So for a change of pace, thought I might take a look back at the earlier incarnations of the New52 Suicide Squad and their tentative steps into the world of cross overs. I am not a Grifter fan, in case you were wondering. I don't know anything about him apart from his cheap Spidey-Poole costume, fondness for guns and a code name that implies he's dodgy as a backstreet lung.
Action packed cover. If you're wondering why the artist forgot to draw a bunch of arms holding those guns, it's because Grifter is telekenetic... because of course he is. Still doesn't excuse his lazy costume.
Opening up on some sort of briefing which we're later shown is a recording being shown to Waller alone, we're shown a red haired girl with green eyes and told this is the target, and she's joined some sort of alien cult because how else would she spend her Saturday night?
Anyway, the first picture of the girl is her in a green singlet, then the rest of the panels show her singled out in the middle of the room, then there are two more panels with a girl with red hair and green eyes, yet sitting at the front here and with a different dress.
Plus the people she's sitting next to are swapped out. Soo.... is the red head the same girl the whole time? Is the first image a stock photo and the rest is the 'live' scene? It's confusing. The art's not too bad though.
Waller gets chewed out for a past mission failure and then we're back into the action, watching Grifter run and monologue at the same time. Oh, and also dodging bullets. I wonder who's shooting at this guy? Could it be....
Yes! It's Shooty Robot, Fire Skull and Emo Levitating clown!
Oh lawd, doesn't Harley's face remind you of that time Dc released all the 'Arkham City/Harley's Revenge' tie ins and promos, and she was just constantly either crying or having dripping eyeliner? Wait, is this a nod to sad clowns? Well, either way her pose is stupid and she looks more wannabe emo than a dramatic-comedic persona. Also, Grifter and Deadshot have the same pose more or less.
Also Harley's quip would probably make more sense if she wasn't from Gotham and had a history of breaking into Arkham herself.
Still, as much as Harley's pose and face freaks me out... it's not as bad as the next page.
I gotta comment that every time I see it, Belle Reve looks different.
Just like every panel here has elements I've seen before and yet they're somehow off.
Where did the Iceberg come from? Why are they all walking together so close? Why have all their features and clothes blended into mush? How did El Diablo get hit and then just absolutely swan dive in front of Deadshot and end up on Deadshot's other side but now slightly behind him? Why is Iceberg suddenly well ahead of everyone when he was trailing them before?
I get that Grifter is probably hiding behind one of those super convenient ceiling bits but seriously... four people in this squad doing their best to 'search' for an intruder and all they can manage is to walk in a small pack looking straight ahead? Yikes.
The worst part is probably Grifter monologuing on the next panel about how dangerous the squad is and how they're so black ops. I really hope no Grifter fans were seriously introduced to the Squad this way because they're doing a little less than impressive here.
What IS impressive though is going from that little shot of Harley from the last paragraph and then this happens:
THAT is a classic Mark II Mega-Hammer from the original Harley Quinn days. And where exactly, pray tell, was she hiding that? Like, I'm happy to see a return to her roots but damn, you literally cannot pull that from nowhere like you're Bugs freakin' Bunny.
One thought I had was that maybe it was stashed somewhere in case of emergencies.. but how can we confirm this when there are a severe lack of floors or backgrounds in these panels? Also the perspective could use some work too. It looks like Harley has leapt forward to engage but suddenly she's right back with Deadshot who gets creamed? Then again I guess it could be the size of the hammer, not just how she's using it.
Iceberg vanishes but El Diablo manages to also have his attack backfire on Deadshot. Deadshot yells about Grifter being telekinetic and how they should all know that - but then this begs the question as to how were any of these goons meant to defeat him? Why not use a secondary Squad or engage a member who could combat his abilities.
The Squad's big break comes when a massive version of King Shark tries to eat Grifter but fails.
The first panel here I can't fault apart from Harley looking suddenly anorexic and no one on the Squad having eyeballs.... but it does the job and sells the notion of the motion. Then... the second and third panels really let it down because it's just the same image with Grifter moved slightly.
