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Post by brutalis on Oct 6, 2021 20:32:55 GMT -5
I was so on board for this series. Immediately the core cast grabbed my full attention with Deadshot, Bronze Tiger and Boomerbutt! Superb writing combining with incredible art matching story tone with a gritty and palpable essence for stylized atmosphere. McDonnel very quickly became an artistic talent that when his name was associated with a title I was placing it on my pull list.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 12, 2021 0:16:04 GMT -5
Suicide Squad #2Luke McDonnell & Karl Kesel handle the cover, this time, which isn't quite up to Chaykin's issue 1, but he probably had more time to put it together. Kind of looks like Airwolf ran into Bewitched, and, possibly, a pro wrestling card. Creative Team: John Ostrander-writer, Luke McDonnell-pencils, Karl Kesel-inks, Todd Klein-letters, Carl Gafford-colors, Robert Greenberger-editor Although she is not credited on the book, yet, Kim Yale, John Ostrander-s late wife, was involved in the creation of the series and provided a lot of input into the female characters. Later, she would be co-writing and was highly instrumental in turning Barbara Gordon into oracle. She was a damn fine writer and editor in her own right; but, is largely unknown in fandom and overshadowed by John. I met her once, at GenCon; funny, funny lady, with a great spirit and a razor-sharp mind. Her CBG columns about her breast cancer were tremendous and John's post-script, after her death, painted a vivid picture of the woman she was, including an impish sense of humor that had he stomping around a hospital ward, in Godzilla slippers, that gave off the roar when she stepped down, and writing notes to the surgeon, on her breast when she had her first mastectomy and when they again had to take the remaining one. Synopsis: The team is in northern Qurac (DC's Middle Eastern state, designed so as not to incur jihad from any actual country, though the name is a bit of a giveaway, and this is before the Gulf War!), waiting to rendezvous with the inside agent, who smuggled out the footage of the Jihad. Briscoe and Sheba (the attack helicopter) are inbound. Flag is surveying Jotunheim, the mountain installation that is the HQ for the Jihad. Suddenly, a portal opens up in the ground and out pops Chimera, the female member of the Jihad. Captain Boomerang yells out and is ready to kill, when Flag calls a halt to their actions and introduces the "inside man," Nightshade.... Like I said last time, her appearance on the cover of issue one was kind of a giveaway as to who the insider was. She is angry that they didn't initiate the mission sooner (thanks to the events in legends) and she was a party to mass murder, as the Jihad attack simulation was done with live ammo and real victims. Flag convinces her to continue, but they will speak again about this. Flag doles out the specific assignments to the team... Nightshade will transport each of them inside and they will make their move when Briscoe brings Sheba on her attack run. Flag mentions Nightshade's partner, who is yet to be revealed. They move on, though Boomerang is twitchy about Nightshade. Inside, Nightshade delivers everyone to their locations, though Boomerang is dropped off quicker than the rest. She tells Plastique to remain hidden in the lab, until the attack begins and she acknowledges the instructions, then ignores them after Nightshade is gone. Nightshade brings Flag to her quarters, to hide until the attack, where he will target Rustam, when he responds, as Flag anticipates. Nightshade apologizes for their confrontation and Flag tells her to forget it and he understands the pressure on her and the situation, with being undercover. Plastique intercepts the terrorist Mushtaq and then offers her services to the Jihad and information about Task Force X. Mushtaq questions her motivation and she replies that she is a dedicated revolutionary. Mushtaq calls her a traitor and holds a pistol on her, after she has set down her weapon. He then reveals his true identity.... ...Nemesis, Nightshade's partner. He goes to take hold of her and she surprises him with her explosive abilities and escapes and Nemesis chides himself for being rusty. He was supposed to blow the generators that power Jotunheim, but he has to take Plastique down, before she blows the mission. Outside, Briscoe and Sheba have arrived. Cue the music.... Man, only the ladies are left from the show (not counting the USA Network revamp cast)! Everything goes AH-OOGA!!!! AH-OOGA!!! AH-OOGA!!!....... The guards react and storm down a corridor and run into Mindboggler, who hits them with mental illusions that terrorize them with fear. Bronze Tiger enters Ravan's quarters and faces off with the thuggee. They make introductions and wait for ref John McCarthy to start the fight... Deadshot enters the elevator shaft where Manticore sleeps and his scent awakens the beast-man. Deadshot decides to drop the elevator on him... ...to little effect. Rustam hears the attack and reacts. Nightshade enters Marlo's quarters to take out the ehad of the organization, but is zapped from behind by Plastique. Marlos has no idea what is going on and runs and Plastique calls after him, allowing Nemesis to shoot her in the back with a tranquilizer dart. Flag intercepts Rustam, who ducks under and disarms Flag of his Uzi. He creates his energy scimitar, but Flag shoots him in the wrist, with his sidearm, then pistolwhips him. He is distracted by a call from Nemesis, asking for instructions about Plastique and Nightshade, who are both unconscious. rustam escapes and Flag says to head for the hangar deck, on tier two and maintain radio discipline. Boomerang finds Jaculi, who sleeps