Suicide Squad #6 Review and **SPOILERS**

Ooh, I’ll Give You Such a Pinch!

Writer: Rob Williams 

Penciller: Jim Lee 

Inkers: Scott Williams, Sandra Hope, Matt Banning, Jim Lee 

Colors: Alex Sinclair 

Letters: Pat Brosseau 

Cover: Lee, Williams and Sinclair 

Back-Up Artist: Carlos D’Anda 

Back-Up Colorist: Gabe Eltaeb 

Back-Up Letterer: Josh Reed 

Cover Price: $2.99 

On Sale Date: November 16, 2016

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Here’s the Gravediggaz, “1-800 SUICIDE,” featuring a very young, pre-Wu Tang Rza!

Weird that there’s a Busy Bee song with the same title that is wildly different. Here’s my review of Suicide Squad #6!

Explain It!

Last we saw, Rick Flag had bucked his gun to stop Amanda Waller from purposing an overgrown General Zod for wet work, though we didn’t really see him shoot it at Waller, did we? We can’t be positive that he didn’t fire a trick shot to hit the lever that would save the day and rescue the princess, can we? All that speculation comes to naught, because Rick Flag blasts Waller right in the head. Then, Katana steps in and stops the bullet with her sword…rescuing Amanda Waller? That’s certainly unexpected. This rightfully stuns Rick Flag, then Harcourt looks down into the Zod Lab and sees that the scientists are all fighting one another. The Phantom Zone-infused goop that trapped Zod is making everyone angry! I think. Waller disarms Flag with a headbutt and assumes control of the situation by being fierce and threatening, and then the lights go out.

In the cafeteria, Deadshot, El Diablo, and Harley Quinn are having lunch when everything goes dark. Just then, Hack walks in yapping about something or another, and the heavily armored guards in attendance taze her…on orders of Harcourt? When did she find the time to give some random guards an order? Isn’t she busy in the Zod lab’s observation chamber, trying to pry Waller and Rick Flag apart? Speaking of the observation chamber, the lights snap back on and Amanda’s first thought is to make sure the prisoners are intact because the state only pays their stipend if each inmate is intact. Katana’s sword starts wigging out, so she jumps down into the lab and kills the scientists, as you do. Waller figures out that the Black Vault is driving everyone angry, as evidenced by a scene with Killer Croc and June Moon, now freed from their cells, and Croc leans in to eat June—when he just said he wouldn’t last issue! Is “Killer” Croc really “Liar” Croc? How can we trust anything he says from now on?!

Over in the Belle Reve laboratory, Hack is restrained to a table while some Creepshow-looking dude in a knit cap menaces her, along with a descending circular saw that is arguably more menacing. Then, I think the lights go out? Or there’s a power surge or something, whatever it is the saw blade stops and Hack is automatically freed from her chair. While the prison is in chaos around her, Harley Quinn emerges from the rest room with a haircut and sensible stripper clothing as Dr. Harleen Quinzell—the Black Vault that drives everyone mad has the opposite effect on her! It’s no great revelation, however, because in the fracas, the red sun generation keeping Zod at bay broke—and General Zod is waking up!

The back-up is about Killer Croc, and Amanda Waller reveals his true origin as the object of bullies until he accidentally killed his best friend and went to prison, emerging as a cannibal. It’s alright, a little pithy, but I liked the art style. The rest of the book was…just sort of there, I suppose. The Black Vault is driving everyone batty, and that’s about as far as we went with the story. This thing has sort of been running in place for a while now, and I’m not thrilled about it. The Black Vault having an opposite effect on Harley Quinn was a good enough gimmick, I suppose, but I’m about ready for the Suicide Squad to head out and do some black ops again.

Bits and Pieces:

A pretty mediocre offering that advances the story by a small increment, and a back-up that is nothing to write home about. I feel like this book has been doing the same thing forever, only teasing us with new character developments but rarely following up on them in a satisfying way. Gotta say, Jim Lee's art is looking a little sloppy here. I'm not going to draw any hypotheses from this, though. Not every time out can be a step up to the plate homerun.

6/10