I guess they're just pinning him down and not letting him use his powers.. otherwise, like... did he forget he had them? It wasn't even like he got bit by King Shark, just got drooled on a bit.
Waller overpowers their steroid guards and meets someone she didn't expect at the compound, but succeeds in busting Kelly out.
Grifter awakes to find himself half naked, but able to show off that he too has steroid muscles. Hey wait, where'd Black Spider come from? The editor's note says that this comic happened before the events of 'Death of the Family' but if I recall, didn't Black Spider betray the Squad before then? Like, in issue 12 and 13? Then DOTF happened over in Suicide Squad 14. Not sure what to make of that. Iceberg seems to have both hands so does that mean this is set before those events too? But then, didn't Iceberg only join the Squad in issue 11 , and 12-13 were sort of immediately after that?
Anyway, the Squad stand there being all ominous until they're kicked out without ceremony.
I don't know who William J Warick is but I think his name is spelt wrong. Anyway, looks like Grifter was sucked in to believing some cult guy about aliens and stealing things from Waller for some reason. But then he turns out to be craaaazy in a plot twist no one saw coming.
The plot was kinda jumpy - the kind of time skips that are so prevalent in the New52 and in particular the Suicide Squad. Combine that with a new character - Grifter - and seemingly other tie ins to characters I don't know or events I don't care about - lead me to lose interest in any of the story.
And it's not like an awful lot happened when it boils down to it - but it still left me feeling slightly lost and underwhelmed.
As I mentioned before - this isn't one of the Squad's best moments, and you really get the impression that they only 'won' against Grifter because the plot - or what resembles it - called for it.
The art was inconsistent and at times, rather scary. My main issue was that it was just lazy.
More than once are the exact same panels used with minor variations, the moment the characters are even slightly further away they look like crap. I mean, sure, I don't expect as much detail the further they are from us but damn, if you scroll down you'll see what I'm talking about.
Anyway, unless you're a hardcore Squad or Grifter fan, there's not much point to reading this tie in.
Okay, the first time we see her, it's the two toned corset with the alternating colours in a strip just near the laces. Booty shorts are of a similar design. There is quite a gap between the two sides of her top.
Blue arm brace and thigh high on the right, red to the left. No visible shoes.
Next time we see her, it's a further away shot, so less detailed. Corset is one colour on one side only, pants are completely red. Same red/blue sides for her leggings, but her braces are clearly missing. Corset does not show a deep v or any laces. Corset colours have changed sides.
The following panel keeps the one colour to one side only on the corset, in this case it's red for right, left for blue and we can see some blue lacing but it's very tight together, no boobies popping out. Shorts are two toned again, with different coloured hemming.
In the scene where she's curb stomping Grifter, Harley has kept the two toned booty shorts, no alternate piping. The blue section looks black. The corset has alternate piping on the bottom, while the top has two colours on each side - essentially halving each section of the corset. We've also gone back to defined lacing, but looser and allowing a V to be seen.
Then, we have a very deep V corset, black lacing, predominant blue on right with a defined.. collar? of red, and then vice versa on the left. Shorts seem to show a hint of red hem on the blue side but hard to tell. Pants are also a lot smaller and higher.
These - apart from the panel just showing her head and the two showing her blue boot - are the ONLY pictures of Harley in this issue. Most of the times where I've pointed out the inconsistencies with her costume are ones where she's in the issue a lot more, so there are mathematically more times for them to potentially screw it up. Here, there's FIVE pictures. And not one of them is the same. Is it too much to ask for, for a little proof-checking or even having a design sketch for the Harley the artist wants to draw on their desk as a reminder?
Speaker: They call themselves The Resistance.
Attendee: And what exactly are they resisting?
Speaker: That's the fun part.... aliens.
Speaker: Look... They're a cult. Movement. Whatever you want to call them, I call them nuts. And in our line of work, it's a hop, skip and a jump from nuts to dangerous.
Waller: So, is this what goes on here? We've been invaded by little green men and all that noise?
