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

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyJaLwcC4Sg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y880iYrh0H8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_4Re65oTiQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEGpU581CnE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I_Le-KpSxI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX6-1gTOxcY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJmONJQf2jw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkEnX5MQpcw&feature=related
Normally I hate those music video montages of animated shows or movies but this one ain't bad and you get to see more of the movie not contained in the other links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG2SEwYtPGQ&feature=related

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 @#$%&$!"

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

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.