Subject : THE SUICIDE SQUAD ( Task Force X )

Gatefold Suicide Squad relauch fan art by Corey Breen

2012-03-01T00:41:00.010-08:00

"This series has gotten a LOT of flack, mostly about Harley Quinn's costume change. I admit, it's not the Harley we all knew and loved, but I'm not so against this outfit. It was fun to draw, and it really adds to this INSANE look I feel Harley should have. She is supposed to be as wild, if not MORE wild then the Joker, and for that to happen, she should look like a freakin' psycho, which this outfit makes her look.

Agree or disagree, I like my composition on this one, and I'm very happy with the outcome of it. I tried to fit it all on one cover, but realized, why CAN'T I do a GATEFOLD cover for some of these if it calls for it." Corey Breen
More cool art from Corey http://cjbpro.blogspot.com/

Suicide Squad #6 review: Harley's origin, eaten but not dead & the lies beneath the lies!

2012-02-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

The story: If you checked out the #6 preview link a couple of postings back then you'd see that the issue opens up with the Squad ( Deadshot, Savant, King Shark, Lime & Light ) in Gotham fighting a bunch of Harley Quinn cosplay transvestites. As far as I'm concerned this could also be taking place in San Francisco California. The story then switches to Harley at the institute where she first encountered the Joker while she was working as a shrink. She's there looking for information on where to find the Joker and it's then that we're treated to these flashback sequences of how their "relationship" first got started. You can see some of that origin recap from the issue here: http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/360871 0.html Meanwhile the Squad defeats the Harley Quinn transvestite goons after which we get treated to some pretty shocking revelations. It turns out Savant was part of the whole bogus torture/interrogation sequence in issue #1. What appeared to be Savant cracking under pressure and spilling his guts was really part of Waller's deception in order to determine which of Belle Reve's convicts was worthy of being part of Task Force X. We also find out that Yo Yo wasn't killed when King Shark ate him. Although I don't know how much longer Yo Yo can survive inside of King Shark's mouth. The issue wraps up with Harley discovering that Joker's "face" is with the Gotham police and goes to police HQ to get it. But instead of trying to sneak in or fight her way in she turns herself over to the GCPD which means if the Squad wants her back they now have to go up against the police.

My thoughts: Just when you think you know where the story is leading you in this title it fakes you out with a twist or turn you never saw coming. This is another great issue that has it all. It's got action, dark humor, psychological power play, shocking surprises and psycho transvestite mutants. Rather you're a Joker fan, Harley fan, Suicide Squad fan or a fan of all three like me then rest assured this issue is for you and worth every penny of the $2.99 cover price.

Can you guess who this is?. If you want to check out some preview art and commentary of upcoming issues follow this link. You'll see that even after the Hunt for Harley Quinn story arc is done there's gonna be much more cool shit in store for us in the pages of the Suicide Squad.
http://insidepuls e.com/2012/02/11/four-pics-five-spoilers-dc-comics-doubles-down-on-villainy-the-m ultiverse-adult-ex-sidekicks-more/

El Diablo on "A Stairway to Heaven" with Task Force X?

2012-02-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

Getting readers into the cross over characters from the old DC Universe into the relaunch like Waller, Deadshot or Harley Quinn has proven to be a challenge for DC writers. So you can imagine how difficult it must be to write new characters (new to me) for readers to get into. In the case of El Diablo (real name unknown as of yet) it's certainly working so far at least as far as I am concerned.
So let's talk about what we know about what I described before as the "conscience of the group". Not to mention Harley Quinn commented before how El Diablo wasn't very "super villainy". El Diablo was some sort of Latino gangbanger that accidental killed a family with his powers during a gang related turf battle. At some point (probably during his incarceration) it appears as if he "found Jesus" and now works on the Squad for some manner of redemption. Certainly not the most original back ground story but it works for El Diablo in part because it adds yet another element of friction on the team and because his sincerity seems to be so genuine. Willing to bend over back wards to avoid killing, we also have seen that he is quite capable to making some one as dead as fried chicken if need be such as in the case of the last issue in which the Squad was used to quell a prison riot.His pyro-kinetic powers are perhaps his biggest mystery of all. As of yet we don't know if he has his power as a result of a mutation, some kind of science experiment or accident or if his powers are super natural in origin. The only thing that seems to be fairly certain is that they have some connection to his tattoos. Whenever he unleashes his power he temporarily looses some of his body ink. And as such it returns as he recuperates.
One of the most ironic things here about this character is that he is probably the one member on the Squad who has "seen the light" and yet his operative codename is The Devil. You almost gotta love the character for that alone. Based on the preview art for upcoming issues it appears El Diablo will be around for a bit longer at least. I certainly hope so but then again this is the Suicide Squad which means very little . . and hardly anyone lasts forever.

Suicide Squad #6 preview & some insight on the Harley relaunch by Adam Glass

2012-02-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

“Brilliant, driven people are already a little crazy.” laughs SUICIDE SQUAD writer Adam Glass. “What we do with Harley Quinn is show the tipping point.” THE HUNG FOR HARLEY QUINN is a two-part meat grinder in SUICIDE SQUAD #6 and #7. Revealing among other things–the origin of Harley Quinn. While this is very much a Harley story, the Squad doesn’t take a back seat to anyone.” Glass continues. “Along the why King Shark has been acting so strange, the identity of the two female members (familiar faces to New 52 fans) and how Savant — who “died” in issue #1 could possibly be on the team. And will we learn the truth behind Harley’s bone-white skin? “Yeah…, finished Glass, “but remember I can only promise you a good story, not a happy ending.”

Adam Glass

Here's a cool lead up to the upcoming Hunt for Harley story line as
well as a quick but comprehensive Harley Quinn origin recap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOxfm8pYKHM

From what I've been seeing it looks like this book is taking on a real "Silence of the Lambs" kinda creepiness to it. I think Harley could give Hannibal Lector a run for his money when it comes to maniacal intelligence and cunning. For those of you who don't like spoilers you may want to avoid this link. But for those of you like me who can't resist taking a peek and at what's under the X-mass wrapping before it's time to open a present you can read the first 6 pages of issue #6 here:
http://www.theouthousers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2717129

““Brilliant, driven people are already a little crazy.” laughs SUICIDE SQUAD writer Adam Glass. “What we do with Harley Quinn is show the tipping point.” THE HUNG FOR HARLEY QUINN is a two-part meat grinder in SUICIDE SQUAD #6 and #7. Revealing among other things–the origin of Harley Quinn.”

Read more about New interior art from SUICDE SQUAD #6 revealed | Joker's Lair on:
http://www.jokeruniverse.com/?p=4470&utm_source=INK&utm_medium=copy&utm_campaign=share&

Amanda Waller's evolution in animated TV media

2012-02-03T00:03:00.000-08:00

I just felt like making a collage of the various versions of Amanda Waller through out the animated media she has appeared in over the years so far. Notice how in the Young Justice version she's more feminized? Although not quite at Angela Bassett's level but still considerably more feminine then the short haired and stout figured version from JLU. If you haven't seen this Amanda Waller clip from Batman beyond you need to it's a great example of how she's still awesome even as a retired elderly woman :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj-pD2QQuwI&feature=relate d

Here's some character model shots from animated TV shows I found on
Deviant Art I decided to add to this posting for your viewing pleasure.

Black Orchid cosplay: really hot, and the costume is nice too

2012-02-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

Judging by the Supergirl cosplay woman she's standing next to Black Orchid here must be around 6 ft or perhaps even a bit more. Which means she's taller then me by at least a few inches. Is it odd that it makes the Black Orchid cosplay lady even hotter to me?

Feb. 4th update: If you've been following the comments in this posting then you know this cosplay lady is DJ Spider. DJ is something of a celebrity on the cosplay/con circuit. You can see more of this 6'1" bombshell in her amazing custom made super hero and villain costumes on her FB page: http://www.facebook.com/thatDJSpiderCostuming?sk=photos

Suicide Squad #8, I got your cover art solicitation right here! Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it.

2012-01-22T00:03:00.000-08:00

“The Hunt for Harley Quinn” aftermath! As the surviving Squad members attempt to recover from their disastrous Gotham City mission, we learn a dark secret that has been festering in the team since issue #1: a traitor stalks the Suicide Squad! The saboteur’s mission: Assassinate Amanda Waller, expose the Squad and leave Task Force X in ruins! The fuse is lit to the first great mystery of 2012: Who is the Suicide Assassin?
This is hands down one of the coolest covers I've ever seen and certainly the best one this year so far. It really captures the whole feel of what the Suicide Squad is really all about. Notice how the scene is laid out in a circle pattern as if to suggest all the mistrust, betrayal, instability, mutual loathing and yet interdependency is what keeps it together even though it's the very same thing that threatens to tear it apart. All of which is a situation that keeps going round and round, hence the circle. Then there's the blood. It's all around them and in fact they almost seem to be emerging from it. It's just an all around beautiful cover from the stand point of being artistic with the metaphoric references as well as visually dynamic.

King Shark may not be featured on the cover of Suicide Squad #8 but at least I found some of this cool fan art of the DC relaunch hammerhead version of him. As far as I know this is a first of it's kind since all the other King Shark fan art I ever come across is of him as a great white. I also think this is the first fan art I've seen from the Suicide Squad relaunch that wasn't Harley Quinn related. This rendering (done from start to finish in photoshop) is by talented illustrator Walter Ostile. As you can see he has a very distinctive style which in and of it's self goes a long way to making your mark in the art world. If you want to see more of his work go to: http://walterostlie.blogspot.com/

Here's Black Spider back in my very first comic at age 6 . Now he's in The Suicide Squad 33 years later

2012-01-18T14:50:00.000-08:00

So I just remembered about this photo of me from when I was around 6. What you're looking at is some sort of trade paperback that included the story from Detective Comics 463. This TPB is basically my earliest memory of any kind of comic book I ever opened up. Unfortunately I don't remember what ever happened to it. Back then (mid to late 70s) Black Spider a.k.a Eric Needham was an ex junkie who spent 6 years in jail and came out as a Hell bent vigilante determined to rid the streets of Gotham of criminals, especially dope peddlers. That brought him into conflict with Batman who as you know doesn't believe in killing criminals. You can get a better look at what I was browsing at by magnifying the image above but also at this link: http://dccomicsar tists.com/batman/BlackSpider-Tec463.JPG Today, 33 years later in the DC 52 relaunch as most of you should know by now Black Spider is part of Task Force X. And that's one of the things that's always made this book so fun to read because Task Force X was often made up of a non-garden variety of "criminals" which made for so much of the strife within the team through out it's history.
If you've read Suicide Squad #2 then you know Voltaic never got to issue his "receipt" to Black Spider. Instead, by the end of the issue Voltaic got a bullet in the head by Deadshot. Also in issue #2 Deadshot refers to Black Spider as a ninja. At a glance one might think that he's The Squads new Bronze Tiger. But aside from them both being black guys who are martial art bad asses with troubled pasts they don't really have much in common. Like I said in the previous posting (Suicide Squad #5 review) Black Spider is much more of a Punisher like character. In issue #3 it's somewhat implied during a conversation between Diablo and Black Spider that Spider may have had a family that met with tragedy but that has yet to be revealed. But one thing is for certain is that he has an almost pathological hatred of criminals just like Frank Castle. During the chaos of the Belle Reve prison riot in issue #5 Black Spider used the opportunity to kill the other patients in the infirmary despite him still recovering from a broken arm and concussion. And it didn't stop there because the infirmary basically became a temporary "roach motel" (they check in , but they don't check out) for any other felons who wandered inside. Black Spider is just one more thing that's made this such a great book so far. Thank God The Suicide Squad dodged the first round of cuts from the 52 line up so obviously the book currently has a descent sized fan base. Let's just hope they can keep this title around a little bit longer so we can see where the writing this ass kicking crazy train called The Suicide Squad relaunch.

Suicide Squad #5 Review: Diablo BBQs Belle Reve , King Shark eats somebody again & the hunt for Harley is on!

2012-01-12T00:03:00.000-08:00

Regardless of what you like or dislike about the Suicide Squad relaunch one thing you can't say is that there is ever a dull moment in this book. The Squad is sent off to put down a prison riot in Belle Reve. Through out the course of the prison riot the body count continues to rise as Deadshot puts a bullet in most everything that moves, a seemingly catatonic King Shark all of a sudden eats Yo-Yo as Diablo really cuts loose for the first time in the series and BBQs half the inmates. And let's not forget Black Spider who despite being laid up in the infirmary manages to beat the shit out of and kill several inmates. He does so with what I would describe as a "Punisher" like determination and hatred of all criminals. Which makes sense since he too was a criminal hunting vigilante.Aside from all the killing we learn some interesting things in this issue. Waller apparently is either married or has a live in boyfriend and Deadshot seems to have a foster daughter. And speaking of Waller, when the riot is finally put down it doesn't take her long to figure out that it was Harley that started it some how and subsequently managed to escaped during the whole fiasco. They surmise that she's probably off to go find The Joker but quite naturally Waller has no intention of letting that happen as she cobbles together a new Suicide Squad to go after her. I suspect it's a safe bet Harley is done with the Squad as a member so all her fans out there can rejoice at long last. Of course I'll miss Harley but it'll almost be worth it to not have to hear all the bitching and moaning any more from these people on the internet.
My thoughts: Just think of the best concert or party you've ever been to in which you had the time of your life. That's pretty much what this issue was like although it was unfortunate to see Yo-Yo get killed so soon. Black Spider was bad ass and probably could be considered the Punisher of the DC Universe while Diablo so reminded of Samuel L. Jackson from Pulp Fiction. If you don't like this book then I hope you get eaten by King Shark too. There's a nice little DC Comics All Access feature at the end of this issue with some cool production back ground information and the promise of plenty of more surprises and excitement # 6 and 7. I probably should have known this already but on an interesting side note it turns out Harley's new costume design was by Jim Lee.
Recently I decided to drop everything else I was picking up from DC every month. There's other good stuff out there but Suicide Squad was the only thing I was really looking forward to from one issue to the next.

Bronze Tiger vs. Iron Fist who would you put your money on? http://thebronzetiger.blogspot.com/2012/01/dave-to-rescue.html

Suicide Squad: A Watery Grave & Captain Boomerang's "Flash back" in Brightest Day #7

2012-01-06T01:14:00.000-08:00

I made some dollar bin finds yesterday. The Watery Grave 3 issue story arc in the 1995 Superboy series involved Superboy teaming up with the Suicide Squad in order to infiltrate and destroy the under water head quarters of a high tech crime cartel known as The Silicon Dragons. The team is made up of only two Squad regulars (Deadshot & Boomerang) along with Superboy foes Knock Out and King Shark. There is also the addition of the criminal known as Side Arm and finally there is the team leader Makoa form the Honolulu police department. We also get appearances by Waller during the mission briefing and briefly toward the end of the story.
The mission is the usual fiasco even from the beginning as the team fails in it's attempt to covertly enter the base leading them into an open confrontation instead right away. The temperamental Side Arm turns on Makoa who is in turn killed by Kind Shark due to the explosive belt he is wearing that is tied to Makoa's life signs. Boomerang later is revealed to being in league with the Silicon Dragons and is promptly shot by Deadshot which causes sever injury to his hands. Ending things Knock Out and King Shark seemingly die as they grapple causing King Shark's belt to go off.
It's over all a pretty good read although nothing seems to be going on here that's crucial to the Suicide Squad as a continuity like certain key issues of Checkmate. So it's not really a must have unless your inclined to collect pretty much every SS appearance ever published. But for a buck or two it's certainly worth while to have this in your collection.

The other dollar bin find I made was Brightest Day #7 that features a duel story line that ties into the Brightest Day saga and Captain Boomerang's origins. Now I'm sure most of you know of or have Suicide Squad #44 which was an issue totally devoted to Boomerang's life story from his abusive child hood to being a career criminal.
This Brightest Day issue isn't going to tell you much more then the before mentioned Suicide Squad issue will but it does expand on a few things and goes a little more in depth. And a couple new things it includes is a recap of his time with the Rogues which was a point in life that he describes where he never felt as "at home" as he did along side them. Unless your a hardcore Boomerang fan I wouldn't say this issue is a must have but it does make a nice addition to your collection of Suicide Squad tie-ins and well worth it if you find it for a buck or two. You should be able to magnify all of these images for better viewing.

Just had an after thought upon seeing Dan's comment (IADW blog) today Sunday Jan. 08. Over the past couple of months I've found Villains United #1,2,3,4 and 6 in dollar bins. It all started with me grabbing #1 on a whim and I thought it was a great read along with some stellar art. but now I'm on the hook for trying to get my meat hooks on #5 but thus far it's proven to be elusive even in regular back issue bins.

Bronze Tiger & Deadshot by Eddie Nunez, SO FRIGGIN AWESOME!!!

2012-01-01T00:03:00.000-08:00

looking at his Eddie Nunez rendering of Bronze Tiger & Deadshot one does not have to give any thought to if they like it. You realize it like a jolt of electricity or like jumping on a bicycle with a missing seat. And I actually mean that in the most positive way. I like how Nunez made up Deadshot in a combination of his "urban" costume and his classic one. But look at the "group shot" image for the challenge I set forth to you all.

Please, don't just blithely wonder off after looking at this posting with out leaving some sort of comment. After a couple months of looking this fan art over by Mike Belcher I finally decided to post it to see what others think of it. I suspect some will either like it or dislike it right away but I'm betting most people will have a hard time figuring out if they like it or not at a glance. I have my own thoughts on the matter but before I share them let's hear a little bit from you all first.

Some kick ass Rick Flag fan art that I kinda . . sorta made

2011-12-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

So here's something I kinda sorta did with the spare time I had on X-Mass weekend. What happened was that I found some fan art of the Jayne character (played by Adam Baldwin) from the Firefly series which was also made into a movie called Serenity. So digitally speaking, I gave him a shave, a new haircut and a little nip/tuck (plastic surgery term). And when it was all done I have to say he now makes for a pretty good Rick Flag. Everything else was pretty much there already including the weaponry he's carrying and that signature yellow t-shirt he's always wearing. Anybody wanna bet me that Rick Flag is the kinda guy who has a closet full of all the same outfits? . .Yeah that would be a sucker's bet :) Hope to see him soon in the new DC 52. You can see the original fan art I re-worked here: http://www.comicvine.com/jayne-cobb/29-42085/

The mysterious & curvey Black Orchid

2011-12-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the most mysterious of all the people who have been on the Suicide Squad Black Orchid's motives for working with Task Force X were as unclear as her origins. Black Orchid was was an on again off again non-convict member of the Squad between issues 4 - 22. She was a master of disguise, possessed superhuman strength, invulnerability and could fly. Black Orchid never talked much for some reason but was superb at infiltration assignments and often provided some extra muscle when the Squad needed back up. Considering her history with early issues of the Suicide Squad's first series Black Orchid was long past due to be featured on this blog. This rather curvy and colorful rendering of Black Orchid is by the talented Olivernome as known on his Deviant Art profile.

