I will admit that the comic books have recently taken a bit of a hit in terms of my interest levels. It’s not that I don’t want to read them, it’s just that my energy seems to be split, and I’m watching a lot of TV these days. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have the desire to get back into them. Perhaps this review will kickstart another comic book frenzy for me!
’Discipline and Punish’ sees the Suicide Squad undergoing some new psychological assessments being carried out by Amanda Waller and her latest recruit/employee, James Gordon Jr. Waller also has a new member of the team, in the form of The Unknown Soldier, who is loyal to her. Despite her advantage, however, the three regular members of the team, in the form of King Shark, Harley Quinn and Deadshot, find a way to incapacitate their captors and force Waller to make a new deal. And this could not have come at a better time, given that the team discover a plot in Las Vegas by a terrorist group who are setting up billboards that psychically tell people to give in to their deepest desires. With Gordon Jr’s help, they are able to make quick work of the group, but not before the group unleashes their secret weapon. The final part of the novel deals with the aftermath of ‘Forever Evil’, which I won’t ruin because we’ve not got to it, but essentially gives us two separate issues with the backstory of both Harley Quinn and Deadshot, but parts of the story we’ve not heard before. Can Waller bring her team under control before they go rogue? And will the members of this Suicide Squad ever find a way to escape their sentences?
Aaah man. After a break, I expected to come back to reading good novels and ‘Discipline and Punish’ is not it. It’s unfortunately disjointed in a way that doesn’t create intrigue or tension. The novel almost feels like a filler novel, with stories that didn’t belong anywhere else. I can appreciate that sometimes that does happen, but given that the first three novels in this volume, although not amazing, still felt coherent as a story, I’m a little disappointed. I will admit that the backstory issues were interesting, giving us aspects of Harley Quinn and Deadshot’s stories that we hadn’t had before. We also had 3 new team members that I wanted to know more about!?!
Okay, the artwork was one of the most interesting aspects of this novel. Usually, in a novel with multiple stories, each individual story may have different artists, but this novel switched artists halfway through the story, and I really didn’t like the second style. The covers were also incredibly average. Overall, not a great restart. Let me read something else!
Favourite Panel:
Given King Shark often doesn’t say much, this was a hilarious panel!
Favourite Character:
There wasn’t much choice in this novel, but I did find the Unknown Soldier pretty intriguing!
Rating:
Story Arc: ★★½
Character Development: ★★★
Artwork: ★★★
Enjoyability: ★★
Re-readability: ★½
Level: Intermediate