in a gap between the concrete roof and the cliff face, and takes him down withhis boomerangs. Then, he kicks him over the side, letting him fall several stories to the ground. Bronze Tiger outclasses Ravan and breaks his back with a kick. He leaves him crippled, on the floor, rather than killing him, as Ravan asks. His orders were to neutralize and Ravan is now neutral. he does not kill. Ravan swears vengeance. Deadshot is in deep doo-doo, as Manticore is impervious to his bullets, thanks to his bodyarmor. Deadshot tries his eyes, at pointblank range and finds that the eyes aren't armored. June Moon finds Djinn's magnetic bottle and summons Enchantress, who battles Djinn, before destroying the magnetic bottle and him with it. She changes back to June, but is severely weakened.Bronze Tiger finds her and gets her out. Mindboggler is still dealing with the gruts and Boomerang observes, from above. he is supposed to link up with her and bring her to the extraction point; but, he sees Rustam move in from behind, with Flag's Uzi. he prepares to hurl a boomerang, when he remembers how she humiliated him in front of the others and lets Rustam shoot her in the back. They board a lear jet and Nemesis stays behind to operate the catapult that will launch it. the plane gets airborne and then Sheba pops up and takes out the pursuers, and then drops a rope ladder to get Nemesis out. The aircraft head out of Quracie airspace, as Flag reports in and threatens a discussion about surprises. Inside Jotunheim, Rustam tells Marlos that they will rebuild. The letters page introduces John Ostrander, talking of his work as a writer and actor with Chicago's Organic Theater Company (who originated the Warp plays, which factored into John's first comic script, which was on First Comics' Warp comic book series), as well as his work on Grimjack. Luke McDonnell was discovered by JM Dematteis and had his first work published in Weird War, then worked for Marvel, before being "released" from Iron man, in 1985 and coming over to DC. His most recent gig was penciling JLA, right up to the end, when the Detroit team was mostly killed off. Karl Kesel spent time at the Kubert School, then Hartford College, before working as art director at Hartford Woman magazine, and then entering comics through New Talent Showcase and Tales of the Legion. He was also inking John Byrne, on Superman. Page two is devoted to letters from the Legends mini that specific addressed the Suicide Squad portion. Thoughts: Nice Mission Impossible plot, with supervillains, while we also got to see how ruthless these characters could be, when cut loose from normal comic book constraints. Captain Boomerang especially comes off cold blooded, as he lets Mindboggler die over a slight to his ego and then murders a helpless Jaculi. He was teased as a potential traitor, but he carried out his mission and Plastique is revealed as the traitor. Now, this begs the question, why didn't she get her hand blown off for disobeying orders? Well, for one thing, she was a top Firestorm enemy and that book was selling well enough that she wasn't going to be a casualty in this. Instead, that honor went to Mindboggler, who had also fought Firestorm. However, she wasn't a popular villain and she had a bad, very "80s" design and she was cannon fodder. However, death isn't permanent in comics, so she may pop up again. The reveal of Nemesis was a nice touch and he hadn't been seen in a while. he was introduced as a back-up feature, in Brave & the Bold, a vigilante fighting the Mafia, using a special disguise gimmick that was harder to believe than Rolly Hand's masks. His brother was an undercover cop, who was killed by a syndicate, called "The Council," and he fought to avenge his death. His fighting gear consisted of a black turtleneck (longtime favorite of vigilante heroes and superspies) and carried a revolver, in a shoulder holster. His turtleneck sported a chest symbol of the Scales of Justice. He appeared to die at the end of his run, but we see that he is alive and well, working undercover for task Force X. Nightshade is Eve Eden, one of the Charlton Action heroes, who debuted in Captain Atom and often partnered with him. She was the only female hero at Charlton and she mostly stood around, during Crisis, as Blue Beetle got most of the screen time for the Earth-4 characters (the Charlton Action Hero world). It was nice to see her again, as her original adventures were drawn by Jim Aparo, who made her look great. her costume wasn't the greatest, which factors into a revamp, after this gets going. She's undercover here, as Chimera, so she just gets t-shirt, slacks and bandit mask. June Moon, aka the human host of Enchantress, gets some screen time and we see the toll Enchantress takes on her and get a taste of why she is with the squad. That will be explored further. Bronze Tiger is the Squad XO and we see that he does have a code of honor, ruthless though it may seem. The apprehension against killing makes some sense, after he was brainwashed into committing the murder of Kathy Kane, aka Batwoman. How free of this conditioning he is will also be a story factor in future issues. The redesign definitely improves the character, as he isn't stuck with being the American Tiger Mask, in karate pajamas (which is ironic, since the Japanese wrestler, Tiger Mask, aka Satoru Sayama, later switched to karate pants). He gets to be the badass hand-to-hand fighter of the team, while Deadshot gets to be the weapons man/sniper. Captain Boomerang is shown to be a bit deadlier than in the Flash, though it is relative. He tried to kill Flash numerous times; but, the costume made him a bit of a joke, after the 60s. This is a bit more interesting, as he is shown to be a blowhard, misogynist, cold