COMIC BOOK REVIEW - Suicide Squad: Death is for Suckers

By The Masked Medic

I’ve always believed that almost for every single type of comic book fan, there is a hero, or a villain or a team out there that you connect with. About 6 years ago, I’d never heard of the Suicide Squad. When the original film came out it was evident that these were a group of misfits who clearly didn’t fit in anywhere that were being made to work together in order to survive. Sounds a little bit like comic book fandoms then. Haha!

‘Death is for Suckers’ is the third novel in the New 52 Run of Suicide Squad. It starts with a little tie-in to the Bat-family novels with the most iconic villain in the world, the Joker, coming back to claim Harley Quinn as his own. But it’s evident that the Joker is mad. Well, madder than usual. Can Harley stand up to the Clown Prince of Crime? Or will she fall back into the fold? The remainder of the novel sees the Squad aiming to retrieve a ‘package’ for Amanda Waller. Unfortunately, the package in question is a man, who happens to be in the clutches of Yo-Yo’s sister Red Orchid. However, someone lies behind the Triad, pulling the strings and aiming to agitate the Squad. Can they figure out who it is? Or will they lose the plot or worse lose their heads in the process?

I think that the roster for the new 52 version of this team is fairly perfect in that you have some names that a lot of people know, such as Deadshot and Harley Quinn and then you’ve got members like Yo-Yo and Voltaic. It means that although you can guess who is expendable and who isn’t, it keeps things exciting when something happens out of the blue. My feeling about this novel was pretty much the same as what I felt for the previous two in the series, in that they’re fun reads and don’t require a lot of investment in the characters.

The artwork was once again, okay, but the style in some of the issues really irked me. I found it to be a little bland and the colours not as dynamic as they could be. That can be contrasted with the covers, which were extremely colourful. Overall, another average entry into the series. Will there come a time when I really like the Suicide Squad?

Favourite Panel:

Remind me again why certain people think that this relationship was goals?

Favourite Character:

It’s so hard to pick given that they’re all technically villains, but I have to hand it to Harley Quinn in this one. She overcomes so much and just gets on with what she needs to.

Rating:

• Story Arc: ★★★½

• Character Development: ★★★½

• Artwork: ★★½

• Enjoyability: ★★★

• Re-readability: ★★

Level: Advanced