Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Suicide Squad #12 Review




The Road To War

Written By: Robbie Thompson, Dennis Hopeless
Art By: Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Dexter Soy, Marcelo Maiolo, Matt Herms, Wes Abbott
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 1, 2022


In case you don't remember where we left off in the previous issue, Rick Flag was none too happy with how Amanda Waller has been running Task Force X. With her being on the run from the government and all, Rick went and put together his own Suicide Squad to go after his former employer.  While that was going on, our current Suicide Squad was proving themselves to the Wall by going to Earth-8 and taking on their versions of the Avengers and Thunderbolts.  Still, as we've gotten with a lot of this book, it just seemed like a scavenger hunt where we go to a new location, fight and move on.  Hopefully, with this issue, everything changes as we're heading towards the War For Earth-3. So let's jump into this issue and see how everything pans out.


We've got a story on two-fronts this issue where we see our current Suicide Squad taking on their Earth-8 counterparts, the Lightning Strikes.  Back on Earth-0, we see Amanda Waller doing her best to try and wrap things up on Task Force X Island before making her leave, now that Rick Flag and his Suicide Squad have come to the island.  Sadly, as much as I wanted to like either story, there isn't much going on.  On Earth-8, you have Major Force just going nuts as he does, but for some reason, it feels like he's going more nuts than usual, and on top of that, you have Ambush Bug insufferable the whole time with his fourth-wall-breaking antics...... Boy, do I want Ambush Bug gone from this book.  




Ultimately though, while you want to see Rick Flag's team of badasses kicking ass and taking names, while maybe also getting our regular crew doing the same thing or even having the two groups fight each other, you really don't get any of that since Rick Flag's crew are taking out nameless guards, the Earth-8 fight like I said is Major Force doing his best douchebag impersonation.  I am happy that we're leading to the War For Earth-3 crossover, but there wasn't much to get excited for in this comic.  There is no sense of gratification for anybody,  and really how things played out in the end just left me scratching my head.




All in all, the art in this issue continues to be great.  Still, with each issue of this series that seemingly just wants to do nothing but take us to a location and have Ambush Bug crack jokes, I find myself losing all interest in a book that I was hyping hard when it originally came out because of how well it used the characters it was playing with...... but we're moving further and further away from what originally made this book shine.  Now it's just a shell of what it once was.  Hopefully, the War For Earth-3 will right the ship, we can avoid the Future State that we saw.  The Suicide Squad can go back to being about the characters that we started with, continuing their progression and relationships while also getting badass missions that feel like they matter to the degree that goes beyond Amanda Waller's loser delusions. 


Make sure to listen to our Weekly DC Comics Recap and Review Podcast to hear us talk more about this book.  Just look up "Weird Science DC Comics" anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!


Bits and Pieces:


The characters we have are still solid.... except for my personal disdain for Ambush Bug.  Still, it really feels like this storyline has outstayed its welcome.  While we are moving towards the War For Earth-3, which I am looking forward to, the character interactions and relationships previously made this book feel special.  Unfortunately, the scavenger hunt-style storytelling has left me wanting, and in this issue, we barely get anything that feels satisfying to what we've been dealing with.  Yeah, the art is still great, but I hope that by the end of the War For Earth-3, we avert the direction that Future State was taking us.


5.5/10

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