SUICIDE SQUAD #3
"Pest Control"
Recommended (7/10)
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DC Comics
Writer: Keith Giffen
Pencils: Paco Medina
Inks: Joe Sanchez
Colors: John Kalisz & Heroic Age
Letters: Bill Oakley
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
After a weak first issue, Giffen managed to capture my attention with the second issue, and with this third chapter, he's surprised me. Comparisons to John Ostrander's title of the same name will lead readers astray. Though there are similarities, Giffen has taken some different approaches to the villains-on-a-mission concept, and it's making for some entertaining -- though occasionally confusing -- reading.
A team of super-villains -- some well known, and some new names -- are sent to a central American country to stop a swarm of hostile, intelligent, man-eating ants from wreaking havoc worldwide. Personality conflicts and underestimation lead to disaster, and all the Suicide Squad control team can do is watch from afar. Little do any of them know that things are going exactly according to plan.
Medina's art, obviously inspired by Humberto (Out There) Ramos, reflects the occasionally goofy tone, the action and the darkness of the script nicely. Most impressive is how the super-villains' costumes are adapted to reflect a more military style. However, this isn't the case with Killer Frost, unless a bra and panties are standard-issue fatigues for female soldiers these days.
It's extremely difficult to keep track of the interaction between the villains and the core support team back home in this story, as was the case in the first issue. Perhaps Giffen is trying to convey the chaos and misdirection of these missions, but it makes for arduous reading at times.
That's not to say there's not some great writing at play in this book. This new take on the Suicide Squad isn't just a covert government black-ops team. No, Giffen has taken things even further than Ostrander did. In a way, the Suicide Squad is the latest method of capital punishment. It's a chilling idea (and not because Killer Frost is in the book), the questionable ethics of it all make for some intelligent, riveting reading.
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