Retro Reviews: Suicide Squad #40-66 By Ostrander, Yale, Isherwood, McDonnell, & Others For DC Comics

Suicide Squad #40-66 (April 1990 – June 1992)

Written by John Ostrander (#40-66), Kim Yale (#40-43, 45-66), David DeVries (#44)

Penciled by Geof Isherwood (#40-43, 45, 47-48, 50, 53-66), Luke McDonnell (#44, 46, 49-51), Grant Miehm (#50), Jim Fern (#52)

Inked by Geof Isherwood (#40-41, 43, 45-51), Mark Badger (#42), Luke McDonnell (#44, 50), Karl Kesel (#50), Robert Campanella (#52-66), Tom Mandrake (#56), Andrew Pepoy (#63-64)

Colour by Carl Gafford (#40-45), Tom McCraw (#46-66)

Spoilers (from twenty-nine to thirty-one years ago)

The Suicide Squad was one of my favourite DC comics because of how different it was from every other mainstream superhero book at the time. John Ostrander (and sometimes cowriter Kim Yale) found a new formula, mixing black ops espionage with supervillains, and it was very effective. After a little more than three years, they switched things up though.

The Squad was disbanded by Sarge Steel, the man put in charge of all metahuman government programs, and its Director, Amanda Waller, was put in jail for murdering three drug lords. After that, the series jumped forward a year in time, and that’s where we’re picking things up.

I remember that this half of the Ostrander/Yale run started strong, with less emphasis placed on being placed on costumed characters, but things started to change as the run continued. I don’t remember much of the ending, but I do remember that it wasn’t the same book. Whatever it was about the early 90s that ruined so many titles happened here too. I’m curious to see exactly how things degraded, and if my memories of that are even correct.

Let’s track who turned up in the title:

Suicide Squad:

Amanda Waller (#40-56, 58-66)
Vixen (Mari McCabe; #41-43, 45-47, 51, 58)
Poison Ivy (Pamela Isley; #41-43, 46-47, 58-59, 64-66)
Bronze Tiger (Benjamin Turner; #41-43, 45-47, 49-51, 54-59, 61-62, 64-66)
Captain Boomerang (George “Digger” Harkness; #41-46, 49-51, 54-59, 61-66)
Ravan (#41-43, 45-47)
Deadshot (Floyd Lawton; #43-46, 49-51, 54-59, 61-66)
The Atom (Adam Cray; #44-47, 49, 54-57, 59, 61)
Count Vertigo (Werner Vertigo; #46-48, 51, 54-59, 61-66)
Rick Flag (original Suicide Squad; #50)
Karin Grace (original Suicide Squad; #50)
Jeff Bright (original Suicide Squad; #50)
Hugh Evans (original Suicide Squad; #50)
Nemesis (Tom Tressor; #50-51, 60-61)
Nightshade (Eve Eden; #50-51, 53-59, 61-66)
Enchantress (possessing Eve Eden; #50, 57)
Thinker II (Cliff Carmichael; #51, 54-57, 59-64)
Oracle (Barbara Gordon/Amy Beddoes; #51, 54-57, 59, 61, 63-65)
Doctor Light (Arthur Light; #52)
Stalnoivolk (Ivan Illyich Gort; #53-57)
Mark Shaw (#53-58)
Maser (Captains of Industry; #58-59)
Catalyst (Captains of Industry; #58)
Firehawk (Lorraine O’Reilly; #58)
Silver Swan (#58)
Black Adam (Teth-Adam; #58)
Javelin (#58)
Major Victory (Bill Wickers; #58-59)
Enforcer (#58)
The Writer (Grant Morrison; #58)
Sportsmaster (#58)
Karma (#58)
Outlaw (John Henry Martin; #58, 64-65)
Atom (Ray Palmer; #62, 64)