Suicide Squad #4 Review: Hail Kobra! . .er I mean Basilisk

2011-12-15T03:00:00.000-08:00

Summery: The Squad breaks into the lab facility run by Basilisk (known as Kobra in the former DC Universe) that created the techno virus they battled in issue # 2 in the hopes of capturing the lead scientist. After killing a bunch of guards on the way in the eventually find their target but are later confronted the one who's running the show there, Grey Lora. She goes from a good looking black woman with dreads to something that looks more dangerous to your genitals then Lorena Bobbit with a knife when Deadshot mentions the name Wong Fon Shay. I don't know who that is but apparently Fon Shay was someone of some importance to Basilisk who was killed for a contract job by Captain Boomerang. And that brings us to the other part of the mission because in exchange for free passage out of the facility they turn over Boomerang who tries to detonate their implant bombs out of anger. The only problem is that the detonator he has is bogus and Deadshot shoots him in the hand for good measure.
During the mission the idle chat between the team members reveals to Harley Quinn that The Joker was killed as was strongly implied in Detective Comics #1. Although she doesn't freak out in an outward sense you can tell she doesn't take the news well and it's obvious the wheels in her head start turning. After the team returns to Belle Reve Waller has some words with Deadshot who is getting impatient about having his implant deactivated now that the mission is over. With only 18 minute left before their bombs go off Belle Reve goes to Hell as a full blown prison riot breaks out and Waller puts the team on the job of quelling it before their time is up.

My thoughts: This month we had another solid issue. No shortage of antagonistic quips and in fighting between the characters along with a couple surprises which means business as usual for a typical Suicide Squad mission. Although on a downside based on what happened in this issue it sure doesn't look like Boomerang is gonna be a regular on The Squad but let's see how things play out in future issues. I gotta imaging Harley is somehow responsible for the prison riot which tells me her tenure with The Squad may be coming to an end soon unfortunately. Although no doubt Harley Quinn fanatics all over the world will no doubt rejoice over that. And back on the upside Yo-Yo looks like a promising edition to the team and Diablo is quickly becoming a favorite of mine you can't help but like the guy. I've been happy with the art in the series so far but in this issue they really hit it out of the park especially with some of the face close ups. For more preview clip art from the issue:
http://io9.com/suicide-squad/

To all the belly aching Harley Quinn fans, when words aren't enough it's time for some specialized fan art

2011-12-11T06:17:00.000-08:00

For those of you who follow my ROM blog you know I've been pretty busy as far as fan art goes but today I finally got some done for the new DC 52 Relaunch Suicide Squad too. Something like this has been on my mind for a little while now just haven't had the breathing space I needed to apply myself until this weekend.

Dec.14 Update: It gets better folks! If you like this Harley fan art I whipped up your gonna love this video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVQ0tovHHhg&feature=youtube_gdata

Beautiful mixed media rendering of Nightshade

2011-12-02T07:24:00.000-08:00

I found this piece on Deviant Art. It was done by a Russian artist under the screen name Saint Yak. The Nightshade character has under gone several different looks over the years but this one seems to be based on the cameo appearance Nightshade made in the Superman/Batman: Public Enemies movie.
In the previous DC Universe before the relaunch Nightshade a.k.a Eve Eden was an off and on regular non-convict member of the Suicide Squad who had a real thing for Rick Flag. Outside of that her character was a long time love interest of Captain Atom but I never read that title so I don't know much about the history of that relationship. She was last seen in the Suicide Squad / Secret Six Blackest Night crossover. I hope she appears in the new series at some point. Saint Yak did this piece with a combination of pencils and photoshop. This guy is a real pro and it shows in the quality of his work check out the other comic book/ sci-fi related stuff he has on his Deviant Art page: http://saintyak.deviantart.com/

For all you Waller is too skinny & I hate Harley's costume cry babys out there I got something special for ya!

2011-11-19T02:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjPJSpovw0E&feature=youtube_gdata

Suicide Squad #3 review

2011-11-09T17:21:00.000-08:00

Summery: The issue opens up with a some gun toting hockey mask wearing bounty hunter by the name of Mad Dog trying to apprehend the Squad. Some rather innovative quick thinking on the part of Harley allows them to escape that jam and the Squad tries to lay low in Madisonville as they wait for their evac. Because of his inability to "blend in" King Shark is told to stay put in the woods while the other remaining Squad members temporarily go off in pairs (Deadshot-Harley / Diablo - Black Spider).
Harley, who has become increasingly more infatuated with Deadshot due to his leadership role and his lack of emotional availability makes some rather strong advances toward DS who initially resists but not for long. Meanwhile, while off looking for supplies with Black Spider, Diablo finds out through the news that Voltaic was shot and surmises that it was Deadshot who killed him and not the tech zombies.
Mad Dog catches up the the Squad again but a brief gun battle puts an end to Mad Dog's henchmen and has him on the run into the loving embrace of King Shark. Black Spider is seriously injured but with Diablo's help (and Harley's!) makes it to the evac. Deadshot delivers the baby and just when they think the mission is over they get new orders to stay in the field for the next mission. Along with new orders they get some fresh recruits, some guy named Yo-Yo and Captain Boomerang. And it gets better, apparently Boomerang is the new mission leader!

My thoughts: If you were thinking that maybe I liked it based on the summery you would be right. With the more established characters like Deadshot, Harley and King Shark we see a consistency with what we would expect in terms of character development. Harley especially really shines in this issue with her usual antics and even with a moment of uncharacteristic display of what appears to be compassion at one point. They've also started to give Black Spider a little more to do in the story who for a while there I was thinking was gonna be the next casualty. Diablo is still pretty cool as the "seeking redemption" member of the group although I have a bad feeling about him down the road. I'm curious to see what this Yo-Yo guy is all about and of course who's not happy about Boomerang joining the Squad. It's starting to feel a little more like the good old days of the John Ostrander Squad again although we don't get to see too much of Waller in this issue. By the way it seems in this Suicide Squad reboot Deadshot and Boomerang already know each other but more on that later I'm sure and it appears as if Deadshot may be infected with the virus even though he hasn't displayed any acute symptoms as of yet.

Warning: Any comments complaining about Waller's weight loss or Harley's sex appeal will be deleted. I've had it with people whining and bitching about that crap so I'm at least not gonna listen to it here on my own blog.

Youtube review now available!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JUFG5_hlYY

I year for this blog today, time for a vacation

2011-10-26T00:03:00.000-07:00

So as you guessed it this blog has finally hit it's one year milestone. But I'm pretty burnt out and I need a break from posting stuff cuz it actually takes a lot more time and energy then you think. I'll still be responding to comments and checking my email. In the mean time I'll at least update this posting with links to relevant Suicide Squad stuff going on out there that I happen to run into. X-Man's blog at the bottom of my blog role in the right hand column thus far has been doing good reviews of the monthly Suicide Squad issues from the 52 relaunch so you might want to check em out when new issues come out.

More Suicide Squad members make debut in Young Justice episode "Revelations"

2011-10-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

So here we have more good news for Suicide Squad fans. Poison Ivy (voiced by Alyssa Milano!) and Count Vertigo (voiced by Steve Blum) are featured in this episode (on Youtube now) as members of the Injustice League. On an interesting side note the Joker was voiced by Brent Spiner who was Data from Star Trek The Next Generation. His voice takes a little getting used to when compared to what we're used to with Mark Hammil but Spiner captures the maniacal psycho nature of the Joker perfectly.
Aside from all that it was an all around good episode this show really kicks ass. Also, I probably should have mentioned before that Amanda Waller from Young Justice was played by voice actor Sheryl Lee Ralph. Any body care to take a guess as to what Suicide Squad characters will appear next on this show? I'm guessing either Capt. Boomerang or Deadshot but I think Bronze Tiger or even Oracle (Barbara Gordon) are possibilities too.

Suicide Squad #2 review. Be warned I spoil everything!

2011-10-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

Summery: The Squad is dropped into a football stadium that is in quarantine over the out break of some sort techno virus (think 28 Days Later meets the Borg). Their objective is to find someone among the spectators who has "The package" that they need to secure. They break up into two teams and search the area but are attacked along the way by all these cannibalistic tech zombies. It turns out "The package" is an infant still within the womb of what appears to be patient zero. Deadshot kills Voltaic (electrical powers) who just fried every last person in the stadium. Apparently unkown to Voltaic having him fry everyone in the stadium was how the virus was intended to be stopped under the pretense that some super powered villain went haywire so of course they're had to be a fall guy. The issue ends with The Squad having to make it to a new location for extraction with the baby. The only problem is they've all got bombs inside of them set to go off in 4 hours unless the bombs are neutralized before then just like in John Carpenter's Escape from New York.

What I thought: I thought it was pretty good the story moves at a good pace and there's no shortage of funny quips and antagonistic banter between the characters. Deadshot is the leader of the group and almost displays a "Rick Flag" kinda quality to him at times as ironic as that is. El Diablo (pyrokinetic) is the conscience of the group. Black Spider didn't really have much to do in this issue but he seems to be some sort of "ninja". King Shark is doing a lot of biting and Harley is Harley and get's to swing her hammer while getting off good one liners. Waller is kinda directing the mission from a control room via transmitter to Deadshot kinda like Misty Knight in Heroes for Hire. Oh and by the way it looks like Waller has also taken up smoking but please try not to have a mental breakdown over it people and no more whining about Harley's costume please! Also I would be negligent if I didn't mention how great the art is (as seen with this Harley panel) even though there's a handful of pages that seem to be done by a different artist.

What Else You Should Know: Although we don't get to see Checkmate we get confirmation that Checkmate is part of the DC relaunch universe so that's cool. Also, in the back of the issue there is some Q & A with Adam Glass (the writer) in which among other things he reveals that there will be familiar faces and organizations showing up in the pages of future Suicide Squad issues. Oh the possibilities huh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1oL7huYZHM

Just like a boomerang mates he's back! Plus Amanda Waller's debut on Young Justice cartoon!

2011-10-07T01:45:00.000-07:00

Apparently a new season of Young Justice must have started not too long ago! As if that isn't awesome enough as it is because I love Young Justice but the season opener guest stars Amanda Waller (a more feminized Waller) as the warden of Belle Reve. Two things, I'm not too sure what to make of the ending and as it turns out I've been pronouncing Belle Reve incorrectly for over 25 years now. Boy don't I feel special, anyways go to Youtube and paste in the word search Young Justice episode 11 part 1 "Terrors".

What your also looking at up there is the cover art for Suicide Squad #4, and here's the information that came with it, "The body count rises! Another Squad member falls -- but not the way you might expect! Betrayal follows betrayal as Captain Boomerang joins the Squad in a smash-and-grab against the terrorist organization Kobra, and Harley Quinn shows why you should never, ever recruit Squad members from Arkham Asylum. Brace yourself for a last-page shocker the likes of which the Squad has never faced before!"

Hot "suicide girls" cosplay & a pop quiz for all you hot shots out there! What's wrong with these panels?

2011-10-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

These photos are large files so don't forget to magnify them. . . . . . . . . ok now that I have your attention please proceed to the next part of this posting. . . .

There is something wrong with this scene. Unfortunately there's nothing I can really say about the clip art here that won't give it away or make it easy for you all to find the answer. The art work you see here is from an issue of Checkmate ( Vol. 1) during the aftermath of a major assault on Belle Reve prison (Task Force X HQ) during the Janus Directive.
All I can say is that there is something out of place here in these panels. All I can say is that I hope Al Sharpton doesn't see it cause if so DC Comics might be getting a call from a NAACP lawyer. It's really easy to over look even for people who are familiar with the Suicide Squad comic book series from back in the day. I had this issue myself for quite a while before it hit me one day while browsing through it. I'll give you all a few days to figure it out.

Okay mates since ya did such bang up job with the first trivia clip art here's another one I'm adding to this posting tonight. Which one o you droobs can tell me what movie Captain Boomerang is talkn about? It just so happens that I found this Brightest Day issue in a 3 for $1 box today in San Fran-bleedn-sisco.

Ok foIks, I can't take the DC relaunch belly aching anymore so here's a follow up Youtube video. Just think "What If"

2011-09-16T17:39:00.001-07:00

Ya know what folks check out this video first from another guy who reviewed Suicide Squad #1 also. If I had discovered this guy's video before I made my 2nd one I wouldn't have bothered to make it. That's because he said it even more succinctly then I did with even more sarcasm and wit. His video totally upstages mine and I don't mind cause it cracked me up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8nm8LK53zE

And this one is mine it has a much shorter running time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3frx2rJ3m4U

As I did to the last posting i thought I'd add a little extra something to this one beyond a link that will send you all to another one of my droning monologues about my likes and dislikes about the new Squad series. This is some art work I found at Deviant Art. There's other good Captain Boomerang fan art but this one got my attention because it was very unique aside from being well done. It's a water color painting but unlike my water color paintings this one is done in my of a traditional water color style mine never really end up looking this way. Another thing I like about this is that it really captures the personality of our favorite Task Force X Aussie. This was done by an artist who is obviously a big Boomerang fan and goes by the screen name of Waterwindow.

Suicide Squad #1 Youtube review is here!

2011-09-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHd8JxiR0B0

Since uploading this video review yesterday I've been reading a flurry of comments all over the internet about Amanda Waller's DC 52 weight loss plan. It's like having to relive the whole pre Green Lantern Angela Basset drama. And of course the Harley Quinn costume controversy is still dragging on. It's like the O.J. trial all over a again God help us all!

I've got a little something extra on this posting for you folks. This is the only poster as far as I know of The Suicide Squad that's ever been published. It came as an insert with the first issue of The Phoenix Gambit saga (issue # 40 1990) during the first series in which The Squad which now was a freelance group teams up with Batman for a mission in Russia.

911 an "inside job?" You bet it was!

2011-09-11T00:03:00.000-07:00

Yeah that's right an inside job. 19 guys came inside our boarders pretending to be here for legitimate reasons and hid in plain site until they hijacked four planes filled with civilian Americans and non Americans alike. They then crashed these planes into buildings full of more people who were just like you and me and unlike you and me. The people who were murdered that day were about as random as you could get being made up of many races, religions and other belief systems both political and social.
One of the many ironies here is that each one of the hijackers came from a part of the world in which the governments who rule there are among the most brutal and suppressive on the face of the Earth. Not only that but the hijackers carried out there mission to murder out of some self righteous radical religious ideology (just like with Kobra and with that analogy we see again how art imitates life) thinking that the mass murder of random people will bring them 72 virgins in paradise.
Don't buy into that crap that this was all about America's foreign policy (which I'm not saying is beyond reproach) or that the hijackers came from any manner of moral high ground. Living here in the San Francisco Bay Area I've heard it all. An "inside job", really? Why wasn't anybody saying that after the first WTC attack in 94? Oh wait, did 911 happen "because we're allies with Israel" really? Is that why all the 911 hijackers were from countries (egypt & saudi arabia) that are also "allies" with America? Egypt even has a long standing peace treaty with Israel not too mention non of the hijackers were even palestinians. I especially love the "what did we do to make them so angry at us" line of thinking. That's like being a Jew and spending time analyzing why neo-nazis and other anti-Semitic groups like the taliban hate you and want to see you dead. In the face of that kind of hatred one must always respond appropriately which is any way but nicely.
Yesterday I heard that just 8 weeks ago was the last time someone died of a disease they contracted as a result of being in or nearby ground zero on 911. We owe it to that person, as well as to the people who died out right that day and to God knows how many others that are sick in both body and spirit still today to see that everyone who was involved in that terror plot gets a surprise visit from a U.S. SEAL team soon.

It's a Dan's World straight outta . . . Australia!?

2011-09-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

That's right mates, our beloved Dan will be soon packing up and taking his arse from New Zealand to Australia. You all know Dan of course from the coolest blog site in the world on all things sci-fi, comic book and just in general things that under and over weight guys who don't get laid all over the planet love (see blog role). As to the circumstances surrounding this change in his life I'll leave that for him to explain which will no doubt come in the form of a posting at his blog soon. Although I heard a rumor that one of his followers turned out to be this hot 40ish red head from Australia that lives alone in a nice place and is rich and begged Dan to move out there with her. However, I can't confirm that at this time. But if it's true and it turns out she has a twin sister I'll be moving to Australia soon too especially since I recently got my passport renewed.
At one point I asked Dan if he would be able to pass himself off as a local. Apparently that was impossible since he claims his accent will give him away every time. I don't know about the rest of you but the Kiwis and Aussies pretty much all sound the same to me. Both of them have mangled the perfected version of English we speak here in United States of America. I'm just kidn Dan . . . sort of. Let's all give Dan our best heartfelt wishes as he embarks on a new chapter in his life where he will be battling automobile and motorbike riding marauders in hockey masks and assless chaps on the desert wasteland highways of the Australian outback.

Everybody was Kung Fu fightn: Bronze Tiger vs. Batman plus, the 3 reasons Bronze Tiger is a badass you never knew about!

2011-09-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

There's not much more I can say about Bronze Tiger that I and the rest of his fan base hasn't said already on this blog site. This posting largely consists of some cool stuff I found on the internet. Some i was looking for and other stuff and random. Now I believe the Detective Comics issue below is the first confrontation between Batman & Bronze Tiger. Let me tell ya it was a pretty epic match with some good art wort to boot! The links below should take you to some high resolution pages of the issue that consists of the match. The links are in descending order starting with the first page on top.

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/Erik_Magnus_Lensherr/?action=view&current=BronzeTiger2.jpg
http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/Erik_Magnus_Lensherr/?action=view&current=BronzeTiger3.jpg
http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/Erik_Magnus_Lensherr/?action=view&current=BronzeTiger4.jpg
http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/Erik_Magnus_Lensherr/?action=view&current=BronzeTiger5.jpg

Bronze Tiger Is A Badass Because . . .

. . he can knock somebody out using the vulcan nerve pinch even though he's not a vulcan. Captain Kirk still hasn't gotten it down even after decades of Mr. Spock showing him how it's done.

. . he can get undressed next to another guy getting undressed in the out doors with out there being anything gay about it. Ok maybe a little bit depending on who you ask but that's besides the point.

. . he is one of the few non super powered characters in the DC Universe who can stand face to face with Superman and still look like an absolute badass. Others who could pull it off include Batman (ofcourse), Rick Flag and none other then Amanda Waller.

From Darkseid to iran's ayatollah khomeini, whatever evil you fear most

2011-08-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've had this blog going for almost a year with out mention Shade The Changing Man yet. He first appeared in Suicide Squad #16 and was last scene in issue 37. Shade is a security officer from another dimension who coincidentally encountered the Squad on a mission in the "Shadow Zone" and through a twist of fate got stuck on Earth after the Squad made good their escape.
Shade somewhat reluctantly agrees to join the Squad under the promise that the resources of the govt. will be put to use in an effort to return him to his own dimension. But over time due to the inferior technology on Earth he becomes increasingly frustrated with the prospect he may never get back. Despite being a pretty noble guy he goes against his better judgement and helps Duchess a.k.a Lashina abduct the Squad for her Apocalypse mission for which in return she's supposed to get him back home using the superior technology of the New Gods. But he eventually turns on her as his conscience gets the best of him after witnessing her cruelty to the population of Apocalypse as well as to the Squad http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/08/11/almost-hidden-the-suicide-squad-travels-to-apokolips/ Shade is returned to his own dimension when Darkseid expels the Squad off of Apocalypse with his omega beams returning everybody to where they came from.
Shade wore a special vest that detected the fears of others around him and projected a force field in the image of those fears. The force fields appeared to mimic his body movements. In the clip art here you can see him pummeling Peacemaker who sees Shade as his abusive military father who apparently bullied him through out most of his child hood. On Apocalypse we see the vest project the image of Darkseid for a brigade of parademons that Shade was fighting.
Probably my all time favorite moment with Shade in the pages of the Suicide Squad is in issue 32 in which the Squad under takes a mission in iran. During the battle with iran's military Shade's vest projected the image of the ayatollah khomeini to the soldiers. As you all may or may not be aware of the ayatollah khomeini is the fanatical islamic religious cleric who took power in the late 70s during the iranian revolution. Today the iranian people still live with the legacy of being in the grip of a religious dictatorship under the tyrant ahmedinejad and the mullahs (religious ruling party).
This is not only another a case of how art imitates life but also how insightful of a writer John Ostrander was when it came to weaving real world facts and politics into the stories of the Suicide Squad. And keep in mind this was long before the "arab spring" this year in which we're seeing one tyrannical regime after another fall in the midst of uprisings all over the muslim world in the Middle East. Just recently gaddafi's reign of terror for over 40 years in libya finally came to an end last weekend and we can only hope the bashar assad regime in syria will be next. Of course despite all this most any moronic useful idiot liberal of the San Francisco Bay Area will be quick to blame the United States and Israel for the decades of turmoil in the Middle East. Thank goodness John Ostrander was a more intelligent and objective thinking person who didn't suffer from the social disease known as political correctness which has infected most of the world and Europe especially.

