguin as a member of the Squad.
What I Liked: Captain Boomerang really stick out, his character doesn't want to stop being a criminal, he's just looking for something to do. He is the most ruthless killing members of the Squad he does not like on missions. Deadshot is another favorite who does what he wants and has his own kind of vengeance. I liked some of the political issue it touched on especially race and equality, this does in with Amanda Waller backstory. On the topic of the naming of the title Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller says it's got a past and they have a past, they will love with it. There's some pretty good fight scenes. There's a great moment with Captain Boomerang fighting a speedster, where he throws him off a building, and says like the Flash you'll run up the wall to save yourself. Then we see a splat.
What I Disliked: The drawing of Deadshot and Enchantress. Enchanted has the worst costume ever, Deadshot looks in his fifties, too old. The dialogue is so stale, except for Captain Boomerang. It is good she they are fighting supervillains but not regular soldiers.
Recommendation: if you're a fan of the current Suicide Squad then you can skip this and won't get too much out of it. The comic has its moments 50% worth it and 50% not worth it. I bought this graphic novel in a bargain bin for 3.50 and feel it was worth it for that. I was introduced to a couple of new characters, only one I didn't know of previously. I rated Suicide Squad Volume 1: Trial By Fire 2 out of 5 stars. -
Suicide Squad was one of the first new series, in 1987, of post-Crisis on Infinite Earths (in fact, it was introduced during the Legends mini-series that re-established how the rebooted DCU was going to work). It was and remains a fascinating book, including (as it does) regular cast turnover (in a body bag) and protagonists who are all either villains or folks trying to ride herd on them. It revitalized some secondary DCU characters like Deadshot, Capt Boomerang, the Enchantress, Rick Flagg (and, later its history, Vixen), while introducing one character who continues to have an impact on the DCU, the indefatigable Amanda Waller.
The premise, for those who never read the title, is a series of villains offered "time served" deals for working on "suicide" missions for Waller and the US Government -- missions with plausible deniability and, if there were necessary casualties, nobody's be shedding a tear.
(Interestingly, Marvel's been doing something very similar in the past few years with its Thunderbolts series.)
While not a brand new concept (see "The Dirty Dozen"), it was a relatively new one for the comic book world, and the examination of what motivated the bad guys -- from Boomer's avarice, to Deadshot's death wish, to Enchantress' mania -- was interesting and entertaining.
This is the first TPB of the series, with issues 1-8, plus a Secret Origins piece. There's a bit too much heavy-handed origin telling (the Wall comes across as pedestrian, Flagg as a cliche), but after the first few issues, the action heats up.
Still quite readable 24 years later ... I will most likely pick up the next issue. -
I've been wanting to read this for ages - pretty much ever since I discovered Secret Six. Unfortunately, the series had never been collected until this February, and the single issues proved too difficult and expensive to get. But either way, the wait was worth it.
The series does show its age, yes, but it's still a very good read. Taskforce X or the Suicide Squad consists of a group of criminals who get the chance of an early pardon in exchange for some covert ops work. The head of Taskforce X is Amanda Waller, one of the most awesome female characters there is in the DC, I'm sure. She's tough - there's a reason she's also known as The Wall - but she's also sensible, something that can't always be said for people in her position.
The missions of the Suicide Squad do both seem a bit dated and at the same time not - first, they're battling a terrorist group called the Jihad and then they're off to Russia to free a political prisoner. It's interesting, definitely, but in the end I didn't read it for the missions, I read it for the characters. Amanda Waller, Tom Tresser and Deadshot, to be precise - and mostly Deadshot, if I'm honest. In that regard, it was a very rewarding read, although Deadshot is a difficult character to get a handle on.
If you like books about people who are by no means heroes but also not exactly villains, this may be a book for you. I hope there remaining 58 issue will end up being collected, too. -
Heck yeah! Having seen the Suicide Squad on Arrow and the various appearances several of the characters had made on animated DC shows, I am finally checking out the original source material. This is a killer series, a sort of "Dirty Dozen" for DC Comics. For a more contemporary comparison, remember when Warren Ellis revamped the Thunderbolts over at Marvel so that - instead of repentant villains who wanted to be heroes - they were now career psychopaths, forced to do heroic missions under threat of death for disobedience, led by the ruthless Norman Osborn? Well, that was a naked attempt to make them more like the Suicide Squad.