Villains

Deadshot (Floyd Lawton; #40-42)
Stalnoivolk (Ivan Illyich Gort, Red Shadows; #40-41, 43)
Blue Trinity (Red Shadows; #41-43)
Major Zastrow (Red Shadows; #41-43, 50, 53-56)
Molotov (Red Shadows; #41-42)
General Kaligari (USSR; #41-43)
Colonel Kapek (Vlatava; #42-43)
Bolshoi (Red Shadows; #42-43)
W. James Heller (#43)
Kobra (Lord Naga-Naga; #45-47)
Thinker II (Cliff Carmichael; #48-50, 65)
Koshchei the Deathless (Jeff Bright; #50)
Marc Pilar (#51)
Mister Biff A. Stopholies (demon; #52)
Mister Biff A. Stopholies’s unnamed toady (#52)
Billy/Terry Tidewater (#53-54, 56)
Captain Vladimir Illyitch Ziuko (#53-56)
Okami (Daichi Doku; #53-54, 57)
Ryu (Oyabun, Daichi Doku; #53, 56-57)
Catseye (Daichi Doku; #53, 55-57)
Mrs. Gradenko (Red Shadows; #54-57)
Yerosha (Red Shadows; #54-57)
Lamia (Red Shadows; #54, 56-57)
Schrek (Red Shadows; #55-57)
President Marlo (President of Qurac; #59-61)
Blacksnake (Micro Force; #59, 61-62, 64)
Sting (Micro Force; #59, 61)
Agni (Jihad; #59-62)
Piscator (Janissary; #60-62)
Badb (Jihad; #60-62)
Major George A. McClellan (The Cabal; #61-62)
General Wade Eiling (The Cabal; #61)
Mr. Bailey (Micro Force; #61-62)
Ms. Hubbard (Micro Force; #61-62)
Bolt (#63-66)
Deadline (#63-65)
Blockbuster (#63-66)
Sudden Death (#63-66)
Shrapnel (#63-65)
Pathfinder (Task Force X; #64-66)
Kaliber (Task Force X; #64-66)
Metamorpheus (Task Force X; #64-66)
Sidewinder (Task Force X; #64-65)
Guedhe (#65-66)

Guest Stars

Batman (Bruce Wayne; #40-44, 59-62)
Commissioner James Gordon (#40)
Alfred Pennyworth (#40)
Count Vertigo (Werner Vertigo; #41-43)
Martian Manhunter (J’onn J’onzz; #44)
The Flash (Barry Allen; #44)
Judith (Hayoth; #45-47, 60-62)
Ramban (Hayoth; #45-47, 60-63)
Golem (Moyshe Nakhman, Hayoth; #45-47, 59-62)
Dybbuk (Hayoth; #46-47, 60, 63)
Henri Ducard (#51)
Doctor Light (Jacob Finlay’s ghost; #52)
Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi; #52)
Katana (Tatsu Yamashiro; #53-57)
Lady Blackhawk (#54, 64)
Pariah (#58)
Superman (Clark Kent; #59-62)
Aquaman (Arthur Curry; #59-62)

Supporting Characters

Sarge Steel (CBI, head of all government metahuman programs; #40-41, 43, 61-63)
Colonel Hacohen (Hayoth; #45-47, 60-61, 63)
Dr. Simon LaGrieve (Institute for Meta-Human Studies; #48-51, 58-59, 63-64)
Oracle (Barbara Gordon; #48-49)
Ricky Flag (#48, 50)
General JEB Stuart (#49-50)
J. Daniel “Murph” Murphy (Belle Reve head guard; #52-53)
Father Richard Craemer (Belle Reve chaplain; #52)
Hastings (Belle Reve Warden; #53)
Maria Almovodar (#63-66)
Dr. Yvonne Calendar (Institute for Meta-Human Studies; #63)
Leah Wasserman (fka Mindboggler; #63)

Let’s take a look at what happened in these books, with some commentary as we go:

