Instead of summarizing the premise myself I'll just paste a portion of the Suicide Squad's wiki page:
Together with his right-hand (and wheelchair-bound) man Bulldozer, Sgt. Frank Rock taps new characters Havana (later revealed to be Amanda Waller's daughter[77]) and Modem to round out the team's mobile HQ. President Lex Luthor and Secretary of Metahuman Affairs Amanda Waller are shown to be supplying the Squad's assignments.[78] Rock is thought by several other characters to have been deceased since the end of World War II, and they are surprised to see him alive and well.[79][80] Two flashback stories[81][82] provide some context for Rock's current-day activities, but the series' final issue strongly implies that Rock is an (as-yet-unidentified) impostor.[83]
The first issue details the former Injustice League's terminally botched attempt to extract a kidnapped scientist from an Icelandic facility. With all but one team member (Major Disaster) dead by issue's end, Sgt. Rock forms a new Squad for the missions ahead.[79] Major Disaster, Deadshot, and Killer Frost are mainstays of the field team. For his part, Rock is every bit as ruthless as Amanda Waller was (though far more affable), remorselessly sending his agents to die for the good of their country.
The Squad's missions involve eliminating an out-of-control colony of bio-engineered army ants,[94] and investigating the mysterious island of Kooey Kooey Kooey to discourage its telepathic inhabitants from declaring war on Earth.[92] The final story arc revolves around an all-out attack on the Squad by the members of Onslaught, led by the son of longtime Squad enemy Rustam. Onslaught kills Modem and captures Rock, Havana, and Waller.[95] Upon learning that the Squad has been compromised, Waller's office drafts the Justice Society of America to counterattack Onslaught alongside the Squad, but they arrive too late to save Havana from Rustam's wrath. Deadshot discovers a discarded Sgt. Rock mask inside an empty holding cell, which prompts Bulldozer (who is monitoring the situation remotely via Deadshot's video camera) to stand from his wheelchair and announce that "I guess the gig is up, then" before leaving. Back in her office, Amanda Waller reviews Bulldozer's file, and states that he and Sgt. Rock died in 1945
First, artistically (Paco Medina) it wasn't right. The exaggerated cartoonish style didn't suite this title at all. Overall the plot line in the series was very disjointed. I almost felt like I was reading a different comic book title with each issue it really lacked continuity. It seemed like this book was having a hard time trying to define it's self as well as what kind of audience it was trying to appeal to. Was this something for Ostrander Suicide Squad fans or WWII war story fans? A lot of the dialogue was written awkwardly too, almost as if it was meant for a script to be read by actors sit com then for a comic book. It got to the point where I found myself not caring who was saying what, to who or why. Much like when watching a typical Guy Ritchie film. That made it hard for me to connect to any of the characters or really care about what was going on.
All the other Suicide Squad continuities in the following years ( Checkmate Vol. 2, DC 52, Suicide Squad "Raise the Flag" 1-8 mini-series, Operation Salvation Run, Secret Six cross over for Blackest Night ) seemed to disregard the events of all 12 issues of Giffen's version of the Squad. Which is fine with me because it was all pretty forgettable. If you haven't read this you're not missing anything as far as I'm concerned. But if you want to find out for yourself it's yours for only $5 bucks plus whatever shipping process you want to use.
Next up, a look back at CHECKMATE Vol. 1 from the old DCU
I actually have #1 myself. And while I enjoyed the shockingly quick deaths of the almost the whole cast, even after the nice set-up to make you care for the characters, they really shouldn't have gotten taken out so soon. But that's just me I guess.
ReplyDeleteYou're right that the book suffered enormously due to the wrong artist being on the book. If you go to Googum's blog, he did a brief piece on #10, and it's amazing how much the Russ Heath art looked. It really could've helped save the series, if Heath, or a more serious/appropriate artist had handled the art.
That and if Giffen actually seemed to care about what he was writting. Especially where the whole Sgt.Rock/Bulldozer impostor mess is concerned.
Of course, it's all moot now, but if things were different, and the series more popular/selling better, who knows what might've happened.
actually Dale, i had just scene that posting on Googum's blog just last week. but thanks for sharing your thoughts on it i'm curious what other people out there thought of it. Frank from the Martian Manhunter blog seems to be the only person out there who liked it.