blooded killer and s@#$-stirrer. He will prove to be the personality of the team. Flag is shown as capable, but hard-nosed, but, he also has no special abilities, other than his military flight experience and his time with the previous Squad. Having him as a commando is a bit much, since he was an Air Force pilot and would not have extensive weapons or infantry tactics training, even to lead the original Squad. His real power is leadership and tactical thinking and he at least isn't the complete stereotype he could have been, in lesser hands. He was never my favorite character; but, he grew on me, after a bit. Deadshot was my favorite and he gets to have a bit of fun. He is shown to be dangerous and quick thinking and he already had an odd background, before he got the cooler costume, as a phony quick-draw hero, who fights Batman. Marshall Rogers gave him the cool costume and Steve Englehart made him deadlier; but, Ostrander will get into his head and create a real character. The Jihad seem a bit wasted, as they are taken down rather easily, after the teaser in issue #1; but, a revamped version will reappear. Even so, I still think it was a lost opportunity, similar to missteps Ostrander had on the Manhunter series, which was supposed to be closely tied to this one (Manhunter would bag supervillains and feed them to task Force X). That started out as a great action-adventure series, with cinematic moments and a cool villain; but, the villain is taken out at the end of the initial storyline and Ostrander never came up with a good follow up and was stuck having Manhunter face various villains, like Count Vertigo and Cat-Man, before Ostrander brought back Dumas. meanwhile, artist Doug Rice bailed on the series as it had strayed to much from the action-adventure beginnings that he and Ostrander had talked about, while Ostrander was more interested in exploring Mark Shaw's family relationships and Rice was stuck drawing lots of talking head scenes. However, in general, Ostrander was a bit more focused with Suicide Squad and his stories were generally on point. It helps that he crafted a rich supporting character cast, not to mention main cast. So, the Squad have had their baptism by fire (Legends) and their first major combat mission. Now, it is time for their next conflict, which was suggested by Karl Kesel: The Female Furies!
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 12, 2021 0:27:27 GMT -5
ps Ostrander references Monty Python, with Boomerang's "What a senseless waste of human life." You didn't get that often, in comics (well, apart from the UK JLI Embassy administrator, in JLI, based on Basil Fawlty or Dean Motter's Terminal City, with a robot desk clerk, called BZL (aka Bazil) who abuse the MANUAL bellboy (the robot bellboys aren't working).
Also, my memory was off with issue 1 comments. Briscoe was the pilot of Sheba, the attack helicopter, and not just the mechanic. It is not Flag's weapon, as we see here.
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Post by commond on Oct 12, 2021 9:58:38 GMT -5
I'm a big fan of this series and read it through to the end. I've soured a bit on post-Crisis DC lately, but Suicide Squad was definitely one of their better efforts. Looking forward to your reviews.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 12, 2021 11:36:35 GMT -5
pps Just an anecdote. I chuckled at the AH-OOGA sound effect. While I was on staff at a destroyer squadron, the commodore gave an assignment to a lieutenant in the same office. he wanted a horn to sound at the squadron happy hours, every month, and tasked him with making it happen. As it happens, we had to cannibalize parts from the WW2-era USS Yorktown (the second carrier with that name, not the one that sank after Midway) for one of our old steam destroyers. He hit upon the idea of a lube oil alarm, which would sound if lubrication oil got to hot, during machinery operation, leading to potential fire. He and a chief went down to Patriots Point, a sort of tourist attraction with the ship (and a frigate, submarine and the SS Savannah, the only nuclear powered commercial ship), with flashlights (no lighting in the engineering spaces, since they weren't on the tour route) and found the equipment and dismantled it. They brought it back, wired up a power chord and a switch. It was then debuted at the next happy hour, sounding the alarm for each of the ship captains, when they turned up (and they all did, because...politics). We later used it as an alarm when we did exercises with RED CELL, the team of SEALs who acted as terrorists, to test and train base security (see the memoir Rogue Warrior, by Richard Marcinko and John Wiseman, for its origins). If we spotted them moving in on our offices, we set off the alarm and barricaded our offices, which is exactly what happened (it helps to spot a terrorist team if you know they are driving white transport cars). However, we were threatened with disciplinary action if we didn't come out. It turns out we weren't supposed to be resisting, because the purpose of the exercise was for base security to deal with a hostage situation, while we were lectured about how to handle ourselves in such a situation (I was told I would have been the first shot, since I was looking over the SEALs and the weapons they were carrying). In the end, I got to be part of the half that got out of the building alive, after half are shot, because our base security team did something stupid (shot a terrorist without following up with an assault). No one was taking things seriously and there were so many restrictions on where exercises could be held that I shook my head at the whole thing.
That horn was obnoxious as s@#$ inside the O-Club; but, then again, so was the commodore.
