Suicide Squad New 52 #6

Now I'm going to review Suicide Squad New 52 issue 6 with my new levels of hindsight. I have actually reviewed this issue before on my original blog shortly after it first came out and it's interesting to see what differences I have picked up.

The love for this particular cover has not changed one iota. Yes, it's still the stupid Suicide Squad outfit but compared to the last five covers... hell, this thing could sit next to a metaphorical Mona Lisa it's that much better than what came before it.

Two things though - they have her with brown eyes instead of blue (unsure if this is due to the lighting or colour error or what.) They also use the classic Harley Quinn solo logo on this cover.

I agree with my original comic.. the time skips are annoying AF. I get it, not enough pages to go into the whole backstory or how much time has passed but damn. We open with the Squad having just let 'Harley Quinn' slip through their net.

Lime and Light (two nobodies I originally had to Google) have a reason to fly... apparently. Why are Deadshot and .... (well they *say* it's Savant but being a fan of Gail Simone's Birds of Prey I reject this characterless clone) Savant levitating? Don't tell me they're jumping down from somewhere.. they're freakin' hoverin'.

 More art errors... Lime and Light keep losing or discolouring their arm bands and man, enjoy that bottom panel because it's just about the last time their faces look normal.

Going back to the time skip.. seriously.

Did the Squad manage to get to Gotham first despite leaving well after Harley's head start? Maybe if they were air lifted but we don't know how they got there. So were they lying in wait in an alley they just knew she was going to use or did they get lucky? Did that useless bastard back at Belle Reve/Reeve remove her bomb but add a tracker instead? I mean, give us something!

Deadshot and Savant have a pissing match with their guns, one of the twins apparently has webbed hands and LOL the editor's note about Lime and Light coming fresh out of Green Arrow's second issue... his last name is McQuiver! How the hell did I not see that the first time I read this?!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!




Anyway, wounded Harley runs into traffic while Waller bitches about something happening in some other tie in comic (remember, New 52 was meant to make it easier for new readers! As long as you buy every single comic out apparently.)

Anyway, King Sharks busts down a door while yelling his catchphrase of "PAIN AND HATE!" which still makes me long for the Secret Six which gave us this awesome scene:

I mean... why is he yelling pain and hate? What purpose does it serve? He doesn't even talk much in this comic so why did they choose that in particular for him to yell? Is he super emo now?

Moving on.. they have walked into a trap.
Turns out that Harley they shot was, like, totally a man, man.

Yes. The aptly named 'transvestite goon squad.' From the so edgy and un-PC DC. Good work. Keep raising that bar!

This just raises further questions about the time frame of this comic. Clearly Harley has been here long enough to set an elaborate trap, then encourage others to wear her stupid ass outfit and then presumably go shopping for all the hair dye and face paint and stuff she'd need to perfect her makeovers.

There are so many different body types and most, if not all of these people appear to be men so were these costumes made special in advance or when we saw Harley's origin Forever Evil special were we just not shown the part where she stole various items from differently sized prostitutes, school girls and fast food workers?

How long was this crowd waiting in this trap for anyway?
Why are they so loyal that they're willing to die for Harley? She's been locked up, Joker's apparently dead so no-one's paying them, why the hell did they stay on?




Gosh Lime and Light have been written like such Valley Girls.

Anyway, there's a few pages of random clown killing. Remember - keep a low profile! A large amount of dead bodies dressed like Harley Quinn won't attract any attention, right? And they definitely can't just disable them. No way! It's Suicide Squad! Everyone dies! Except the main characters. Sigh.

As I mentioned in the previous review, I didn't have strong feelings either way for this rendition of the Mad Love therapy sessions but I did like her ballsier than you attitude.
Much better than the weak as wet cardboard version we got in the adaptive 'movie'.

So 'real Harley' is in Arkham Asylum because of course. And no one has noticed that she's in there, or taken Dr. Serrano hostage.




I suppose she's killed all the guards and taken the cameras out. And Batman clearly isn't watching over Arkham.. not when he's chasing tail. Literally.

This is actually pretty conservative when it comes to the New52

Meanwhile, Deadshot realises after the massive killing spree that they actually should have left at least one alive. Good job, knucklehead.

Speaking of knuckle-headed sharks - King Shark has a midget Harley and tells him to talk or he'll eat the guy's head - holding said clown over his gaping mouth. Out of which pops....Yo-Yo. Oh, he's still a thing? Well, alright.

The request was pretty clear, man. 

