Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Suicide Squad #67Suicide Squad #67
DC Comics
Simone, Ostrander & Calafiore

DC resurrected a bunch of cancelled titles this month in conjunction with Blackest Night. Suicide Squad was one of them and it has ties to the present because the Secret Six title has some overlap with that long since cancelled Suicide Squad series. This comic manages to bring the two sets of characters together in this issue very nicely. It takes readers who have been following the Secret Six title and carries along those plots while introducing the key cast from the Suicide Squad series. The only thing this issue is lacking is its involvement in the Blackest Night event, but this one-shot is really just the first issue of a three issue arc that continues in the Secret Six series. It's confusing in that way.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe comic's plot is very simple. Deadshot, a member of the Secret Six, is sought after by the Suicide Squad, of which he used to be a member. The Suicide Squad, led by Amanda Waller, sets a trap for the Secret Six in order to capture Deadshot in hopes of getting him to work for the Suicide Squad. This issue sets the plot and executes the trap. It's a very comprehensive and a good comic book.

The real treat in the issue is the character writing done by Simone and Ostrander. The comic has a wide array of characters and they all establish their own voice and they all play a role in the comic. Not only in some aspect of the plot but also in their interactions with each other and this makes the issue a terrific read. Even when the characters are discussing events that took place in some previous issue that's left largely unexplained in this issue the character writing makes the events have some sort of meaning to them.

The artwork is very good as well. With the issue so heavy on the character work the artwork is forced to keep up with the reactions of the characters to the dialogue and it pulls this off tremendously.

The only oddity with the comic is that it's really not a one shot, but the start of an arc outside of the normal Secret Six series. This means that the assumption is that any reader of the Secret Six will be picking this up and I'm not sure that's the case. On the other hand I suppose those that have been waiting for years for that sixty-seventh issue of Suicide Squad or those that are reading all of these one-shots they now have a reason to start reading Secret Six. Either way I'm not sure how this issue can be marketed as a Blackest Night one shot when it has very little to do with Blackest Night except some old group members rising up out of some coffins and never interacting with anyone living.

The issue is very good and it really fits perfectly in line with the Secret Six series. Perhaps in the final two issues of the arc will involve the Blackest Night storyline more but not this issue. Once you get past some of the ongoing drama from some of the plots running into this issue, you have a very good and condense story bringing together a good sized cast with some interesting interactions.

4 out of 5 Geek Goggles