The first issue of the new series of Suicide Squad sees Amanda Waller forming a new team in the wake of Infinite Frontier #0, in a story that touches upon some of the events seen in that book.
I've always had a soft spot for villain teams, and whilst I absolutely adored Secret Six, the Sucide Squad always has a soft spot in my heart as one of the original bad guy team books, especially thanks to its changing roster of smaller, little known villains. That being said, I wasn't hugely fond of the New 52 version of the team, probably in part thanks to the group having some of the more well established villain in their ranks. People like Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and King Shark are fun to have for a story or two, but when they become the focus of the book I think the title loses a little something, in part because you just kind of know that they're not going to be killed off.
However, a Suicide Squad that has characters you've not seen in years, or villains you've never heard of, makes it much better. Not only does it give the writers free reign to do new and interesting things with these characters, some of which have no personality and are pretty blank slates, but also because you can never rest easy as any of them could be killed off.
This new squad has definitely done away with big name characters, with the only one most people will probably be familiar with being Peacemaker; and then only because he's in the upcoming film and being played by John Cena. And it's made pretty clear that there will be some changes in the cast as the stories go on, as even in this first issue we lose three quarters of the team. Okay, I can be pretty sure that Peacemaker and Waller are going to be mainstays, but other characters they bring in, I'm definitely going to be less sure of their fate.
The story seems to have a number of ties to the Future State: Suicide Squad issues, which were also written by this book's writer Robbie Thompson. We've got Peacemaker leading the team, they're after a Talon being housed within Arkham, and Waller is doing some even shadier things than usual behind the scenes that involve Superboy. It's not clear yet just how close things are going to end up to the Future State books, but it seems like it was definitely giving readers hints of things that Waller might have in the works.
It's pretty clear that Thompson has a plan already, and whilst we get to see the early stages of that unfold here we also get a glimpse into the interpersonal issues that are going to be a part of the story too. We don't yet know all the new members that are going to end up on the team, or how they're going to interact with each other, but this issue shows that Thompson can write characters with opposing views well, so I'm eager to see what kinds of drama are going to unfold as the series goes on.
The book also manages to look gorgeous thanks to art from Eduardo Pansica and colour work by Marcello Maiolo. They manage to pack a lot of energy into the book, and the action scenes are dynamic and full of energy, keeping things from getting boring. But they also manage to make the scenes between Waller and Rick Flag more than just two people talking, filling them with interesting panels.
A good start to what could be an interesting series. Whether you're a long time fan of the Squad, of just coming to this new having had your interest raised by the upcoming film, this is a perfect jumping on point for a new series.
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