DeleteShlomo my dear, I could have warned you not to wait 10 bucks LOL
ReplyDeleteThat was so bad, that I, Who still have those issues somewhere (don't know where) can´t remember the plot... Wait, ther was no plot!
Yes, what I remember best is the last issue, where they just die like ducks and by no reason that made any continuity or story or character better, the girl, I didn't remember her name was Havana (?) was presented to be Waller's daughter. Forced much?
But well, I endured it for 12 months waiting for better script days, You endured all at the same time.It was like a vaccine ^_^
i know i know i've heard nothing good about it but i just had to read it for myself to see how bad it really was. if i could go back in time i probably should have just paid a woman of special services $15 to step on my genitals with high heels. that would have taken up less of my time and been less painful too :)
Deletelol.....I bet he want his money back. Aliera we need to get Shlomo some good reading material so his brain doesnt erode and some Alex Ross to stop his eyes from burning.
DeleteOk I'm going to stop. It is an amazingly superior cover in this run, number 9. After that this series is nothing.
yeah issue 9 and 11 had nice cover art but they of course still sucked on the inside art and all. what really pisses me off about those two issues is that the cover art is totally misleading. virtually none of the characters featured on the covers appear on the inside not to mention who is that Baroness from Cobra looking chick on the cover of #9? she was no where in the series. the whole thing was fucken stupid i'm surprised it made it to 12 issues before being cancelled. ya know both the Giffen series and the relaunch SS have one thing in common is that they both are in need of having some more original members in the mix. but at least the relaunch Squad is pretty well written and still pretty entertaining to read so far.
DeleteYeah we got a pretty good SS going on right now, just needs to add some of the old guard.
DeleteDan said something in another post thats true. Every marvel book includes sheild in some way. Sheild is prominent all over the marvel universe. Task ForceX should be as inter-woven into the fabric of DC as well.
yeah so should Checkmate since their the equivalent of SHIELD in the DCU. speaking of which Checkmate is going to be my next posting i think you're gonna like it. i'll probably post it first thing Sunday. i think i'll give posting a couple of more days of being front page news.
DeleteShag of Firestorm Fan fame is that volume's only other defender that I'm aware of. I liked the book's cynicism and bloodlust. I loved Paco Medina's art and the dissonance between his cute characters and the horrible deaths they met. The Wall was super fat like I like her. Killer Frost was crazysexycool. The Sgt. Rock aspect sucked, but I think that was forced on Giffen, who I thought explained it away nicely. It seems to me Suicide Squad fans weren't going to be happy with anything short of a slavish recreation of a book that had been cancelled, where vol. 2 tried something different (and failed, but still...)
ReplyDeletewell there's some truth to that Frank about how the overall departure of the title from the Ostrander series turned off most old school SS fans. but i think in general the art and writing also didn't go over well with most people. you obviously are an exception but hey what can i say? some people like mint and chocolate and others prefer peanut butter and chocolate (like me) there's really no explaining people having different taste. thanks for letting us know what was on your mind.
DeleteCan't believe there was someone who actually liked this series! I admit I did at first, well, just the first issue, but after that..not so much. Plus I can't believe Frank dug the cartoonish art. Hey I like gratuitous violence myself too, but the cartoonish aspect really doesn't go well it. Plus I really, really felt foolish for caring for Cluemaster only to see him get it in the end. But I guess that's what a good writer's supposed to do right?
ReplyDeleteAs I've said before, Giffen started out good, as I really felt he was channeling what the true SS concept was all about, but the hokey Sgt.Rock/Bulldozer thing, and some minor others, really took it off it's game.
I don't know if it was editorial or Didio that interfered on this run, but it just wasn't going to work out in the end.
well Dale, i'm at a loss too as how anyone could have read through all those issues and actually enjoyed it. but we did learn an important lesson last year through a shared experience about how individuals can have different tastes on some things.
Deletelast month i kinda got into it with a good friend of mine on the internet about the john carter film which i thought was shit and he liked. before long i realized things we getting contentious between over a goddamn movie. so i was like what the fuck? there's no explaining different tastes sometimes it just is what it is rather it has to do with art, writing, movies or let's say . . music perhaps? ;)
To quote Fry from Futurama,"I see what you did there."
ReplyDeleteHa ha, very clever smart guy. And here I thought I was the smart-ass of the bunch.
Oh, and just because you brought it up.....Fuck Rush!
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