
Monday, December 26, 2011
Some kick ass Rick Flag fan art that I kinda . . sorta made

Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The mysterious & curvey Black Orchid

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.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Suicide Squad #4 Review: Hail Kobra! . .er I mean Basilisk

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 iss

http://io9.com/suicide-squad/
Sunday, December 11, 2011
To all the belly aching Harley Quinn fans, when words aren't enough it's time for some specialized fan art

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
Friday, December 2, 2011
Beautiful mixed media rendering of Nightshade

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/
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Suicide Squad #3 review

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!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
I year for this blog today, time for a vacation

Friday, October 21, 2011
More Suicide Squad members make debut in Young Justice episode "Revelations"


Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Suicide Squad #2 review. Be warned I spoil everything!

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

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?
Friday, October 7, 2011
Just like a boomerang mates he's back! Plus Amanda Waller's debut on Young Justice cartoon!

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!"
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Hot "suicide girls" cosplay & a pop quiz for all you hot shots out there! What's wrong with these panels?

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.


Friday, September 16, 2011
Ok foIks, I can't take the DC relaunch belly aching anymore so here's a follow up Youtube video. Just think "What If"
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Suicide Squad #1 Youtube review is here!
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!

Sunday, September 11, 2011
911 an "inside job?" You bet it was!

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.


Friday, September 2, 2011
It's a Dan's World straight outta . . . Australia!?

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.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Everybody was Kung Fu fightn: Bronze Tiger vs. Batman plus, the 3 reasons Bronze Tiger is a badass you never knew about!


http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/Erik_Magnus_Lensherr/?action=view¤t=BronzeTiger2.jpg
http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/Erik_Magnus_Lensherr/?action=view¤t=BronzeTiger3.jpg
http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/Erik_Magnus_Lensherr/?action=view¤t=BronzeTiger4.jpg
http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/Erik_Magnus_Lensherr/?action=view¤t=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.
. . 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.
Friday, August 26, 2011
From Darkseid to iran's ayatollah khomeini, whatever evil you fear most

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.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Countdown 22: Trickster, in the line of Deadshot's fire



Monday, August 15, 2011
Captain Boomerang and what goes around

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.



Friday, August 12, 2011
Gotham Underground: Invasion of the criminal snatchers


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.


Saturday, August 6, 2011
Salvation Run #3 & #4: Hey Deadshot & Bane, "Welcome to The Jungle"



Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Raise The Flag: An overview of this pivitol 2008 mini-series

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.


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.
Monday, August 1, 2011
25 Year Suicide Squad Anniversary! Get up to speed with my handy dandy quick reference timeline
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.
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

Left click anywhere on time line to magnify
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
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Salvation Run #2 found in $1 box so temporarily breaking my "hiatus". Also, check out my Suicide Squad Youtube video



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)
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