Not only is this idea great, and the characters excellent (Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and the Enchantress stand out in particular, not to mention the unflappable Amanda Waller) - but the way that writer John Ostrander ties these stories in with 1980s Cold War politics makes for fascinating and intelligent time-capsule style storytelling. I'm only one volume in so far, and the story now takes a detour into the DC crossover event "Millennium," but I'm hooked right out of the gate and can't wait to read more! -
After seeing the movie, it's interesting to go back and see the origins of the concept. It's surprisingly dark for the period it was written (well, it may be part of the Dark Knight Returns/Watchmen renaissance) with very little of the humor (Captain Boomerang is there for comic relief, such as it is). The series hadn't developed some of its pieces yet, but the basics are here; including regulars Deadshot, Boomerang, Waller, and Flag. They're not as fully developed, and they don't have a whole lot of personality yet. The books are very text heavy, and actually deal with some surprisingly deep topics (lots of Russian politics and terrorist plots), but there's a fair bit of action as well. The tendency for team members to die does start early. It definitely feels dated now, but there's enough here for fans to go back and revisit. Although the 'secret origins' of Rick Flag and Waller are so convoluted it's absurd. The art is very much 80's too. The series isn't as strong without its later stars (namely Harley), but there is definitely something to look back on from its beginning.
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"Dated" in various ways relating to presentation but still a surprisingly sharp take on the grittier side of super heroics by John Ostrander, one of the more underrated and daring mainstream writers of the past thirty years. Deadshot's never been the same before or since, and the DCU's squeezed as much value out of Amanda Waller as possible.
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I read this to get some background before seeing the movie. It was OK but not my favorite.
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Main reason why we like the squad. John Ostrander!
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Suicide Squad first appeared in The Brave and the Bold and Star Spangled War Stories back in the 50’s and 60’s. They were a specialized team of soldiers and/or scientists who battled dinosaurs, aliens, and bizarre threats - in other words, very much in line with the Silver Age. It wasn’t until the “Legends” crossover in 1986 that the team resurfaced, this time as villains banded together by newcomer Amanda Waller. The idea was to have a team of expendables who went on dangerous espionage missions that couldn’t otherwise be completed by superheroes or the military. And it was this team that made its way into John Ostrander’s defining 66 issue run of the Suicide Squad.
I had a lot of fun with this book. It holds up very well today, thanks to tight plotting, exciting stories, and strong characterization. The team is a ragtag bunch with warring personalities, but that’s a big part of what makes the book stand out. Captain Boomerang is the wild card (not unlike Guy Gardner in JLI, debuting around the same time). I also really like what Ostrander does with Rick Flag here, retconning his story and giving him a heavy dose of regret with the old Suicide Squad team. Some characters, like Bronze Tiger, aren’t as fleshed out yet, but I expect that to change soon.
The stories mostly concern political and social issues. This makes sense, given that the Suicide Squad are designed to be an espionage team operating on a global scale. Only the Glorious Godfrey story sidesteps current events; the rest deal with things like international terrorism and homegrown white supremacy. Even the arc about the imprisoned Russian artist has lost little relevancy. My favorite issue, though, is the final one in this collection. It’s dictated by the Belle Reve psychiatrist, who goes over his observations about individual Suicide Squad members. There’s some nice insight into the characters, especially Waller and Deadshot, that suggest just how character-driven the series will be.
Suicide Squad is also a great DC Universe book. Along with the main group, we see characters as diverse as the Female Furies, Penguin, Black Orchid, and Madame Xanadu popping in. Continuity at this time in DC’s history was much more streamlined than it is today, and this book is a great read for DC nerds.
I’m excited for more Ostrander Suicide Squad. This is one of those classic runs I’ve wanted to tackle for some time. Now that it’s all been reprinted in nice new editions, and my library has them, it’s the perfect time to dig in. -
COMICS!