The four-part Phoenix Gambit opens with Amanda Waller sitting in her jail cell, where she’s now been for a year. Sarge Steel comes to see her, offering to let her go free if she does a job for him. Waller figures that he’s needy if he’s coming to her, and says that she has terms. He storms off, and she acts kind of smug. He gets into his car, where he tells the two men waiting for him that she saw through him, and that they will have to deal with the “Vlatavan thing” another way. Someone we don’t see is listening to the conversation; he turns to Deadshot and asks if he’s ready to proceed with a contract; Lawton agrees. In Gotham, Batman attends a scene at the docks, where an older man has been killed. He talks to James Gordon, and figures out that the man was thrown off a nearby ship by someone very strong. Batman asks to speak to the witnesses, and learns that the dead man, Mr. Varga, saw something on the evening news that upset him. Varga, a former Vlatavan who owned the shipping yards, had a lot of guns at home. Batman leaves, and checks in with Alfred while driving his car. Together, they figure out that Varga would have seen Ivan Illyich Gort, Stalnoivolk, at an event at the Russian consulate that the news covered. Batman tracks Gort down and confronts him on the street, telling him that he figures Varga tried to kill Gort with a Magnum loaded with teflon shells. Gort is dismissive, so Batman attacks him. They fight for five pages before Gort leaps away (think of a Hulk leap). Batman is immediately confronted by Sarge Steel, who tells him that he wants him to stand down, threatening to uncover his identity if he doesn’t. Steel then changes tactics and asks Batman to help him, and to come with him to Louisiana. There, they meet with Amanda, who is back in the old operations room. Steel explains that the government has an issue that would be perfect for the Squad, but there is no Suicide Squad anymore. In Vlatava, there is a revolution taking place, bankrolled by American right wingers, centred on Count Vertigo. In response, the Soviets have sent Red Shadows, their metahuman covert group, led by Zastrow and Gort. By killing Varga, they’ve cut off a supply line to the revolution. Steel knows that there are people supporting the insurrection in the American government, and want it to lead to open warfare between America and the Soviets, whereas Steel would prefer to see Gorbachev have time to implement his reforms. The President wants to keep America out of it, but also wants to support the freedom fighters, as they’d rather see Vlatava out of the Soviet Union. It’s time for Waller to start the Squad back up. She explains that she wants to be pardoned for her crimes, be allowed to access prisoners again, offering them the same deal as before, wants Batman’s help on this mission, and wants a million dollars. Her vision is that her new Squad will be autonomous and hired case-by-case, with the million dollar fee each time. In return, the government won’t supply her with a headquarters or support staff, but also won’t fix things if there’s a problem. Steel agrees, and Batman wonders why she wants him involved. She explains that she needs his help to track down the people she wants on the team. He agrees, but promises to shut her down if he doesn’t like what she does.
Count Vertigo leads some of his rebels against Soviet soldiers and tanks in Vlatava. The members of Blue Trinity have been transferred to the Red Shadows, the Soviet version of the Suicide Squad, in the hopes that their speed would outpace Vertigo’s powers, but they are ineffective. Zastrow watches Vertigo win this fight on a nearby hill with Gort and the former People’s Hero Molotov. Gort tosses Molotov at Vertigo, knowing he’d explode on contact. This takes the Count down, and his people grab him and retreat. Gort tells Zastrow that they have a leak in their organization, based on how he was “set up” in America, but Zastrow doesn’t believe him. Mari McCabe, Vixen, has a fashion show in New York, and is surprised to find Waller waiting backstage. Mari turns Waller away, until she learns that she’s going to look for Ben Turner next. Mari agrees to come with her, and to work this job. Waller tells her to bring her totem, but not her costume. Protestors gather outside the home of the General who rules Puerto Azul, and inside the home, we see that Poison Ivy has been manipulating the General for her own ends. Now that the people have turned on him, she sees no use for him, and plans to escape. She’s surprised to see that Batman has come for her, and learns that her escape plan is now ruined. Batman tells her that if she agrees to work for Waller, he’ll get her out. Waller and Mari walk into a bar in a rough part of the capital of Ogaden, and find Ben Turner, wearing his Bronze Tiger face makeup, is drinking alone. He tells Mari that he’s only the Tiger now, and they start to fight. Waller knocks out a racist who is enjoying the fight, and then shoots at Ben and Mari to get their attention. She tells Ben what she’s after, and tells him to wipe the makeup off his face. He refuses, but she stares him down and he relents. In Vlatava, General Kaligari, the Soviet leader, has an argument with Zastrow, who makes it clear that he’s only there to deal with Vertigo, and not the entire insurgency. After the General storms out, Zastrow admits to Gort that Kaligari has some power over them in this situation, because he could expose the Red Shadows if he wished; he also shares that he wonders if Gort is working against him. Waller, Ben, and Mari take a helicopter to the deserted island where she left Captain Boomerang a year before. He’s in the process of building a catapult to launch him and a large boomerang towards the mainland, and refuses to leave with them. Mari launches his contraption, and it crashes into some rocks just off the island. Boomer decides to join up. In London, Batman interrupts Ravan in his prayers at his “cyberchurch”. We learn that Ravan has set up this temple, but it’s really a front for his assassination business. Batman blows the church up and drags Ravan away with him. Steel reports to his colleagues that Waller is heading for Vlatava with her team, and that he won’t be in touch with her again. The same shadowy figure we saw before is listening in on Steel’s conversation with Deadshot. He tells Lawton he has a job for him, and Lawton complains that he didn’t know before that Gort would shrug off his shot. The person tells Lawton to go kill Waller.

