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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 25, 2023 17:00:14 GMT -5
Suicide Squad #50Creative Team: John Ostrander & Kim Yale-story; Luke McDonnell, Geof Isherwood, Grant Miehm & Karl Kesel-art, Todd Klein-letters, Tom McGraw-colors, Dan Raspler-editor The cover title and theme of this is "Family Reunion," right down to creative personnel, with Luke & Karl back for this issue, as well as Grant Miehm, who was the final artist on Manhunter, the year before. Synopsis: In the past, we see the final mission of the original Task Force X, aka The Suicide Squad, as they are on the run from a yeti, in the Himalayas. It catches up with them, at an ice bridge. Rick Flag is going to try to hold it off, so the others can get across, but they override him and Less bright and Hugh Evans fire their weapons at it, with little effect. Flag and Karin Grace race to get across, but the bridge is crumbling. They leap for it and make it out alive and the yeti and the men fall to their deaths below, in a chasm. Except, one of them was alive.... Flag & Karin can't hear them and he has to look to survival. He does a Han Solo and slices open the dead yeti and uses the carcass for warmth. Days later, a Chinese patrol comes across the area and, at first, think the yeti is alive, until the man collapses. They take him back, where he is given medical treatment and interrogated and identified. Severe frostbite has led to the amputation of his fingers, nose and lips. The Chinese offer him a chance to help them with their metahuman development program, in exchange for special treatment and privileges. He agrees. Amanda Waller is at the Institute of Metahuman Studies, where Cliff Carmichael is being kept comatose, until Oracle can program a conscience to be uploaded into his brain. (Might try that with some corporate executives and government leaders and representatives, around the world). Meanwhile, General Jeb Stuart (the Haunted Tank guy, not J.E.B. Stuart, the Confederate general, whose ghost used to talk to Jeb) comes to Amanda, asking her help to find and rescue Rick Flag's kidnapped son....a son that Karin Grace bore, in secret, which Rick knew nothing about. We cut to an abandoned airport, somewhere, where the kid is running from what appear to be zombies....zombies of the original Jihad and Mindboggler! Waller tells Ben and he agrees to help, feeling he owes it to Rick. he asks about Boomerang and Deadshot, but Waller doesn't think they would volunteer out of loyalty or obligation. Floyd Lawton overhears them. She says they will have to approach old friends. Our Zombie leader, Koshchei, reflects back to the Korean War, as he meets Rick Flag's father, who has been tasked to get the man's unit out, with the help of the first Suicide Squadron. Back in the present, Waller locates Nemesis, who impersonated a corporate raider and gets the original sent to Bellevue, as a madman, while stopping the selling off of the company's assets, signing documents which turn controlling shares of the company to the employees. He then tenders his resignation to go to Tibet and spend time in a lamasery. Nightshade is with her and he agrees to join the mission, but not work with Waller. he is strictly working with Eve. Eve tells him they have received communication from Koshchei, who wants Flag to come to a location, which is the dummy airport, created in Qurac, for the Jihad's dry run (seen in issue #1). She remarks about Koshchei not sounding Russian when she met him, when she worked undercover, infiltrating the Jihad. Koshchei is unaware that Flag died destroying Jotunheim, the mountain base of the Jihad, with a nuke. We then see Rick Flag parachute into the site, where he is met by Korschei, who holds him at gunpoint. Koshchei then reveals he is Jeff Bright, the surviving member of the original Task Force X. Waller, Bronze Tiger and Nightshade prepare to transport to Qurac. Waller questions the range and Eve's limit, but she says the power of the sucubus makes range not a problem anymore; but control is, as she has to pass through the Shattered Dimension, where the succubus' spirit is stronger. They are then joined by Lawton, who says he wants on the mission and he brings the unconscious form of Captain Boomerang. He says he will tell Boomerang that he volunteered, when he wakes up. In Qurac, Flag is held at gunpoint, as Koshchei relates how Jeff Bright became Yen Wang, then Koshchei, The Deathless. Bright was a physicist, but Deng, the Chinese scientist, was a geneticist and Bright absorbed the research. However, Deng made enemies at the Central Committee and was arrested as a dissident. Bright was thrown in jail, as a spy and left to rot, until a Russian came along....Zastrow, the head of the Soviet metahuman program. They gave him prosthetics and he helped them develop the Rocket Red Brigade, then was sent to Qurac to help create the Jihad. manticore, especially, was his creation. He was killed in the explosion that destroyed Jotunheim, but reanimated, using his own equipment. This was what he had planned for Flag and Karin, as revenge; but, now he was the zombie. Koshchei sent the Jihad to attack New York, but their failure damaged him. He then created his own Death Squad. Flag demands to see his son, but Koshchei/Bright tells him he is waiting for the Squad to arrive. There are explosives planted all over and he plans to kill the Squad, Flag, the boy and himself. The Squad emerge from the shadow portal, but something is wrong with Nightshade, as she is laughing maniacally. Waller tells her to get a grip and Nightshade reveals that Eve is not controlling things.... ...Enchantress is! Flag tells Bright that this effort at revenge serves no purpose, revealing that he is Nemesis, in disguise and that Flag died destroying Jotunheim and Karin died during the Millennium event. Bright doesn't care, as he wants to kill everyone. he knocks out Nemesis and goes for the boy. Boomerang wakes up to find himself facing Mindboggler's zombie body and Manticore attacks Nightshade/Enchantress, who sets him on fire, but it doesn't stop him. Bright grabs the boy and sets off the detonator. He is knocked to the ground. bronze Tiger faces off against the zombie Ravan, while Enchantress transforms back to Nightshade. Waller and Deadshot try shooting the zombies, but it doesn't stop them. nemesis appeals to Bright's love for Karin, to stop him from harming her son. It works and he releases him.... Boomerang flings one of his weapons, in desperation and it smashes into the base of Mindboggler's neck, destroying the control disk that animates her body. Waller orders everyone to target the disks and they destroy the zombies. Nemesis runs in, carrying Flag's son and warns them they have to get out, before the last bomb goes off. Despite her terror, Eve has to create a shadow portal and get everyone out alive and the just make it. Thoughts: This issue takes us back to the very beginning, both Rick Flag's original Suicide Squad and the team's first official mission (after the events of Legends), against the Jihad. Koshchei/Bright's zombies are all the dead Jihad members, as well as the dead Squad members, including Mindboggler, Shrike and a couple of others. We also get a reunion with Nemesis, Nightshade and even Enchantress. The choice of the Cranberries' "Zombie" was a spur of the moment thing, at seeing the cover; but, it fits thematically, as they song speaks of the anguish of those who have lost others to violence, because others are stuck in the past and their violent cycle (the IRA and their Protestant counterparts, in Ulster). Bright is stuck in this cycle, seeking revenge for Flag getting Karin, the woman Bright loved (but who loved Flag, for a time) and for being left to die. Flag thought he was dead and it is sheer chance he survived. He became twisted by his jealousy and hate and helped create human weapons of violence and death, for the Soviets and for the Jihad. He plans to end it all in a mass explosion. However, Flag had friends and they won't stand by and let an innocent boy die. They repay their past obligations, even Deadshot, who respected Flag. It's a great celebration of what came before and is well done by all. It also serves to set us off on the new year's adventures
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Post by Calidore on Apr 25, 2023 17:23:02 GMT -5
Catching up on these, and it looks like you skipped #45.
This was a great series and I'm enjoying the flashbacks, thank you.
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 25, 2023 23:17:36 GMT -5
Catching up on these, and it looks like you skipped #45. This was a great series and I'm enjoying the flashbacks, thank you. No, just mis-typed the issue numbers on the Kobra storyline. It was #45-47....I typed 46-47, by mistake. I corrected it. Should have noticed that I listed two issue numbers and three covers. Just call #45 "mezzanine."
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Post by Calidore on Apr 26, 2023 7:43:58 GMT -5
Catching up on these, and it looks like you skipped #45. This was a great series and I'm enjoying the flashbacks, thank you. No, just mis-typed the issue numbers on the Kobra storyline. It was #45-47....I typed 46-47, by mistake. I corrected it. Should have noticed that I listed two issue numbers and three covers. Just call #45 "mezzanine."