After all that King Shark throws the dude away, killing him. Thus: failing to keep a live clown and also failing to kill in the way he promised. What happened? Were they going to have him eaten but then realised they couldn't draw it properly? Were they reminded at the last minute that Yo-Yo was still in there and was meant to be a plot point. Which raises YET ANOTHER TIME LINE QUESTION! How long has Yo-Yo been in there for?!

Fun Fact: Writer Adam Glass asked DC executives if they minded if he changed Harley Quinn's backstory (you know, from back in Gotham City Sirens where it's shown her dad's still alive and in prison for being a con artist) and the higher ups said "Sure buddy, this story line won't matter in a few weeks anyway. Continuity is for losers!"

Apart from that quibble, this page is not bad.

Joker gets deep, Joker gets interested enough in Harleen to investigate her, going on about how great his melting pot bath was and surprising Harleen with the fat cat who killed her father's pinkie ring... oh, and his pinkie finger too. 

Some things though... earlier on Joker's cell had blood painted on the window.. no one did anything about that? Harleen apparently didn't bother to tell anyone about his razor blade and neither did our dear friend officer Cash who would have heard the exchange they had about it.

Also, aren't there at least security cameras around that would have seen the finger thing even if Harleen and Joker had apparently moved beyond needing a guard present? He's also got a wide range of freedom. Shit, I'm pretty sure he was chained up or straight-jacketed at the start in most of these things not just wandering around freely with multiple psychiatrists.

Issue 4

More issue 4

Meanwhile back in the Squad Deadshot asks Waller to confirm the Joker is dead and when she says yes, he curses her for keeping secrets.

Yet.... didn't Captain Boomerang tell the whole crew that Joker was dead and skinned alive in Gotham?

 He sure did! This was issue four. It wasn't even that long ago but here's Deadshot AND Harley both claiming no knowledge of this? Whatever.





You can understand when they're locked up not getting the daily news (although it never seems to stop the Joker) but we just saw Harley Quinn break into Arkham Asylum to grill a doctor there about it when a) we've been shown she's already aware of it and b) she stole maps when she escaped prison why not a freakin' newspaper?

Now the ending shows Harley surrendering to the cops in order to get access to the skinned Joker face that's in their custody.

A lot of things here also don't make sense.

They're not going to lead her to the face, presumably she'd be going into the cells.. away from the evidence locker.
Why isn't she going to Arkham Asylum? Wouldn't it be hilarious if she was put right back in there after she just arrived from there?
Obviously there's been a huge fire fight yet one single officer just walks her past the SWAT team into the station.

The station that's nearly on fire. Again, why isn't she going directly to Arkham, do not pass go, do not collect $200.








Plus... where is Batman? He's normally there in the shadows to hand the commissioner a tissue if he sneezes.

Then the kicker. The reason why Suicide Squad is sooooo stupid.
Waller told Deadshot she wants Harley dead or alive. The idea is to contain her failed experiment from blabbing to others and incriminating her. Deadshot says he wants/they need to get Harley out. Why is he not killing her via snipe to the back of the head?

I could buy not wanting to kill her if she perhaps HAD something that the Squad needed to retrieve or if this was part of a side mission or something like that but it's not. Harley Quinn has proven to herself to be a complete liability and not worth the risk. Is it the dodgy 'romance' thing since they sort of kind of didn't really shag? Yuck.

If they're trying to pull a oooh Deadshot's got a heart of gold, did you know he loves his daughter? thing they can get bent.  He clearly had no compunctions about killing a room full of clowns. He kills people left and right but for some unknown plot contrivance he won't shoot Harley Quinn and will instead compromise the mission, kill a few cops and risk the rest of the Squad to rescue her.
AAaaaand that's why this is the worst Deadshot ever. Well, apart from Will Smith.

The Short End of the Jester Schtick

Well we finally get some action going but in the end it just raises too many questions. I don't want to over think this stupid comic but when I first read it and even reading it now.. it takes me out if it. It's like sitting in a movie and noticing something so stupid or so implausible that you aren't sitting there enjoying your popcorn flick anymore. 

You emerge from the cinematic cocoon, blinking your new eyes, sitting in the worn chair, your feet sticky from the gross cinema floor and then murmuring your first words..."WTF was that, even?"

Same with this comic. I don't want to hate it even though this was the exact moment Harley Quinn as a character began to migrate steadily down hill. But I can't lose myself in this because the story isn't carried out well, the time skips are getting to be way too much of a burden and the questions I have are incessant.