Protests continue in Vlatava, and since Zastrow insists on only using the Red Shadows to assist in metahuman affairs, Colonel Kaligari orders his soldiers to open fire on the protestors. Batman brings Ravan to the rest of the Squad in Paris. At first, Ravan is angry about his church, but agrees to work with Waller again when he learns that Kobra is still alive (it was believed that Captain Atom killed him). Waller tells Batman that he has to figure out who is behind everything in return to having Gort turned over to him. He doesn’t believe that Waller thinks Ben can take Gort down, and it’s clear that Ben is still very troubled. They also learn that Waller is going in the field with them. The team departs, but on arrival in Vlatava, are stopped at the airport. Kaligari continues to argue with Zastrow over how to use the Red Shadows, and then reveals that he’s hired Waller and the Suicide Squad. Zastrow disagrees with Kaligari’s methods and leaves, and Kaligari tries to get Waller down on her price, and, confiscating their passports, has them held in a dorm for the night. The team appears to argue with one another as they check the room for listening devices. Once Waller starts jamming surveillance, they go over their plan. At Count Vertigo’s Camp, Colonel Kapek (last seen in Manhunter) and a man named Heinrich discuss their plans. The Count is okay physically, but he’s in the depressive stage of his mental illness. Kapek wants Vertigo dosed with a drug that he’s becoming addicted to, so they can use him. Heinrich injects him, and he starts writhing in pain. Bolshoi, one of the Red Shadows, walks through the Vlatavan HQ, wondering why he’s on the mission, since all he is is a dancer. He spots Batman on a rooftop and decides this is a chance to prove his worth and goes after him. Mari sneaks towards Zastrow’s office, and when Zastrow hears of the fight with Batman and rushes off, she gets in to look at his plans. Batman’s fight with Bolshoi is interrupted by the Blue Trinity, who manage to catch him quite easily. Waller is alone in the Squad’s room, and hears a knock on the door. She tells whoever is there to come back in the morning, but the door blows open. Deadshot is there to kill her.
Waller doesn’t believe that Lawton will kill her, and instead offers to match what he’s getting paid, plus a dollar, to go back and shoot the person who hired him, who it turns out, is William Heller. Floyd agrees and leaves. Count Vertigo is on a bit of a religious kick, but Colonel Capek thinks that will be useful, so long as Vertigo keeps doing what their American patron wants. Poison Ivy approaches Vertigo and manages to take control of his mind with one kiss. She knocks out Capek and the other guy, and then decides to betray Waller and use Vertigo to take over Vlatava for herself. Zastrow and the Red Shadows prepare to interrogate Batman, but discover that it’s actually Captain Boomerang wearing the Bat-suit. In Washington, a guy named General Stoneman is about to be abducted by guys in trench coats, but Batman swoops in and saves him. Batman points out that these guys were meant to look like KGB agents, but reveals that he knows that Stoneman’s been the leak in Steel’s office, and that he was able to trace the cargo manifests from the docks to him. Batman demands the name of the person behind everything. Ben attacks Stalnoivolk in Vlatava, and does very well against him. Mari swoops in and knocks Gort out, which angers Ben. She storms off. Zastrow continues to interrogate Boomerang, and sends the Blue Trinity to get Waller. They can’t find her, but then she turns up in the room. We see that Kaligari is listening in on their conversation. Waller tells Zastrow that she knows who has been pulling the strings, and hands him a piece of paper with that name on it. He reads it, but not out loud, angering Kaligari. Waller tells Zastrow that with Vertigo out of the way, he doesn’t need to stay in Vlatava. At the same time, Ravan kills Kaligari. Waller checks in on Ivy, and she tells her of her new plans. Waller points out that Vlatava is broke, and she changes her mind again, but decides to keep Vertigo. Waller tells Zastrow that she wants Gort to stand trial in Gotham, and Boomerang punches Zastrow out, just because. Later, in Washington, Deadshot returns to Heller’s office and is about to shoot him when Batman comes in through the window. Lawton shoots Heller anyway, but doesn’t kill him, since Waller only said to shoot him. Later still, Waller and Batman meet with Steel to wrap things up. We learn that the paper Waller gave Zastrow had his own name on it, since he was hoping to make enough of a mess in Vlatava that it brought Gorbachev down in Russia. They talk about how with the Cold War ending, Waller feels like the chaos that’s coming is perfect for the Suicide Squad.

