Suicide Squad #36 – Rob Williams, Writer; Eduardo Pansica, Penciller; Julio Ferreira, Inker; Ariano Lucas, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 6/10
Corrina: I’m With Hack
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
Ray: Suicide Squad has taken quite a significant jump in quality over the last arc, following the Si Spurrier guest arc, but it’s still not quite coming together as a compelling whole, even in Suicide Squad #36. What it does have for the first time, though, is some dramatic momentum and an antagonist that serves as more than a pincushion for the Squad to do their thing on. When the issue opens, a badly beaten Squad is heading back to a surprisingly silent Belle Reve, unable to get any contact with Waller until they’re ordered in. Surprise, it wasn’t Waller – it was Hack, now a digital being, who impersonated Waller and has taken control of Belle Reve, releasing the prisoners and hacking their brain bombs to turn them into her minions. Given how Hack was murdered, it’s easy to sympathize with her goals of getting justice for her death, but she’s clearly unhinged at this point.
This issue’s secret weapon is artist Eduardo Pansica, who has a lot of fun with the various forms Hack takes. First, she’s human, then she’s a digital being composed of code, and then she’s a creepy little girl. Waller, meanwhile, is locked on the outside and trying to get the Squad out alive, but the government has other plans – sending in “The Wall”, the new supersoldier, to attack with maximum collateral damage. That’s where the book is at its weakest – it’s not strong at all with political commentary. The subjects are all there, but they’re not treated with any level of subtlety. Hack’s sudden interest in toppling the corrupt world power structure sort of comes out of nowhere, but her trial of the Squad members is relatively intriguing. This is probably the best arc yet of Rebirth’s weakest series, but I suspect Hack will be dispatched shortly and the title will go back to focusing on its core team, to the series’ detriment.
Corrina: I hope Hack kills them all.
I mean, I know she won’t kill them all, because we need Harley around, as she’s too important to DC Comics. I would feel a small amount of grief if Waller died, too, because of the baffling missed potential in the character.
But I suspect I was supposed to be worried about the survival of the rest of the team and I’m not because Hack is totally right. She had become a hero, no one cared about finding who killed her, everyone moved on, and her life was for basically nothing. Let her go to town on Belle Reeve to her heart’s content, or, at least, on the team that helped destroy her. At this point, Captain Boomerang has to go and I’m not sure the character will ever recover from this run on Suicide Squad.
I did enjoy Hack’s conversation with King Faraday but that’s a small moment that hardly makes up for the story’s overall problems. And, given how it’s gone for this series, Hack will be defeated, and all will be reset. If that happens, I’ll leave Ray alone to review these because saying multiple times how much I’m not enjoying something can get boring.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