So I read the collection "Suicide Squad: The Silver Age" first as a lark, right? It was a bit of a slog but sure, some laffs were had.
I start on this collection (the Suicide Squad as it is basically known in pop culture today, with the supervillains working off their sentences) and there's a little issue of Secret Origins, which recounts the WWII teams and the 60s teams, making the two Rick Flags in those father and son rather than the same guy. They ALSO reveal that the 60s team disbanded after an ill-fated Himalaya mission that for some reason was not shown in the "Silver Age" collection. They ALSO ALSO reveal that this Squad had already run at least one mission that... you can read about in the LEGENDS miniseries, the first company-wide cross-over since the first Crisis.
Man, fuck you, comics!
To Ostrander's credit, you're mostly kept up to speed with everything you need to follow the plot, though I have to say that this guy Nemesis is real vague and I'm not really hooked on whatever his deal is. Vigilante with a guilt trip because...?
Boomerang's a real piece of shit which is amusing considering he's one of the Flash rogues who are supposed to be pretty innocent in the scheme of things. He's also a champ at calling women "bikes" which I assume is the female equivalent of a cleaned-up homophobic slur that we usually get in the form of "maggot".
Ostrander quite slyly pays homage to the WWII adventures of misfits on Dinosaur Island with Flag and Deadshot being the two guys who hate each other's guts, as would usually be the dynamic in those stories. There's even one moment where Flag pulls a gun on DS and goes "You better not miss, Lawton... cuz I sure as hell won't...", an exchange that happened about 10,000x an issue in the WWII books.
Deadshot is probably the biggest surprise cool guy character in this book, as I normally switch from comic book to prose book in my reading habits, but I figured why the hell not and give Deadshot's origin mini a go. Oughta tell ya how much I enjoyed this!
Hilarious detail: although this is a pre-Harley Squad, we are introduced to a cute blonde bespectacled psychiatrist called Marnie who gets emotionally involved with the supervillain she's treating. Did Paul Dini read this book? -
Bueno, vamos por partes.
Aunque se trata de una historia ligera, Ostrander nos realiza planteos adultos e interesantes que contrastan completamente con lo que el cómic nos vende en sí. Aquí se plantea una contradicción pues el intento del guionista de dar profundidad a los eventos de la trama atenta contra la rapidez y frescura del comic.
Entonces en vez de estar leyendo sin parar una historia de unos villanos que son enviados a morir por su propio gobierno, veo la lectura detenida por una perorata sobre los conflictos internacionales, los problemas sociales y bla bla bla. ¿Interesante? Sí. ¿Pertinente y coherente con la historia? No.
Yo soy de los que aman que involucren temas sociales en las historias, es algo que me fascina, pero creo que antes de ello un guionista debe cimentar correctamente las bases de la historia y los personajes y eso es en lo que falla Ostrander.
Como no soy un lector asiduo de DC (solo hay que comparar las 25 reseñas que tengo de DC contra las 121 de Marvel) no conozco a los personajes y sus historias. Cuando comienzo una serie regular espero que lo primero sea la correspondiente presentación de ellos para que pueda empatizar con sus problemas y entenderlos a la hora de relacionarse entre ellos y su entorno; bien al estilo de DC todo esto se lo saltan y simplemente recomiendan leer otros cómics para entender de donde viene todo...
Eso es algo que no me gusta y con lo que no logro conectar. En el aspecto gráfico no hay demasiado para decir, los dibujos cumplen en contar la historia, pero no logran agregar nada. Ni belleza visual, ni contenido narrativo y tampoco una subversión de los sentidos o una disrupción en las maneras de contar, en fin que solo cumple con lo mínimo y ya está.
A diferencia de otros, creo que la historia mejor desarrollada en estos 8 números es la de Rusia. Al menos esa continuidad con los personajes (independientemente del viaje ultrasónico deus ex machina que salva a todos) logró que pudiera conectar un poco con la historia. El resto es francamente olvidable.