Grifter: But I might want to focus on Deadshot. Because.... ....well, he's a dead shot.
 |
| Feb 2013 |
Action packed cover. If you're wondering why the artist forgot to draw a bunch of arms holding those guns, it's because Grifter is telekenetic... because of course he is. Still doesn't excuse his lazy costume.
Anyway, the first picture of the girl is her in a green singlet, then the rest of the panels show her singled out in the middle of the room, then there are two more panels with a girl with red hair and green eyes, yet sitting at the front here and with a different dress.
Plus the people she's sitting next to are swapped out. Soo.... is the red head the same girl the whole time? Is the first image a stock photo and the rest is the 'live' scene? It's confusing. The art's not too bad though.
Waller gets chewed out for a past mission failure and then we're back into the action, watching Grifter run and monologue at the same time. Oh, and also dodging bullets. I wonder who's shooting at this guy? Could it be....
Oh lawd, doesn't Harley's face remind you of that time Dc released all the 'Arkham City/Harley's Revenge' tie ins and promos, and she was just constantly either crying or having dripping eyeliner? Wait, is this a nod to sad clowns? Well, either way her pose is stupid and she looks more wannabe emo than a dramatic-comedic persona. Also, Grifter and Deadshot have the same pose more or less.
Also Harley's quip would probably make more sense if she wasn't from Gotham and had a history of breaking into Arkham herself.
Still, as much as Harley's pose and face freaks me out... it's not as bad as the next page.
 |
| Eesh. Kelly is too far gone to extract, Waller! |
I gotta comment that every time I see it, Belle Reve looks different.
Just like every panel here has elements I've seen before and yet they're somehow off.
Where did the Iceberg come from? Why are they all walking together so close? Why have all their features and clothes blended into mush? How did El Diablo get hit and then just absolutely swan dive in front of Deadshot and end up on Deadshot's other side but now slightly behind him? Why is Iceberg suddenly well ahead of everyone when he was trailing them before?
I get that Grifter is probably hiding behind one of those super convenient ceiling bits but seriously... four people in this squad doing their best to 'search' for an intruder and all they can manage is to walk in a small pack looking straight ahead? Yikes.
The worst part is probably Grifter monologuing on the next panel about how dangerous the squad is and how they're so black ops. I really hope no Grifter fans were seriously introduced to the Squad this way because they're doing a little less than impressive here.
What IS impressive though is going from that little shot of Harley from the last paragraph and then this happens:
THAT is a classic Mark II Mega-Hammer from the original Harley Quinn days. And where exactly, pray tell, was she hiding that? Like, I'm happy to see a return to her roots but damn, you literally cannot pull that from nowhere like you're Bugs freakin' Bunny.
One thought I had was that maybe it was stashed somewhere in case of emergencies.. but how can we confirm this when there are a severe lack of floors or backgrounds in these panels? Also the perspective could use some work too. It looks like Harley has leapt forward to engage but suddenly she's right back with Deadshot who gets creamed? Then again I guess it could be the size of the hammer, not just how she's using it.
Iceberg vanishes but El Diablo manages to also have his attack backfire on Deadshot. Deadshot yells about Grifter being telekinetic and how they should all know that - but then this begs the question as to how were any of these goons meant to defeat him? Why not use a secondary Squad or engage a member who could combat his abilities.
The Squad's big break comes when a massive version of King Shark tries to eat Grifter but fails.
The first panel here I can't fault apart from Harley looking suddenly anorexic and no one on the Squad having eyeballs.... but it does the job and sells the notion of the motion. Then... the second and third panels really let it down because it's just the same image with Grifter moved slightly.
I guess they're just pinning him down and not letting him use his powers.. otherwise, like... did he forget he had them? It wasn't even like he got bit by King Shark, just got drooled on a bit.