Issue forty-four was co-written by Gary DeVries, the Australian writer behind Southern Squadron (I should dig the American printing of that out to read again), but not by Kim Yale. It opens with a funeral for Ray Palmer, the Atom, after his home exploded mysteriously. Martian Manhunter pledges to monitor the investigation carefully. As this is being televised, Amanda Waller is joined by The Atom – a man in a balaclava with reddish hair. He is worried that the League, especially Batman, could cause trouble, but Waller assures him that he’s the Atom now that Palmer is dead. Captain Boomerang has returned home to Kurrumburra Australia, with Deadshot, to attend his mother’s funeral. He asks Lawton to call him George while they’re there, and introduces him to his father and brother, who aren’t terribly happy to see him. He introduces Lawton to his old friend Mick, and they talk about how as a kid, his father wouldn’t pay attention to him. He met Mick while throwing around a boomerang he had built. As they grew up, they got into more and more trouble, culminating in them robbing a general store and punching out the owner. George gets into an argument with his brother, and then decides to leave. He mentions he has to pick up his Uncle Walt. He continues to narrate his story to Lawton, telling him about how he knew he needed to leave town after the general store incident, but his father didn’t agree and didn’t want him bothering his brother when he got to Melbourne. His parents started arguing, and his father ended up hitting his mother, so George knocked him out, and then skipped town. His mother came to see him with money to get to the US, where her friend WW Wiggins ran a toy company and figured that with George’s help, he could market boomerangs. George and Floyd meet up with Uncle Walt, who is Wiggins. George then tells Lawton how it was Walt that came up with the Captain Boomerang name and costume, as they went on the fair circuit. George didn’t have the patience needed for hecklers, and ended up wandering one of these fairs where the Flash (Barry Allen) happened to be signing autographs. He tried to pick someone’s pocket but Flash saw him, and when he confronted him, George knocked him out with a boomerang. This led to him taking on the role of a costumed criminal. George, Lawton, and Walt arrive at the church for the funeral, but George’s father throws a fit at seeing Walt there. Walt leaves, and when George protests, his father makes some suspicious comments about Walt’s friendship with his mother. Walt explains to George that he had an affair with his mother during the war, and then they hooked up one more time years later, and that’s when she got pregnant with George. This helps George understand why he’s never gotten along with his family. Floyd suggests they go get some drinks, but Boomerang just wants to get back to Waller and the Squad.
Kobra is in Beirut, which is a war zone in 1990, where he’s arranged to purchase some nuclear triggers. It turns out that he was being set up by the American government, but he has gunmen everywhere, and takes his attackers down. He leaves the undercover agent alive. Waller is in Cairo, meeting with a representative of the Egyptian government. He explains that Kobra removed the American agent’s limbs and eyes, and was sent back to tell the Americans that “the age of the Kali-Yuga will dawn in Jerusalem”. The Egyptian says that the Israeli government doesn’t believe Kobra, so now Egypt wants the Squad to go stop Kobra. He explains that he can’t use the Egyptian meta-human team, the Mamelukes, because he doesn’t want Israel to know they are involved, and for domestic reasons. He briefs Waller on the Hayoth, Israel’s metahuman team (Golem, Judith, Ramban, and possibly an AI called Dybbuk). He agrees to Waller’s terms. We see Ben and Ravan row a rubber raft towards the Israeli coast, and then bury it on the beach. Ravan couldn’t enter the country through normal means, given that he was part of Jihad, and as they change their clothes, Ravan reveals that he knows that Ben was working with the Janissary, an Arab team. Ben points out that Ravan isn’t wearing his back brace anymore; Ravan reveals he has an implant that allows him to move now. He reminds Ben that he’s still going to kill him one day, and when Ben tries to scare him, Ravan laughs, claiming that he’s trying to prove he’s more evil than he really is. They head towards the city. Kobra is in Jerusalem with some followers when the Hayoth attack. Waller and Mari land at the airport, and Waller talks about how Mari’s not really there for the money. She mentions that Lawton and Boomerang should have been on the plane with them. We see that they are still at a different airport. Boomerang had a few too many drinks, and made them miss their plane. Lawton points out that their luggage went on ahead of them, including Lawton’s costume and gear. Ben and Ravan go to see someone Ravan knows, who hides them, but is nervous about it. The man mentions that something already happened in the Muslim Quarter that day, and Ravan sends him out to learn about it. Waller and Mari check into their hotel room, and Waller makes it clear that she thinks Mari is still in love with Ben. They are interrupted when a Colonel Hacohen comes to the door with some soldiers and asks them to come with them. Waller opens her purse, where the Atom is hiding, and has him hide behind her ear. As they drive somewhere, Hacohen explains that he knows why she’s there, even though Waller plays dumb. They are brought into a cellar and Waller sees that the Hayoth have Kobra captured and in a cell. Waller immediately recognizes that Kobra wants to be there, but doesn’t know why.

