Suicide Squad #49 – Rob Williams, Writer; Diogenes Neves, Artist; Gabe Eltaeb, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 4/10
Ray: The penultimate issue of Rob Williams’ Suicide Squad run, one of only a few titles with its original creative team from Rebirth, suffers from a lot of the same problems of the run as a whole. It has some interesting concepts and a good sense of tension, but that tension falls flat due to the fact that it has few characters to care about and almost none of them are actually in any danger due to the A-list nature of the cast. When we last left off, Amanda Waller had been trapped by the Russian supervillains from earlier in the run, with a brain bomb implanted in her head. Rick Flag was placed in charge of her fate – just as he found out that she was responsible for framing him and getting his unit killed. The opening segment of this issue takes us back to that fateful day in his military unit when he rejected his commanding officer’s order and wound up court-martialed – only to see his team die anyway.
If Waller actually did do this, it would be a moral event horizon that she could never recover from.
Thankfully, the issue keeps it vague as she denies having any involvement and Flag seems hesitant to believe her but not ruling it out. So they’re forced to tentatively work together and escape the base, while the rest of the Squad does battle with generic villains. The return of Flag’s old unit as metal zombies of some kind would have more impact if they weren’t only introduced this issue. As it is, they largely feel like stock characters.
The issue hints at killing off a major Suicide Squad member, but we all know it won’t stick. With only one issue to go before the series ends and is rumored to get a reboot with a major creator, this series never really lived up to its potential. A relaunch will need to change things up if DC wants to capitalize on the success of the movie.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