Countdown 22: Trickster, in the line of Deadshot's fire

2011-08-18T00:02:00.000-07:00

So before I start to talk about this issue I want to remind everybody that the events in Gotham Underground lead right up to DC's Countdown (to Final Crisis) series. Also, right before I found this issue in a $1 bin I had flipped through a Countdown TPB in which we see Trickster and Pied Piper having managed to elude the Suicide Squad a couple of times already. Each time it seemed to piss Deadshot off more and more. Well eventually Deadshot catches up to them on his own after they decide to stow away on a train. Despite having surprise on his side Trickster and Pied Piper manage to stay out of Deadshots line of fire by using every trick in the book when it comes to distractions and surprise attacks. With his patience coming to it's whit's end he gets a call from Waller who is not at all pleased with his unauthorized solo mission. And as you can read here in the clip art the conversation was somewhat less then cordial. Be sure to magnify the clip art for easier reading.
So as you can see that went well (yes a wee bit sarcastic). Can you just picture how Waller must have been like on the other end of that line? Probably threw the phone or whatever communication device she was using out the nearest window provided it wasn't something that was bolted down or really really heavy. Deadshot catches up to the duo again and a skirmish breaks out in which they manage to throw Deadshot out an open door. But he gets a hold of Trickster's cape and drags him out too. Thinking Trickster is out of it Deadshot attempts to give Piper a "parting shot" but Trickster despite having been dragged on the ground leaps to Piper's defense and in the line of fire.
Countdown 22 came out in November of 2007 with Salvation Run #2 coming out just a few months later in early 2008. I mention this because as you all should know by now that Salvation Run #2 is where Waller and Flag trick Deadshot into exile (along with Bane) to the prison planet for being too "unstable" http://suicidesquadtaskforcex.blogspot.com/2011/07/just-found-salvation-run-2-in-1-box-so.html. Of course he eventually escapes the planet thanks to Lex Luther's ingenuity and later become part of the Secret Six. And in the Suicide Squad Secret Six crossover in Blackest Night (2010) Deadshot puts a bullet next to Waller's heart http://suicidesquadtaskforcex.blogspot.com/2011/02/because-you-didnt-demand-it-suicide.html (yes folks she really has a heart) which again begs the question how the fuck does Deadshot manage to fine himself with The Suicide Squad again? This is one of my biggest fears about the reboot is that he'll just be back with Task Force X with out any explanation. I know the reboot is suppose to be about new directions for these titles but history like that can't just simply be dismissed.

Captain Boomerang and what goes around

2011-08-15T23:13:00.000-07:00

So I picked up the final issue of Red Robin (#26) yesterday so I could see what's been going on with the newly reselected Digger Harkness since the end of the Brightest Day saga. My first thought was did DC Comics really name a character after the restaurant chain cause It's the first time I'm hearing about this guy. Anyways, some important background information is that Digger killed Robin's father (Jack Drake) back during the Identity Crisis series.
So naturally Robin (gonna just call him Robin for short) wanted revenge but having been an understudy of Batman was conflicted about killing Boomerang out right. So he sets Boomerang up on a false heist to steal some Black Lantern energy from S.T.A.R labs. Boomerang is under the impression that the energy needs to be harnessed under extreme cold temperatures which prompts him to bring it to Mr. Freeze. It is soon discovered that the Black Lantern energy is just a bunch of bullshit which brings the two villains into conflict. Apparently trying to steer Digger into doing something haphazard was part of Robin's plan. But just as Boomerang and Freeze are about to throw down Robin intervenes out of a sense of inner conflict over wanting to deliver the death blow to Boomerang personally as opposed to someone else.Freeze is rendered unconscious as Boomerang flees the scene but is pursued by Robin to a roof top. A fight ensues between the two. A clash of throwing weapons causes Boomerang to get hit by one of his own rangs sending him over the edge. By the way did I mention how awesome the art work is in this issue? Be sure to left click on the clip art. Dan if your reading this I got your splash page right here mate!Do you all remember that scene at the end of Batman The Darknight where he flips The Joker off the roof top but saves him from falling to his death with a grappling line? Well that's basically what happens here.Captain Boomerang has always been a bit of a weasel. But it seems like these days good ol Digger has more of a back bone. One of the side benefits of coming back from the dead I suppose is that you have more confidence. Digger has always had a sense of cockiness but I always got the impression it was largely a front to cover up a lot of insecurity he was carrying around with him. So as I'm sure you guessed Robin spares Boomerang's life in favor of justice over vengeance. Shortly there after Freeze and Boomerang are taken away by the police. Keep in mind that at the end of Secret Six #36 which is the final issue both Deadshot and King Shark are also arrested which I imagine has something to do with them being back in The Suicide Squad for the relaunch. Which means perhaps . . . well you know where I'm going with this. For a more comprehensive review of this issue go to http://superpowersthatbe.blogspot.com/2011/08/old-dc-red-robin-26-finale-review.html?showComment=1313483473692#c4938194806475292976

Gotham Underground: Invasion of the criminal snatchers

2011-08-12T00:02:00.000-07:00

Gotham Underground is a 9 issue mini-series involving a big time turf war between just about every criminal in Gotham City both meta-human as well as common mobsters. Aside from that, several random criminals are turning up missing. Not due to gang related violence but because the Suicide Squad has been abducting them. Of course as you all know by now we all know those criminals are being sent on via boom tube to their new home somewhere on a planet far far away. It's also worth mentioning that even criminals in jail are getting abducted. In some cases the Squad is working with the Penguin to lure fellow criminals for "business meetings" in order for the Squad to ambush them.
But not all the abductions are going as planned for a number of reasons. Like the case of some punk called Great White Shark. You see here The Squad busting a hole through his jail cell to get to him. But upon finding him he starts doing some major trash talking to Bane about how he's not that tough anymore like when he broke Batman's back and how his venom must have given him brain damage. So Bane looses his cool, beats the shit out of him and throws him out of the opening in the cell wall several stories down presumably to his death. Now take note that The Squad here still has Bane and Deadshot on it. Which means that Gotham Underground must have taken place between the Raise the Flag mini-series and Salvation Run #2. I imagine it was shit like this that eventually led to the decision to having Bane exiled to the prison planet. I didn't have much like finding clip art for this series unfortunately. Aside from the clip art above all I could find was some uncolored pages from comicart.com. But at least looking at the black and white panels will give you some idea of what was going on.
Also, the Gotham Underground mini-series has it's own Wiki page so if you want to read up about it in more detail it's there for you. It's a fairly brief read and it will help you follow what's going on in these panels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotham_Underground

Salvation Run #3 & #4: Hey Deadshot & Bane, "Welcome to The Jungle"

2011-08-06T03:11:00.000-07:00

So by now everyone who follows this blog should know what Salvation Run is and why it's important to the Suicide Squad continuity. And thanks to my latest find in the $1 bins yesterday (Salvation Run # 3 and 4) I can now elaborate what exactly life was like on the prison planet that both Deadshot and Bane got exiled too when the decision to have them "dismissed" (Salvation Run # 2) was made by Waller and Flag. It turned out that the planet was some sort of training facility for Apocalypse. As such, the planet was full of many attractions like these bio-mechanical creatures that attacked and killed the exiled villains on a regular basis. Oh boy can I ever think about a lot of people today I'd like to have shipped off to this place. And if you think I'm being a dick with that statement then you probably don't live in the San Francisco Bay Area like I do. Now as much as this sucks for all the villains things are even worse for Deadshot and Bane. That's because they helped round up a lot of the villains while they were with The Squad that they are now stuck with. That's pretty much like being a bad cop who ends up in prison with a lot of the dirtbags he put behind bars. So this little fact did not go unnoticed for long among the other villains and before long Deadshot and Bane found themselves in a situation where they were about to have a lot more then the creatures you see them fighting here to worry about. The exiles even go so far as to accuse the duo of being spies for Waller which in turn seriously pisses Deadshot off. But just as it looked like things were gonna get as precarious for Deadshot and Bane like a couple of Israel supporters in the middle of an anti-Israel demonstration in San Francisco ( and believe me I know what that's like!) Lex Luther of all people steps up on their behalf. He kinda starts off by making this we need to stick together and not fight amongst ourselves sorta speech to the rest of the villains. He goes on to further explain how other exiled villains on the planet have had to work for the Squad at one time or another in the past.So after that Lex offers both Deadshot and Bane a million dollars each when they get back to Earth if they become his bodyguards during their stay on the prison planet. Eventually they all escape of course but I don't know if Lex ever made good on his promise. Perhaps those of you out there familiar with the Villains United series might have some insight into that?

Raise The Flag: An overview of this pivitol 2008 mini-series

2011-08-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

As I was putting together my time line I wasn't able to find a really good summery of this fantastic and important series any where outside of The Suicide Squad's Wikipedia page so I thought I'd put this posting together today. By the way this series is also available in trade paper back form.

The first three issues primarily deal with the details of the return of Rick Flag who was presumed dead from a solo suicide mission to destroy the meta human for hire terror group known as the Jihad (Suicide Squad #26 Vol. 1). Remember the good ol days back in the 80s when nobody knew what that word meant? Although the Checkmate title (issues 1-20 Vol.2) had already started bringing The Squad back gradually in a piece meal fashion it wasn't until the Raise The Flag mini-series did we get the full story on Flag's return. That storyline (told in a flash back style) having to do with him and Rustam (leader of the Jihad) being mystically transported to Skartaris instead of having been blown up with the Jihad HQ. There they had to work together to survive in a dinosaur infested land. But eventually the arch enemies go mano e mano and Flag has to put him down permanently cause he's bad ass that way. He's then mystically returned to Earth and winds up in the middle of some trouble that lands him in jail in some Asian country for several years until rescued by Bronze Tiger.

After that story is told the series picks up with Waller getting things in order at Belle Reve prison with her now having her old job back as director of Task Force X which as you all should know by now is the official govt. name for The Squad. They're about to under go a new mission with the objective of taking out this global corp. called Haake-Bruton that has developed a fast acting viral weapon and as director of Task Force X it's her job to determine what meta human prisoners are suitable for the mission. The final selection is made up of many members from the first SS series but also several brand new recruits as well. Of course true to form the mission has all sorts of problems including betrayal by a few Squad members along with a surprise or two that nobody saw coming. Sometimes I wonder if historical military disasters like The Bay of Pigs or the failed hostage rescue in iran by the jimmy carter didn't help inspire some of these Squad stories.
But I'm happy to say that at the end of the day the mission is accomplished even though nearly everyone of the new recruits ends up dead. At the end of the final issue the Squad is made up of Rick Flag, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang (Owen Mercer), Plastique, Multiplex, Gen. Eiling (in the Shaggy Man's body), Bane, Count Vertigo and Deadshot. King Faraday who was Amanda's bishop at Checkmate is her right hand man for administrative matters. The events of Salvation Run follows the end of this series shortly after as indicated by the time line posting.

There are of course a bunch of nuanced things in regards to the characters and the story line in this mini-series summery I didn't cover but for the sake of not making this posting too long I kept it fairly brief. But I think I covered the most important stuff especially as it pertains to the make up of Task Force X as the continuity moves forward into Salvation Run. With that being the case I'd be happy to go over anything in the comments section I may have over looked that was worth mentioning.
On a side note here I just wanted to mention that about a year and a half later during the Secret Six Suicide Squad Blackest Night cross over Gen. Eiling and Plastique for unknown reasons are no longer with the Squad. Captain Boomerang had become part of The Rogues but was later killed by his father (original Captain Boomerang) who was resurrected by a Black Lantern ring. And of course you know by now that Deadshot and Bane are with The Secret Six. However, Nightshade had returned to the Squad along with solo mission recruit Virtuosa, who's powers are similar to that of The Fiddler.

25 Year Suicide Squad Anniversary! Get up to speed with my handy dandy quick reference timeline

2011-08-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

As I was compiling this time line I realized that The Suicide Squad has spanned a quarter of a century now! As a more comprehensive follow up to my Youtube video I decided to create this time line to get all Suicide Squad fans both devoted and fair weather ones up to speed in time for the DC relaunch next month. Over the 25 years of Squad history there have been numerous what I call stand alone appearances/adventures involving the Squad and or single members of the Squad. You may notice the time line doesn't include most of those Suicide Squad tie-ins that have been published but I feel it includes the most relevant books to the continuity of the mythology. The only exception being the 2002 series which I felt should be included for archival purposes seeing as it is technically speaking the 2nd Suicide Squad comic book series. And besides, including absolutely everything that's ever been published having to do with The Suicide Squad would take forever and contrary to popular opinion I do have a life outside of this blog.

Left click anywhere on time line to magnify

For more detailed information on the following topics refer to these back postings

Raise The Flag mini-series:
http://suicidesquadtaskforcex.blogspot.com/2011/08/raise-flag-overview-of-this-pivitol.html
Operation Salvation Run & "The Fall of The Wall" saga:
http://suicidesquadtaskforcex.blogspot.com/2011/05/fall-of-wall-operation-salvation-run.html
Suicide Squad / Secret Six Blackest Night cross over:
http://suicidesquadtaskforcex.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-02-05T00%3A05%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7
Checkmate agency:
http://suicidesquadtaskforcex.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-01-12T00%3A30%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7

Salvation Run #2 found in $1 box so temporarily breaking my "hiatus". Also, check out my Suicide Squad Youtube video

2011-07-16T01:59:00.000-07:00

Well this is turning out to be some hiatus huh? Since I announced it I've made a Suicide Squad Youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWp3SarT-14 and now this posting. But this is important cause I made a good find today at my local comic shop. So if you look a couple of posting behind this one you'll see that Bane was "recruited" by Waller at the tail end of the 2007-2008 Raise the Flag Suicide Squad 8 issue mini-series and also that Deadshot was still a part of the Squad. But in Salvation Run #2 we see that Waller & Flag deem Deadshot and Bane too "unstable" and exile them to the prison planet.
As you can see here prisoners are loaded in a chamber which is then sealed and they are all sucked into an opening boomtube. Flag doesn't give Deadshot and Bane a chance to clear the chamber before it is sealed after they've herded the latest transportees in there. At first I thought it was weird that Salvation Run #2 was published a few months before the end of the From the Ashes mini-series. But then I found in the first issue of Raise the Flag a note informing the readers that all the events of that series come before Operation Salvation Run. What's also note worthy is that we see Scandal Savage getting sent to the prison planet in Checkmate #20 (2008) as well. http://suicidesquadtaskforcex.blogspot.com/search?q=scandal+savage . So what's the point of this posting you might be saying about now? I guess what I'm getting at is that nearly two years later (March 2010) we see Deadshot along with Bane and Scandal Savage being part of The Secret 6 in the Suicide Squad/Secret 6 Blackest Night cross over story line. Much of the story centers around Waller wanting Deadshot back on Task Force X for which he declines for obvious reasons and shoots Waller near the heart to make his point http://suicidesquadtaskforcex.blogspot.com/2011/02/because-you-didnt-demand-it-suicide.html
The cool thing about Salvation Run #2 is that it let's us see what I'm guessing was the origins of Deadshot becoming a member of The Secret 6 not to mention Bane and Scandal Savage. We also see how and why he was booted from Task Force X which of course explains his resentment for Waller by the time the two teams meet in the Blackest Night cross over. Which makes me ever so curious how the Hell Deadshot is gonna end up with The Suicide Squad in the September relaunch cause he should still be REALLY pissed off with both Waller and Flag!? Well that's ok cause it wouldn't be the Suicide Squad if the mission wasn't F.U.B.A.R before it even got started.

* F.U.B.A.R (fucked up beyond all recognition)

Amanda Waller vs. Nick Fury

2011-07-08T01:14:00.001-07:00

Here's something pretty cool I found on Deviant art done by someone who goes under the name of Ragnaroker. This is interesting cause we've had discussions before on this blog about some sort of Checkmate/S.H.I.E.L.D cross over mini-series. Or how about a cross over mini-series consisting of two rival terrorist organizations such as KOBRA and Hydra?

Unfortunately I don't know who did this awesome painting which is unfortunate cause I hate having to display great fan art with out giving credit where credit is due. Is it just me or does Harley Quinn seem to have this whole "The Crow" vibe going on here?
Just a heads up folks this blog is gonna be on something of a hiatus probably until sometime next month. I've got a lot of other shit I need to turn my attention to for now but as we get closer to the New Suicide Squad book coming out I promise "I'll be back".

KOBRA vs. Bane

2011-07-04T01:05:00.001-07:00

Probably one of my favorite episodes of Young Justice is "Drop Zone". It features a mission the young heroes under take in Santa Prisca only to find a power struggle between the forces of Bane's drug cartel and Kobra who's trying to move in on his territory. I'm sure by now you all know how Kobra has been a regular nemesis for both Task Force X and Checkmate. And although Bane has tussled with Checkmate before his history with Task Force X is a bit different. He was "recruited" by Amanda Waller at the end of the 2008 "Raise the Flag" mini-series. But his stint with Task Force X was pretty short lived and apparently his "service" was brought to an abrupt end when Waller banished him along with Deadshot to the prison planet in Operation Salvation Run #2. Which probably explains the how they came to work together as part of The Secret Six I'm guessing. Dan, you wanna weigh in on this?
I highly recommend this episode of Young Justice! You can catch it out on Youtube, here's a link to part 1 of 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd1KPcJIUSc

Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy, a shared moment. And how Blade Runner & Farscape shows us why Harley's new look is cool

2011-06-24T00:16:00.000-07:00

Well I know this posting is gonna offend some of you out there who have more delicate sensibilities. I don't know what to tell ya other then when I stumbled across this illustration I felt anything but offended. I'm a guy, this is my blog, Ivy was part of the Squad in the first series and Harley is gonna be part of the Squad in the new series, nuff said. Well who ever out there did this illustration thank you and please let us know who you are if you come across this posting.
As you all know it appears as if Harley is ditching her classic skin tight "jester" like costume in favor of something more punk rock looking. From what I'm seeing out there it seems there are some people taking issue with this for what ever reason. Little did I know since I'm not a gamer this look was already being used for the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game. And for some reason it didn't hit me until I saw the video game looking Harley that she totally reminded me of Daryl Hannah as Priss from Blade Runner which is the best all time dystopia sci-fi film of all time with Children of Men being a close second. That alone should prompt someone to being very receptive to the costume switch. Aside from the white face paint and messy mascara eyes Hannah had that whole playful, sexy psycho thing going on. Now that's got me wondering if the Typhoid Mary character from Marvel was also inspired by Daryl Hannah from Blade Runner. And what about Chiana (Gigi Edgely) from Farscape? Ya see folks that look just works for hot psycho femme fatales you don't wanna mess with.