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Post by badwolf on Oct 12, 2021 19:11:45 GMT -5
ps Ostrander references Monty Python, with Boomerang's "What a senseless waste of human life." You didn't get that often, in comics (well, apart from the UK JLI Embassy administrator, in JLI, based on Basil Fawlty or Dean Motter's Terminal City, with a robot desk clerk, called BZL (aka Bazil) who abuse the MANUAL bellboy (the robot bellboys aren't working). Also, my memory was off with issue 1 comments. Briscoe was the pilot of Sheba, the attack helicopter, and not just the mechanic. It is not Flag's weapon, as we see here. In Iron Man #140 there was a luxury yacht named Throatwarbler Mangrove.
I liked this series and followed it for a few years. Bronze Tiger and Enchantress were my favorites, I think. I was disappointed when Tiger stopped wearing his mask, instead painting stripes directly on his face. I don't think an in-story explanation was given.
I also enjoyed Legends. I can understand the problem with Captain Marvel, though I don't think I thought anything of it at the time. I had only read a few CM stories in World's Finest, during the Dollar Comics era.
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Post by Calidore on Oct 12, 2021 19:38:05 GMT -5
They brought it back, wired up a power chord and a switch.
It's obvious you meant "power cord", but this gave me an image of them ripping out a triumphant Bill & Ted air guitar riff when they'd finished.
Another favorite series you're recapping. Looking forward to the rest. Thanks!
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 14, 2021 23:06:14 GMT -5
Suicide Squad #3Hunh.....so Flag and Nemesis are both supposed to be southpaws? Even though their shoulder holsters are carried for right-hand draw? And shouldn't someone be shooting at Lashina? Looks like everyone is trying to gun down Stompa and Mad Harriet. Creative Team: John Ostrander-writer, Luke McDonnell-pencils, Karl Kesel-inks, Todd Klein-letters, Carl Gafford-colors, Robert Greenberger-editor Synopsis: Darkseid observes Glorious Godfrey sitting in his cell, at Belle Reeve prison and orders the Female Furies to break him out, so he can punish him on Apokolips. Bernadeath starts to question the need for the Furies to go in, when it could be done remotely, from Apokolips and Darkseid gives he a look and lets her know that if he gives her THE LOOK, it's all over for her. Desaad covers for his sister, saying she meant the team needs a leader and he nominates her. Lashina puts herself up and the two Alphas start to go at it, when Darkseid breaks it up and says Lashina is in charge of the mission and her performance will determine her future. Man, short review period at this organization. Meanwhile, Flag busts in on an electro-shock session, with Plastique, to remove any memory of her part in the Squad's previous mission. Flag orders it stopped and the blond lady in charge (who looks like McDonnell's drawing of Karin Grace; but, I don't think it is meant to be her) tells him she answers to Waller, not him. He storms off to find her. Amanda Waller is busy getting yelled at by Nightshade, who is still PO-ed about the live killing exercise. She throws some shade to Nemesis, who passes it to Waller, who made the call to keep her in the dark. Waller fires back that they got the info too late to act upon it without blowing Nightshade's cover (and Nemesis). She then asks Nemesis what his beef is and he says he feels their missions are pulling him away from his remit to fight organized crime. Waller told him that it was up to him; but, he owed them for saving his bacon and she proceeds to tell us how he survived the helicopter explosion and crash at the end of his back-up series. He was found by G-Men and taken to a hospital, so he owes Uncle Sammy for his hospital bill. She asks him if he feels he has paid that debt and he says no. Then Boomerang comes in to harangue her about living off campus. Hey, I thought the dorms were too loud, too, when I was in college. She agrees and says they will set up a cover identity and a place; but, one wrong step and Kablooie! She gets a phone call from Dr Grace; so, it was Karin that Flag went eyeball to eyeball with. He storms in and they circle and snarl, then Flag pulls out his ace and threatens to resign and go public. It turns into a staring contest, until it is broken up by a massive boom, as the Furies show up in a Boom Tube and alarms go off. The discussion is tabled and Flag asks who is avail for a reaction force. June Moon is under sedation, Bronze Tiger is in a therapy session and Deadshot is in his room. Flag calls in Tiger, but Deadshot tells him to get stuffed, since he doesn't work security. Boomerang disapears in the confusion, since he isn't putting his neck on the line, especially since he might know the invaders. He takes Nightshade and Nemesis with him. The Furies split up to find Godfrey and the Squad does the same. Stompa bypasses Chronos' cell. Bronze Tiger spots her and attacks. It doesn't faze her and he is swatted away. Flag leads a security reaction team against Mad Harriet but they aren't hitting the target. Flag calls for a riot cannon to lob an oil shell at her, to make the floor slippery. She ignites it with her claws. Flag hits her with a laser, which gets a reaction and he tells the team to do the same and pour it on. Bernadeath runs into darkness and Nightshade attacks, but, Bernadeath was weaned on Darkness and takes Nightshade down. Lashina finds his cell and pulls him out, but runs into Nemesis and robot guns. She uses Godfrey as a weapon, then destroys the robots with her lashes. She then beats