Poison Ivy, and her puppet, the mind-controlled Count Vertigo, are hanging out at the pool of a nice hotel in Jerusalem. Vertigo makes it clear to Isley that if she ever lets him loose, he will kill her for what she’s done to him. Waller talks to Colonel Hacohen about how he got custody of Kobra, and asks if Dybbuk was involved. The Colonel is surprised she knows about their AI operative, and Waller signals to The Atom that he should stay and look around. Waller and Mari leave, and talk about how they think Kobra wanted to be captured. Hacohem wants Judith and Golem to keep an eye on them. Lawton is furious with Boomerang because his luggage has gone missing, and is believed to have been sent to London. Boomerang makes it clear that this part was not his fault. Weirdly, when he makes a reference to Lawton’s family, he claims he was born an orphan. Atom watches and listens as Kobra has a conversation with himself. Kobra notices him, and he is immediately attacked by some scorpions, which he is able to get away from. Kobra continues his conversation. Mari prepares to sneak out of the hotel to inform Ben and Ravan of Kobra’s whereabouts; Judith sees her go. Hacohem and Ramban discuss their plans with Dybbuk, but the conversation ends up going along rabbinical paths when Dybbuk perceives that Ramban doesn’t like him (Atom listens in). After the AI leaves, Ramban asserts that he doesn’t trust the AI’s programming. Ben and Ravan hear from Mari, and Ravan wants to leave immediately to kill Kobra. Ben has to threaten him to get him to stand down. Mari is in the middle of mocking Ben and his belief that she still cares for him when Judith tosses a bunch of throwing stars into her back and attacks. The men fight her off, and she flees. Ben wants to take the bleeding Mari to a hospital, but Ravan refuses, wanting to not jeopardize their mission. Atom returns to Kobra’s cell, and figures out that he’s talking to Dybbuk. Kobra addresses Atom, explaining that no one taught Dybbuk about good and evil, and that thanks to his conversation, Dybbuk is now taking over some Israeli jets, with the idea that by destroying the Dome of the Rock, he can allow the Jewish people to rebuild their temple. Kobra, of course, knows this will set off a war in the region. He summons more scorpions to deal with Atom.
Atom takes the fight right to Kobra, but realizing that Dybbuk controls the surveillance cameras, and that Kobra is out of his cell and retrieving his snake-headed staff, that it’s better to retreat. He grabs a phone and calls Waller at her hotel. Ravan shows up and attacks Kobra. Atom jumps through the phone line while Kobra brands Ravan’s forehead. Atom tells Waller what Kobra’s plans are, and she sends him back to stop Dybbuk. Ben is hiding on a rooftop, keeping Mari away from military patrols, when Judith discovers him. Ben gets angry and attacks her. Waller goes to Isley and Vertigo, since she needs Vertigo to go stop the Israeli jets. This means that Isley has to give him back control of himself, and he reacts with anger. Waller gets through to him, so he heads out (without his costume, which I always thought gave him his powers). Golem sees him and follows, on Dybbuk’s orders. Waller tells Ivy to get away before Vertigo comes back. Atom finds the place he returns to trashed, and he’s confronted by Ramban. Vertigo reaches the jets just as they fire, and manages to redirect the first missile that’s fired. Golem attacks him and they fight. Ramban confronts Dybbuk, and starts to talk to the artificial being to help it understand what it’s doing. Ben gets Judith down, and Mari, badly injured, manages to get him to realize how brutal he’s being. Ben gets Judith to agree to get Mari help before they continue their fight. Ramban helps Dybbuk to realize it was manipulated by Kobra in a series of rabbinical arguments, while Atom finds Kobra and Ravan still fighting. Kobra burns Ravan badly in his side, and is about to finish him with Atom jumps in and takes Kobra down. Ravan begs him to kill Kobra, but Atom refuses. Ravan dies, sad that his destiny is unfulfilled. Dybbuk calls off the jets and gets Golem to stop fighting Vertigo. The next morning, Colonel Hacohem and Waller talk briefly; he gives them twelve hours to leave the country. Ramban lets Waller know that he didn’t report having seen Atom, and that Dybbuk is no longer listening to Hacohem. We learn that Kobra is locked up again, with better protection. Waller receives a call from Boomerang and Lawton to let her know they’ve finally arrived.