Superman & Batman: Apocalypse - another DC movie that doesn't suck! Plus I found a new actress to be Lashina

2011-06-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Ok I just by chance found a series of video clips from a DC movie I didn't know about. IT LOOKS AWESOME! Maybe even better then Superman Batman: Public Enemies. Aside from a ton of great shit in it like Darkseid we also get to see among other great fights a showdown Wonder Woman and Barda have against the Female Furies. This fight is beyond awesome it's got everything over and under weight guys who don't get laid dream of. Including a new look for the Furies that has them looking more feminine and with new costumes that show more skin. Something occurred to me as I was checking out Lashina I thought of another actress that would be a good fit for her, Rona Mitra. She's been in a few high budget B action movies but you may remember her best from Under World: Rise of the Lycans in which she plays an armor clad vampire warrior. She's really hot and athletic of course but she also has this slightly angular face that makes her look kinda hard which is what Lashina should look like. I'm sure all of you know by now how Apocalypse and Lashina (Duchess) especially played a big part in the original Suicide Squad series. Lashina as Duchess was a fan favorite and although we knew it had to happen eventually were really sorry to see her go. Anyways, enough of my gibberish check out this clip. I promise you if you haven't seen it yet IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND! One last thing you may need to let it buffer first before you can watch it smoothly.

Wonder Woman & Barda vs. The Female Furies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnLMGjKDJMs&feature=related
Superman Batman: Apocalypse trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gK9VbzyZrY&feature=related

Look what I just found today Wed. June 22. I have no freaking idea who did this but bless their soul this is hot! This almost makes me wanna start a blog for Lashina alone. As if that girl fight clip wasn't enough now this comes along. I gotta tell yeah folks although I'm looking forward to seeing the new Suicide Squad series I would be so much more excited if they were some how bringing back Lashina for the Squad. It would take truly some genius writing for it to make any sense but damn that would be cool. Please be sure to left click on the image to blow it up. I want it to just jump out at you.
Sometimes I'm not sure which way I like her more. Is she better in the Rambo like get up totting a big ass gun or is she better off in her traditional skin tight dominatrix kinda look? It's like asking if it's better to be respected or feared. is it too much to ask for both?

Green Lantern movie review: My thoughts on The Wall, Ryan Reynolds & how Israel's 1st prime minister became the Guardians of the Universe

2011-06-17T00:48:00.000-07:00

I just got back in from having seen GL and there's just two things I want to say off hand. One, what I was thinking about writing about the Amanda Waller character before I saw the movie is exactly what I will write since having seen it. Two, although Nathan Fillion still would have been my first pick for Hal Jordan I have to say Reynolds did a fine job. Over all the movie was pretty good especially with the way they introduced the secondary GL characters like Kilawog, Tomar Rae and of course Sinestro. They set them all up really well for the sequel that we all know is coming. My biggest gripe off hand is that visually the Parallax menace could have been thought out a bit better though. I'm sure more issues I'll have with the movie will come up that I'll mention in the comments as I have more time to "digest" the movie.
Now, on to The Wall. The Amanda Waller character was not really a very prominent character in the film maybe only having about 15 minutes of screen time. Which for the most part I expected. beyond her being a black woman who had a high ranking position with the U.S. govt. that deals with shit that is generally kept. away from the public eye we really didn't get to see the Amanda Waller most of us have been reading about for more then 20 years now. There was one scene that was an exception however in which we are treated to a flash back sequence of Waller's life that includes most of the stuff in that Suicide Squad secret origins issue #14 that pertained to Waller herself. So basically she was just another secondary character that is probably also getting set up for a more prominent role in the sequel. Which is fine really since this isn't a Suicide Squad movie. I think the fact that their using the Amanda Waller character to any degree is a testament to the enormous popularity she has gained with fans in of the DC Universe over the last 20 years and that in and of it's self is pretty damn cool I think!
As for Angela Basset as Amanda Waller I'm so over that whole controversy already. It's been talked to death and when you go see the movie just come to terms with the fact that when it comes to seeing Amanda Waller on the big screen she's not going to be played by a short heavy set black actress. That being said Basset was fine in the movie too even though she didn't really get to flex her acting muscle too much as of yet.
On an interesting side note some of you out there may not be a aware that the look of the Guardians of the Universe is based on Israel's 1st prime minister David Ben-Gurion. Like the Guardians he was a small man in stature (only about 5'4") but a giant in heart and spirit. He was a leader in the early Jewish militias in the British mandate of Palestine which was made up mostly of Holocaust survivors and Jewish refugees from Russia and other parts of the Middle East. In May of 1948, literally hours after Ben-Gurion declaring state hood the then fledgling Jewish state (smaller then New Jersey) was attacked by the combined armies of syria, iraq, egypt, jordan and lebannon. In response Israel did what it does best when it's survival is threatened, it won! There is a theme about how one must conquer their fears when facing horrific odds and great evils in the Green Lantern mythology. Knowing this it's hardly surprising that David Ben-Gurion would have served as an inspirational figure for the founders of the Green Lantern Corp which is made up of only the bravest and noble beings of the universe. Minus the occasional exception like Sinestro of course.

Angela Basset on Amanda Waller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3TCMBomcsY

The Eye of the Tiger: fan art by Stuart Sayger and more!

2011-06-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

You see this full body drawing of Bronze Tiger with the white background to the left? It's out of an early DC Who's Who issue that came out around the mid 80s. I had that issue and it was my first look at Bronze Tiger. I didn't know anything about him including that he's wearing a tiger mask. At the time I thought he was some sort of human/tiger hybrid or something.
Which is ironic cause during the Dragon's Horde saga in the original Suicide Squad series he would encounter a meta-human martial arts Yakuza strong man called Cats Eye who apparently was some sort of human/tiger hybrid. Cats Eye got the best of BT thanks to some poison tipped claws but on their next encounter BT was ready for him and gave that pussy (no pun intended) a serious beat down in hand to hand combat.

That's what I love about BT how he can take on these super powered opponents and kick their asses or at least hold his own with em rather it's Cats Eye or the Soviet super soldier known as Stolnivok (The Steel Wolf) who BT has also faced more then once. Speaking of which I found this clip art of BT going head to head with Deathstroke that I thought was pretty cool. I don't know what title it came from but if you do don't take that secret to your grave. There are so may awesome hypothetical cross over fights I could imagine for BT. How do your think he fair against the likes of Iron Fist, Shang Chi, Black Panther, Snake Eyes, Daredevil or even Captain America?

To see the rest of this awesome showdown go to: http://dwaynemcduffie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1454&start=80#p94094 I don't think I've had nearly enough Bronze Tiger in this blog site thus far so I'm really glad I've finally gotten around to doing this posting. And that's also why I'm glad I can feature this amazing rendering of Bronze Tiger that I just found by pure luck on the internet by Stuart Sayger. I'm not sure but this could be an ink brush painting or just simply a painting done using black paint. Either way it's awesome, and I love this slightly old style Japanese painting look it has to it. It also works great in black and white. Nicely done Stuart if your reading this!

J'onn J'onnz, the Black King?

2011-06-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

The Martian Manhunter played a role during the Fall of the Wall saga in the Checkmate series in which we saw the conspiracy unfold that forced Amanda Waller to resign her position as the White Queen of Checkmate. Now I'm not going to get into details about that too much but in a nut shell it involved MM impersonating the Black King for a while and later MM probing Deadshot's mind and extracting some information that allowed the other royals ( Black King, Black Queen and White King) to black mail Waller.
The Fall of the Wall saga was my first look at the "cone head" version of MM. That was kinda at a time where my interest in comics was on the low end so I had no idea what the Hell that look was all about. I didn't like it, and if some body (Frank) out there wants to tell me what that look was all about (Frank) I'd love for them to leave a comment (Frank) to that end. Fairly recently I discovered that great show Young Justice and I thought it was interesting how MM was sporting that new costume on the show but not the cone head thank God. I think this version of MM's costume is pretty cool. Maybe I even think I like it a bit more then the original. So what say you people? Cone head or no cone head?

Netanyahu's speech to the U.S. congress and how it speaks power to truth in the pages of the Suicide Squad, Checkmate & The Omac Project

2011-05-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu just delivered rousing speech to the U.S. congress yesterday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNnHArM2P9s&playnext=1&list=PL14874281775D93DAI I think it was one for the history books. In the speech he hit on a lot of truths that the propagators of anti-Western rhetoric both terrorists and terror enablers like the radical left would rather you not know. For those of you who are informed individuals you know this already but even in the DC Universe these truths are self evident. One of those truths Netanyahu spoke of is that there are over 1 million Arabs living as Israeli citizens who enjoy more freedoms and rights then the average Arab has in any Arab country. Checkmate's Black King is Taleb Khalidi, an Israeli Arab Bedouin who ascended to that position on the heels of an extensive education and professional career in Israel as an Israeli citizen. So much for that tired leftist mantra of Israel being an "apartheid state". Another point made was to remind people how close the and important the relationship is between the U.S. and Israel. The Suicide Squad's first assignment in Israel involved thwarting the terrorist plans of Kobra which is basically like DC's version of hamas or al-qaeda. And just as Kobra is a mutual enemy of America and Israel the same is certainly so of hamas and al-qaeda in the real world. Netanyahu also mentioned in his speech how Israel is a strong country despite it's size and that it is quite capable of defending it's self with out the aid of American troops. This is also self evident for any one who knows the history of Israel's wars with the Arab world. And to all those leftist terror apologists out there who would attribute all of Israel's military accomplishments to American aid let me remind you that it takes much more then just weapons and money to win a war or an up hill battle. Otherwise America would have won in Vietnam, and our job in iraq and afganistan would have been done long ago. You fight with your head first, and then your fists. That's basic strategy in the art of war. Right click on the images to enlarge them for easier reading.

Benjamin Netanyahu & Amanda Waller, the common thread

2011-05-21T22:31:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you out there saw the press release that Israel's prime minister and Barack Obama gave yesterday. Or for that matter are familiar enough with the Israeli Arab conflict to understand the context of what was said. But if you did see it with a certain degree of understanding then you know that Netanyahu is basically a male version of Amanda Waller. Politically savvy, extremely intelligent, very direct and even shrewd when he needs to be. Qualities we don't see in our own president as consistently as many Americans would like to. This was extremely obvious when contrasting the portion of Obama's out look on the the realities on the ground in comparison to Netanyahu's. Although never the director of the Task Force X, Netanyahu is a former Israeli defense force commando who along with the Navy Seals are the most bad ass soldiers in the world. Rather with an uzi or a microphone, this man knows how to fight for his country's right to exist and defend it's self with out letting political correctness get in the way of reality.

for the full press release: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l28xJitnP78
for Netanyahu's portion only: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7lHdKXZTws

DC's 52: Week Thirty -Three Task Force X vs. The Black Marvel Famliy. How to say the "F" word with out saying it in comic books.

2011-05-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

What a great day I've had as far as comic book back issues goes. When I woke up today I set my mind this week to finding severl back issues I felt like I needed. From DC they were 52 Week Thirty -Three and Checkmate #5 (Vol. 2). And from Marvel they were New Warriors (Vol. 1) #28, 73, 74 and 75. I can't friggin believe it I found Checkmate #5 on my lunch break and all the rest at another comic book shop on my way home from work. I love the dialogue in these panels that are to the left and on the bottom they really crack me up! Look how they keep using all those punctuation characters in place of the "F" bomb. Apparently all the fighting you see going on has to do with The Squad being sent to help Atom Smasher apprehend Black Adam and his family since they've become a problem to pretty much the whole world. It's really a shame what happened here to The Pursuader I was just starting to like this guy. It would have been nice to seem him in some further missions on The Squad especially if they were ever to take place in San Francisco but as you can see here he had to split.

Now that's what I call a splash page!

Suicide Squad fan art in all it's awe inspiring forms

2011-05-05T00:02:00.000-07:00

I found this gem to the left by Geof Isherwood on Comic Fans.com. This is absolute bad ass! It's so obvious what makes this such a great illustration I won't even go into my usual art speile. But at least make sure you magnify it to see the details.

Ya know when you think about it the concept of fan art doesn't always have to be about a drawing, painting or even some sort of digital illustration. Your body in a manner of speaking can be the "canvas" for your expression of fondness for the characters who have served with the Suicide Squad over the years. This awesome Deadshot costume and especially this Poison Ivy make up job just below are good examples of that. But I'd still like to see someone out there make the trench coat version of Deadshot's costume some day.

Ironically enough this week's Task Force X Retirement Files 044-047 includes Poison Ivy along with Oracle (Barbara Gordon), The Thinker (Cliff Carmichael) and The Outlaw John Henry: http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2011/05/suicide-squad-retirement-files-044-047.html

Fall of The Wall: Operation Salvation Run & Project Omac

2011-05-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

I'm guessing most of you out there probably know more about Operation Salvation Run then you do about the Checkmate (Vol. 2) three issue (18-20) story line known as the Fall of The Wall. But if you don't know about Salvation Run it was basically an unauthorized covert operation run by Amanda Waller and Rick Flag with the purpose of abducting meta human criminals and sending them to a prison planet. The clip art above is of a batch of criminals at Belle Reve being herded at gun point into a boom tube. This prison planet is basically the Gitmo of the DC Universe and just about as controversial which has caused Waller and Flag to bump heads with the JLA (#18) as well as certain elements in Checkmate. Not only that but Salvation Run was also what put Deadshot at odds with Waller and ultimately lead him to shooting her to even the score later on in the pages of Secret Six. If you want more detailed information about Salvation Run this is a nice little condensed synopsis: http://deadlygarden.blogspot.com/2009/08/salvation-run.html
Personally I think it's a great idea and why I want Amanda Waller for president in 2012. But unfortunately despite holding the title of White Queen in Checkmate Waller had many political enemies (Mr.Terrific - White King, Taleb Khalid - Black King, Sasha Bordeaux - Black Queen) within the organization that were ready to throw anything at her they thought might stick. Aside from Salvation Run it was also discovered that Waller secretly carried Omac nano technology in her blood stream which technically made her a meta and that violated the "rule of two" policy at Checkmate. Basically it's a policy that puts a quota of meta-human agents within Checkmates dual command structure. So with all that she was forced to resign (along with her knight - Count Virtigo & bishop - King Faraday) as the White Queen of Checkmate. But that's ok. The Wall is never 100% out of "the game" in the world of politics and clandestine ops. She was still director of Task Force X and now had her former knight and bishop working for her there as seen in the 2008 Suicide Squad From the Ashes mini-series. But There's been no shortage of Amanda Waller in the DC Universe since then. She's been in numerous DC titles, the Justice League Unlimited (project Cadmus), Superman Batman: Public Enemies, Smallville and later this summer Amanda Waller makes her big screen debut in Green Lantern. But regardless of where ever she appears running whatever government agency she'll always be my queen.

Coming up next we feature some Suicide Squad Fan art for the first time in awhile!

Multiplex, the Star Trek security guards in red shirts of Task Force X

2011-04-26T00:05:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've gotten this far on this blog site with out really having much of anything to do with Multiplex. I've known about the character since his early Firestorm villain days but he was never really of any interest to me. One of the things is that for a guy who's power is to make multiple copies of himself running around in an elaborate caped costume seemed kinda silly to me. He just had a look that was more suited for being the head honcho of some super criminal organization or evil cult like Brother Blood or Kobra. But since he started working for Waller sometime after the regular Suicide Squad 1 -75 series he's been sporting this "Tron" look which I think looks much much better.
My favorite thing about the character is how his "duploids" keep getting killed. And the way they get killed sometimes cracks me up even if it is a bit gruesome now and then. In the clip art here you see Scandal Savage from the Secret Six trying to take one of them hostage at Belle Reve. As you can see here it's a great scene for a number of reasons one of them being the dialogue. Magnify the image to read it easier. More information of the Multiplex character can be found here: http://www.ask.com /wiki/Multiplex_%28comics%29

This will probably do it for this month unless Brightest Day #24 has something good but kicking off May we'll have some stuff from DC's 52 series, Operation Salvation Run and show how Waller was successfully blackmailed into resigning as Checkmate's White Queen! Who could possibly be smart and shrewd enough to do that you ask? You'll find out here next week.

Also today, Task Force X Retirement files 040-043
Sports Master, Major Victory, Adam Cray (Atom II) and Ray Palmer
http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2011/04/suicide-squad-retirement-files -040-043.html

The Janus Directive: Checkmate vs Task Force X

2011-04-22T00:05:00.000-07:00

So I decided to open up this posting with a Janus Directive house ad for those of your who aren't as familiar with that cross title DC saga. It's a pretty large file so you can magnify it for a better read. You might find it interesting to know that in mythological terms Janus was the "two faced" god of beginnings and transitions. So Checkmate and Task Force X found themselves among the various U.S. agencies and organizations duped by Kobra into fighting amongst themselves.
Certain members of Checkmate's strategy was to capture Amanda Waller in order to get leverage on Task Force X (Checkmate #16 Vol.1 1989). A hand full of agents break into Belle Reve and quietly attempt to subdue Belle Reve's security personnel as well as members of The Suicide Squad. One of their first targets is Captain Boomerang and as usual they make the mistake of underestimating him.
Once you've read enough books that feature Capt. Boomerang you get to a point where you can almost see what's going on in a live action way in your head. It's like you can actually hear him talking with that Aussie accent. It's one of the things that makes him such a fun character to follow.

By this point in the issue I was laughing out loud.

I'm sure at this point you have some idea happens what the next "rang" does that Digger is about to throw. Also seen in this issue is Bronze Tiger in some hand to hand combat against the other invading Checkmate agents. In the middle of this Waller makes good her escape from Belle Reve and the Checkmate agents are forced to abort their mission and flee. Eventually of course all the players involved figure out they've been had by Kobra and combine forces in the final showdown to stop Kobra from his latest doomsday scheme.

The Force of July, now just gone with the wind.

2011-04-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

For all of you who checked out the previous posting no doubt discovered the somewhat contentious comments over the debate about the writers of DC making Dr. Light into a sex offender. Well I think all that needed to be said about that was pretty much covered already. But that got me thinking about some of Light's more "memorable" moments in the pages of the Suicide Squad. One of those was this one from the Janus Directive. If you recall, the Janus Directive was this vast scheme devised by Kobra to turn just about every U.S. government agency against each other as a distraction while he prepares his latest dooms day weapon in order to usher in the age of the "Age of Chaos" which is his version of Armageddon. Take note that Iran's president espouses to a similar ideology. Just a little something to help you all sleep soundly at night for when the next time you hear about their latest bit of progress in their nuclear program and long range ballistic missile upgrades.
During the Janus Directive we see a showdown between the Suicide Squad and the hyper patriotic government team The Force of July ( Role call: Major Victory - super strength, Sparkler - Jubilee of the X-Men like powers, Mayflower - can animate vegetation to carry out her will, Lady Liberty - energy discharge through "torch", Silent Minority - Multiple Man like powers). Sparkler as seen above is killed by Dr. Light in a fit of rage, while Mayflower is strangled to death by Ravan. Later as the Janus Directive reaches it's conclusion both Lady Liberty and Silent Minority are killed in the final battle with Kobra's forces leaving Major Victory as the group's sole survivor.
As a result of the Kobra's manipulations and the break down in communications between agencies the U.S. government orders the over haul of many of those agencies and their protocols. One of which was to assign Major Victory to Task Force X. Major Victory (a.ka. Bill Vickers) was only with the Squad for a short time and for the most part we saw a fairly one dimensional character. So much so that Vixen once referred to him as "Major Cliche". However shortly there after Major Victory would find himself among the kidnapped members of the Squad in the ill fated Apocalypse mission compliments of every body's favorite Female Fury Lashina. Fortunately he was one of the survivors although that ended up being a turning point for him. It was on that mission that we started to see some character development for Major Victory. Having felt like he had always been used by some other interest rather it was the U.S. government, Kobra or Lashina Major Victory decided to leave all that behind and get on with his life as just Bill Vickers. What's interesting here is that the narrative of this character at the time (1990) was somewhat prophetic. Given the the political quagmire and ongoing recession of America today Major Victory is basically a metaphor for the frustrations of everyday Americans during these hard times.
Vickers as it turned out didn't turn in his uniform and would take on the role of Major Victory again. We briefly see him in the pages of the Suicide Squad toward the end of the series (#58) as the leader of the newly formed Captains of Industry super hero team. You can find out who didn't make it back from that mission at the latest Task Force X retirement files:
http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2011/04/suicide-squad-retirement-files-036-039.html

Coming soon: We feature some rare clip art of Captain Boomerang from the pages of Checkmate (Vol.1) during the Janus Directive. See Digger at his best with plenty of action and incomprehensible "Aussie" speak during Checkmate's daring break in at Belle Reve as they try to capture the director of Task Force X Amanda Waller.