Nemesis and carries Godfrey's sorry but out. She reassembles her team and summons the Boom Tube and they depart; but Bernadeath attacks her and blocks her way. Explosions go off and we see something fly out of the prison and land in the swamp beyond. The Squad reassembles and Nightshade passes on what she heard from Bernadeath. Nightshade tells Waller that she and Nemesis back Flag on the brainwashing and Waller backs down and agrees. Boomerang turns up and claims he got lost in the corridors. Letters page features responses from people who got advance copies of issue #1 (usually letter hacks and people who have built relationships with editors or had prominent fanzines), including TM Maple. Thoughts: Well, it's not quite the slam-bang story that I suspect Karl Kesel wanted; but, it does give each Fury a moment to shine, while also detailing hoe Nemesis is still alive and a showdown between Flag and Waller over methods. It also showcases some of the personalities of the team and why some of them are there. Deadshot refuses to do anything beyond their assigned missions and Boomerang isn't sticking his neck out if there is a place to hide. He's only sticking around until he has an opportunity to ditch the scene. June Moon has serious issues with Enchantress and needs help in coping, which is why she is there, but also makes using Enchantress a dicey proposition. We get to see a little of Nightshade's power, plus she is in her old suit, complete with mini-skirt. To be honest, I think change was necessary, though I was never wild about the look she was given, when they went that route. The confrontation between Flag and Karin was a bit odd; not the cause, but he never called her by name, which was why I was confused if it was supposed to be her. You would have thought that, given their history, Flag would have invoked her name. I guess Ostrander intended to show how far apart Karin and Rick were; but, it still seems a bit wonky. I do have to say that Belle Reeve may look cool, for a comic book series; but, the security for a Federal Maximum Security prison is laughable. There is only a perimeter fence outside. Most prisons have more than one layer of containment, outside the walls of the building. We do not see security gateways between cell blocks. Internally, prisons have all kinds of checkpoints, especially at cell blocks. you usually have to go through at least an internal double door set up, to get to any cells. Now, granted this is a secret facility for Task Force X; but, it is still a working prison, as we see with the presence of Chronos and Penguin, who also watched the Furies from his cell and was glad he was safe inside. They will be used for future missions, which is part of why they were seen here (and Parasite, in issue #1). I get that it would be a lot for McDonnell to draw and wouldn't necessarily be important to the story; but, such a thing would reinforce the realism of the prison, while setting up an obstacle of the Furies. if there is a fault to John Ostrander's work, I would say it is in some of his staging of the action. He is great with character and plot; but, I think he misses opportunities for great visuals and this is a visual medium. As I said before, Doug Rice commented to me that Manhunter was supposed to be action-adventure and the first 4 issues deliver it in spades, along with character development and plot; but, after that, it got a bit bogged down in character scenes that had them standing around, having long conversations. he grew bored and left the series. I think that there is a bit of that going on here, and at other points in the series; though it varies issue to issue and storyline to storyline. Sometimes he will create some great visual moments for McDonnell & Kesel, and others it will be dense character stuff. Some issues will get very character intensive, though it was part of the process of making them more dimensional. This is early days and we just had a lot of action, so I get that this was meant as character service as much as action. I do think that Ostrander got a it spoiled, working with Tim Truman, on Grimjack, as Truman staged stuff like this beautifully. McDonnel has experience, but doesn't quite have the same flair for this stuff that Truman did. That said, McDonnell was right for this series and he proves pretty adept at capturing the variety of characters and moments, as things progress. This is it for Karl Kesel, as he was probably too busy elsewhere. We get a new inker, next issue, and a new mission, which harkens back to the Mission Impossible set-up of Task Force X.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 18, 2021 22:55:33 GMT -5
Suicide Squad #4Looks like William Don't Ask, Don't Tell, if you ask me. Creative Team: John Ostrander-writer, Luke McDonnell-pencils, Bob Lewis-inks, Todd Klein-letters, Carl Gafford-colors, Robert Greenberger-editor Synopsis: In Central City, a group of criminals, in stocking masks (fishnets? That's not gonna obscure your face enough!), robs a liquor store and make their getaway, after shooting the store owner, who comes after them with a shotgun. Their car is stopped by a bolt from the crossbow of some guy in chain mail, calling himself William Hell (cute...). However, he treats the white criminals a little differently than the black ones... He gets an interview from a local reporter, who praises him to the hilt and then takes off. he meets up with a car in an alleyway, driven by his chauffeur. Turns out, he is the station owner of WQRC, whose reporter just happened to be on the spot when he arrested the two black criminals. He orders the driver to take him home and make a couple of