Whoops, and I totally failed to notice the three covers.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 7, 2023 17:43:59 GMT -5
Suicide Squad #51"You're only running from yourself!" Creative Team: John Ostrander & Kim Yale-writers, Luke McDonnell-breakdowns, Geof Isherwood-finishes, Todd Klein-letters, Tom McCraw-colors, Dan Raspler-editor Synopsis: In Marseilles, Deadshot kills a bar full of gangsters. He removes his mask. It isn't Floyd Lawton...... Meanwhile, Amanda Waller is at the Institute for Meta-Human Studies, where Cliff Carmichael is waking up to a new reality. She had Dr La Grieve implant programming which gives him a migraine if he tries to manipulate someone's brain. He also has a poison pill code embedded, that will completely wipe his implants, if he doesn't receive a password, daily. The password is changed daily, too. That sounds familiar.... Dr La Grieve watches outside, as does Amy Beddoes, aka Oracle, aka Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl. Waller has tasked her with creating a "conscience" program, to control Carmichael, who is a sociopath. Beddoes warns it might not work. Waller tells her to do her best, then makes her a new offer.... ...to run the Squad, if anything happens to her. Oracle is taken aback. She says she will seriously consider it. Dr La Grieve questions what Waller knows about Oracle/Amy. Waller says that is the deal, she doesn't try to pry into Amy's past and she will aid them. Waller also promised to use resources to explore the possibility of making her walk again. Dr La Grieve lays out how hard that is. Unlike Ravan, Amy lost an actual part of her spine and there is extensive neural damage. They move on to Mari and Count Vertigo. Mari mostly needs rest and she sleeps, as Ben Turner watches, but doesn't go inside her room. Vertigo is detoxed, but is depressed at being at the mercy of his bipolar brain and having been chemically controlled by Ivy and others. he asks Lawton if he would put a bullet in his brain. Without hesitation, Lawton says "yes," but cautions him ab being sure, before he actually asks him to do so. Captain Boomerang tries to harangue Lawton about shanghaing him to fight the zombies and Lawton tells him TS, he lost Deadshot's suit and weapons. As Lawton leaves, Boomerang contemplates the necessity of murder, to avoid being killed by Lawton. Eve and Nemesis talk and Eve is staying with the Squad, to gain Waller's help in guarding against Enchantress taking control again, while Eve goes on missions. Nemesis refuses to work for Waller, but says if Eve needs him, to call. Eve gives him a kiss and he jokingly (and awkwardly) tells her not to do something like that, unless she means it. Lawton goes to Marseilles and meets with Henri Ducard, a famous French assassin (introduced by screenwriter Sam Hamm and Denys Cowan, in Detective #599), who passes on the name of the fake Deadshot, Marc Pilar, a minor hood who was at the fringes of the gangs and who worked baggage handling at Orly Airport, in Paris. He found Deadshot's gear and is using it to make a name for himself; but, in an extreme manner. it is causing problems for Ducard and the Underworld. He offers to provide Lawton the location for Pilar, within the day, in exchange for Lawton permanently removing the problem. Floy agrees. When Ducard leaves, he reveals that Pilar is his man, who he has been training and intends to set new against original and take bets. He believes that Lawton will be unable to kill Pilar, while in the suit, because Deadshot has become Lawton's real identity and shooting the suit would be shooting himself. When Lawton turns up at the address given, Ducard is proven right, as he freezes when he has Pilar in his sights.... Lawton is forced to take cover, as Pilar does not hold back. Pilar stalks him inside a warehouse and then starts to verbally taunt him. Finally, they meet face to face and Pilar says let's end this. Floyd shoots Pilar in the head. ...and tells the dead man to keep the suit and walks away. Thoughts: Floyd Lawton has transcended being Deadshot, in the suit. He has reclaimed some of who he was, but he has also become Deadshot, in full. He has reclaimed that edge, but without the suit. He needed to be separated from it to reclaim it. This is part of the agenda here, as Ostrander and Yale move the series further away from "The Dirty Dozen, with super-villains." First, they took away the government sanctioning and HQ. Then, they stripped the team down to the core, removed some members and added some new folks. They are now a freelance team, working in the shadows. Shadows conceal more if you aren't wearing bright costumes; so, goodbye costumes! Meanwhile, they continue their project to return Barbara Gordon to the role of hero, in a major way. First, as Oracle, they established that Barbara Gordon's effectiveness as a superhero had less to do with her physical skills as it did her mental skills. Barbara is smart...very smart. She trained as a librarian, which means extensive work in information gathering and research techniques. She also has an extensive background in computer technology. Add to that, a lifetime of experience in criminology and years as an active crime fighter and combatant. So, she has technical skills and she has strategical and tactical skills. On top of that, Barbara is a leader. She was elected to Congress because she demonstrated such skills. Well, for sake of argument, she did; election to political office doesn't necessarily correlate to actual leadership skills. So, they seem to be moving Barbara to the role of a mission commander, with a remote oversight over their missions, lending a larger viewpoint to guide the team, just as modern military missions use satellite reconaissance and communication to relay orders to a team on-site, feeding them info they wouldn't be able to collect on their own, to add to what they see on the ground. This has benefits and limitations. The benefit is more info to make a decision and adjust tactics to the circumstances. The drawback is the delay in communication and relaying orders and being able to act on those orders. In Mogadishu, during the attempt to rescue the downed air crew of the Blackhawk helicopter (as detailed in Mark Bowdren's book, Blackhawk Down and Ridley Scott's film adaptation), the ground forces were receiving orders remotely, from a command center; but, the ionfo was reaching them too late to direct them around the narrow and confused streets. They were constantly missing turning places and had to be re-routed, leading to delays. So, timing is everything. This establishes Oracle as a mission commander and intel system, which then sets up what Chuck Dixon does, in Birds of Prey. After Suicide Squad ended, Oracle continued as an intel conduit for other heroes; but, then, Dixon pairs her with Black Canary, to act as a field agent (and, later, Huntress). Then, Oracle is once again a mission commander and intel, but with her own handpicked agents. In Shaxper's Batman Family Thread, he has presented the theory that Ostrander and Yale may not have had Barbara Gordon in mind for Oracle; but, rather, Ashley Mavis Powell, aka Interface, a character introduced in Manhunter #5. I voiced dissention in regards to that theory, based on the fact that Ostrander said Oracle was concocted because of The Killing Joke, because Kim Yale was so angered by Barbara's treatment in that story and the lack of thought given to her as a character and not a plot device. I also don't believe that they would introduce the character in Manhunter, then never show her at Belle Rieve, in Suicide Squad, if they intended to use her in that book. Every criminal that Mark Shaw caught, who was used in SS, was first shown being brought in there, or cooling their heels in a cell, before being at a mission briefing for a mission. Powell was not seen again until Manhunter #10, which was her second and only further appearance. Shaw makes a deal to get her help to manipulate an on-line auction of an alien battle mecha, after the Invasion event. He then double-crosses her by having FBI agents waiting to arrest her, as she leaves, after promising to look the other way, as she escapes. he does look the other way; but, he points out he didn't promise to tip off the FBI, as she was a wanted fugitive. He tells her why he double-crossed her: she is a child molester, who skipped bail before going to trial for her crimes. Even ex-cons have standards. In issue #10 of Manhunter, when she reappears, the exposition relates what had happened to her since she was arrested in issue #5. She was incarcerated at Bell Rieve (but never seen there, in SS) and escaped when the prison is hit, during the alien Invasion. She was incarcerated and escaped entirely off camera. So, I have trouble believing they would use a child molester as a character for regular missions in Suicide Squad. A one-off mission, maybe; but, it is too strong a trigger for reader reaction, compared to a thief or contract killer. Interface had to be in close proximity to manipulate a computer; Oracle can do it from her own set-up. Later, they introduce the new Thinker, Cliff Carmichael, who stalks Oracle and is rescued by Waller, leading her to come face-to-face with Oracle, but under a cover identity of Amy Beddoes and not Barbara Gordon. There is reason to suspect Waller might no the truth; but, there is enough doubt and Barbara was not that big of a public figure, outside of Gotham, even as a Congresswoman. Ask the average person to name another representative, aside from their home district and they will probably fail, other than those who make headlines for outrageous statements or actions, or for being in leadership roles in national crusades. Plus, Barbara's term was a long time ago. So, the facts are murky enough for you to say that Waller may not know, but has accepted the fact, because she needs Oracle; or, she knows but she is protecting Barbara, because she needs her and Barbara believing that her identity is hidden is a major component of what she is doing. Either way, Oracle is on her team. Still, she wants her for more than an Interface could provide. She has Cliff Carmichael, with a poison pill hold over him, to mess with computers, if needed. That doesn't mean he can direct the team and Waller wouldn't fully trust him. So, Oracle is there to guide them, which Powell could not due either. I don't think this is an evolution; but, the end result of a specific character arc. I think this is what they had in mind, for Oracle. Suicide Squad #52The title is a play on The Devil and Daniel Webster, by Stephen Vincent Benet. Creative Team: same bunch, except Jim Fern (pencils ) and Bob Campanella (inks) handle the art. Synopsis: Amanda Waller returns to Belle Rieve, by request, to see the newly undead Dr Light.... Dr Light proceeds to explain how he came back to life. As we recall, he was haunted by the ghost of the original Dr Light, his partner, who wanted to be a superhero. He murdered the partner and used the technology and suit for crime, with mixed results (fairly deadly in the early Bronze Age, rather pathetic, in New Teen Titans). He was killed on Apokolips, when Duchess/Lashina put together a team to assault the world and reclaim her place as the leader of Darkseid's Female Furies (along with Flo). Well, since then, he has resided in Hell, along with his ex-partner, under the eyes of Biff A. Stopholies. As he says, not Mephistopheles.....an entirely different demon. This cat is sick and tired of Hell. He knows there is no revolution coming, because they got sent to Hell after the last one. The are doomed to be eternally tormented by each other. he is tired of the sycophants and puny demons around him, and chumps like Dr Light and Jacob, the ex-partner. They just bicker and moan and give him headaches. So, he sends Dr Light back to the above world, because he doesn't trust Jacob to figure a way out of the situation. Dr Light comes back to life, inside his coffin. He tells himself to just relax, this isn't Edgar Allen Poe. he tries his powers, but the suit needs solar energy and it has been cut off from it. He tries to calm himself, assuring his mind that something will get him out of the coffin, as he is being returned to life. He suffocates and dies again, because he can't figure out how to get out of the situation. Everyone (except Dr Light) has a good laugh and then Biff sends Jacob back. Jacob is returned to his body, which has suffered far more decay. He flies over the city and spots a couple and their child being confronted by a mugger with a pistol and tries to lend a hand. However, his mouth doesn't work, because of the decay of the muscles. He hears the crook ask, "Did you ever waltz with the Boogeyman, on a hot sticky night?" Jacob dives down to stop the hood from shooting the couple and child, but can't get anything more than groans out. Their reaction is a bit different than Jacob expected.... Jacob ends up dead, again, and the hood runs for his life. the family, father, mother and daughter, Bryce, go off to patrol another alley. Jacob lands back in Hell. DR Light offers to let Jacob take his turn, but Biff throws him out into the astral plane. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Kimiyo Hoshi, aka the superhero Dr Light, is studying with a Buddhist priest, to learn to project her astral form from her body. She is skeptical, but it works, allowing Arthur Light to enter her body. They squabble and fight and the priest brings back Dr Light's body and Kimiyo inhabits it and we end up with Hot Cross Bunny.... The priest swaps their astral forms back into their original bodies and Kimiyo blasts Arthur out of the high rise building. He is prepared to meet his doom, because it is coming anyway, until a demon appears and tells him if he dies, he stays. Just in time for Arthur to hit pavement. However, he doesn't die. The demon says he lied and that next time, he will be stuck in Hell. Arthur pleads to rejoin the team and Waller refuses and leaves, with Dr Light crawling after her, pleading to come with her.... Thoughts: This is a fun, if slight issue, designed to both restore Dr Light and finish off his story, here. It also serves to lighten up the book, a bit, before the next adventure. A sort of palate cleanser, if you will. Mostly, it is a big Looney Tunes homage, mixing elements of two cartoons. The first is "Satan's Waitin," where Sylvester is killed trying to get Tweety, goes to hell and meets the devil, then spends another life trying to get him. he then proceeds to get whalloped and dropped and run over, through his 9 lives, until there is one left and he flees from Tweety. The second is "Hot Cross Bunny," where a scientist uses Bugs as a laboratory animal in an experiment to swap brains. The overall story, here, is the former cartoon, and the battle between the Crisis Dr Light and the criminal Dr Light is the latter. The palate cleansing clears the way for the next storyline, where the team will deal with an Asian government meta-human squad and we will see Waller put together a mission team. Then, War of the Gods interrupts things, for no good reason, before the JLA decides to investigate the death of the Atom, from a few issues back, when he joined the Squad. You didn't think they were just going to leave that one lying on the ground, did you? That will then take us into the final issues of the series, as it wraps up, after 5 1/2 years.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 21, 2023 18:12:25 GMT -5
Suicide Squad #53-57Creative Team: John Ostrander & Kim Yale-writers, Geof Isherwood-pencils, Robert Campanella & Tom Mandrake (56)-inks, Todd Klein and John Costanza (56) letters, Tom McCraw-colors, Dan Raspler-editor Synopsis: 53- We start out in Afghanistan, as the Red Army withdraws. A group is loading trucks and a major and some troops come along and ask waht is going on, as the ground is littered with bodies. A Captain Ziuko says that they were ambushed by the mujahadeen and then shoots the major dead. His troops kill the major's soldiers. An Australian is with them, a man named Billy Tidewater. they intend to take the weapons to sell on the black market, as they surmise the major suspected. However, they intend to sell them in Japan and Tidewater has set up to stash them in Cambodia. Tidewater is an Australian veteran of the Vietnam War and worked with some Americans who set up the location of the proposed storage. Ziuko threatens Tidewater that if he tries to doublecross them that he is dead, just as they are, in the eyes of the Red Army. Meanwhile, Amanda Waller is approached by a Japanese businessman to wipe out a Yakuza clan, the Daichi Doku, who are importing weapons to Japan..... Waller takes the job, while throwing Japan's own racist history in his face. In Tokyo, word reaches the oyabun of the Daichi Doku that Waller has taken the job. A lietenant asks about her connection to Mark Shaw, who has had dealings with the Daichi Doku (Manhunter #1-4 and subsequent issues). The oyabun says they owe no obligation of giri to Shaw, but to spare him if he crosses their path. However, if he aids Waller, he is as dead as they are. Amanda Waller visits Belle Rieve Prison, with an order from Sarge Steel to release Stalnoivolk into her custody. He is brought to the front gate, but tells Waller he owes her nothing and tries to leave, but a laser beam to the calf brings him down and she warns him that lasers ca kill him and that one is in the hands of a "dead shot." She further tells him the Soviet Union and the KGB have made no overtures to get him back. He works for her and does what he is told and she will give him his freedom to go where he wants. He agrees, provided he does not act against the USSR. Waller says that won't be a problem and that they might want a piece of their mission. In the USSR, Major Zastrow meets with Comrade Raskov, a government official of some kind, at his dacha, near Gorky. he tells them that the Red Shadows has been purged of former members of the Blue Trinity and People's heroes, using new recruits with no history of failure in the West. Rastov asks about Stalnoivolk, but Zastrow says he was too independent to be trusted and Raskov agrees to let him remain in a US prison. It turns out that the major that Ziuko killed was Zastrow's brother and he has investigated his death and does not believe the story of an Afghan ambush. The dental records of a soldier with Ziuko's go tags do not match, suggesting he is alive and hiding. Rastov remarks of Soviet weapons from the shipment turning up in Japan and remarks of the poor reception given to the veterans of Afghanistan, in the USSR and that many have turned to schemes like this. In Cambodia, Ziuko is a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge, who want to know where the weapons cache is. Ziuko claims he was swindled by Tidewater and doesn't know the location. The officer doesn't believe it and he is beaten and taken away. A soldier informs them that a spy among the prisoners has said they plan to escape in the night. The officer orders him to allow it to happen, so they can trail them to the weapons horde. In San Francisco, the Japanese business man visits a cousin, by marriage: Tatsu Yamashiro, aka Katana. He requests her aid in this, rather than trust Waller and the Squad; demands it, because of family obligation, but she retorts he is a distant cousin and she has an obligation to nursing Halo, who was struck down in their last mission. he sees that this obligation is greater and calms himself and says they will leave it to Waller. She says if the need is desperate to contact her and she will see if accommodations can be made for Halo. In New York, the Yakuza observes Eve Eden approaching Southern Cross Salvage, with whom Mark Shaw works. They radio in a report and Eve is identified as Nightshade, working with Waller and that she and Shaw are to be killed. Eve talks to Mark and asks for his help and is refused. He is retired (his book cancelled) and there is a peace with the Daichi Doku. However, they are attacked by an agent of the clan... ...called Catseye. Eve tells Mark to go after the gunmen and leave Catseye to her. He makes sexist insults and Eve easily throws him off the catwalk and then attacks with her shadow form. catseye retreats and Mark beats the crap out of the Yakuza gunmen. Unlike their fathers, they retreat. Shaw finds a button on the back of the lapel of one of the downed Yakuza and sees it is the symbol of the Daichi Doku. he tells Eve to alert Waller that he is in. In Tokyo, Fujiwara, the businessman, returns and gets into a limo. His assistant, Okami, is missing. The limo leaves without him and a few minutes later is blown up. We see Okami with the Yakuza, who praise his loyalty and say he will be nominated to replace Fujiwara. His first job will be to cancel the contract with Waller. He isn't sure it ccan be done and the Yakuza man laughs and says the will walk into their own grave, if he cannot cancel the contract. 54-In Cambodia, Ziuko and his men escape from the Khmer Rouge camp, in a light plane, losing a man along the way. The commander is informed and pleased. They broke one of the men and he will inform them if and when they locate Tidewater and come for the guns. We switch to Tokyo, where the Squad have arrived, including Stalnoivolk, who travelled via crate. He breaks out and gets in Waller's face and says she drugged him, to which she replies "Duh!" He says he will kill her, but a laser light from Deadshot calms him down. The team consists of Nighshade, Manhunter, Count Vertigo, Bronze Tiger, Deadhsot, Thinker and Captain Boomerang, as well as Waller and Stalnoivolk. Waller gives them a rundown of events and the mission and the question of Zastrow and the Red Shadows is raised by Ben. Stalnoivolk says he is going home to Mother Russia; if the Red Shadows get in his way, he will kill them, if the Squad does, he will kill them. That satisfies Waller. She tasks Lawton, who says he killed Deadshot and is only Floyd Lawton, Vertigo and Stalnoivolk to parachute covertly into cambodia and await contact, once they know the location of the cache. They will be transported by Blackhawk Express. Ben and Mark will infiltrate Daichi Doku HQ and see if they have anything on Tidewater or the location. Harkness is tasked to comb to bars looking for Tidewater, posing as him or his brother. Thinker is to shadow him and Oracle will allow him a brief relief from his feedback program to lift the intel out of Tidewater. if he tries anything else, Oracle will fry his brain. Eve is sent to the Soviet Embassy to see what Zastrow has and learn anything about the movements of the Red Shadows. Elsewhere, Zastrow meets with lower level Daichi Doku members and tells them he wants the men selling the guns, not the guns themselves and to alert him when they are approached. They laugh and ask what he will do if they don't, sick the old woman, who accompanies him, on them. He says "Da!" Mrs Gradenko leaves one man alive, to deliver the message. We then see Stalnaivolk, but Zastrow calls him Troublemaker, and it turns out he is an illusion-casting meta-human, a member of the Red Shadows. Zastrow mentions someone called Schrek, who Troublemaker fears. I wonder if he means.... or ? Elsewhere, Tatsu Yamashiro arrives at customs, at Tokyo Airport, declaring she is there out of family obligation, a funeral for a cousin. At the Institute of Meta-Human studies, Amy Beddoes, aka Barbara Gordon, aka Oracle, talks to Atom, aka Adam Cray. He says he is a cat bruglar that waller hired to steal the size changing belt that Ray Palmer gave to Jean Loring's new husband, since the Atom's abilities would be useful. he says that he is not Ray Palmer, faking his death and provides fingerprints for Oracle to run against databases. She remarks that those records can be faked. He says that is the problem. The people who killed Ray Palmer believe that too, which is why he is with Waller, to prevent that from happening, while finding out who killed Ray Palmer. His name is Adam Cray, the son of the senator, killed by Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot. He doesn't care if Lawton dies on the mission. Meanwhile, a woman called Lamia is with Terry Tidewater, trying to discover the location of the guns. Wait, his name was Billy, last issue. She works for Zastrow and is using a honey trap. She has powers of persuasion, but they are more effective if the subject is unaware she has such powers. Meanwhile, over Cambodia, Zinda Blake, aka Lady Blackhawk, alerts the team that hey are over the drop zone. Stalnoivolk removes his parachutes and says, "Do svindana, comrades" and jumps out of the plane, without a parachute, before the others can react. Vertigo is about to go after him, but Lawton says it is his job and dives out, carrying a parachute, frefalling to catch Stalnoivolk. Lawton tells him to use the chute and deplot it first or he is dead and points the laser at him, at low intensity. Stalnoivolk takes it and pops the chute and they drift to the ground. They are spotted below and the leader tells another to alert the commander. Waller reports to Oracle, then turns off her transmitter, in case they have monitoring devices, as she goes into a meeting with Okami. He says the contract is cancelled. Waller tells him other wise.... She says it was with Fujiwara, from his account and it stands and any interference will lead to exposure of how a secretary becomes head of a multi-national conglomerate. Okami calls the Daichi Doku men and orders her death. She walks to the car park and the limo and the driver starts to pull a gun. Waller decks him with her handbag, then is gunned down by others. 