Checkmate#4 awesome splash page & why I'm writing in Amanda Waller on my 2012 presidential ballot

2011-04-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

I just recently found Checkmate #3 and #4. I wish I could have found them in a dollar bin but I had to brake down and buy them at the full cover price + back issues. I already had # 1 (which I had found a little while ago for only .50) and #2 and I was really digging it so it was worth it to me to dole out the extra cash to see how the story line continued to unfold. It was a really great read! The plot line for those first few Checkmate issues (Vol.) basically had to do with Kobra having infiltrated China's meta human program and Checkmate being sent to their in order to expose the security breach. But Checkmate didn't really do it so much for China's benefit as opposed to it's own. Ya see in the first issue China tried to push through a U.N. resolution to have Checkmate dissolved. The Kobra mission was more about getting leverage on China in order to make them . . "reexamine" their U.N. vote. And of course their was the side benefit of foiling Kobra's latest scheme. That's what I loved about the writing in this book was the politics. It really did reflect how things work in the real world minus the super powered agents. I really think some kind of Checkmate vs. S.H.I.E.L.D would be so sweet!

I think Barak Obama means well. But I also think it's pretty clear to every one by now regardless of what end of the political spectrum you are on or what skin color you are that he just doesn't have what it takes to get things done rather it comes to our foreign or domestic policies. He could learn a thing or two from the White Queen. Now that's change I can believe in, plus Amanda Waller is a black woman which means she's got both Obama and Hillary beat on the PC angle.

Proper disposal of a pedophile 101 with Catman & Deadshot

2011-04-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

So I'm gonna switch gears here folks from something earlier this week that was fun to a more serious subject matter. There's no planning process, I just write postings on the fly depending on what's inspiring me that day. Do you all remember the 1988 Deadshot mini-series in which Deadshot's late son Eddie was murdered by a pedophile? Well Deadshot dealt with him pretty well by shooting his son's murderer to pieces starting with the knees and making his way up to the head. A fitting end for that type of bottom feeding scum of a sex offender.
But I'll tell ya, Catman has it down even better when it comes to properly disposing of human garbage like that. In Secret Six #16 we see Catman and Deadshot (disguised as cops) hijack a prisoner transport by ambushing and subduing the guards using brutal but none lethal force. They spring this guy who was convicted of raping and murdering a young girl. Of course the convict thought it was his lucky day but it soon turned out to be his worst nightmare as he discovers that Catman and Deadshot were paid by the victim's father to get him out of police custody so he could avenge his daughter.
So later the pedophile murderer is strapped to a table and the father is given a knife. He's about to get started but then looses his nerve. Even with righteous revenge as a motive it still takes strength (not the physical kind) to inflict excruciating pain on another person. It's just not something most of us are cut (no pun intended) out for. Some, might call the ability to do so a "gift". And as you will see here Catman has that gift. Which he passes on to the victim's father in the form of some helpful tips to insure he does what needs to be done. We don't actually get to see anything beyond this point but we as the readers can assume that the murdered girl can now rest in peace and that the scum bag in the last panel will be resting in pieces knowing that the father is about to go medieval on his ass.

DC Universe Catman character profile:
http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/heroes_and_villains/?hv=origin_stories/catman&p=1

My Nightshade is a center fold

2011-04-04T00:05:00.000-07:00

I've been debating with myself for a couple of months now about publishing a posting like this. That lovely illustration to the left actually came to me by way of a follower of this blog who happens to be of the fairer sex believe it or not. This now is the second sexually explicit illustration of Nightshade I've come across and I couldn't find out who the artist was on this one either. This is kinda weird to me because she's never really been that kind of sensual heroine. I mean I would expect to find this sort of stuff for Powergirl, Poison Ivy or even Starfire but Nightshade? By the way I hope the bare chest isn't bothering anybody out there cause I'm kinda partial to it. So I did a little research on the Squad's mistress of the night and found some comic book appearances in which artists had her showing off assets other then her shadow realm powers.
What your looking at below is some clip art from Justice League International #13 in which were seeing the Squad prep for a mission to Russia in order to bust Nemesis out of jail. Well actually we're seeing a little more then that here but you know what I mean.

And to the right here we have a scene from Checkmate #20 (Fall of the "Wall") featuring a non mini-skirt costume that is showing less skin but is more form fitting. Going back to the mini-skirt version of the costume I have to say it's pretty silly to think of a super heroine running around on dangerous missions and fighting crime in that thing. Not that I'm complaining however. And speaking of skirt lines, that black box was something I indeed did add to the original illustration before publishing it. The original doesn't leave ANYTHING to the imagination and even I have some standards of modesty for this blog. But they mostly apply below the waist, not above.

Superman & Batman Public Enemies: finally a non sucking animated film from a comic book franchise

2011-03-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Over the years I've watched my fair share of animated films from both DC and Marvel and they pretty much all have one thing in common, they suck! Sometimes they start off good but pretty much with out exception by the time your half way through or maybe a bit further you pretty much stop caring what's going on. I mean there's probably been an exception or two that don't come to mind at the moment but you know I'm basically right.
The premise is that Luther buys his way into the White House pretty much like how it goes in real life. He has a program to bring super heroes and criminals alike into the employment of the federal government so in that way it reminds me of both the Task Force X premise as well as the Marvel Civil War series. Superman and Batman don't trust Luther and aren't down with his party line so now their fugitives. By the way, it just kinda popped out at me, did Power Girl do something different with her hair? It features almost every hero and villain from the DC Universe which is awesome. Several members of the Suicide Squad are in it but with the exception of Waller they only really make cameo appearances.
The animation is tight, many of the JLU cartoon voice actors are present and there's no shortage of memorable dialogue including Lex calling Waller a "bitch". The story flows pretty well and in general it just works in ways so many other animated DC and Marvel films didn't. Check out the Youtube clips bellow and decide for yourself and come back here and let us know what you think.

The Suicide Squad on Smallville and making the case for Pam Grier as The Wall in Green Lantern

2011-03-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9LYGAKuaqc&feature=related

So today I was cruising around on youtube when for some reason I started watching Smallville clips. Well I came across one that feature the Suicide Squad to my surprise. We'll sort of surprised. Ya see I've heard past episodes with Checkmate make references to Task Force X but nothing ever seemed to come of it. But as far as this Suicide Squad appearance goes what we seem to be getting mostly is references made to the Squad. But in the clip that I found we do see Rick Flag (Ted Whittall) along with some meta-human agent working under him that was a tele-porter. After doing a bit of research I discovered that Deadshot showed up at some point as well in the series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id1HB95lXgM&NR=1. I actually remember Plastique from an episode but I also remember it being kinda lame. Now if any of you out there are saying hey I told him about this already or something to that effect I'm sorry. It's just that I've been outta the Smallville loop so long things having to do with it just kinda go over my head. It wasn't a bad show at first but after the first 3 or 4 seasons the writing just floundered forever. I tried to get back into it when Checkmate was written into the series. But it used to piss me off something fierce how you would have to sit through an otherwise boring episode to just get maybe 10 minutes of Checkmate (and Pam Grier) only to find out next week's episode was another uninteresting episode with a possible snippet of Checkmate.
Ya know I tried to get through this posting with out careening off the road into my Pam Grier is so hot routine, but like a White Snake song "Here I go again". One of my latest hobbies has been to find different ways to portray Grier from old photos of her as Hero for Hire's Misty Knight. I know so many of you out there will disagree with me but I think she would make a good Amanda Waller for the Green Lantern movie. Now that she's older and carrying a little more weight then from her Foxy Brown days or even from when she was on The "L" Word (a nice show about lipstick lesbians : ) I think she looks the part better. Especially when you consider the new vision I have for the character I've been talking about lately. And of course she's got the right attitude which I hope you all will agree with me on at least. Rather we're talking about her Foxy Brown, The "L" Word or Smallville days Pam Grier will always be one cup of hot chocolate I'll gladly have no matter what the weather is like. At any rate, have a look at Pam in this Green Lantern production photo (my latest digital "trickeration"). You have to admit she's not at all out of place as The Wall. Ok she's not C.C.H Pounder but she's a pretty good stand in for her. Need more convincing? Try this on for size: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCwcSMbTVRk

Amanda Waller by returning Portuguese artist Aliera

2011-03-21T01:06:00.000-07:00

So a couple weeks ago Aliera sent me a pencil sketch of Amanda Waller that she did on a whim. It took one quick look to see that the rough draft she had done was going in the right direction. But unfortunately being a mom, wife and nurse doesn't leave her with a whole lot of free time to continue working on stuff like this. And then there's me, as impatient as ever. Therefore I decided to bring it into photoshop and experiment a little bit. I layed down some subtle colors tones and also added some shading here and there to give it a little depth and viola. One of the things I like about how Aliera drew Amanda Waller is that she gave "The Wall" a more feminine look while still showing that Waller is a woman not to be trifled with. This is in keeping with what I was talking about a couple of postings ago and how I would like to see DC portray Amanda Waller from now on. Left click on images to magnify. http://uryel.tumblr.com/post/796145739/why-you-dont-fuck-with-amanda-waller-take-2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaXXfnLKam0

Killings my business & business is good

2011-03-16T00:05:00.000-07:00

In my very first posting about everyone's favorite gun for hire I talked about how much I love it that he can take on meta-human opponents and still kick ass just by keeping his cool and using strategy. Characters like Deadshot make me feel like if I ever went up against some dude 3 times as big as me that I could take him down as long as I kept my cool. Hey it worked for another David a long time ago. Perhaps you're familiar with the fable of David & Goliath? My parents sure were.
Deadshot of course uses all sorts of firearms as opposed to a sling. And along with his penchant for 100% accuracy he can take down just about anybody by exploiting their weak spots. So if a genetically engineered armored cyborg beast thing that has you trapped at the bottom of an elevator shaft comes for you, what do? huh hot shot, what do you do? We'll apparently it's quite simple. Just stick your guns in his face and open fire repeatedly, problem solved.
Or in the event of some sort of man dog sorta thing with really big teeth getting the drop on you. Simply insert your Dirty Harry six shooter in it's mouth and pull the trigger. Even Michael Vick couldn't top that kind of doggy care. But holy shit what about a vampire!? What the Hell do you do against the undead with just a gun!? No problem, if you keep your head (couldn't resist). You just gotta quickly run through all the traditional ways a vampire can be "killed". Let's see a stake through the heart, garlic, holy water, fire, silver, sunlight (fuck Twilight!) and . . . . I got it! I'll just blow his head off.

And when it comes to terrorists with super speed? No problem there either for a
guy who can see each beat of a humming bird's wings.

How about that Floyd, a real lady killer huh? Come to think of it why would this female super speed terrorist be running around in a cocktail lounge out fit complete with mini skirt?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fx5OtNJ8K4&feature=related

14 years old with suicidal tendancies

2011-03-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

One day way back in 1987 this knuckle head friend of mine who was always buying the first issues because he thought they'd be worth money some way showed me a copy of SS#1. It started off rock n' rollin right away with that training session Jihad attack on the airport and concluded with the Task Force X mission briefing with a introduction to all the members. I would say probably at the time Boomerang was the stand out member given his inability to keep his mouth shut. So I got my own copy with the intent to see how things go in the next issue.
Issue #2 is off to a good start by giving me a laugh over what Boomerang is thinking about Nightshade's boobs. Shocking huh? But hey I was 14 at the time. That issue really kicked ass because of four main reasons. That being the way each member of the Squad took down their targets, Plastique's betrayal, Nemesis revealed as a double agent (who takes her down) and Mind Boggler getting gunned down at the end. I mean it's more nuanced then that but that's it in a nut shell.
So I'm ready for issue # 3 at this point. I knew and liked Darkseid pretty well but my familiarity with The Female Furies was scant. But I thought hey, a bunch of ugly broads from Apocalypse trying to pull a prison break at a maximum security federal prison that has Task Force X gimme a break! Oh boy was I ever wrong! Task Force X get their asses handed to them by the Furies big time. Those were some bad ass bitches I have to say I was surprised and impressed.
The thing about issue #4 that had me kinda leery at first was it's rather unimpressive cover. I was really wondering if things were about to go down hill at this point but I got it any ways on the strength of the first three issues. Surprise surprise wrong again! Another great read involving a plot that deals with contemporary race relation issues while at the same time developing the members of the Squad even more. It was an all around well written story with a great A-Team like ending. I mean sometimes I love it when a Task Force X plan comes together.
And that was pretty much it. I got side tracked at one point as far as getting the book on a monthly basis and some years later had to go hunt down a shit load of back issues to complete my collection which was a real pain in the ass. But basically I've been suicidal ever since and loving it.

Pimp Daddy Darkseid

2011-03-10T00:05:00.000-08:00

As far as I know Darkseid has only made 2 appearances in the original Suicide Squad series. But o boy were they some classic Darkseid moments. This posting has been a concept I've had for quite a while now but it's always given way to other posting ideas for some reason. But because a friend of mine who is going through some bullshit right now that I am all too familiar with I finally decided to get to it. Unfortunately there is a lot of truth to that whole "nice guys finish last" cliche. In order to make certain your the one in the driver's seat instead of the one being taken for a ride on the highway of love it requires you exert a certain amount of "assertiveness" at times. Being kind of emotionally distant often works well and I've talked about that before on this blog in regards to Rick Flag and Ben Turner a.k.a Bronze Tiger. But Darkseid really has the whole schtick down best. Here he is giving a mission briefing to the Female Furies when one of them actually is stupid enough to question his wishes ( Suicide Squad # 3).
Ya see that? No explanation required. It's a simple matter of what Darkseid wants discussion over. In this next bit of clip art we see what happened after a rather climatic battle between Task Force X and "friends" against the forces of Granny Goodness on Apocalypse (Suicide Squad # 37) . As you all should know by now Lashina kidnapped many members of the Squad, Barda, Flo and even Waller herself and took them to Apocalypse to be used as cannon fodder while she tries to win her place back as leader of The Female Furies. As you see here that in and of it's self wasn't her biggest mistake.
Do you see that "oh shit!" look on her face? I think this is the first time that Lashina has ever displayed fear. We've seen her pissed, frustrated and even delighted from time to time. But scared? Well who wouldn't be if they were about to be "pimp slapped" by Darkseid's Omega Beams. So guys, when your feeling troubled by the ambiguous behavior and mixed messages by members of the opposite sex in the treacherous arena of dating just think to yourself, what would Darkseid do?

I'm adding a quick update here on Thursday morning CA. Pacific Time. The latest Task Force X retirement files couldn't have been posted at a more perfect time! Check it out: http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2011/03/task-force-x-retirement-files-024-028.html

I believe in miracles . . Amanda Waller, you sexy thang

2011-03-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across one of the most ingenious comic book covers ever conceived. I had seen this issue before many many years ago and thumbed through the pages but it wasn't until I came across the cover online a few days ago did I remember about it. Hopefully, none of you out there are scratching your heads over why I say this cover is so clever and cool. Because if so, your heads may be some place they shouldn't be. As far as I know there is nothing supernatural about the story line here. This has to do with Waller helping the Blue Beetle (the late Ted Kord R.I.P.) over come some sort of mental conditioning. The clip art I provided isn't Blue Beetle suddenly coming down with a case of jungle fever (not consciously at least) it's just that things got a bit out of hand at one point just like in the movie The Exorcist. In fact, Waller ends up giving the Beetle a bit of a beat down in order to subdue him and keep working on "debugging" him. That's pretty much all I remember from the issue please if any body else out there knows more share it with the rest of us.
Now, here's something else I came across on the internet as it pertains to Amanda Waller. This bit of clip art is from the pages of Checkmate that shows Waller in a way we don't really get to see her often. One of the things I always liked about the art work in Checkmate is how they drew Waller. They stuck to the basic concept look of the Amanda Waller character but feminized her quite a bit. Which I actually think was kinda nice. I mean just because Vixen is a hot supermodel does that mean only she is allowed to change her hairstyle in the last 20 years? I think the White Queen should be allowed to change things up a bit too if she feels like it. And although as far as I know Waller has never had a love interest who's to say that she doesn't need some companionship from time to time. But I'll tell ya what Amanda Waller being made bit easier on the eyes doesn't take anything away from her as the bad ass that she is.
If I had the rest of the page this panel went to you'd see that the White Queen has already gotten the drop on a Kobra agent who snuck into her hotel room. When she concludes her phone call she determines that interrogating the wounded would be assassin is unnecessary and proceeds to conclude the Kobra agent's visit by casually popping a few caps in their ass. All hail the White Queen!

General Eiling, "Your one ugly mutha @#$%&$!"

2011-03-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

Doesn't the mutated Eiling here kinda remind you of the Predator minus the dreads? If you've watched enough episodes of Justice League Unlimited you will no doubt have come across the anti-meta human general who seems to think superheroes are more dangerous then al-qaeda and nazi germany. In JLU he breaks into Cadmus and steals some highly classified version of a nazi super soldier serum and goes after the Justice League. It was a really good episode check it out if you haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgmIF0s-POE And just like in the comic he had a serious hard on for Superman especially.
So I'm sure most of you know that Waller coerced Eiling into being a part of Task Force X after his mind was transferred into the body of The Shaggy Man who happened to be one powerful son of a bitch with a healing factor even more rapid than Wolverine's. Questionable judgment on her part even though everything worked out in the end. In the JLU he was mostly a misguided patriot who got corrupted by power. You know that old expression,"the path to Hell is paved with good intentions". But in the comic version Eiling was a much more sinister kind of character with a near pathological hatred of Waller. Not too mention it turns out he had done some serious brain washing on Flag some years back which he attempted to make use of as part of his grand plan to kill Waller and wipe out Task Force X. Of course as we all know that didn't quite work out and he got the back of his head blown off for his trouble even though it didn't kill him.
Eventually Eiling would go back to work for Waller and even mix it up with the JLA as he did even before he was with Task Force X. Ruthless yet intelligent and an excellent tactician as befitting a high ranking military man. "The General" is someone to be reckoned with from everyone from Superman to Amanda Waller. J.K. Simmons plays the voice of General Eiling in the JLU cartoon. He's been in a ton of movies and TV spots over the last 7 years but you probably know him best as J. Jonah Jamison in the Spiderman films. A role we all hope he will continue.

Crickey! finally some bleedn fan art for this blog

2011-03-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

I big thanks to Aliera for sending . . . . or as Dan would say, flippin to me this lovely drawing. Hands down the world's biggest Captain Boomerang fan hails from Portugal! This is the good Captain in a very passionate embrace with Meloni Thawne. Her back ground is kinda complicated but apparently she's the mother of Owen Mercer and subsequently passed down her gene for super speed to him. Bravo to Aliera for showcasing the first bit of fan art on the world's only blog site devoted to the Suicide Squad. So cmon folks, I know there's at least a couple of others of you out there who have some artistic talent.

