Review Shooter: Suicide Squad 5

The Suicide Squad can’t keep a team together. I mean it makes sense when half of your team name is Suicide, but in 5 issues they have gone through a LOT of members. I’m almost certain that someone dies in every issue to date. Oddly enough, not many due to the nature of their missions.

That’s jumping ahead just a bit though! Suicide Squad 5 picks up shortly after the end of the last issue with prison riot breaking out.  The able bodies of the Suicide Squad (which at this point is just Deadshot, Yo-Yo and El Diablo) must stem the flow of the riot for as long as possible. In some cases, that means taking the offensive and killing off many of the inmates. While in other cases, it just means trying to reason with them.

Of course, 3 men trying to hold off a prison riot can only last for so long before being overwhelmed, and with the ever watchful Amanda Waller overseeing this position, she sends for reinforcements. Some of the remaining Squad members prove to be useful while the others prove to be difficult to control. Eventually though, the entire Squad is overrun, and Waller initiates a protocol that will wipe out everyone in the prison including herself.

I’ll skip the rest of the comic because I’ve spoiled enough. I have to say on a personal level, I feel like the book has really come together. If you’ve read the site or seen our Twitter account, you would know I’m a huge fan of Gail Simone’s Secret Six. And I always thought that this book served as its replacement in The New 52, but never quite lived up to the expectations. After 5 issues, I will say I am slightly wrong. It isn’t necessarily a replacement for Secret Six. I don’t feel the friendship that grew in Secret Six.

But this is just as compelling for different reasons. They are soldiers, tasked with a mission, and their only goal is really their own survival. We’ve seen Squad-mates kill other Squad-mates in former issues, and that was because it served to them ultimately getting what they want. It an interesting dynamic and it makes for a fun read. It also explains the cliffhanger of this issue so well. They aren’t just the used, but the users. They work their circumstances to their advantage when needed.

The art in the book remains solid. One of my biggest issues with the series isn’t really on display in this issue, and I won’t spoil it, but if you read other Suicide Squad reviews, you’ll know what it is. I have to commend the artist for his work with El Diablo, I assume he is both a fun and difficult character to draw with all of those tattoos, but he makes for some fun visuals.

And also as messed up as the first page is, its a heck of an introduction to a comic. Though won’t stem the belief that some of these books do push the extremes.

New Reader Accessibility: 4– While it does continue exactly where the last issue left off, you really don’t need to know much. They are placed in immediate danger and that exists throughout the entire issue. There aren’t many deep character moments on show here.

Recommendation: Read It- I had  a ton of fun with it, and would recommend checking out the series.