55-Walelr's transmitter is active and Oracle hears the gunshots. She orders Adam Cray to travel via radio waves and help her. he arrives in time to stop a Yakuza from administering a coup de grace. He fights off the group until they flee, then tells Oracle to get medics there, quickly. He then passes out. On the Shinjuku, Boomerang and Thinker are at a bar and Thinker is insulting Japan. Boomerang says he has an attitude problem and he turns his venom on him, making fun of his moniker. he retirts with "Thinker" and how Carmichael's generation can only recycle old things.... (Hey! That's an insult to me.....I think, depending on how old Carmichael is supposed to be.) Carmichael says that he hopes Digger is in range when he zaps Tidewater, because he will having him dancing naked, on tabletops and Digger gives him a warning... A Russian voice asks if he is Tidewater and he says yes. The man says he is not Billy Tidwater and Digger claims he is a cousin, with the same name. They want the real one and Digger directs them to Carmichael and they force him and Digger to come with them. Nightshade slips into the Soviet Embassy and spots Zastrow locking away files. She opens them, after he leaves and sees the names Schrek (confirming that he is a vampire), Lamia, Yerosha, and Mrs Gradenko. She is interrupted by a blinding flash of light. Zastrow adn a female are standing in a door way. the room is flooded with light from multiple angles, preventing any shadows for Nightshade to use. Zastrow expected Waller to send Nightshade to spy on them. Nightshade proposes a joint venture and Zastrow refuses. Nightshade hurls objects from a desk and breaks enough lights to provide shadows and attacks. Zastrow snaps his fingers and Mrs Gradenko transforms into a bear and attacks Eve. She gets past and runs smack into Rick Flag, but it is Yerosha, aka Troublemaker and she is stunned long enough for Mrs Gordenko to knock her out with a bear paw. he brings in Schrek and tels him a taste, only enough to bring Nightshade under his control, to be a double agent. Schrek hungers, but complies. In Cambodia, Lawton, Vertigo and Stalnoivolk are ambushed by Khmer Rouge. Vertigo takes them down, but they can't take them prisoner. Lawton decides to kill them. vertigo refuses, so he and Stalnoivolk do the dirty work. The Khmer commander observes this via binoculars and calls in a mortar strike. The Squad retreats into the jungle. Stalnaivolk is unaware that Lawton's laser is now useless. In Tokyo, Ben and Mark sneak into the Daichi Doku HQ, but the feel it is too easy. they are attacked by Catseye, whose claws are tipped in poison. Shaw gets a few wounds in, with a knife, bbut goes down tot he poison, before Ben is taken down. They are dragged off, as Katana enters the passageway. 56-In Cambodia, the team is on the run and Stalnoivolk has separated from Lawton and Vertigo. he tries to join with the Khmers, but they fear the same as before and shoot him. he kills them all, saying Stalin would have loved them and they remind him why he must return to Moscow to free it of the weak versions of Communists in power. Lawton and Vertigo catch up and Vertigo radios Oracle, who says it has all gone pear-shaped. She sounds panicked and vertigo asks who is in charge. Oracle steadies herself and says she is and orders them to continue to the next rendezvous point. Digger and Carmichael are interrogated by Ziuko. They give up Waller, but she is not at the hotel they indicated. A soldier interrupts that they have located Tidewater, with a prostitute. They leave a couple in charge of Digger and Carmichael and go to check it out. Mark Shaw and Ben Turner are brought before the oyabun, Ryu. Shaw tells him he F-ed up, that he refused to help Waller, until Ryu's men attacked. Ryu accepts that, but it no longer matters. A kobun comes in, saying Waller is dead and they were attacked by a man, who disappeared. They did not confirm her death, though. Ryu sends Catseye and some kobun to find and finish off Waller, then learns that Tidewater has been located, with a prostitute. They say the woman called the Soviet Embassy and spoke Russian. Ryu orders her death and to secure Tidewater. He gives orders to kill Shaw and Turner. Katana arrives in the room and slaughters the kobuns and frees Turner and Shaw. Introductions are made, talk of giri-ninjo and previous obligations and Ben and Mark need to find Waller. Mark compromises and sends Ben back to the hotel to check in with Oracle, while he helps Katana. Lamia reports into Zastrow that Tidewater betrayed Ziuko to the Khmer Rouge. She has the location of the cache, a ruined temple, in the jungle. She gives the coordinates and Zastrow orders Tidewater's death. Yerosha recognizes the location and says he accompanied his mother on an archeological dig there. Zastrow has an idea about how to transport the team there. Schrek's control of Nightshade means they can use her to create a shadow tunnel. She says she needs a mental picture of the destination. Yerosha provides this. Eve creates the tunnel. The team enters and Zastrow tells Schrek he can feast on any other meta-humans they encounter. Lamia garottes Tidewater, just before Ziuko arrives. Lamia tries to play under her cover, as a prostitute, claiming that it was a kinky game that went wrong. Ziuko knows better and orders Lamia to be brought along. She turns her power on him. he knocks her out before it can affect him. He gets word that the Yakuza are outside. The Russians set an ambush and kill the Yakuza and take Lamia. At the hospital, Adam Cray is interrogated by police and claims he was mugged and doesn't know who waller is. The cop says there is no immigration record of him entering the country and he is under arrest. They leave and Cray reports to Oracle, as does Ben. Ben says Catseye has been sent to finish off Waller and Oracle directs him to the hospital. Cray is tasked to watch over Waller until Bronze Tiger gets there. he goes to her room and sees Catseye and the Yakuza coming down the hall. 57-Cray is still a mess from travelling via satellite transmission. Crtay tries to bluff, but doesn't fool Catseye, who says to shoot Cray. The stress lets Cray shrink and he escapes the bullets and goes on the attack. Ziuko interrogates Lamia and gets nowhere and Digger suggests Carmichael try. He radios in to Oracle and she shuts down Carmichael's inhibitor program for 5 minutes. He uses his power on Lamia and she tells her story... She helps Zastrow in exchange for him aiding in her sisters medical studies. She gives the location of the weapons cache, then Carmichael tries his power on one of the Russians, but he does not speak English. However, Ziuko does and Carmichael controls him and makes him shoot his own men. Lamia runs out of the room, as one of the men shoots Ziuko. Carmichael tries to turn the power on Harkness, but the inhibitor kicks in again and Carmichael collapses in pain. Digger reports in and then decides he is going to teach Carmichael a lesson. Oracle relays the coordinates to the Cambodia team and they move out. They are still observed by the Khmer Rouge, who send a helicopter to follow them. The Red Shadows arrive at the temple, as do the Squad and it runs into a Kazakstanian Standoff... Schreck talks to Stalnoivolk, but he refuses to stand aside. He then indicates he controls Nightshade, but Enchantress manifests and says she controls her, at the moment.... All hell breaks loose as the Khmer Rouge turn up with attack helicopters. Ryu goes to the Fujiwara Corporation HQ and demands money and communications equipment from Okami. Okami worries that they were followed and the oyabun says no, but then Mark Shaw and Katana enter the room. It gets all Kurosawa and Pollack (see note in Thoughts). mark is released from his debt and returns to aid Waller. Katana finishes her obligation to family on her own. Turner arrives at the hospital and hits Catseye in the back with a double kick. He meets Atom for the first time. In Cambodia, everyone is fighting and Mrs Gradenko, in ursine form attacks the Steel Wolf. Enchantress battles Schrek, but her magic doesn't affect him, as he is a genetic vampire, not a supernatural one. Yerosha tries to do a twin illussion, but Lawton just shoots both images and heads inside the temple, leaving behind the real and wounded Yerosha. At the hospital, ben opens a can of whoop-ass on Catseye.... Stalnoivolk disposes of Mrs Gradenko and Lawton finds himself an RPG and takes care of the main problem.... Lawton slaps Enchantress around until she says her name and switches back to Eve and Nightshade creates a tunnel back to the hotel, in Tokyo. They leave Stalnoivolk behind, since he didn't seem to want to come, as he fights Schreck and the Khmer troops move in. At the hospital, Waller is pronounced safe, though she will be in pain, for a while, which amuses Digger and Carmichael. Thoughts: Another great, epic battle which again took from the headlines of the day. The Soviet Union was falling apart in quick order. The Soviet Economy was collapsing, after the arms race with the US had all but bankrupted them and the invasion of Afghanistan and decade of occupation had proven extremely costly. Added to that was the Chernobyl disaster. Miukhail Gorbachev had been attempting to improve relations with the west and reform institutions in the Soviet Union. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania declared their independence and Russia declared its sovereignty. Food, medicine and fuel were in short supply throughout the Union. Winter fuel stocks were at 50% of estimates to face the coming winter. The Red Army soldiers who returned from Afghanistan soon found themselves treated like the American soldiers who returned from Vietnam...an embarrassment and failures. Many soon turned to crime to support themselves as even the Army didn't have the cash to pay their wages. There was a news story of a tank crew who sold their vehicle for vodka, at the time. Crime and black marketeering had grown and the hardliners were about to launch their August coup. This series hit stands in April of 1991 and the penultimate issue came out as the hardliners launched their coup, arresting Gorbachev and sending troops to seize the Russian parliament building, where Boris Yeltsin had taken refuge. Troops belonging to the KGB seized control of government buildings, while the Red Army got conflicting orders. In his memoirs, general Alexander Lebed, who had commanded Airborne troops in Afghanistan, received orders to seize the Russian parliament, while he received orders from Yeltsin to defend it. Meanwhile, the Yakuza are a greatly misunderstood institution, in Japan. The common Western belief is that they are merely an organized crime syndicate, much like the Mafia; but the truth is far more complex. The Yakuza traditionally controlled vice and gambling and provided protection to merchants and the lower classes in Imperial Japan. They are a very traditionalist group and have heavily favored Right Wing political organizations, throughout Japan's modern history, including the miltarists who led Japan into the Second World War. After the war, they ran the black markets that preyed on the Japanese people, as the US occupied the country and tried to restore order and transform their government into a representative system, with the Emperor merely a constitutional monarch, with no political powers. The Yakuza were the only ones with cash and they soon became silent partners in emerging businesses, as well as funding political candidates who favored the Right. After the occupation was over, their tentacles ran deep into Japanese society, both in the factories that now provided jobs for people and the government that represented them and maintained order and provided services. As such, government has never made a strong effort to root out Yakuza clans and subject them to criminal justice. When the clans have gotten too far out of hand, they have made examples; but, for the most part, the Yakuza acts with impunity. Even the biggest players in the Japanese economy, like Sony and Toyota are not free of Yakuza influence in their boardrooms. Fujiwara seeks to eliminate their control of things, or at least his company, as well as the younger Daichi Doku clan brining in weapons, to create chaos on Japanese streets. That has been a major issue among the Yakuza, as traditionalists battle with younger criminals who push to make more money on drugs and other things that the traditionalist sees as symbols of a decadent West. However, not all see it that way and others are fine with it, so long as it is contained and does not cause them problems with the government. The Daichi Doku appeared in Manhunter, in the debut storyline, as Mark Shaw is approached to purchase his mask, by a representative of the assassin Dumas. Dumas has worked for the Yakuza, but is an independent entity. Shaw soon finds himself approaching the Yakuza for assistance and owes them a debt, which he pays off. Much of that story was informed by the 1974 Sidney Pollack fil, Yakuza, which starred Robert Mitchum, Brian Keith and Takakura Ken (Mr Baseball, Black Rain). Keith and Mitchum were part of the occupation force, with Mitchum involved in the military police, who maintained order. Keith became involved with the Yakuza and his daughter has been kidnapped. he appeals to Mitchum, for help. Mitchum had left behind a woman he loved, who could not marry him after her brother returned from being stranded on an island, as a soldier. Mitchum was his enemy, but he was indebted to him for saving his sister and her child. He disappeared into the Yakuza underworld. Mitchum is reunited with his love and approaches her brother, Ken, for help in locating Keith's daughter. Ken is retired from the Yakuza and teaches kendo (samurai fencing, with bamboo practice swards, called shinai). Ken aids him and they free the girl, but discover that Keith hasn't been honest. The film is a taut thriller that also explores the underbelly of Japanese society and its link to the American occupation. It was the first Western media feature to really explore the Yakuza, in any depth. Black Rain, which also features Takakura Ken, also gets into that world and the struggle between the traditionalist old guard and the younger gangs. Takakura Ken starred in several Yakuza films, in Japan, which tended to glorify them as protectors of the underclass, much like some crime films tend to glorify gangsters and Mafia families (a problem I have with the Godfather series and martin Scorsese's films, despite their brilliance). Ostrander & Yale did their homework in Manhunter and they carry it forward, here. meanwhile, they add a metahuman assassin, for the Daichi Doku, bring in Katana, to have a figure like Ken, in the film Yakuza, and add a new Red Shadows team, made up of original characters. gone are the cliched creations from the outsiders comics or the Flash. Now we have real counterparts to the core team of the Suicide Squad. Stalnoivolk is a Russian meta-human who dates back to Stalin. Mrs Gradenko transforms into a literal Russian bear, though she seems to have little response to anything other than Zastrow's commands. Yerosha is an illusionist, but can only affect one person and is a coward and lacking in self esteem. He sort of represents a confused Russian youth, who heard talk of the Great Patriotic War and how Communism freed them from the Tsar, but sees nothing but poverty and want, while the West has luxuries and rock and roll. Lamia was trained to be a seductress, by the KGB, but her meta-human talents brought her to Zastrow, who also seems to make deals with his team. Schreck is a biological vampire. They make a nasty bunch, though Stalnoivolk is on the Squad's side, for now. He seems to empathize with the hard liners and I wouldn't be surprised to find him involved with the coup, though onlyif John Ostrander wrote the story. Oracle is put into a moment where she has to take control of the situation and direct the team and takes to it like a duck to water, with her years of experience and training. meanwhile, we learn that the Atom is not Ray Palmer in disguise, but Adam Cray, the son of the senator that Deadshot murdered, to stop Rick Flag from doing it. he was tasked by Waler to steal Ray Palmer's belt, which controlled his size changing. So, that leaves the question, is Ray Palmer really dead? If so, then who killed him? If not, where is he? The events in issue #44 followed on the heels of the Power of the Atom series ending. (which coincided with Suicide Squad #34). In that series, the civilization that Ray Palmer had joined, after divorcing Jean (and vice versa) had been destroyed and Atom tracked down the men responsible. he was only able to change size due to dwarf star material in a new costume. He did not have his old belt. Issue #44 is a bit ambiguous, but, it implies that the New Atom who appears to Waller is Ray Palmer. Here, we are told it definitely isn't. in issue 44, Cray says the Justice League will be trouble and Waller says they will deal with it. Well, guess what is coming up, after War of the Gods interrupts everything? This reiterates why I loved this revamped Squad. The original concept was great; but, it had worn out the old idea, after a couple of years. The third year was mainly fallout from what was set up and occurred in the previous two, then Ostrander and Yale hit the reset button. However, they did it in a way that you wished so many other series would, which brought in a change of style, but kept what made the previous run great. The key characters remained and a few ne ones entered; but, the Squad became its own master, working strictly freelance, which took them out of US foreign and domestic policy and made them free agents, on the world stage. They also got rid of the unnecessary costumes and focused on the characters. The costumes do not make a hero, though we rarely get to see that. One of my favorite Iron man stories is from the whole Justin hammer saga, now called, collectivey, demon in a Bottle, because of the epilogue. Hammer manipulates Iron man's armor, remotely and fires off his repulsors, as he stands next to a diplomat, killing him. Stark is forced to concoct a story and the armor is considered suspect. For an issue, Tony Stark is forced to act on his own, to infiltrate Hammer's floating mansion and destroy the equipment that controls the armor, thereby freeing Stark to use the armor. However, he has to deal with Hammer's mercenary soldiers and super-criminals. He gets to play James Bond and lets himself be captured by Hammer, then used secreted tools to break out of his cell, sabotage the machiens and then don his armor, to face off against an army of hired goons. JLI had a story where Batman has to go under cover, disguised as Bruce Wayne, for a mission. It's kind of nice to see the heroes forced to work without the gimicks and use their ingenuity. So, next is a sacrifice to the War of the Gods crossover, which at least gave us back the JSA, after DC was finished f@#$ing with Roy Thomas. After that, the JLA want to know what happened to ray Palmer and who this new Atom is.
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Post by commond on May 21, 2023 19:37:39 GMT -5
There has actually been a large crackdown on the yakuza in the past 10 years and their numbers are currently dwindling. They had basically become so unwieldy that the government decided to push back and isolate them from society, making it virtually impossible for a yakuza to function like a regular citizen (open a bank account, rent a home, obtain a cell phone, etc.) and this extended to their families and acquaintances as well. The courts also passed down the first ever death sentence for a yakuza boss. The number of yakuza dropped from around 70,000 in 2011 to 25,000 in 2020. They're still around but their influence has begun to erode.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 21, 2023 21:42:00 GMT -5
There has actually been a large crackdown on the yakuza in the past 10 years and their numbers are currently dwindling. They had basically become so unwieldy that the government decided to push back and isolate them from society, making it virtually impossible for a yakuza to function like a regular citizen (open a bank account, rent a home, obtain a cell phone, etc.) and this extended to their families and acquaintances as well. The courts also passed down the first ever death sentence for a yakuza boss. The number of yakuza dropped from around 70,000 in 2011 to 25,000 in 2020. They're still around but their influence has begun to erode. Which was what eventually happened to the Mafia, in the US; but not really until the 70s or so, as you got harder hitting prosecutors, the RICO Statutes and after the death of J Edgar Hoover. The latter's inaction in the face of organized crime, vs his use of the FBI to go after the Left, fuels many conspiracy theories that the Mafia had blackmail material about his private life.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 21, 2023 22:22:03 GMT -5
ps I intended to add a comment in the Thoughts section about Waller's reaction to Fujiwara and Japan's own racist history. Fujiwara makes derogatory comments about America's streets; which, to be fair, have some valid evidence to support them. However, he talks about gaijin and it is a word that gets used without understanding context. It doesn't just mean outsider or foreigner, in many contexts, it is used as derision. Western society is not unique in having ideas of racial superiority, as some Asian cultures have had similar views to others, including China and Japan. In China they use the term "gweilo," (in Cantonese), which translates as "white devil." Granted, there is some historical justification for such a term. However, there are other derisive terms for people considered to be inferior and it is not unique to any one culture. China considered non-Chinese to be barbarians and low in status, the Hindu caste system placed Untouchables as the lowest of society, the Vietnamese considered the mountain tribes, the montagnards to be racially inferior and they were persecuted by both North and South Vietnam. In Japan, non-Japanese are considered to be beneath those of true Japanese heritage and mixed race is considered even worse. In recent years, there have been news stories about the treatment and reaction to the Japanese Miss Universe entrant, Ariana Miyamoto, whose father was an African-American sailor, from the US Naval Base in Sasebo. Similarly, Japanese women's pro wrestling legend Aja Kong, real name Erika Shishido, suffered horrible bullying and derision because of her mixed parentage (her father was an African-American, from the US Army) and her ring name was itself racially charged, meant to invoke the idea of the savage African jungle. However, Shishido rose to become one of the most popular performers in her world.