The great cartoon debate continued & the messed up personal life of Red Arrow

2011-02-26T19:07:00.001-08:00

So to those of you who read my comments in the previous posting you know full well my opinions about Young Justice & The Justice League Unlimited vs. The Teen Titans and Batman The Brave and The Bold. Today I decided to have a second look on Youtube the Titans and BnB and oh man it was just painful. Just the animation alone makes want to turn away from the screen. It's just not right that the only appearance of Bronze Tiger in a DC cartoon had to be in the BnB series. It's just not right. I mean really folks just look at the difference in the clip art I provided above. It's kinda like back in the 80's the difference between the animation in the Gobots cartoon verses the Transformers.
On a side note you'll notice that Speedy a.k.a Roy Harper is in most of the DC cartoons. I know he was in at least one JLU episode called Patriot Act (on Youtube) even though I didn't provide any clip art samples here for it. Although never an official member, Speedy was also in on an early mission of the Suicide Squad in which they were sent to South America to bust up a big time drug cartel. You can read up on the details in the latest Task Force X retirement files posting: http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2011/02/task-force-x-retirement-files-016-019.html
Bronze Tiger wasn't on that mission but he and Speedy (now Red Arrow) would have a brief encounter years later in JLA #18 (2008) when the League and the Squad had a skirmish over the Salvation Run operation under Waller and Rick Flag. Even though Red Arrow bitches a lot in Young Justice he seems to at least know his shit when it comes down to business. Plus, I find his over all pessimistic out look on life reassuring largely because in that way he kinda reminds me of . . . me. But this guy has had a rough life. He's lost a daughter, an arm and struggled with drug addiction and impotency of all things.
I see that Young Justice is on Sunday nights just in time for me to start following the series on TV tomorrow. Youtube only has the first 6 or so episodes I hope I didn't miss too much of the series already.

Task Force X retirement files now available to the public by Canadian hacker Siskoid

2011-02-23T13:19:00.000-08:00

Do you feel sometimes that even this blog doesn't give you quite enough of that Suicide Squad fan boy or fan girl fix that you crave every week? Well then I may have just the thing for you. I present you with Siskoid's Task Force X retirement files. It's pretty much what it sound like although the the term "retirement" is kinda open ended if you know what I mean. But basically this series catalogues all the former Task Force X members who have concluded their tour of duty with The Squad. So far it's been pretty fun much in part to Siskoids sarcastic sense of humor and meticulous attention to detail. The sample entry you see here to the left can be magnified for easier reading by left clicking, or just go directly to the 3 postings so far in the series. Look tomorrow for the 4th installment of the retirement file series. You can find Siskoids Blog of Geekery here in the blog role in the right hand column.
http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2011/01/task-force-x-retirement-files-001-003.html
http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2011/02/task-force-x-retirement-files-008-011.html
http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2011/02/task-force-x-retirement-files-012-015.html

Just found out some sad news today. Dwayne McDuffie who was one of the main writers, editors and producers of the the Justice League Unlimited cartoon just died in some manner of surgical complications. My deepest condolences to his friends, family and all his fans. The Justice League Unlimited cartoon was probably the best ever TV animated series based on a comic book title. I love it that the writers didn't leave Task Force X out of the series. There was at least one episode based on a Task Force X mission and numerous others that guest starred Amanda Waller, Captain Boomerang and Deadshot. And I'd like to say that they were all portrayed quite well and faithfully to the comic. Not too mention I've used Youtube episode links and clip art from the series for several postings to help enhance this blog site. Dwayne McDuffie has made his mark on this blog as well as in the comic book industry and in the hearts of millions of people around the world I suspect. In a rather bizarre twist of fate McDuffie passed the day after his birthday (February 20, 1962 – February 21, 2011) and was born in Detroit Michigan just like me.

Maxwell Lord, I love ta hate this mother fu$%&#!

2011-02-21T06:18:00.000-08:00

This posting isn't the Maxwell Lord Wikipedia page so I'm not going to get into a whole lot of detail about the origins of the infamous Maxwell lord. Besides, most any body who reads this blog knows pretty much all about this son of a bitch. Max went from being the slick used car salesmen like PR specialist for the JLA to one of the most profound villains of the DC Universe in about the span of 20 years (since 1987). To be honest, I'm not sure about the specifics that lead up to him usurping Checkmate and becoming it's absolute ruler as Black King. But there he was, up until he fucked with Wonder Woman one too many times. How about that Wonder Woman folks!? That gorgeous Amazonian is a real head turner ain't she! Thank goodness she put him down even though she caught a lot of unnecessary shit from the JLA for it. Just try to imagine Nick Fury becoming some sort of Charles Mansion like sociopath taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. I think what sets Max Apart from other DC villains is his unwavering smart ass style of arrogance. But he was crafty, shrewd and quite capable of manipulating people easily even with out his "Jedi mind trick" like powers.

By the way, notice the Task Force X logo among others on the monitor at Checkmate HQ? Ok, so who out there has seen the movie Firestarter (1984) with Drew Barrymore? Well I'm gonna tell you all something that is gonna blow you away. David Keith, who played Drew's father had powers too if you remember. He was able to control peoples minds as long as he could make eye contact with them. Well anytime he used his power it caused what was described as "pin point hemorrhages" that resulted in nose bleeds! Sound familiar? Ironic here how Waller calls him a "liberal weasel" back during the Alien Alliance Invasion in which Waller and Lord were forced to make nice and work together. As Black King he ran Checkmate with such brutal efficiency that even dictators in the Middle East would have been envious.
Now as you all know Max is back thanks to this whole Blackest Night/Brightest Day stuff and unfortunately my knowledge about that is vague as of yet. So for those of you who do know any details please do share with the rest of us. One of my favorite shows is 1000 Ways To Die which showcases all the various ways people have managed to get themselves killed from everything like swallowing a tape worm larvae in order to lose weight to using dynamite to go fishing. So I can think of a lot of ways I would like to see Maxwell Lord die many times over. It was too fast the way Wonder Woman killed him he deserved worse, much worse. The list of heinous acts committed by Maxwell Lord is longer then my . . . arm. And chief among them was Ted Kord's (Blue Beetle 1) murder. But at least Blue Beetle went out in style with "Rot in Hell Max!" as a response to Lord's final ultimatum. For some helpful insight on Maxwell Lords resurrection you might want to check out: http://idol-head.blogspot.com/2011/02/2009-black-lantern-maxwell-lord-design.html

I think Oracle may have been commentating on this blog

2011-02-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you have seen and read the numerous comments left here on this blog as well as my ROM blog by the person known as Randomnerd. Around Halloween last year she sent me this cute head shot of herself. If you all remember I not too long ago made a posting about the history of Barbara Gordon a.k.a Oracle with the Suicide Squad. That's when I came across this clip art you see here even though I didn't use it in that posting at the time. As you can see here there's an uncanny resemblance between Randomnerd and this hot Barbara Gordon drawing. I want to say the art is by Adam Hueys but I'm not positive off hand. Naturally, I had some trouble getting consent from Randomnerd to use the photo in a posting for a while there. But I can be pretty persuasive when I need to be in a Sith Lord kinda way. Well who am I kidding here, I would never harm one of my favorite commentators of the fairer sex on this blog. And just on a general note here people, I freaking love good looking woman who read comics and like sci-fi!
correction 2/19: Just found out that the Barbara Gordon clip art was done by an obviously talented artist by the name of Lorena Carvalho

The real cupid has Boomerangs, not arrows ya bleedn dingos

2011-02-16T09:20:00.000-08:00

A received just yesterday from the world's number one Captain Boomerang fan a photo of a new figure set to hit the shelves in the near future. So I wanted to see how the action figure of the resurrected Aussie looks when compared to a recent comic book rendering. As you can see it's pretty much a dead ringer mates. A special thanks from my regular European commentator who rumor has it may have something else very cool to share with us soon. And by the looks of things the love might be a two way street here. There must have been something left over in the air from Valentine's Day I think.
In light of the last Boomerang posting which was so very tragic I thought I'd share this panel of happier times between father and son.

10 reasons to buy Suicide Squad in 1989 house ad

2011-02-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

Just making in time to catch the tail end of my beloved 80's was this half page house ad. The only half page one ever produced for the Squad I believe. As you can see here the team was made up of some of the same folks of today and some different ones. I believe Punch is dead, Ravan is also dead, Duchess went back to her former alias as Lashina, Vixen (currently with the JLA) had a different hair style back then, Shade The Changing Man was sent back to his own dimension by Darkside, I think that rapist piece of shit Dr. Light is dead now? And of course the original Boomerang is back thanks to the whole Blackest Night series. If I'm not up to date on anything here please feel free to enlighten me my good people. Boomerang looks coolest in this group shot. He's got the whole hip hop thug look going on. You can almost hear him saying "Watcha lookn at ya bleeder, ya want a razor rang up yer arse eh!?" I really think the redesign DC logo is pretty slick but there are times where I miss the classic one. A full page color house ad from DC of The Suicide Squad can be seen at: http://itsadansworld.blogspot.com/2011/02/dcs-80s-house-dr-fate-suicide-squad.html

Captain Boomerang II a.k.a. Owen Mercer: A kid with some serious daddy issues who got more then he bargained for

2011-02-12T16:20:00.000-08:00

This is pretty embarrassing to admit for a guy who's running the world's first and only Suicide Squad blog but up until earlier today I had no idea that Owen was dead. If you were as clueless about this as I was you can refer to the comment in yesterday's posting (Manhunter#34) made by my buddy Dan from the world famous blog site It's a Dave's . . I mean Dan's World (see blog role) in which he breaks the whole Blackest Night Boomerang story arc down. I was able to find some corresponding clip art on the matter fortunately. Some sites on the matter you should find interesting are http://www.comics66.com/?p=1608 in which we basically get a synopsis of FLASH #3 Blackest Night of his actual death. It's filled with lots of clip art. Then there's also a site that includes the pages of the original Boomernag's Blackest Night Resurrection which took place while Owen was visiting his father's grave site: http://comicrelated.com/graphics/pages/dc/120209/bnf lash1/bnflash1-9.jpg Then there's a post Owen death wrap up in which a fully resurrected Digger and Flash ponder on Owen's death and Digger's literal new lease on life: http://www.comics66.com/?p=1918 If your familiar with all this you must know this speaks to a bigger issue of the offspring seeking that eternal fatherly approval. Owen was never really a bad guy and he was never especially fond of his old man. But when it came down to having a second chance with his father he did some pretty gruesome stuff to seize it. It's actually pretty sad to see a guy like Owen compromise his morals that badly in which you kinda feel like he had this horrible fate coming to him. Wow look at this last panel, now that's what I call tough love! Darth Vader's got nothing on Blackest Night Boomerang when it comes to being a shitty father. I mean Luke just got his hand cut off.

Found Manhunter #34 guest starring the Suicide Squad. But I'm kinda under whelmed however.

2011-02-11T21:08:00.000-08:00

I wandered into a comic shop in Oakland today after I got off work and look what I found. I published a posting about this issue on this blog not too long ago wanting to know more about it since all I had about it was snippets of clip art I found on the internet. Basically in a nut shell, Manhunter and the Squad incidentally cross paths in a story line that includes some rogue corporation "growing" super villains and killing women in Mexico.
Well, you know how it goes, one thing leads to another and before you know it there's a misunderstanding and a scrap breaks out. Except really it's only Manhunter and Multiplex that get into it with the rest of the Squad basically acting as spectators. Manhunter is eventually subdued by Count Vertigo but makes good her escape after dishing out some pretty cold hearted trash talk to Owen (Capt. Boomerang II) who kinda almost seems to be leading The Squad for some reason. Later after Huntress and Lady Blackhawk show up it's explained that the Squad is on some kind of deep cover assignment there on the Mexican border. Over all the story didn't really grab me but the Manhunter character was pretty cool. She's just like the women who follow this blog, tough, independent and full of sarcastic humor as you can see here. Plus, she can take a hit like a champ. Despite the cover, Plastique is virtually non-existent and Bronze Tiger's presence is hardly noticeable. The Squad is overall somewhat underused here and as far as I can tell this doesn't tie into any other Suicide Squad story line any where else so it's not what I would call a must have for SS fans. But it's still worth picking up if you happen to see it, especially if you can find it in a dollar bin or something.

Killer actress look alike for the JLA cartoon Killer Frost

2011-02-05T00:05:00.000-08:00

I was flipping through channels today when I came across one of the several Law & Order spin off tv series. I could help but notice this actress who plays one of the detectives. Not just because she's cute (in a tom boyish kind of way) but because the image of the Justice League Unlimited cartoon Killer Frost just popped into my head the second I saw her. It's almost eerily funny how much of a natural likeness the actress (Anne Nicholson) has to the JLA cartoon version of Killer Frost which is kinda like a goth/punk rock version of the character. Just try to imagine Nicholson with paler skin, some black lip stick and presto! I seem to remember back when Frost hit the comic book scene she pretty much was always in some high school winter ball dress. In the last decade or so she's switched to more of form fitting skimpy mid drift jogging out fit that features lots of cleavage which is just fine with me of course. That being said I think Fairuza Balk ( The Craft, America History X & Things To Do In Denver When Your Dead) would have made a good Killer Frost. If you know who I'm talking about you know then that the actress has played some kind of emotionally unbalance goth chick more times then I can count on all my toes and fingers.

The Secret Six , just another brick in The Wall

2011-02-03T00:05:00.000-08:00

I picked up after work last Monday this trade paper back of the collected works of Secret Six #15 (Deadshot Origin issue), Secret Six #16, Suicide Squad #67 (Blackest Night), Secret Six #17 and Secret Six #18. I had already Secret Six #15 and Suicide Squad #67. But at the time I didn't know shit about the Secret Six and I was even more confused what Blackest Night was about then I am know so after having read that Squad issue I was like WTF? Oh well whatever.
But now that I've got the whole package I feel like sharing the story for all you kiddies out there. So basically at this time the Secret Six is a mercenary team that has a mysterious handler who only is known as Mockingbird. The Six's latest job is to bust out some high value drug lord from Belle Reeve prison. When they get there they're ambushed by The Suicide Squad who's primary objective is to capture Deadshot. Needless to say the two teams have a rumble and to make things more interesting a bunch of Black Lantern rings reanimate all these corpses in Belle Reeve's morgue consisting of fallen Squad members and enemies alike who start going after everybody with a pulse. At this point it is important to let you know that there is a back story with Waller somewhere in the recent past having sent Deadshot to the prison planet (Operation Salvation Run) and then having brought on another assassin /sharp shooter that just wasn't cutting it on the Squad. Using Green Lantern energy by exploding a salvaged Manhunter android along with some "light grenades" Waller manages to destroy the Black Lantern zombies. The two teams who had just had a temporary alliance due to the zombies threat now where poised to square off against each other again. They manage to avoid resuming hostilities but when Waller attempts to coerce Deadshot into rejoining the Squad he "declines" in favor of staying with The Six.
Shocking as this conclusion is we later find out that Waller is not dead but now has a bullet near her heart that can't be removed thanks to Deadshot's deadly precision. However, the surprises don't stop there as we find out that Mockingbird unknown to The Six is actually Waller herself. The "prison break" job was of course just a ruse to lure Deadshot to Belle Reeve and it would seem that Deadshot (as well as the rest of The Secret Six) in effect are already working for Waller again with out knowing it. Presumably Waller never the less would have preferred Deadshot to be working for her directly as a member of Task Force X again. Even with a bullet next to heart Amanda Waller shows us why she always has the upper hand on any situation or person she has ever dealt with. She's just too damn clever and shrewd for most anyone to out fox. I bet even Dick Chaney wouldn't fuck with her! All and all a pretty tight and entertaining story put together by Gail Simone and John Ostrander.

Casting call for the Suicide Squad cinematic release finalized

2011-02-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

Left click on the photos to see them enlarged. So this is pretty much it. C.C. H Pounder as Amanda Waller, nuff said. Ditto for Roger Cross as Bronze Tiger and Paul Bettany as Count Virtigo. All of which I have posted about before. Among the new additions to my casting call are Kate Beckinsale as Night Shade. That's a no brainer after her role as the pale faced sexy leather clad vamp in Underworld. But come to think of it she would make one hot ass Killer Frost to. Thomas Jane as having played the Punisher would be a pretty good fit as Deadshot.
Now there seems to be some contention over Howie Long as Rick Flag. I'm just picking him cause he looks the part so damn well and fuck it we can always include some acting 101 classes for Howie to the production of the film. Interesting thing here is that pretty much all the other actors I was thinking about for Deadshot (Aaron Eckhart, Ray Stevenson,Thomas Jane and yes Adam Baldwin too) could also have worked as a Rick Flag too.
Onward to Captain Boomerang, I want Vinnie Jones to play him. Jones has been in a lot of stuff but you may remember him best as the Juggernaut from X-Men. I don't know if there is anybody out there who actually looks like the comic book character per se, but Jones never the less just has a look that to me fits the Boomerang personality. Plus he's English, so doing an Australian accent won't be all that much of a stretch and he's always playing some sort of hot head in the movies. Plus, I'd pay full price for that movie just to hear Vinnie Jones say at some point, "don't you know who I am? I'm Captain Boomerang bitch!". If that line is lost on you then you need to go youtube for a quick refresher course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8Z5iL3358Q&feature=related

On a side note here folks, The Green Lantern movie will feature the first Squad member (The Wall) on the big screen. I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a lively discussion right here on the world's first Suicide Squad Task Force X blog site!

Barbara Gordon's incredible journey from Batgirl to Suicide Squad member & finally a Bird of Prey

2011-01-29T00:15:00.000-08:00

Barbara Gordon a.k.a Oracle. I'm not gonna bother to recap her history because I'm sure you all know it by now. And I think I speak for pretty much all of us when I say how much I liked the character for a number of reasons. She was vulnerable yet strong at the same time which made you feel sorry for her at times but also admire her too. Let's face it perhaps it is a bit of a cliche but the whole tragedy turned into inspiration narrative never gets old. Take what happened to Def Leppard's drummer for example. He losses his arm in a car accident because of his seat belt of all things but continues to rock on any ways! But in general I think it was pretty cool for DC (John Ostrander's idea apparently) to take a mainstream character and give her a make over that all but redefined her. That's quite a switch to go from being a crime fighter who wears a costume and kicks ass along side with Batman to now having to fight crime exclusively from a wheel chair with a computer. I would imagine this was a great inspiration to comic book fans living with disabilities. As a writer for the Barbara Gordon/Oracle character you really had to do your home work about things like the life of a paraplegic in order to put some realism into the story lines she's a part of. Which Ostrander & Kim Yale did really well in the pages of the Squad. As it so happens, Shag from the Firestorm Fan blog currently has a fantastic exclusive interview posted with John Ostrander, check it out! You might be surprised what you find out about the interplay between the Firestorm and Suicide Squad titles. http://firestormfan.com/2011/01/28/john-ostrander-interview/
I never saw the show Birds of Prey in which Oracle was played by the lovely redheaded Dina Meyer. That seemed like a good casting move but truth be told even that didn't pick my interest in the show, but if any of you out there followed it and feel like I missed out by all means do tell. I know about the Birds of Prey comic book of course even though I never read it. But apparently Oracle had her own title at one point, and was it a mini-series? Also, I know Blue Beetle had a thing for her but never got to make a real play for her thanks to that piece of shit Maxwell Lord putting a bullet in his head. However, it appears from some of the clip art I found on the internet that her and Dick Grayson did have a relationship? If somebody knows more about that to please do share with the rest of us.