calls, then report to him in the study. The driver lets him out, then, when he is out of sight, opens the trunk and lets the real chauffeur out of the trunk and gives him instructions. The fake driver leaves, then removes "his" disguise, to reveal Black Orchid, underneath. We cut to Belle Reeve, as Amanda Waller briefs the team about unrest on the South Side of Central City, where William Hell has been operating. a Neo-Nazi group, the Aryan Empire, is stirring up racial unrest, backed by W James Heller, their wealthy money source. William Hell's collars have all ben minorities... While Captain Boomerang makes a racist ass of himself (even Chronos thinks he is an idiot), Waller explains that Black Orchid, acting as advance intel, has learned that Heller and William Hell are one and the same. He uses the masked persona to push his agenda and stir hatred of minorities, while also recruiting criminals for the Aryan Empire. They can't kill him, as it will make him a martyr. they need to discredit him. Turns out, Floy Lawton grew up with him. Both were sons of rich families. Heller's father was killed when they stumbled into a race riot. His reactionary grandfather raised him and filled his head with the stuff. Grandpa was alleged to have sold materials to the Nazis, during the war. He's planning a rally at a park, in a few days, where counter-demonstrations are expected, with violence likely. Waller says that is where they will strike. Captain Boomerang and a disguised Bronze Tiger set up a phony armored car robbery and William Hell turns up. He decks "Whipeout" (the disguised Bronze Tiger) and sends Boomerang to the Aryan Empire. When the cops turn up, he hands Whipeout to them and says he was the only one he caught. The cops are Rick Flag and Nightshade. Two nights later, at the rally in the park, Heller is stirring up the crowd, with his Junior Nazis standing behind him, along with captain Boomerang. They are interrupted by William Hell (!!), and takes the podium, giving a speech about unity and how hatred is the tool of the oppressor. Another William hell turns up and calls him an imposter. Captain Boomerang proposes they have a skills test to prove who is real and one William Hell suggests he stand in for the boy with the apple on his head. he starts to object that this wasn't in the script and gets himself dragged to the tree. Hell tells him not to move. He then tells the "imposter" to take his shot and he spears the apple. The second Hell takes his shot and misses several inches above the target. He cries out that that was impossible, and the successful Hell grabs him and unmasks him as James Heller and then says Heller's men had captured him and tried to discredit him. He dumps him on the ground and starts to walk away, when one of the Junior Nazis shoots him in the back. The crowd sees it and the cops arrest Heller, after the shooter disappears in a smoke bomb. An ambulance turns up to rush William Hell off to a hospital. Inside the ambulance, William hell removes his mask. It's Deadshot. The ambulance makes a rendezvous with Flag (the fake shooter), Captain Boomerang and Nightshade. They used Chronos time device, powered by Enchantress, which allowed Bronze Tiger to slip in and deflect Heller's shot. Flag devised Deadshot's speech, appealing to the mob's self interests. Karin Grace says without Hell's body, the case against Heller will fall apart, but Bronze Tiger says he has already been discredited in public, which is what counts. Thoughts: It is said that Flash no longer resides in Central City (Wally West, that is), which explains how the city has so much trouble. however, early n, Ostrander references a street called cicero and it is obvious to me that he meant this to be Chicago. Central City was always a Midwestern city; but was vaguely pegged as Ohio, up through Crisis. Later, is was pushed into Missouri, with Keystone City being in Kansas, ala Kansas City. They way Ostrander put it, though, we are talking Chicago. I kind of laughed at the fishnet stocking masks; but, it isn't an easy visual to convey, as a few previous comics have show. The only time I can recall seeing something like that is in Guy Ritchie's Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrels, with the inept criminals who steal the shotguns that cause some of the trouble in the film. William Hell seemed a bit too much of a giveaway, with James Heller. Surprised that Ostrander went with comic book logic, as his writing is usually a bit more sophisticated than that (then again, he did come up with Simon LaGrieve). I really enjoyed this; a nice Mission Impossible feel. I had hopes that Black Orchid would be used more, as I had always enjoyed the character, from her Adventure Comics days. However, she only made sporadic appearances, until Neil Gaiman did his number on the character, which always looked nice, but I was never thrilled with the story. Captain Boomerang gets further negative aspects (he's a racist, as well as a misogynist and opportunist). given that everyone else was getting fleshed out more, it seemed like old Digger was still getting treated as a cartoon villain (the costume didn't help). However, Ostrander didn't leave it at that, so we will see how he develops. Deadshot got some expanding here and he will become very complex, as time wears on, especially with his own spin-off mini-series. Next up is a great 3-issue storyline, as the Squad goes to Moscow, and things go badly. That is followed by Millennium, during which the Squad is one of the few who come out of that without a death stench on them, thanks to great use of Mark Shaw (which leads to the revived Manhunter series).