Waller overpowers their steroid guards and meets someone she didn't expect at the compound, but succeeds in busting Kelly out.
 |
| Pffft. Look at King Shark's dumb ass grin! |
Grifter awakes to find himself half naked, but able to show off that he too has steroid muscles. Hey wait, where'd Black Spider come from? The editor's note says that this comic happened before the events of 'Death of the Family' but if I recall, didn't Black Spider betray the Squad before then? Like, in issue 12 and 13? Then DOTF happened over in Suicide Squad 14. Not sure what to make of that. Iceberg seems to have both hands so does that mean this is set before those events too? But then, didn't Iceberg only join the Squad in issue 11 , and 12-13 were sort of immediately after that?
Anyway, the Squad stand there being all ominous until they're kicked out without ceremony.
 |
| Can someone PLEASE give Harley her eyeballs back? PLEASE? |
The Short End of the Jester Schtick
The plot was kinda jumpy - the kind of time skips that are so prevalent in the New52 and in particular the Suicide Squad. Combine that with a new character - Grifter - and seemingly other tie ins to characters I don't know or events I don't care about - lead me to lose interest in any of the story.
And it's not like an awful lot happened when it boils down to it - but it still left me feeling slightly lost and underwhelmed.
As I mentioned before - this isn't one of the Squad's best moments, and you really get the impression that they only 'won' against Grifter because the plot - or what resembles it - called for it.
The art was inconsistent and at times, rather scary. My main issue was that it was just lazy.
More than once are the exact same panels used with minor variations, the moment the characters are even slightly further away they look like crap. I mean, sure, I don't expect as much detail the further they are from us but damn, if you scroll down you'll see what I'm talking about.
Anyway, unless you're a hardcore Squad or Grifter fan, there's not much point to reading this tie in.
Harley's Wardrobe Malfunctions
Okay, the first time we see her, it's the two toned corset with the alternating colours in a strip just near the laces. Booty shorts are of a similar design. There is quite a gap between the two sides of her top.
Blue arm brace and thigh high on the right, red to the left. No visible shoes.
Next time we see her, it's a further away shot, so less detailed. Corset is one colour on one side only, pants are completely red. Same red/blue sides for her leggings, but her braces are clearly missing. Corset does not show a deep v or any laces. Corset colours have changed sides.
The following panel keeps the one colour to one side only on the corset, in this case it's red for right, left for blue and we can see some blue lacing but it's very tight together, no boobies popping out. Shorts are two toned again, with different coloured hemming.
In the scene where she's curb stomping Grifter, Harley has kept the two toned booty shorts, no alternate piping. The blue section looks black. The corset has alternate piping on the bottom, while the top has two colours on each side - essentially halving each section of the corset. We've also gone back to defined lacing, but looser and allowing a V to be seen.
Then, we have a very deep V corset, black lacing, predominant blue on right with a defined.. collar? of red, and then vice versa on the left. Shorts seem to show a hint of red hem on the blue side but hard to tell. Pants are also a lot smaller and higher.
These - apart from the panel just showing her head and the two showing her blue boot - are the ONLY pictures of Harley in this issue. Most of the times where I've pointed out the inconsistencies with her costume are ones where she's in the issue a lot more, so there are mathematically more times for them to potentially screw it up. Here, there's FIVE pictures. And not one of them is the same. Is it too much to ask for, for a little proof-checking or even having a design sketch for the Harley the artist wants to draw on their desk as a reminder?
Wotta Comedian!
Speaker: They call themselves The Resistance.
Attendee: And what exactly are they resisting?
Speaker: That's the fun part.... aliens.
Speaker: Look... They're a cult. Movement. Whatever you want to call them, I call them nuts. And in our line of work, it's a hop, skip and a jump from nuts to dangerous.
Waller: So, is this what goes on here? We've been invaded by little green men and all that noise?
Grifter: But I might want to focus on Deadshot. Because.... ....well, he's a dead shot.
Bonus Panels!
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| Excuse me, my friend would like to show you how to properly clean your floors... |
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| "He's gotta help me find my pants!" |
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| Don't you just hate it when you try and do the Squad walk but then your clothes meld into your body and you lose your shoes and facial features? |
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