Kicking off February 1st will be my completed movie casting call for all 7 of the Suicide Squad's primary members, stay tuned.

Howie Long as Rick Flag, what say you folks?

2011-01-26T15:35:00.000-08:00

So it's my day off today and I decided to get back to some blogging. This afternoon there was this movie on called Broken Arrow which starred Christian Slater and John Travolta. It's not the best action movie ever but it's not bad either. As it turns out Howie Long plays this supporting role as a henchmen for the main bad guy played by Travolta. Long's character doesn't really have a whole lot to say nor do they get into his past or anything but you get the distinct impression he's some sort of former military guy turned mercenary. He's got a classic crew cut and is wearing this olive green T-shirt and fatigue pants. At some point as I was casually watching it earlier today it occurred to me that looks wise Howie Long really fits the bill as Rick Flag. 6 plus feet tall and well built as you would expect with him being a former NFL star. He's got the whole squared jaw thing going on and in general has that all American Marlboro man look. Howie Long and military uniforms both field and formal dress go together like radical leftists and 3rd world dictatorships.
The question is does he have the acting chops to pull of even the modest acting role of Rick Flag? The only feature film he has ever starred in as far as I know was Firestorm (not the DC character) in which he plays some sort of park ranger forest firefighter. I've never seen it but if any of your out there have let us know how he did and if you think he could be Rick Flag.

Erica Durance: Maybe a better Plastique then Lois Lane?

2011-01-16T00:15:00.000-08:00

Erica Durance, you probably know her as Lois Lane from Smallvile. But I bet you never thought of her as Plastique did ya? Now truth be told, Erica Durance is one of those good looking women that never did much for me. Ditto for Gwyneth Paltrow up until I saw her as Pepper Potts in Iron Man. And it wasn't just simply because she was drop dead gorgeous as a red head but because she really brought a lot of charm to the screen as her character and the chemistry between her and Robert Downey felt very real.
Erica Durance never seemed right for me as a younger Lois Lane. For one she has brown hair, as opposed to the jet black hair that the Lois Lane character should have. But just in general something about her in that role just never felt right. But as you can see she fits the bill from head to toe as Plastique in the looks department. She's got the right hair style and color and even her facial features are a pretty close match. Plastique isn't supposed to be a power house like Wonder Woman or Power Girl but I've always pictured her as having an athletic body and being a bit taller then average for most women. I guess the only question is if Durance was ever caste in that role would she be able to pull it off as an actress? I think there would be more to it then being able to do a convincing French Canadian accent.
On a side note, if you take a closer look at the clip art here you'll notice that there are two slightly different versions of Plastique's costume. I can't decide which one I like more. You've got one that has an open collar and plunging neck line verses the one that shows less skin but has an arrow between her cleavage pointing into a southern direction. I've spent a lot of time looking these over and I'm still torn! If you haven't seen it before this might be a good time to check out the first posting I did for Plastique: http://suicidesquadtaskforcex.blogspot.com/2010/10/plastique-is-bomb-just-dont-call-her.html

Holy shit! Straight out of the pages of Play Boy magazine here comes Nightshade!

2011-01-09T00:15:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say I came up with this but I didn't, nor was I able to find out who the artist was. Yet again this is something I found while doing a random image search. Just in case your wondering I added the black bar because the original left NOTHING to the imagination : ) Even I have some standards as to what I will and will not post. However, should any of you out there care to have an original I will be happy to email it to you upon request. Just a quick reminder here that Nightshade has been hot for Rick Flag for years now only to have her hints which range from the subtle to the not so subtle rebuffed by him due to his emotional detachment from all things not duty related. It seems that Rick prefers the company of Bronze Tiger more often then not. But I'll give Rick a pass for now on any Brokeback suspicions since he didn't want to pursue any sort of familial relationship with his newly discovered biological son. I guess all the hard years of being a dedicated soldier has made Col. Flag comfortably numb. But I think maybe it would be a good idea for someone to slip this soldier this clip art and get him at full attention. Who ever the mystery artist is out there who produced this fine work of art all I can say is God bless you. And that's something coming from athiest like me.

Who wants to be a bad-ass secrect agent for Checkmate?

2011-01-08T02:00:00.000-08:00

I recently finished reading issue#2 of Checkmate Vol. II and again it just blew me away how art imitates life sometimes. For those of you who read this blog but don't really know anything about what Checkmate is it's time you did. Basically Checkmate is DC's version of S.H.I.E.L.D. in which the operation and command structure is based on the pieces of a chess board. There is a White King and White Queen (Amanda Waller) as well as a Black King and Black Queen. Each King and Queen has a Bishop and Knight. The Bishop acts as lieutenant/advisor to his or her King or Queen. The Knight acts more like a bodyguard and lead field operative on behalf of that King or Queen. Then you have the pawns, who are basically secret agents through out the world who do mostly recon., intel. gathering and sometimes sabotage or just blow shit up when needed like you see here.
The White royals deal mostly with internal Checkmate matters and Checkmate's place on the global political stage. The Black royals deal mostly with field operations. And oh boy we could sure use them to deal with iran's nuclear program about now like they dealt with this N.Korean missile base. Just as an interesting side note I'd like to mention that last month in S.F. there was a solidarity with N.Korea rally in which American "imperialism" and the "paranoid anti-communist" govt. of S.Korea where the real threats to stability of the Korean peninsula and most of Indo-China. Naturally the brutal dictatorship of Kim Jong Ill's regime with it's forced labor camps, starved population, 100% suppression of free speech/press was as usual conveniently over looked by this radical left fringe party. But that's just typical around where I live in which tyrants and terrorists are saints and saviors while everything that represents Western Civilization is inherently evil. But I digress, as the director of Task Force X and The White Queen, Amanda Waller is the lynch pin between Checkmate and The Suicide Squad. This resulted in a duality of roles for some personal such as Count Vertigo who is The White Queen's Knight and also is a regular on Squad missions. But in other cases such as with Fire, that duality didn't come so easily.
Although being the White Queen largely kept her out of the ops game officially she was still savvy enough politically to find round about ways to have Checkmate perform field operations beneficial to her agenda. And what she couldn't get Checkmate to do for her she usually had the The Suicide Squad to take care of covertly. Other times she went about getting things done is some rather unorthodox ways such as the method she utilized to getting Rick Flag out of jail in Asia. She "leaked" the intel. anonymously on his captivity under the radar to Bronze Tiger who she knew would take it upon himself to rescue Flag out of a sense of personal loyalty.

The Hayoth, adding some chutzpah to The Suicide Squad

2011-01-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

Marvel has it's Israeli super heroes ( Sabra & Seraph) and so does DC in case you all didn't know. The Hayoth is a division of Mossad (Israeli intelligence agency) that consists of a group of four unique individuals. Ramban is a mystic with powers not unlike that of Dr. Fate or Dr.Strange. Golem possesses elemental like abilities that makes him the clay version of the T-1000 from Terminator II. Judith is a martial arts expert who uses a variety of ninja like weapons. Although she doesn't appear to have any super human powers she has been known to hold her own while fighting Batman and Bronze Tiger (but not at the same time) which says a lot for her skills as a hand to hand combatant. Dybbuk is the last member who is actually and artificial intelligence developed by Israeli science (who also gave us the pill camera, most early cell phone tech. and aol IM software among other non-sceince fiction innovations). He is represented as a little green hologram of a bald man with no clothes. Try to imagine the Silver Surfer as green and about the size of a doll and there you go. We first see the Hayoth in issue #45 when Egypt's government hires the Suicide Squad to go after Kobra who is up to no good in Jerusalem. They later reappear in the "Mystery of The Atom" story line in which the Hayoth get embroiled in a big international conspiracy cluster fuck of a situation that has the Justice League, Suicide Squad and the Jihad all in one big battle royale. We last see them in an interesting sub story line toward the end of the series in which Dybbuk "marries" Mindboggler who has long since existed only as a computer program. Mazel Tov to both of them! Apparently The Hayoth never appeared in Checkmate which I think is unfortunate because they would have been perfect for that title. While doing some research for this posting I discovered some interesting stuff from John Ostrander about the inspiration for the Hayoth:

Ostrander and Yale created Ramban five years ago for DC's Suicide Squad series. Ramban, along with a warrior named Judith, an artificial intelligence named Dybbuk and a hero named the Golem formed the Hayoth, an Israeli superteam the squad battled in Israel. Ostrander said Yale asked people about the Kaballah, which is part of Ramban's Conservative Jewish background. The writers "pieced together types of [magic] spells" based on that research. Neither Ostrander nor Yale is Jewish. But Ostrander grew up in Chicago's East Rogers Park section, which has a large Jewish population. So, he said, he "always had" an appreciation for Judaism. Ostrander said Ramban is a "nice counterpart" to Father Craemer, another character in the series. He said the two men are "in many ways very much alike. They're strong representatives of their faith. "He's one of the more pleasant characters," Ostrander said of Ramban. "He's got a great deal of honesty."

However, where as the Hayoth have dealt with threats toward their country against the likes of Kobra and the Jihad, they may not be up to dealing with the worst threat of all to the Promise Land: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN75px-0KIo

JLA 18 - Vixen vs. The Suicide Squad & androids who like getting it on, then fall asleep and dream of electric sheep

2010-12-28T04:34:00.000-08:00

I had a posting up not to long ago about stuff I had missed over the last few years. Well I found recently in a back issue box JLA 18. This was an issue I had actually looked at when it was on the stands but opted not to get it at the time. Now that I actually have bought it and read it I can kinda see why at the time I didn't get it. In general my interest in comics was at a bit of a low around that time and if you look at the cover it pretty much eludes to some big time battle royalel between the Squad and the JLA. When in reality almost all the fighting is between just Vixen and the Squad. Which in and of it's self is pretty cool, but at the time I was hoping for something more along the lines of a "rumble" like at the end of The Outsiders (the movie) between the socias and greasers.

Interestingly enough this happened at a time when Vixen's powers were a bit out of whack in which she was using the powers of those around her (both friend and foe) instead of abilities derived from the animal kingdom. Vixen is pretty bad ass on any given day but unless your Superman or Wonder Woman you gotta have some kind of edge if your going to take on the Suicide Squad solo.

The other thing at the time was that this was a double feature issue which meant the JLA/Suicide Squad cross over was shorter then the standard 22 page comic book format. And the second story involved the red Tornado who I was never a big fan off. Mostly because of that garish look of his. He gives the original Capt. Boomerang a run for his money. In that way the Red Tornado is kinda like the Wonder Man of the DC Universe in which the creative teams were never able to put together a decent look for him over the years. But I'm glad I read that Red Tornado story anyways because it was good and gave some excellent insight into the character. Being an android, RT reminds me a lot of The Vision from Marvel. Especially the part where talks about living is among other things "making love to my wife and then smelling her scent on me after wards". So yes I'd say here's one android who can appreciate some of the upsides of being human. I think RT could stand to give Data from Star Trek a good talking too about the birds and the bees. Also, the RT story opens up with a line about droids dreaming about electric sheep. All you Blade Runner fans should have picked up on that. I want to make sure I don't conclude this posting with out mentioning that the art through out the entire issue was kick ass. If only DC would give this guy a visual make over we'd be all set.

Sociopaths, secret agents and stealthly burglers, welcome to the Suicide Squad

2010-12-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

One of the cool things that helped make things interesting in the Suicide Squad is that it was not just made up of criminals trying to buy off prison time. The team was a "trail mix" of all sorts of people with special powers and talents. Tom Tresser a.k.a. Nemesis was something of a secret agent type that was a master of disguise, espionage and in general quick on his feet in dodgy situations. He would have been perfect for the Squad if not for that inconvenient and unwavering sense of morality of his. Which should come as no surprise put him at odds with Waller from time to time. He always felt like he owed people something rather it was Uncle Sam, Rick Flag or Even Eden ( Nightshade, who he had a thing for) that had him coming and going through out much of the Suicide Squad's 65 issues.

Adam Cray was a cat burglar who Waller recruited to steal the original Atom's (Ray Palmer, who was presumed dead at the time) size changing belt from his ex-wife. He used it as the "New" Atom and worked for Waller for a while. He was something of a novice super type, but an effective team member that also happened to have a good sense of humor and was an all around likable guy. Unfortunately some of Palmer's enemies who thought the New Atom was Palmer in disguise eventually caught up to him and nailed him, literally.

If there is any member of the Suicide Squad that could make characters like Capt. Boomerang and Werner Vertigo look like socially well adjusted people it would no doubt be Cliff Carmichael a.k.a The Thinker. Thanks to some sophisticated micro circuitry installed in his brain this certifiable sadistic psychopath had the ability to make people do his biding by telling them verbally ( just like Maxwell Lord before Wonder Woman broke his neck). This power however only worked on someone who could understand what he was saying. In one instance Carmichael attempted to get someone under his control who was within ear shot but unknown to Carmichael his would be victim didn't speak English for which there was no effect. In the Suicide Squad story arc we learn that Carmichael was involved in some sort of cyberspace cat n mouse game with Oracle who we now know to be the paraplegic Barbara Gordan living at the time under the false identity Amy Beddoes. Carmichael eventually tracks down Gordon (in the real world) and nearly kills her had it not been for the timely intervention of Amanda Waller. Waller finds a way to black mail Carmichael into working for the Squad but eventually finds Carmichael to be too dangerous and unstable. Carmichael sells out the Squad to Amanda's enemies on two occasions but manages to escape Waller's wrath the first time.
The second incident involved Gen. Eiling's coup during a Squad mission that Carmichael was instrumental in helping orchestrate. Carmichael's treachery was put to an abrupt end by King Faraday who shot Carmichael several times in the head and chest. This was after Faraday himself had been shot by Carmichael and presumed dead but unknown to Carmichael Faraday had worn a bullet proof vest. "Cliffy" provided some great moments in the pages of the Suicide Squad but it was time for somebody to put him down. Little did I know Carmichael was a character in Firestorm before appearing in the pages of the Suicide Squad
http://firestormfan.com/2010/12/07/mayfairstivus7/

Suicide Squad & Checkmate "mini - mes"

2010-12-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

Through out all the numerous searches I've done for the Suicide Squad and Checkmate I've come across these little icons scattered all over the web for weeks now. I like how they have these over sized heads they kinda remind me of little bobble head dolls. So I decided to see how many I could find that were characters who have been with the Squad. To my surprise I found characters like Major Victory and Nightshade but had no luck finding Count Vertigo or Poison Ivy first. Later I did ending up finding Poison Ivy but still no Count Vertigo. Plus how can this set of characters be complete with out Duchess in the line up too? So I went ahead and made a Duchess figure and Count vertigo figure using certain paint tools photoshop and the "body parts" of other mini characters in the DC Universe. Go ahead and be sure to take a closer look at em. I found a mini of ROM too which I posted on my other blog for anyone out there that's interested.

Suicide Squad fan made costumes!

2010-12-12T01:05:00.000-08:00

So one day I inadvertently stumbled across a photo of this guy in a Captain Boomerang costume and that made me wonder how many other Suicide Squad characters I could find costumes on the internet. I was only able to locate this Deadshot costume as far as members who were there from the beginning to the "end". But as you can see here I was also able to find costume photos of the others like Vixen and Poison Ivy who have done a "tour of duty" with the Squad.
Now I know what you all are thinking about one of the photos. Yes that is indeed the beautiful Pam Grier. As you all know she already plays Amanda Waller on Smallville. And she does a good job if you can envision the character being more attractive and having some sex appeal. Ok, lots of sex appeal because this is Pam Grier ( Foxy Brown) we're talking about after all. But when I saw this photo of her I thought this is really cool because it reminds me of Waller during those times in the Suicide Squad where she actually found her self in the field. That's another thing that makes her so cool is that she can handle herself on the political stage as well as being able to fire a gun or throw a punch when she has to. Probably her best moment was when the team found themselves on Apocalypse and Waller went toe to toe with Granny Goodness.
http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/1015312.html Not to mention her attempt to blow Lashina a.k.a Duchess into smithereens with what was described as a "mega-gun". This photo collage is a pretty large file so you should be able to magnify it for a better look. Wouldn't that have been smokin hot if I could have found a really nice looking athletically built woman in a well made Lashina costume during my photo search. Yes Aliera, this blog is authored by a male neanderthal just like most of the viewers.

Aussie vs. Russkie, got a little captain in ya?

2010-12-10T01:45:00.000-08:00

So I checked out the Firestorm blog today and took a special interest in the Mayfairstivus Day 8 -Weasel, Mindboggler, Stalnoivolk and Zastrow posting http://firestormfan.com/2010/12/08/mayfairstivus8/. All four of these Firestorm villains have been in the pages of the Suicide Squad with three of them actually having been Squad member short timers (Weasel, Mindboggler, Stalnoivolk). Now I had also just recently had a Suicide Squad greatest hits posting that showcased some of the best beat downs in Squad history. Looking back I should have included this moment in that line up. For all of you who know the Zastrow character I don't have to tell you what a creepy heartless son of a bitch this KGB scum is. I mean this guy pretty much fits the mold of a classic James Bond villain you can't wait to see die. Now I don't know what his current situation is but at least we have the satisfaction of having seen him get a right hook compliments of Captain Boomerang! This is definitely a classic Boomerang moment not just because of the punch but also because of what is said after wards between him and Waller. If your wondering about the Batman costume for this mission Boomerang had to impersonate Batman for a while and in doing so was captured by Zastrow's meta human Red Shadows.
Coming up next folks, we feature fan made costumes of the Suicide Squad!

Why didn't the Squad ever run into The Swamp Thing?

2010-12-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

It's a shame there was never any sort of cross over between The Swamp Thing and the Suicide Squad. With Belle Reeve being located in the swamps of Louisiana it seemed like it was an ideal set up for an encounter between the Squad and Swamp Thing. I kinda imagine a story line for that issue to go something along the lines of the Squad having a random encounter with the Swamp Thing as they under take a mission that is locally based and just happens to be around where "Swampy" is trying to do some good. Then of course they mistakenly think he's a monster created by some villain or evil org. their after and then it's on.
I'll reckon the Squad wouldn't have much luck trying to hurt him and before long Swamp Thing would make good his escape before any body really got hurt and the Squad would be left with an "unsolved mysteries" kinda issue conclusion. I was actually a Swamp Thing fan long before I would ever even have heard about the Suicide Squad. It actually started with that cheesy Wes Craven B horror flick. But hey, I was around 11 at the time. Plus, there were repeated scenes with Adrienne Barbeau like this through out much of the film.
But this actually did get me to notice the Swamp Thing series that was out at the time and soon I would be collecting it on a pretty regular basis. As crazy as it is to believe I actually started loosing interest in the series not too long after Allan Moore took over the writing. Now looking back I understand why and it wasn't because I had ADD or something. I would develop that later on as an adult. It's because I think that Allan's writing was really a little too sophisticated for me at the time too really appreciate as I suspect it was for most people in their early teens as well. So as result I began gravitating toward more action oriented comic titles. I'm afraid it was just that time and just that place where I was at a point in my developmental stage in which I was more likely to appreciate Adrienne Barbeau in a torn up dress then an Allan Moore story. Today the two things are on more equal footing in my mind and at least I can get my hands on those Allan Moore Swamp Thing issues. For some good insight on what made Swamp Thing under Allan Moore so amazing just go to this review at Siskoids blog of geekery. Notice how the comments section is almost completely dominated with my ramblings? Back then I was going under the profile name of "The Dude". http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2008/09/welcome-to-swamp.html

Amanda Waller for President - "change we can believe in"

2010-12-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

I can't believe someone else out there hasn't come out with this yet given all the Amanda Waller/Green Lantern movie bruhaha. Glad I got the jump on this before anyone else. Couldn't decide right away rather I should "Obamanize" Angela Bassett or maybe the Justice League cartoon version of Waller but finally settled on C.C.H Pounder who seems to be the candidate out there that most people would want as Amanda Waller in a live action movie.
Back during the 2008 presidential campaign the whole possibility of the first black or female ( sorry Hillary) president had everybody so excited. I remember this one news special where they went around and asked black women if they identified with Hillary more because she is a woman or Obama more because he was black. The responses were interesting but if Amanda Waller were running for president that would have made much more in roads to this "change we can believe in" stuff that neither Obama, or Hillary (ditto for the MaCain/Palin ticket) could have competed with. But the most important thing is, unlike Obama or probably Hillary had she won, Amanda Waller would be able to get shit done! Just think about it. With all her connections as Checkmate's former White Queen to say nothing about having been the director of Task Force X, no one else would be better suited to dealing with Washington's bipartisan bullshit politics in a "decisive" manner. When it comes down to the 2012 presidential elections at this rate I'll just be writing in Amanda Waller I think just for the hell of it. Here's a good question for you all, based on what you know of the Amanda Waller character do you think she would run as a democrat, republican or as an independent?