In the story, Waller throws this back at Fujiwara, mentioning recent statements from Japan, in the media. I don't recall specifics of that; but, there was some controversy, in that era, relating to the teaching of WW2 history, in Japanese schools, particularly Japan's actions as an aggressor. Controversy still remains about Japan's actions in Korea and China, as well as other conquered territory, such as Singapore. Koreans have long faced discrimination in Japanese society and were often featured as villains in Japanese films and television dramas, including soap operas. Some Koreans in entertainment and sport hid their Korean ancestry, such as wrestling legend and pioneer Rikidozan, who was a Korean, named Mitsuhiro Momota, though he was born Kim Sin-rak. He was originally recruited into a sumo stable and his national origins were known, but after severe harassment and discrimination, he was adopted by his mentor, Minosuke Momota and changed his name to the Japanese Mitsuhiro. He was then part of a group of sumos who were trained in American pro wrestling and he soon became the first national star in Japan and built a legend by facing various foreign wrestlers, including bouts with Lou Thesz, the long time NWA World Champion, who dropped his newly created International Heavyweight title to Rikidozan. Their matches still hold the highest ratings for any program in Japanese television history. Rikidozan was known for having a temper and gambling and he ran afoul of a yakuza criminal, who stabbed him with a knife, allegedly soaked in urine. Rikidozan ignored doctors orders about refraining from eating and drinking right after surgery and complications arose and he died. The circumstances of his death and the involvement of a yakuza proved a major scandal for the promotion. It was revealed upon his death that he was actually Korean.
Ostrander uses this history within the story, mostly as a moment for Waller to take Fujiwara down a peg; but, it is an underlying current within things. Chuck Dixon similarly used elements of this history in a couple of Sky Wolf back up stories, in the Eclipse Comics revival of Airboy. That series had a long running back-up feature, with Sky Wolf, the Hillman copy of Blackhawk, who was shown to become a mercenary after WW2 and a couple of stories found him in occupied Japan, dealing with both the yakuza and Chinese gangs. Dixon's story, though, had a bit more sentiment on the Japanese side, or at least, a specific yakuza member.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 4, 2023 16:58:10 GMT -5
Suicide Squad #58This is a War of the Gods tie-in, where Black Adam turns up at the Institute for Meta-Human Studies, demanding to see Waller and tells her about an island that appeared in a lake, in the Amazon region, where Circe has a bunch of Middle Eastern cousins of the Greek Amazons and some were-beasts. Poison Ivy was down there, restocking her samples and gets captured and tortured in a gold old fashioned comic book BDSM way and then Waller assembles a team of cannon fodder and the few who will survive, to carry out an assault, with Black Adam. It is part of a bigger story and ends abruptly with Pariah showing up to whine about something. The only thing of any real note is Mari is recovered and she leaves, telling Ben it's over and she goes back to running her business. Oh, and everyone wears their costumes, because there is power in it; but mostly because this is another pointless crossover event and we want costumes everywhere, even for the insignificant characters, like Javelin. There is one bit with a guy, called The Writer, who wrote himself into his story and is now stuck there. He writes something on a laptop and it comes true. He does well in battle, until he runs into writer's block, then he is toast. Oh, and Count Vertigo is the one who locates the captive Poison Ivy and then leaves her to her fate; but, she is rescued by Maser, of the Captains of Industry (Booster Gold's less-than-lamented superhero team). Waste of an issue. Suicide Squad #59-62Creative Team: John Ostrander & Kim Yale-writers, Geof Isherwood & Robert Campanella-art, Todd Klein-letters, Tom McCraw-colors, Dan Raspler-editor Synopsis: Our story is centered around Blood Island, in the Chesapeake, across from the Naval Air Station Patuxent River (home of the Naval Air Systems Command and the Naval Test Pilot School and the Atlantic Test Range....where Jim Lovell and Pete Conrad paid their dues, before becoming astronauts), where Hurrambi Marlo, deposed dictator of Qurac, is imprisoned. He is the subject of interest from Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad, as well as a shadowy group, called the Cabal, with their fingers in the military, government and industry. You know, Eisenhower's famed Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex (he left that part out of his speech, but he had it in his original notes). They have set things in motion to eliminate Marlo, who received their aid, in the form of technology, to conduct experiments which led to the creation of the Jihad, the meta-human terrorist group, which the Squad faced in their first mission (post-Legends). Meanwhile, Batman busts up a bar, looking for Monte Walsh, who looks nothing like Lee Marvin or Tom Selleck. He is looking for information about the death of Ray Palmer. he tells Bats that Waller knew about the explosion, beforehand. Meanwhile, Superman meets clandestinely with an agent from the CBI, who says the Suicide Squad has been hired to rescue or kill Marlo. On top of that, the CIA shmoes that wiped out the civilization where Ray Palmer lived, during his Sword of the Atom days, and he punished by leaving them at tiny size, have infiltrated the Institute for meta-Human Studies, looking for the new Atom, who they believe is still Ray Palmer and that Adam Cray is a cover identity. Count Vertigo learns from Simon La Grieve that Poison Ivy's mind-control toxins have cured the medical imbalances in his brain chemistry that created his bi-polar state, but, he still has the habits. That can change he is told, which puts a wrinkle in him killing her. Floyd Lawton comes by and asks if Vertigo wants him to kill him today or not. Fun bunch! Adam Cray runs into Lawton, says "You killed my father, I want payment." Deadshot says send him the bill and walks away. We next see Golem of the Hayoth, infiltrate Blood island, observed by Agni, of the Jihad. They intend to let the Hayoth liberate Marlo, then kill them and take him from them. Batman turns up at the Institute and runs into Amy Beddoes and calls her Barbara. She responds by saying she doesn't know who he thinks she is, but she is Amy Beddoes. She then leads him to her private area., where they exchange quips about being blindfolded to go to the Batcave..... Batman offers to remove his cowl, to reveal who he is and Barbara/Amy shows that she knows what she wants to know.... Batman then lays out the allegation that Waller was involved in the murder or Ray Palmer. He says a cellular analysis of tissue from the body in the grave shows the stress of size-changing, so it isn't a fake body. Oracle says that isn't Waller's style, but Bats isn't convinced. Waller and the team are in Maryland, prepping for their mission. Lawton is still making mild threats about killing Digger, for losing his luggage and weapons and Digger decides to cozy up to Adam Cray, to have an ally against Lawton, suggesting that he might not make it back from the mission. Elsewhere, Bats meets up with Supes and Aquaman and they share intel. Batman tells them about Waller and the Squad being involved and the new Atom, Supes tells them about the government intel that the Squad have been hired to bring Marlo out and Aquaman says the tuna don't seem to be much help. They decide to put some questions to Waller. The Hayoth make their move and Ramban summons up a fog, to cover Golem and Judith, as they infiltrate. An MP says he can't se s@#$ in the fog, but Superman tells him he can. Someone called Piscator swims under the water and observes Ramban, but is telepathically told to wait for the Hayoth to bring Marlo out. Aquaman observes the dude in the gladiator outfit..... Outside the fence, an MP runs into a crying little girl, who turns out to be Babd and she f@#$s with his head. Judith sneaks past the fence, but Batman steps out of the shadows and follows her. Dybbuk questions taking marlo from Israel's allies and the Colonel reminds him they provided technology to Marlo to create the Jihad and then threatens to wipe his personality. Superman blows away the fog and tells the MPs to hit the lights, flooding the compound in bright light. batman and Judith battle, Piscator nabs Ramban, but gets knocked loopy by Aquaman and Ramban escapes a watery death. Superman battles Golem, then Agni breaks Marlo out of his cell. he brings him to Babd and Marlo kicks her in the face and smashes Agni, from behind. Marlo has been replaced by Nemesis, who radios in. We see the JLA members fighting the Jihad, until Nemesis fires his pistol in the air and calls a halt to the fight, saying they need to talk. Sarge Steel sent him and took Marlo elsewhere. The JLA finally notice that the Squad isn't there. They are further away and they have Thinker face Marlo and start asking questions, about the Cabal. Marlo is forced to reveal that the Cabal provided the technology to create the Jihad, but their real intent is to learn how to control their own meta-human population, to do their bidding. He is forced to give up the name of his contact, Maj George McClellan, USAF. Thinker wants to play, but Waller has him shut down. Oracle