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 23, 2021 18:56:07 GMT -5
Suicide Squad #5Easier to sneak around if Flag didn't always wear a dayglo yellow shirt and Penguin left the top hat at home. Not that Deadshot isn't inconspicuous. Creative Team: john Ostrander-writer, Luke McDonnell-pencils, Bob Lewis-inks, Todd Klein-letters, Carl Gafford-colors, Robert Greenberger-editor Synopsis: Mikhail Gorbachev and the heads of the Army and KGB (and someone else, who spouts too much Party BS to actually be that high in the government) debate what to do with a dissident writer, whose father was a martyr already. Zastrow, head of the KGB, suggests a swap for one of theirs, in a Western jail. Gorbachev likes that idea. He tells Zastrow to continue and work it out, within 30 days, or the dissident, Zoya Trigorin, goes free. Over in the decadent West, at Belle Reve prison, Oswald Cobblepot lays out his plan for getting Zoya Trigorin out of a psychiatric hospital, for Amanda Waller and Rick Flag. He points out it is a purely political mission and not very practical and the getaway is the real Mother Russia of a problem. Pengy gets to go, to ensure the plan works, since his round butt will be on the line. Flag is also worried that it relies on Enchantress, who is becoming more erratic and harder to control. Elsewhere in the facility, June Moon, aka Enchantress, has a session with Dr LaGrieve, who outlines her history and problem.... Well, that sucks! Then, Enchantress' personality starts to exert control, until the doc shakes her out of it. In the end, he doesn't see the look on her face that suggests he didn't halt the takeover. In New Orleans, Floyd Lawton checks out George "Digger" Harkness' new digs. Digger is crowing, but Lawton reminds him that one slip up gets him back in prison, which Harkness takes into account. however, he gets an idea that sounds like trouble. Lawton leaves, because he is part of the mission; Captain Boomerang is not. Later, in Moscow, Col Rick Flag arrives, newly attached to the US Embassy. We meet a lot of people who go, "Urm." He is picked up by an embassy car, driven by Floyd Lawton. They have been slid in as new staff. Penguin has been the embassy chef and isn't happy about the ambassador's taste. They meet up and move into the next phase of the plan, as Penguin gets suited up as a monk. Flag and Lawton are disguised as red Army, Nighshade as a komissar and June as a deaf priest. Bronze Tiger coordinates, at the embassy. Nightshade transports them to the railway station and they board the train separately. They meet u again and Flag warns them they are headed for Gorki, which is a major defense manufacturing area, which means intense security scrutiny. The trip is uneventful and they arrive in Gorki. Nightshade does a recon to fix the railway station in her mind, for portals. They split up. The team assembles near the Novogorod Psychiatric Hospital. June then calls on Enchantress and we get our first wrinkle to the plan.... Enchantress tries to intimidate Nightshade, but she has seen nastier things than Enchantress. Definite foreboding, there! Zoya is pulled from her cell and taken to a doctor's office, late at night. The doc kicks out the orderly, then Enchantress and Nightshade turn up. The doc tells her to keep quiet and we learn he is Nemesis, in disguise. Enchantress mimics her appearance, to remain behind, to buy time for the escape. The sight of herself makes Zoya go foxbat-s#$%! She wants to stay and keep the focus of the outside world on the government, for what they did to her father. Then, the borscht really hits Comrade Oscillator... Thoughts: Well, Glasnost and Perestroika come to DC Comics! This did coincide with Gorbachev working to reform the Soviet Union and soften relations with the West, though his wife and Nancy Reagan didn't help matters, much. No too long before this series began, Gorbachev freed Andrei Sakharov, the former nuclear physicist and peace activist dissident. There is a bit of parallel, here. Zoya Trigorin is supposed to be a legacy of dissent within the Soviet Union and Gorbachev would be glad to be rid of her and let the focus on her fade, as her own middling talent will cause the West to lose interest, when she is no longer a prisoner. Meanwhile, Task Force X has been assigned to break her out of the country, for no good reason, except propaganda. I smell a rat and I think his name is Zastrow. Any good caper involves an elaborate plan, that starts to unravel once its being executed. That all starts with Enchantress, who is a loose cannon. What is intriguing is that Nightshade doesn't sweat her, which suggests she might be nastier than she seems, which is a step up from what we have seen, so far. The next complication is that Trigorin doesn't want to leave, because she is more valuable as a prisoner of conscience. Kind of reminds me of a Six Million Dollar Man episode, where Steve has to lead a dissident scientist out of a totalitarian state, but the guy's kid is overly enamored of the head of security and keeps trying to sabotage their escape. Nice to see Ostrander mix up the team a bit, leaving Captain Boomerang off the mission. Deadshot is there in case they need deadly force and bronze Tiger is there for similar physical reasons, and because he is part of the team willingly. Penguin is working for a commuted sentence, though risking his neck more than he likes. Batman just dumps him in jail; the Soviets might dump him in a gulag, before shooting him. I like that Penguin is the planner and, you have to think he is an expert at such things, given all of his criminal capers. The one fault, aside from Enchantress, is that only Deadshot and Nemesis speak the language, which makes discovery for everyone else a problem. Hope they are smarter than Gordon Jackson... (Anyone who has seen the film understands the irony of that scene) This is probably my favorite storyline, of the early issues and it really establishes the team and the book as something worth reading. The opening mission was great, but this proves it wasn't a fluke and puts them into a more complex mission. Well, the plan is unravelling; so, it's time for the improvisation.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 30, 2021 15:24:35 GMT -5
