Comic Book Review: Suicide Squad #67

Book Information

Written by Gail Simone & John Ostrander

Art by J. Calafiore

Plot

DC Comics has resurrected many of the popular classic titles from back in the day.  The month of January brings us the best selling title, The Suicide Squad.  With the Amanda Waller at the fore front of the Squad, their mission is to seek out their old comrade, Deadshot, and bring him back into their ranks.  In addition, the Fiddler has risen from the dead and seeks revenge on Deadshot for murdering him all those years ago.  It’s a jam packed issue filled with familiar faces and moving dialogue.

My Thoughts

As much as I love Simone and Ostrander, I’m rather disappointed with this issue.  It contains a lot of fun and adventurous moments, but lacks a certain substance that has defined the Simone Ostrander team for so long.  One thing is for sure, this issue isn’t a shining moment for DC comics and the two writers.

Simone and Ostrander write their typical quality storyline involving great humor, angst driven plot devices, and wonderful character development.  Bane acting the scary, over-protective father figure towards Scandal couldn’t be funnier.  Asking Liana about her sex life before meeting Scandal was ridiculously funny, along with Ragdoll’s inappropriate and ill-timed side comments.  The moments leading up to the fight between the Six and the Squad were very moving and “Secret Sixish,” filled with wisecracks and character appropriate dialogue.

However, one thing that threw me was the shifting from narrator or narrator.  The issue starts off with the Fiddler’s inner monologue and switches to Yasmine’s.  Maybe it’s just me and I’m weird, but typically I prefer to have just one narrator so the story has more focus and drive to a comprehensible conclusion.  Like every Blackest Night tie-in, Suicide Squad #67 starts off with a reminiscent scene by a central character important to the story.  As already stated, the Fiddler tells his story at the beginning, which causes me to believe the stories foundation is centered around the him.  But then midway, Yasmine’s inner Monologue is seen which shifts the focus from the Fiddler to Yasmine.  It then reverts back to the Fiddler towards the end, and by the time I’ve finished the book, I have no idea who the central character was for this story.

In addition, having the two titles on one book is rather deceiving.  The Suicide Squad appears for less than 40% of their own book, and any appearance made by Black Lanterns is less than 10%.  After finishing this book, I came to the conclusion that DC had no real purpose in resurrecting the Suicide Squad except for the mere sake of Slapping the name on a book in addition to the story arc title “Blackest Night” to boost theirs sales.  The plot development from the perspective of the Squad doesn’t exist in this book, and their appearance and confrontation with the Six is rather abrupt and strangely transitioned.

Overall

I’m rather disappointed in this issue, Simone and Ostrander are two of my favorite writers in comics and this issue makes me think they are no more talented than the over rated Grant Morrison.  Granted, this is the first issue I’ve ever read by Simone or Ostrander that I felt was very bad, but it’s still a blow to the crotch.

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars