DC Comics Rebirth Spoilers and Review follow for Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #3.
The book opens with Batman freeing himself from the guards at Belle Reve to no one’s surprise, but Amanda Waller – Suicide Squad head – thought he’d have freed himself sooner.
The Suicide Squad gloat over beating the Justice League who are now imprisoned at Belle Reve. While the others mock the League, Superman asks Killer Frost why she hesitated before taking most of his life force? She explains she had a Metropolis moment of awe when she saw him fly overhead before she got her powers.
This is clearly setting up Killer Frost’s road to redemption and a place on the new Justice League of America series spinning out this mini-series; she even gets a one-shot this month.
We also get some exposition from Deadshot that unlike the Justice League the Suicide Squad is not a team, but survivors.
Then we move to an island in the South Pacific. Maxwell Lord wants something. His team dispatches the locals…
…while Max, with the help of Doctor Polaris, gets some information from the High Priest in a painful way.
Back at Belle Reve, Amanda Waller frees the Justice League. She needs their help alongside the Suicide Squad. Batman wants the Justice League to hear her out.
Amanda Waller then reveals the origin of the prisoners that Maxwell Lord freed from another secret prison called The Catacombs.
We then get two sets of splash pages with background on each of Maxwell Lord’s team… one…
…and two…
…while Superman zones in on Maxwell Lord identifying him as the biggest threat. Superman’s past with Lord is not revealed here.
Amanda Waller explains Maxwell Lord and his villainous partners are after her and she wants the Suicide Squad and Justice League to protect her.
Squad members laugh while the League looks perplexed at that laughter except Batman… although he as a bit of a smirk on his face.
At Batman’s urging she starts to explain what else they’re after. They are coming back to Belle Reve for something and they’re on their way now. Plus, they are not just individuals, they are team, a team…
…created by Amanda Waller. They were the first Suicide Squad!
Now that’s a big retcon. Did not see that coming.
So…
Overall, I was entertained by the issue, but there are some big “buts”.
The art wasn’t as strong as previous issues and I feel like I am a little bit of ahead of the story in part because of my knowledge of DC lore, but also because DC Comics released the below teaser ad for Justice League vs. Suicide Squad prior to the launch of the mini-series.
Notice anyone that hasn’t appeared in this mini-series yet? Yup, Eclipso.
I think Maxwell Lord is after Eclipso who is probably housed at Belle Reve and why they’re on their back there.
Why did Max and his team go to that South Pacific Island in this issue? Well, to retrieve the Heart of Darkness black diamond that powers Eclipso.
Here’s its old origin as well as Eclipso’s.
So, while I enjoyed this issue, I do feel I am a little ahead and wasn’t surprised by a lot of the developments. The moments between moments, like the Squad laughter, etc. and that characterization were the strengths for me of this issue as the rest of the main plot developments seem to be classic examples of decompressed storytelling…. writing for the collected edition.
However, I liked the reveal / retcon about the first Suicide Squad.
For those mixed reasons, I give this book a mixed rating of 6.5 out of 10.
