Suicide Squad #42 – Rob Williams, Writer; Jose Luis, Penciller; Jordi Tarragona, Inker; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Rating: Ray – 6/10
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
Suicide Squad #42, a fairly straightforward issue, focuses on Batman and Deadshot as they go on the trail of Deadshot’s daughter, who has been kidnapped by the snake cult Kobra. The last issue saw Batman break Deadshot out of Belle Reve, thus getting Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad on both their trails. The issue is that, simply, Kobra isn’t that interesting as a villain. They’re a creepy cult, sure, but the transformation of their minions into Killer Croc-looking hulk monsters is new and just makes them feel relatively generic. I did enjoy Batman and Deadshot essentially wandering into a bar in Texas and beating everyone in sight to get information, but the argument between them over whether Deadshot’s allowed to kill gets old. Deadshot’s daughter, meanwhile – who seems to be a teenager here, rather than the little girl she’s usually portrayed as – is still stuck in a cell at Kobra’s elaborate snake-pit lair.
I did enjoy watching her get the better of her captor, a particularly devout young cult member who believes that she’s robbing him of his destiny to be the new leader of Kobra. However, this would have been a lot more compelling if she had been given any characterization in this run previously. She’s essentially a prop, so her escape doesn’t hold any real weight for me.
The most interesting part of the issue was probably the ragtag new Suicide Squad strike team composed of Harley, Captain Boomerang, and Captain Cold. Harley is a bit too randomly brutal here, but the constant snarking and bickering between the two Captains was amusing. Overall, the series still suffers from an overly villainous Amanda Waller, as she tries to hunt down Batman and Deadshot, and lack of any real development for its main characters. You know, the same issues over the last forty-odd issues.
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Disclaimer: GeekDad received a copy for review purposes.