informs Waller about Batman. Waller has her contact Nightshade, who is then dispatched to talk to Nemesis.... Batman lays it out. The Jihad wanted to rescue Marlo, the Hayoth wanted him because of his knowledge of secret deals with the US government, Sarge Steel and the Squad took marlo away, but didn't kill him, which means they aren't working for Marlo and brings up the rogue CIA guys that Ray Palmer detailed. Nemesis whispers to Nightshade about the Cabal and Superman hears it. Nightshade rears up and turns things black, then disappears. She then reports to Waller, who is standing next to Sarge Steel. their mission was to take marlo away from his would-be assassins and learn who was his contact with the Cabal. Waller surmises that McClellan is now a target and they need to get to him. We see a shadowy Wade Eiling, General, USAF, telling a man to send a team to dispatch McClellan. meanwhile, Digger suckers Adama Cray and turns his unconscious body over to the rogue CIA little guys, for cash. They carry him off and then CIA goons try to kill Digger. He takes them down and reports in to Waller that the rogues took the bait. McLellan is stationed at Blood Island and is the contact for the captured Jihad. He releases them, but Nightshade turns up with the Squad. The Cabal's team ambushes McClellan, Superman spots the squad and all hell breaks loose, as McClellan is in a running firefight, with Bronze Tiger trying to get to him, but fighting Batman. Count Vertigo attacks the JLA and the Johad and the Hayoth throw down. Atom is interrogated by the rogues and they take his size belt. However, he gets loose and Mr Bailey details Blacksnake to find him. Atom sneaks up on Miss Higgins and takes the belt, but gets run through the back by Blacksnake, with a nail, who then takes the belt and returns to normal size, then kills Bailey and Higgins. He turns his attention to Sting, who is neither Gordon Sumner nor Steve Borden..... ...but, is in fact, Ray Palmer, the Atom. He tears the belt off of Blacksnake and reduces him to microscopic size and strands him in a microverse, until he comes to claim him. McClellan is killed trying to escape in the Jihad's boat and the fight comes to an end. Waller and Sarge Steel report to the President about the Cabal, then serve warning..... Thoughts: Kind of ripped from the headlines, after a fashion. Marlo was the Saddam Hussein of the DC Universe, with Superman, the JLI and the Squad all having dealings with Qurac and Superman being responsible for deposing Marlo and bringing him to justice, ala the US military mission that deposed and captured Manuel Noriega. The question posed is why the cabal wants to eliminate him and the answer is that he can provide details about the Cabal, a secret group that manipulates US policy and actions for their own interests. Many have suggested that Noriega was deposed and imprisoned not so much for alleged drug trafficking and crimes against American citizens in Panama, but because he had been a CIA asset, going back to the 1968 coup that placed Omar Torrijos in power, establishing a government that was favorable to the US, leading to laws that were very favorable to foreign banking interests. Noriega also acted as an emissary to Cuba, on behalf of the US, while collecting intelligence on them and trading intelligence on the US, to Castro. he was instrumental in the negotiations to return control of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama, by the Carter Administration. Noriega learned that the CIA wiretapped Panamanian officials and bribed agents to obtain the tapes for his own political use. The CIA wanted to prosecute him, but Bush prevented it, as it would reveal Noriega's involvement in the tapping. Noriega was believed to hold a lot of embarrassing information about CIA activities in latin America, especially under Bush, as Director. The fact that he was also running drugs and laundering money was icing on the cake. So, you have the same basic idea, as Marlo receives weapons technology, despite being a hostile power, as Saddam did, during the Iran-Iraq war, from the US government, via Donald Rumsfeld and others within the Reagan Administration. he developed dangerous weapons, as Saddam did, then was deposed by US-led forces; in this case, Superman. Meanwhile, he has a lot of information about the Cabal's secrete deals, like Noriega did about the CIA. Ostrander & Yale take this and then use it as an espionage thriller, as different groups are competing to get their hands on Marlo and his intelligence, including his own people, the MOSSAD, The Cabal, Sarge Steel and it all runs into the JLA's investigation into the "death" of Ray Palmer. Palmer was working with Amanda Waller to smoke out the rogue CIA types, who worked for the Cabal, who came for Palmer. They substituted one of them as the body, then Palmer took his identity, as Sting. Adam Cray was a smokescreen, given the Atom's old size-changing belt, by Waller and Palmer and taught to use it for Squad missions. This draws in the rogues and they are stopped and their link to the Cabal exposed. Once again, a lot of intricate details for a more layered plot, while pulling elements from the news of the day to add verisimilitude. This also serves to wrap up dangling plot threads from the Power of the Atom series. Ray Palmer left the remains of the civilization , that was destroyed, and starts over. He first has to deal with the problem of being only enlarged to 3 feet tall. Once he settles that, he deals with Bailey and his CIA operatives, who want his size changing abilities, as an agent. They try to recruit him and potentially steal the technology, but he turns the device on them and shrinks them down to small size and traps them that way. Meanwhile, Oracle meets up with batman and reveals that the only reason she doesn't know Batman's identity is because she chooses not to pursue the secret, much like her father. Chances are, she had a pretty good idea, but doesn't want to confirm it. As I said in Shaxper's thread, I think it is kind of an unspoken deal, to allow Batman to be who he has to be and that he isn't smarter than Barbara; she is just holding up her end of the unspoken bargain that allowed them to work together. Well, one more storyline to go, before we draw down the curtain on this version of The Suicide Squad.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 4, 2023 17:22:46 GMT -5
ps, for the uninitiated..... Steve Borden is on the left and Gordon Sumner on the right.... Gordon Sumner, of course, is the birth name of the musician and member of the band, The Police. He was called Sting because of a habit of wearing a stripped sweater that Gordon Solomon, leader of the Phoenix Jazzmen, thought made him look like a bee. Steve Borden is a pro wrestler, known as Sting, who has worked for WCW, TNA and AEW (and a cup of coffee, in the WWE). he was a bodybuilder, who was part of a foursome put together by a promoter, Rick Bassman and trained by Red Bastien and Billy Anderson. The other two dropped out of the concept, Power Team USA, but the other two, Borden (known as Flash) and Jim Hellwig (as Justice), were booked into the Memphis territory, where they were known as the Freedom Fighters, two of the worst musclehead bums to ever try pro wrestling. They had never learned to work and only learned basic bumps and moves and their time in Memphis was less than spectacular. They were then booked into Bill watts' UWF promotion, out of Oklahoma and Louisiana, where they were made into road Warrior clones, the Blade Runners. Borden was rechristened as Sting and Hellwig became Rock. They were given a manager, "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, who was a second generation wrestler, who had worked in the WWF and Memphis, as well as WCW and other territories, since he was a teenager. They still stunk up the ring and Watts, who believed in a realistic presentation, told them to learn to work or hit the road. Hellwig quit and went to Dallas, to work for World Class Wrestling, as the Dingo Warrior, after a year or two, he was signed by the WWF, where he became The Ultimate Warrior, who continued to wear facepaint, was roided to the gills, and used to completely "blow up" (exhaust himself) by running to the ring and shaking the ring ropes, before he even started a match, which tells you about his cardio fitness). he became a star, with Vince Mcmahon's backing, then left and became a total nutjob (well, he was always a nut, but it became his sole purpose in life). Borden remained, worked with Gilbert and others to improve, both in his matches and in his promos and was part of the team kept on when Jim Crockett Promotions bought out the UWF. he then found himself in high profile matches against Ric Flair, which turned him into a babyface star and the new face of the company, in the 90s. When the WWF bought WCW from Warner, Sting was under contract to Warner and not WCW, for seven figures and his contract was not bought out. He did not go to the WWF, but joined the start-up Total Nonstop Action (TNA Wrestling, started by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett (the longtime Memphis promoter). he remained there, as the face of the company, until 2014, when he joined the WWE, then retired, in 2020, before un-retiring and joining AEW, where he currently works alongside Darby Allin. The phot is legit, as Borden met Sumner in Atlanta, when he was touring. Several photos appeared in wrestling magazines and elsewhere, ending fan speculation of what Sting, of the police, thought about Sting, the wrestler. Which is probably more than you cared about!