Suicide Squad #6One of the best covers of the series and one of the best Deadshot images in DC history (after the Marshall Rogers cover, debuting the new look for the character). The firearm doesn't work though, with the magazine feeding into the barrel, not a receiver. Typical for comics, unless Mike Grell draws it. Creative Team: John Ostrander-writer, Luke McDonnell-pencils, Bob Lewis-inks, Todd Klein-letters, Carl Gafford-colors, Robert Greenberger-editor Synopsis: All hell has broken loose, as Flag, Deadshot and Penguin witness an explosion from the hospital. They try to figure out what has happened, when Nightshade opens the portal and fills them in... Enchantress blew up the doorway around the orderly who came in and has gone insane, destroying everything in sight. Trigorin doesn't want to be rescued. meanwhile, they spot Russian troop movements, since they are so close to Gorki and defense factories. Flag orders Deadshot to bring Enchantress down, without killing her. Deadshot says he might miss and kill her and Flag puts his pistol to Lawton's head and tells him not to miss, because he won't. Deadshot takes the shot and creases Enchntress' skull and she falls to the ground. Flag sends nemesis to collect her, but tells him to ensure she changes to June Moon, first. Nightshade transports him and he wakes Enchantress and acts like a Russian, asking her name and she says "Enchantress," triggering the change to June. They get her out. Nightshade is hitting her limit and the train station is outside her range. they need a vehicle. Flag says they need the Soviet troops to come closer, to steal a vehicle and Lawton takes the initiative... Flag pulls everyone back and Lawton covers their withdrawal. They sneak up on some soldiers telling an old Polish joke (not about the ladders, but an actual Polish joke about wishing for Mongol hordes to attack Poland, because they have to cross Russia) and take them down and steal a truck. Trigorin whines about wanting to stay behind and be a symbol of resistance, while Penguin notices that their pursuit is catching up. Lawton "finds" a rocket launcher and takes care of the problem. However, the Soviets radio ahead to a station and get them to respond to block the road. Flag orders Nemesis to find a quiet spot and pull over. They get Gorki in parts of Nightshade's uniform and try to make the train station, to return to Moscow and the embassy, according to their original plan. Nightshade is weak but transports them into the station. She and Lawton are detailed to find a place for her and Nemesis to hide, since they have two people more than tickets and find a mail boxcar and Lawton, using his language skills, orders the guards to lock it tight and keep it that way until Moscow. The team boards and Nightshade is having problems with the cold. The train starts pulling out and it is moving faster than she expected and she is having trouble focusing... She finally succeeds and she and Nemesis hunker down in the boxcar, while talking about the fact that Nightshade has the hots for Flag. They make it to Moscow and Nightshade is in bad shape; but, she gets them inside the embassy, where Undersecretary Twillby goes off on them and tells them the Ambassador is POed, the Russias are screaming kidnap, the US government has disavowed the team and they are told they are to get out or be turned over. Thoughts: Well, the defecation has hit the oscillator, as we used to say in the Navy. The target doesn't want to leave, the team is physically exhausted, the government has left them to twist in the wind and the Ambassador is about to hand them over to the Soviets, who want Trigorin gone or dead. Enchantress tripped out, Nightshade is falling apart and Lawton has a death wish. About the only thing Ostrander didn't throw in here is Bronze Tiger being diagnosed with cancer, or something. Once again, we are in a familiar plot structure, for a caper. Everything has gone wrong and the protagonists are in trouble. Now, they have to improvise their way out. The disavowing by the government is a nice touch, which you never saw in the Mission Impossible tv series and which you see nothing but, in the film series (which I hate; give me the original, any day) Luke McDonnell keeps it all moving; but, he cannot draw Soviet weapons or uniforms. Granted, he is a minimalist, in his work; but, at different points, it looks like Deadshot is holding a shotgun and using it to sharpshoot, like a sniper's rifle. The rocket launcher looked more high tech than anything the US had, at the time, let alone the Soviets, which tended towards simple, but effective, like the RPG-7. Maybe he doesn't have the reference; but, it kind of detracts from things, for me. he gets an Ak-47 fine, though the Soviet Army was using the AKM, in 1987. However, McDonnell wasn't studying the Soviet military, like I was, in 1987 (Know your enemy), so I'll give that a pass. At one point, Nightshade borrows Flag's greatcoat, because Trigorin is wearing her coat, as a disguise. Flag has the yellow t-shirt on, until she gives back the coat. What kind of combat-experienced soldier (even someone from the Air Force) wears bright yellow, on a stealth mission? Penguin as the planner makes for an interesting touch; but, he's barely being used in all of this, which seems a waste of a high profile villain, like him. He's not even trying to plan their way out, mostly just making noises about pursuit. That needs work as there should be a good reason for guest villains to be here, especially if they are not intended as cannon fodder, like Mindboggler. The series could have easily devolved into something like Scourge, at Marvel, with them just killing off low-level villains left and right; but, Ostrander usually had a reason for them being there. We'll have to see if he is a bigger element in the next issue.
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Post by badwolf on Oct 30, 2021 18:28:32 GMT -5
Nemesis does what to Enchantress??
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Post by Chris on Oct 30, 2021 21:30:58 GMT -5
Nemesis does what to Enchantress?? Whatever it was, he did it like a Russian!
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 31, 2021 11:08:55 GMT -5
Nemesis does what to Enchantress?? It clearly says "wakes"; so, get your mind out of the gutter! Well, it does now.....
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Post by badwolf on Oct 31, 2021 19:02:47 GMT -5
So that's how you get her to turn back...
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