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SUICIDE SQUAD #1
"Almost A Good Idea"
Not Recommended (2/10)
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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 |
I was a big fan of Suicide Squad and Giffen's Justice League International, so I had some guarded hopes that I might enjoy this book. Instead, reading it was like having someone go inside my head and set fire to all my cherished memories of those two books. This is a horrific issue that tarnishes the potential of the Squad and makes it unlikely we'll ever see a good version again, and puts Giffen one more step closer to Claremont in my mind, as a creator who was once terrific but now seems past his prime. This book has neither the wit of JLI or the intrigue and solid characterization of Ostrander's Suicide Squad. It is instead an entirely
new beast. An ugly, shaggy beast that needs to be put down.
It would seem that the first rule of a
first issue is establishing your characters and your premise, but this book
basically fails to do that at all. Instead, Giffen expects a familiarity with
the characters of the Injustice League, which seems unrealistic given that they
haven't appeared together, and certainly not with this characterization, for
about ten years. I give Giffen credit for having his characters talk in a
distinctive fashion, full of banter and implication rather than delivering much
in the way of naked exposition, but the result is often that I have no idea
what's actually going on, because nobody is telling me.
It doesn't help that Medina's artwork is
often incredibly confusing, whether it's the similar appearances of the
characters or storytelling sequences that imply a lot but don't actually tell
the reader any kind of information. The deaths of the lead characters this issue
take place in such a fashion that they might as well be off-screen given all the
information they convey about what's going on. In addition, the big revelation
of what's actually going on at the mission's climax is one of the most confused
sequences of storytelling I've ever seen.
In addition, the tone of the issue is
completely out of whack. While Giffen wants us to laugh at the outrageous
behavior of the former Injustice League, we're also meant to take seriously how
sad it is that they're throwing their lives away on some pointless government
mission. But because their characterization is played mostly for laughs, there's
really nothing to identify with, and thus no emotional consequences when they're
killed. The closest I came to caring what Major Disaster's final recounting of
the mission, but the script cuts off that moment with a needless flashback to
reveal the voice guiding Bulldozer, something that will be no surprise to many
and of no consequence to those that hadn't guessed the identity.
Leaving aside the failures of craft, we
have the failure of the concept, and let me tell you, I'm impressed that someone
has managed to screw up so much potential. The deal is made to sound like
something only an idiot would take, as it apparently now only gives the villain
a chance at parole rather than a release for time-served, and Bulldozer and his
boss are presented as unhappy losers whose jobs and lives are meaningless as
well, making the whole concept of the Squad pretty meaningless.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