The Suicide Squad's greatest hits.

2010-12-01T00:10:00.000-08:00

I've compiled some clip art of what I think have been the greatest hits in the fight scenes of the Suicide Squad. By greatest hits, I mean those cases where the art was drawn so cool as to really really effectively convey the impact to the reader of someone taking a hit. Almost making you feel it in the same way like when you see a guy get kicked in the balls. And as an avid soccer player I've scene that a lot. Unfortunately on a few occasions I was that guy who received the kick and not just watched it happen some other chump. Anyways, I'd like you to weigh in here on which hit you think is the best.

1) Bronze Tiger give this scum bag guard a real jaw breaker during Rick Flag's prison break. This schmuck ain't wakin up any time soon I imagine.

2) Duchess puts down a small impromptu coup during a mission by making examples of Vertigo and Boomerang.

3) Here's one of those rare occasions where Duchess finds herself on the receiving end of a beating for a change, compliments of Major Victory during the Janus Directive.

4) Nemesis bravely tries to thwart a break in to Belle Reeve by the Female Furies but finds that a fully automatic rifle is no match for the metallic lashes of Lashina. I just always loved the way he makes that pin wheel spin after getting whipped both figuratively and literally.

5) Rick Flag lays a good one here on the leader of the Jihad, Rustam. This is from a fight scene in which Rick goes on a one way solo mission to destroy the Jihad HQ. Oh how cool it would be if this were me busting osama bin laden or mel gibson's jaw instead however.

Let me digress for just a moment here, I just wanted to say how the above panel of colonel Flag and Rustam has always reminded me of the classic fight between Vindicator and Wolverine drawn by John Byrne in the pages of Alpha Flight. This proves once again one of the things that makes "Wolvie" so cool is that he can take a hit like a champ. But this panel doesn't count so don't vote on it despite how cool it is. For some reason my jaw starting hurting after I finished writing this posting.

Spy, assassin, heroine, secret agent. This Brazilian babe is smoken hot in so many ways!

2010-11-28T13:14:00.000-08:00

I wasn't going to write any more postings for the rest of this month but then I just got inspired toward the end of the weekend to say a little something about Fire ( Beatriz De Costa). This is a character that has caught my eye in recent years for a number of reasons. At a glance one might think of her as being something along the lines of DC's

version of Firestar or some manner of Human Torch knock off. The green hair n' lips and hot body aside take a closer look at Fire and you'll see a pretty complex character which I have discovered of the last few years in the pages of Checkmate, The Omac Project and even the Justice League Unlimited cartoon series. Some of the things we know about her is that before she was ever with the JLA or an agent of Checkmate she was a spy for the Brazilian government and had what was described by Amanda Waller as a "killer instinct" which hints at a past filled with some moral ambiguity. Later in Checkmate, she would become a field operative and the Black King's knight which meant she basically was a body guard to the highest ranking official in Checkmate's field ops department. Personality wise she's tough when she has to be, but is also compassionate at times and in general seems to have a good moral compass and even a sense of humor. Because of the complicated and often tenuous relationship between Checkmate and the Task Force X division she has fought with and against members for the Suicide Squad such as Deadshot (seen above). As you can see when she's in full on "Fire mode" she has the appearance of being engulfed in flames (albeit green flames) like the Human Torch with out managing to burn off her clothing. Which is a shame since she is Brazilian which means this photo to the left is probably what she looks like during Carnival. The sound quality in this JLA video of Fire scenes isn't great but it's good enough to hear her thick Brazilian Portuguese accent. It's kinda cheesy, yet oddly arousing at the same time. Go figure?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT8WGx-RfgA&feature=related

Monday Nov. 29
I just found out today about the passing of the actor Leslie Nielsen. Hardly anybody over the age of 30 who likes comedy, sci-fi or horror has not seen one of his films. Dan at IADW created a wonderful tribute posting on Nielsen's behalf. Please take a moment out of your day to stop by. http://itsadansworld.blogspot.com/2010/11/leslie-nielsen-1926-2010.html

Members of the Squad drawn together part 2

2010-11-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

It's funny how it always takes me longer to draft something then it does to color it. You can enlarge this one also by left clicking on it to get a better look. I'm really happy about the community that seems to be forming here and I really enjoy finding new ways of making the members have more of a personable experience here. I'm not sure yet but this may be the last posting for November since I'd like to have some drafts ready to go for December. But you never know, especially lately it seems when I'm just about plum out of ideas something just seems to come up and presto, there's another posting.
One other thing for those of you who who may be a bit surprised about why I had so much apprehension for starting this blog. Dan ran survey for a week on IADW asking about who would like to see a Suicide Squad blog. By the time that week was up only 7 people had replied (counting myself) with at least one person voting something to the effect that they didn't give a shit about the Suicide Squad. I ran a posting on my other blog about it and only got a few responses. So not the most encouraging signs for sure but never the less I woke up one day and said f@#% it I'd rather just do it and see what happens rather then keep wondering if I should. This is the same attitude I have when it comes to asking women out. I don't know if it's a confidence thing or what but you just get to a point in your life where you rather face rejection as opposed to not ever knowing what could have been. We all love Marvel's What If issues but in the real world that shit'll drive you crazy. Sometimes a little bit of chutzpah goes a long way.

The members of the Squad, drawn together part 1

2010-11-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

In all the years I've been drawing and painting I've done all kinds of scenes and characters from my favorite comic book and sci-fi genres. But I've never done anything of the Suicide Squad for what ever reason. But with the weather being so shitty today I decided to just stay in most of the day and with all this Suicide Squad buzz going around I got motivated to start sketching something. Ya know i gotta tell it's not until you sit down and draft something you have pictured in your brain do you realize how hard it would be to be a comic book artist. Truly these people are so talented to be able to do just that day after day drawing everything from crazy action scenes to to simple scenes like two people having a conversation in an office. Either way they always have to find innovative techniques and angles to make their drawings look interesting and dynamic. It's gotta be tough, especially those days where you just can't seem to get on paper the way you want a scene or figure you have visualized in your head. Anyways, it took me a few hours to draft this drawing which is about 12 inches wide. Can you imagine having to do a 22 page comic? I'll probably tweak it a bit and then go over certain parts with a fine point graphic pen. Then I'll be ready to lay down the water colors but I wanted to share this with you all while it is at this stage. My next posting will have the finished product which I hope will inspire some of you out there to do something of your own that in turn you may want to have posted here too. You can left click on the image to enlarge it.

MY THANKS TO ALL THE FANS OF THIS BLOG . . .

2010-11-19T00:15:00.000-08:00

. . . . you all really made this happen! Even though this blog hasn't been running for even a month I felt it was time to express my appreciation to all of you who have participated in the social forum for this site. I've been so delighted with the conversations and exchange of information and opinions I've read. Dan from IADW will tell you how for weeks I was waffling on the idea of starting this blog not being sure if there was a sufficient fan base for the Suicide Squad out there to justify the time and effort that would go into a blog site. But so far it has been worth every second of time and effort I've put into it.
Some of you carried over from my ROM Spaceknight blog but many of you are new names ( all cool people) that have been appearing in the comments sections in the last week or so. One of those new names is a really cool lady who hails from Portugal. My first European to commentator on either blog sites actually. Apparently aside from the Suicide Squad she is also a Captain Boomerang fan and found this blog by coincidence when doing a search on Google for Capt. Downunda. That prompted me to wanting to see what you will find on Google as far as my blog goes with certain key words. And I'm happy to say even though it's not at the top of the list yet it would seem this blog has already made it's mark which I know is largely thanks to all the traffic this site has garnered thus far.
I just want you all to know that I'm working really hard to come up with more stuff for you all to enjoy despite having a work schedule right now flanked by two jobs. Some postings are pretty spontaneous from things that just fall into my lap and other ones come along from ideas I have rolling around in my head for awhile until I get time to do them. I do already have other drafts completed of postings with every thing from some original art, to surveys, humor based stuff and more character profiles and what not. I'm just kinda on the fence at the moment about releasing them now or saving something for next month. Thanks again everybody all of you rock like an 80's power balled. Almost makes me want to rename this blog to "Blog site for Suicide Squad fans who aren't dicks". by the way

Way cool wallets made from Firestorm comic pages

2010-11-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

When I see stuff like this I always say to myself 'oh man why didn't I come up with this first!?" But hey, just cause I didn't come up with it doesn't mean it's not pretty damn cool. As you can see here someone made an actual and functional wallet out of the pages from issue 64 of Firestorm that so happens to have featured the Suicide Squad whom the U.S. government is looking to apprehend. And why? Because he wants to rid the world of nuclear weapons. So of course he must be stopped cause what the world needs now is another Cuban missile crisis or a nuclear arms race in the calm and stable Middle East as opposed to someone riding the world of all that none sense. Your tax dollars at work folks in DC land. Fortunately I'm just talking about DC Comics and not Washington DC. Although we all know things get every bit as much ridiculous there as they do in the fictional world of comics. Anyways, for more photos of other comic book page wallets, information on the artist and how you can get one of your own go to:
http://firestormfan.com/2010/11/15/firestorm-wallets/comment-page-1/#comment-6283

Toward the end of Firestorm #64 the Suicide Squad preps and launches an assault against Firestorm (and Firehawk) in the middle of Times Square. Firestorm annual #5 picks up the story line in which the JLA enters the fray and things get even more problematic when some bureaucratic idiot named Derek Toliver (who Rick Flag later pumps full of lead in service of his country) orders the release of the Parasite which both teams, Firestorm and Firehawk all struggle to contain. The conclusion however ends with a "blast" following the show down between Firestorm and a Russian nuclear powered foe in which Prof. Stein finally succumbs to his fatal condition. I actually used to have these two issues but I can't remember what the $%#&! happened to em.

When a Martian meets a woman

2010-11-15T00:30:00.000-08:00

This is cool how wildly popular Vixen is turning out to be with so many of the people who actually spend time out of their busy lives on this blog for what ever reason. And I noticed that the dude who runs the Martian Manhunter blog http://idol-head.blogspot.com/2010/11/1996-martian-manhunter-oil-painting-by.html has become a pawn recently. In keeping with the Checkmate theme I call the followers of this blog pawns so just bare with me folks. So that all has inspired me to share one of my favorite moments between two great DC characters who at a point and time found themselves on different teams during a confrontation while in Russia. But instead of a fight between The Martian Manhunter and Vixen we are treated to a rare heartfelt moment between these two who obviously have a lot of love for each other. Not a romantic or sexual kind of love despite how cool and kinky that would be but more of a Kirk and Spock kinda love. You may have to left click and then magnify the image to read the text clearly.
By the way, did you know that the voice actors for the Martian Manhunter and Vixen on the Justice League cartoon were Carl Lumbly and Gina Torres? You may know Lumbly from the short lived sci-fi TV series called M.A.N.T.I.S in which he a paraplegic scientist who wore a exo-skeleton suite and fights crime. Torres you may know from the sci-fi TV series Firefly and a movie based on the show called Serenity in which she played this hot ex-military type turned mercenary on a pirate space ship kinda like the Starjammers in the X-Men.

Also take note of the cool cover art that was used for the covers of the JLA and Suicide Squad issues that the confrontation between the two teams takes place in. Notice it's the same scene just drawn from different angles for each cover. Quite ingenious I must say. I can't think of any other time this sort of creativity for a cover was ever utilized.

"Gentlemen prefer blonds", but I prefer my women to be from the Suicide Squad

2010-11-13T00:37:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to get around to doing a post for all the Squad ladies both good and bad I hadn't been able to cover yet on this blog. First we start off with Vixen. There's just not enough good things I can say about this rising star in the DC Universe. All I can say is that Bronze Tiger was a real idiot to not ever have closed the deal with her during Vixen's run in the pages of the Suicide Squad. It's hard to say if Vixen will ever get a live action appearance in the future like Amanda Waller in the upcoming Green Lantern film. Ironically Angela Bassett would be my first pick to play her. I've always admired and loved that super cut body that Bassett has and if you don't know what I'm talking about check out "Whats Love Got To Do With It". Vixen is one woman Ike Turner better think twice about before he raises his fist. But rather we ever get to see her "in person" there certainly has been no shortage of her in the pages of the JLA in recent years (looking better then ever I might add) and also in the Justice League cartoon which handled her character really well. As one of the few non-convict members of the Suicide Squad Vixen often played a leadership role on missions but eventually left the squad largely because of her differences with Waller (gee what a surprise) and the drama between her and Bronze Tiger.

Night Shade (Eve Eden) has been with the team since the beginning and has been a regular all the way to the "end". She possessed various supernatural shadow powers among which were what I can only describe as creating mystical worm holes which allowed the squad to travel from one place to another instantly. This was especially important when it came to needing quick get aways. Ive always found Night Shade to be a more likable then interesting character per se. But there's no doubt she played a key role on the squad both on missions and as a pseudo-love interest for Rick Flag. Also a non convict member like Vixen, she too had her differences with Waller but ultimately chose to continued working with her.

I'm sure you all know by now about the tragic assault on Barbara Gordon at the hands of The Joker that left her in wheel chair as told in "A Killing Joke". Which happens to be one of the all time best Batman stories ever told written by Allan Moore & penciled by Brian Bolland. Due to her disability Gordon turned to fighting crime in the streets to fighting crime in cyberspace. She first started to assist the squad anonymously under the hacker name of Oracle. But that led to a psychotic tech. enhanced killer (Cliff Carmichael a.ka. the "Thinker", more on that bugger later) tracking her down and nearly finishing her off if not for the timely intervention of Amanda Waller herself. That led to her having had a new sense of purpose by joining the squad as the HQ coordinator in field operations and in general as all around i.t. support.

And moving on to another beautiful red head but this time one of a more sinister nature Poison Ivy. Ivy is a walking poison and toxins factory that includes chemicals that kill, or subject the victim to mind control. To be honest the Poison Ivy character has never been much more then eye candy for me but in the pages of the Suicide Squad she has had her moments. This scene from the "surprise vacation" the squad goes on to Apocalypse compliments of their concierge Lashina. Poison Ivy is one gal you don't want to rub the wrong way.

Now here is a squad member that has been with the team since the beginning. And by beginning I'm talking about the Suicide Squad appearance in the pages of John Byrne's Legends. The Enchantress is a supernatural being that must use a human host when on Earth much like Thor with Donald Blake. With an awesome array of magical powers and a mean spirited f&*% every body attitude she's just as likely to turn on her "team mates" as on whom ever the squad is fighting against. But we've seen that a skull grazed bullet (Deadshot) or a well applied vulcan nerve pinch (Bronze Tiger) seems to work wonders with getting her back under control. At least for a while anyways.

The Jihad. How art imitates life part 2

2010-11-11T00:30:00.000-08:00

Of course you all remember these sons of bitches from issue #1. Taking down The Jihad was the first mission for the Suicide Squad officially known as Task Force X. Back when I first got this book back in 1987 (A.D.) I was in my mid teens. Like most people I didn't know what the word jihad meant nor did I know that this issue would almost be prophetic at the time.
Fast forward about 13 years. For those people who still didn't know what that word meant they would soon after the morning of September 11, 2001. In the Suicide Squad the Jihad were super powered mercenaries who were carrying out acts of terror for anti-western governments that were also state sponsors of terrorism. A scary concept for sure, but not as scary as these same tyrannical governments having even more powerful weapons at their disposal in the real world.
Not too far from reality unfortunately when you think about. Between political correctness, liberal fascism and the revenue generated by the flow of Middle East oil the real world might not look too different from the fictional world of the Suicide Squad some day. It's just more likely the before mentioned weapons would more likely be something along the lines of nukes instead of super powered beings. And sadly one only has to watch the news to see if we woke up one day in a world like that there's no Amanda Waller, Rick Flag or even Jack Bauer to save the day.

Coming up this weekend: I know I've already posted about some ( Waller, Plastique and Lashina) but I've also got a who's who on the way of other prominent good girls and bad girls who have served with the Suicide Squad and what makes them cool.

Kobra kills Ravan or Ravan Kills Kobra? Is it too much to ask for both? How art imitates life part 1

2010-11-10T00:15:00.000-08:00

If the Ku Klux Klan and the Taliban were having some sort of blood feud who would you want to win? A pretty tough call huh? Because the ideal scenario is for them to some how manage to kill each other at the same time and do the world a favor. Well that's kinda the pickle I found myself in when it finally came down to this show down between Kobra and Ravan. Kobra, the "Avatar of the age of Chaos" is a great DC villain whom I think of as being something between a James Bond villain and Charles Mansion. He had the whole snake cult thing going on but with a powerful global network to back it up. He is wanted by Interpol and is considered to be extremely dangerous do not try to apprehend him yourself (see side bar Interpol notice). And then there's the former Jihad member (terrorists for hire team) turned Suicide Squad recruit Ravan. He was a Thugee, who among other hobbies killed random people in order to delay the coming of the Indian goddess of death Kali by 1000 years each murder at a time. Now what I find rather interesting about all
this is that Ravan regards Kobra as being his natural enemy much like how Christians would regard the anti-Christ. This also odd to me seeing as they are both homicidal psychotic religious fanatics that enjoy their "work" way too much.
During a Squad mission in Israel Ravan goes awol in order to pursue Kobra who just recently managed to trick an Israeli artificial computer intelligence security network (Dybuk) into letting him out of jail. Ravan finds Kobra shortly there after and before you know it it's on! Now some of you might be saying " hey that's pretty cool, I love this comic book stuff". However this is not just simply the thing of comic book fiction it would seem. Part of this Squad story in Israel involved a plan Kobra was hatching to also trick Dybuk into over riding Israeli jet fighters and using them to blow up the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem as a way to usher in the "Age of Chaos". Not too much of a stretch when you think about it. Remember how all Hell broke loose through out the Muslim world when that Danish cartoon came out? Well, the Dome of the Rock which is an 800 year old copper domed mosque is the 3rd holiest site to Islam. Although it'll probably be coming in at #4 after the mega mos . . . I mean interfaith community center next to ground zero is finally completed. So you don't need to be an expert on the Middle East to know how an Israeli jet fighter blowing that up would go over with Muslims through out the world. And that's not even talking about all the radical leftist nut jobs around here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I pretty much would have to barricade myself in my apartment from those nut jobs too just like Will Smith did in "I Am Legend".