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jun 5, 2023 2:27:59 GMT -5
There is one bit with a guy, called The Writer, who wrote himself into his story and is now stuck there. He writes something on a laptop and it comes true. He does well in battle, until he runs into writer's block, then he is toast. The Writer was Grant Morrison, who had written himself into Animal Man #26.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 5, 2023 11:37:12 GMT -5
There is one bit with a guy, called The Writer, who wrote himself into his story and is now stuck there. He writes something on a laptop and it comes true. He does well in battle, until he runs into writer's block, then he is toast. The Writer was Grant Morrison, who had written himself into Animal Man #26. Well, that makes his ending even more satisfying! Just (mostly) kidding. I like bits and pieces of Morrison's work; but I also don't care for a significant amount and tend to shake my head at those who call him genius. A lot of what he has done has been pretty derivative, though copied stylishly. He's definitely well above average, as a writer; but, I think genius is a bit much. I also think he plays the eccentric to interviewers to make himself more colorful, another trait I feel he shares with Alan Moore, who I suspect of doing the same. John Ostrander is a bit more my cup of tea, since horror and supernatural aren't really my thing, though he has worked in it, such as with the Spectre. He tends to ground his characters more into a reality and brings a strong story logic to his work.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 21, 2023 17:46:52 GMT -5
Suicide Squad #63-66Creative Team: John Ostrander & Kim Yale-writers, Geof Isherwood-pencils, Robert Campanella-inks, Todd Klein-letters, Tom McCraw-colors, Dan Raspler-editor Andrew Prepoy also did some inking. Synopsis: Issue #63 On a Caribbean island nation, called Diabloverde (green devil), a figure is on the run. We soon learn he is on the run from the Suicide Squad, who proceed to hunt him down and torture and kill him for sport.... The man's daughter, Maria, witnesses this but is ushered on. A boat is waiting for her to sail to Florida. From there, she will contact friends of the rebels and try to locate and kill the leader of the Squad, Amanda Waller. Meanwhile, the Wall is at the Institute for Meta-Hum Studies, where an experiment is about to be conducted. Dybbuk, of the Hayoth is to try to enter the digital mind of Ifrit, the bottled "genie" of the Jihad, built on the brain patterns of former Squad member Mindboggler. Col Hachoen objects to it; but, he is in dutch with his government, for his unauthorized mission on US soil (but mostly for getting caught, because the MOSSAD spends as much time conducting industrial espionage against friendly nations as it does security operations against enemies). Ramban is standing by with a prepared spell, if things go south. Hachoen bitches and moans, while Ramban teases him with scripture and metaphor. "Amy Beddoes," aka Oracle, sends Dybbuk in. Meanwhile, Maria turns up at the Institute and forces Boomerang, at gunpoint, to lead her to Waller. He doesn't object. Floyd Lawton receives a package, which contains his Deadshot suit and a note from Henri Ducard that the man who was using it wasn't big enough to fill it. Lawton dons the mask, again. Thinker is listening to music and surfing the web (mentally) when he is contacted by someone, who isn't Oracle, with a proposal.... Count Vertigo meets with a deputation fro Vlatava, who want him to return as its ruler and bring political and economic stability to it. They are aware that his chemical imbalance is cured; but, his psychologicval scars run deep and he is still borderline suicidal. He tells them he will think about it. They realized they are FUBAR. Two blips appear on Oracle's screen, indicating Dybbuk is returning with another entity and things get jumpy. Then Maria turns up, threatening to kill Waller, for sending the Squad to Diabloverde, which is news to her. She whispers to Ramban, asking if he has a spell and he says it doesn't work that way; you have to prepare. She tells him to fake it. Boomerang elbows Maria in the gut then does an overhead judo throw, pinning her to the ground after she hits. Dybbuk emerges from the computer, with a friend, Ifrit, aka Mindboggler, aka Leah Wasserman. Her personality as Mindboggler was a reaction to a very troubled childhood. She has reclaimed her identity and Dybbuk has determined his own, referring to himself as Lenny and announces that they plan to marry. Hachoen blows his stack and looks to Ramban for support, who only says, Mozel tov! Hachoen starts ranting at Ramban, who doesn't wear it.... Waller then interrogates Maria and learns of the fake Squad and Guedhe, the meta-human who launched a coup and ovethrew the dictator of the country, then established his own dictatorship, with the backing of the US government. Waller gets Sarge Steel on the line, who says the CIA created their own Squad and that Diabloverde is a friendly power and tough noogies. Waller doesn't take it lying down. She asks Maria for a peso, which she gives her and then tells Maria that she just bought the real Suicide Squad, to liberate her country from the fake one and Guedhe. Boomerang isn't happy and refuses, then Waller says she will pay the wages from her own past earnings and Boomer is going because he didn't fight until his neck was on the line. Issue 64 The Atom turns over Blacksnake to the police. While they book him, more supervillains of the new task Force X infiltrate and one called Metamorpheus duplicates a cop. He then grows bone spikes from his forearms and impales Blacksnake, then the whole team kills everyone in the room and sets demolition charges and escapes. Atom react to the gunfire and pursues, but is knocked back by the blast. Waller briefs the team about the situation in Diabloverde... The mission is to be in costume, so that everyone will know who liberated Diabloverde and stopped the renegade Squad. Nightshade and Outlaw are inserted into Diabloverde, from the air, with the help of Lady Blackhawk. They conduct a recon, then report back to Waller to transport the team there, through a shadow tunnel. Oracle gets word about the assassination of Blacksnake and surmises that the Cabal is behind it and Diabloverde. The team departs and Waller makes assignments after they arrive. They target the squad, while Waller and Carmichael go after Guedhe. The team has easy pickings for Sudden Death and Deadline, though Blockbuster puts up a fight with Outlaw. At the presidential palace, Carmichael proves to be immune to Waller's control, stopping her from issuing the shutdown order, then forcing her to put her gun to her mouth and squeeze the trigger. Issue 65 Nightshade makes quick work of Shrapnel, after a trip to the shadow world. Then, she runs into Waller, but it is actually Metamorpheus. Kaliber shoots her in the back, with bullets of light, powered by his Krillian aura (un-huh). She escapes through a shadow portal. Boomerang and Count Vertigo attack Bolt, but he is able to teleport away. Carmichael reveals that the Cabal contacted him, via his modem.... Maria saves her and Waller grabs the gun and fires after Carmichael, while ordering Oracle to fry his brain. However, he has blocked the program. He escapes. Maria says Guedhe may be in the jungle, and that it is a mystic place. Un-huh. Outlaw subdues Blockbuster, but is taken down by Pathfinder. Sidewinder attacks Bronze Tiger Deadshot shoots her, but doesn't kill her and deposits a living Deadline. They regroup and exchange intel. Vertigo onjects to Ivy controlling Sudden Death and she plays the feminist card, until Waller calls her out on it and labels her a slaveholder. She says she quits and starts to leave, when a close shot from Waller's pistol convinces her to follow orders and she puts Sudden Death to sleep. The Squad heads into the jungle and leaves a trail to lure Task Force X into it. There, Bronze Tiger has a vision of his spirit self and has to face off against the beast inside himself. He defeats it and removes the mask, to reveal his younger self. The younger self fades and he dons the mask and it fades into his body, leaving his determined face. Boomerang faces the Justice League, laughing at him. Meanwhile, Task Force X is with Guedhe, who vows to consume the blood and souls of the Squad, once they are dead. Issue 66 Amanda is confronted by the hanging bodies of dead Squad members, who call to her. She keeps moving forward, ignoring them. Vertigo faces a narrow bridge and voices telling him to jump into the abyss below. Nightshade faces Enchantress, June Moon, Firestorm and the former ruler of the shadow world, as well as a vision of her mother, held by a demonic figure. She recites "The Lord is my shepherd..." Ivy faces a run in her tights. Deadshot sees nothing, but the jungle sees him. They meet up and Waller splits them into teams and they go hunting. Ivy resumes control of Sudden death and uses him as a shield to lure in Bolt, who is taken down and she shuts Sudden Death Down. Vertigo downs Blockbuster and tells Ivy to get to work on him, as Guedhe sends out his zombies. Bronze Tiger and Deadshot take out Kaliber, Pathfinder and Metamorpheus. Waller and Maria confront Guedhe, who reveals that Maria is his wife. Task Froce X regroups and counter-attacks. Waller tells Guedhe she has a meta-gene, that everyone she touches, dies. he calls her bluff. She touches Maria, to prove it... Guedhe complies with her wishes. The zombies fall dead and Maria is revived and Waller explains.... The fight is over and the survivors of Task Force X will cooperate to expose the Cabal. Waller tells Bronze Tiger she is shutting down the Squad, as she sees that she and it are not what she started to do. maria offers her the presidency of Diabloverde, which needs to be sorted out. ben laughs and she starts telling him what needs to be done and that if he keeps laughing, he won't be Secretary of State. Vertigo and Deadshot settle the question of whether Vertigo wants to live or die, as Vertigo walks away from Deadshot, weapon drawn, making his decision. Thus endeth 5 1/2 years of terrific storytelling. Thoughts: This is the end, as Ostrander takes the Squad to the last stop, facing a dark version of themselves, defeating it, and f@#$ing over the plans of self-appointed rulers. Some nice character stuff, some wild action, and still one of the best series in comics, but, the market wasn't there, any longer and the team ends it, going in style, defeating a god of death. Guedhe was actually dead, but his tremendous psionic powers kept his body going. He was never invulnerable; his brain just wouldn't recognize his death and kept running his body, until Waller showed it the truth. His brain's acceptance brought final death. This final chapter continues the use of current events for plot, as the Cabal is exposed, much like Iran-Contra, with a secret government operating to usurp US Foreign Policy for its own ends, violating the law and endangering American and other innocent lives by arming a hostile regime, to pay for propping up the remnants of a bloody dictator's army, against an ideological enemy, in a badly exploited country, in a badly exploited region. The Contras were butchers, regardless of the Sandanista crimes and were no alternative to the Ortega regime. It was all power games, with innocents as pawns. So too does that happen here. Everyone faces their greatest fears, except Deadshot. He had already done that. All that was left was Deadshot. Bronze Tiger found peace with the beast within and tamed it, regaining his whole spirit. Vertigo found a reason to live. Boomerang had to be rescued from the laughter. Waller ends the Squad, as a team, to move on and so do they. Others would latch onto Deadshot, in spades and he was used whenever the Squad appeared in other media, or was replaced by a doppelganger, when Will Smith didn't go for the sequel. The Arrow tv series did him better, anyway, though my favorite use was in Justice League Unlimited. John Ostrander and Kim Yale would move on to other things; but, not too far down the road, Kim would be diagnosed with breast cancer. It cost her both breasts and then her life. She shared some of what she was going through with readers of the Comic Buyer's Guide. Then, she was gone and John shared stories of her spirit. Comics moved on and Kim never rose to the heights she deserved, because her body failed her. She lives on in her work and those who knew her or met her and were the better for it. John continued in comics, writing great stories and seeing his work mangled by Hollywood, though he was complimentary. he was an actor, he knew how it worked. Amanda Waller became a favorite character of media adaptations, but was rarely used like Ostrander's character, except on Justice League Unlimited, where she was allowed to be both the physical and emotional character, the sometimes nasty person, in a nasty job, who tried to make the world a better place, even if it didn't want to make it happen. Sometimes they captured some of the personality, but only JLU got the whole package. Hear endeth the exploration of great writing.
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