Waller has taken Count Vertigo to the Institute for Meta-Human Studies, where he’s elected to detox from Poison Ivy’s mind control drugs in a rubber room. Waller talks with Simon LaGrieve, her former employee and head of the Institute. They talk about how Waller felt she needed to spend that year in prison to remind herself that she went too far, and we learn that Simon was recently shot. He has a favour to ask of Waller. While he was in the hospital, some of the doctors at his Institute used the Thinker’s helmet for some tests, with the result that their test subject, Cliff Carmichael (from Firestorm) developed the helmet’s technology and implanted it in his head. Now Carmichael is going after Oracle. We see him in a neighbourhood in Gotham, trying to track her down. When he is attacked by a local gang, he uses his mind to have them kill one another. We learn that Oracle and Carmichael fought in “cyberspace”, but that the data from their fight is too complex; Waller asks to see the old Thinker helmet. Barbara is in therapy, and talks about her dreams, which force her to relieve the assault she suffered at the Joker’s hands in The Killing Joke. This is the clearest acknowledgement that TJK happened in continuity, and while it stops short of making it clear that Joker raped Barbara, it’s a pretty difficult sequence (it also makes this the most valuable issue of this series). Barbara’s therapist accuses her of holding back, but that’s obviously because she’s hiding the fact that she used to be Batgirl. Barbara struggles to get into the elevator in her wheelchair, and thinks about the challenge Carmichael presents her with. Waller and LaGrieve get the Thinker helmet, and Waller puts it on. She’s able to see the digitized image of Barbara’s fight with Carmichael, rendered in a Tron-ish manner. She takes off the helmet, and tells LaGrieve that Carmichael has been tracking the equipment Barbara uses through shipping records. Waller suggests she should keep the helmet, but Simon asks whose idea that is, and that gives Waller the strength to smash the thing. She plans on bringing in Boomerang, Lawton, and Turner to try to get to Oracle first. In some wooded area, a child named Ricky is snatched off a rope swing by a zombie that looks a lot like Mindboggler. Ricky’s father tries to hit the zombie with a shovel, but gets knocked out. The boy’s mother, Margie Kane, calls for General JEB Stuart to tell him that someone has taken his god-son.
Waller briefs Lawton, Boomerang, and Turner on their target – Cliff Carmichael. As usual, Boomerang gives some push-back, and she has to come down on him. We learn that Lawton’s luggage hasn’t been found yet, but was last seen in Turkey. Boomerang is worried that Lawton is going to kill him soon. LaGrieve tells Waller that he thinks the Squad is in worse shape, mental health wise, than ever before. He points out that she never told them that Carmichael is going after Oracle. She opens her purse and introduces him to The Atom, who she identifies as Adam Cray, and lets him know that the rest of the Squad doesn’t know he exists. Atom is to stay with LaGrieve in case Oracle contacts him. Carmichael continues to track down leads, learning from some guy in a run-down building that he has accepted equipment for Oracle, and passed it on to a woman named Amy Beddoes at the Hotel Tamarindo. Carmichael has this guy kill his wife. Barbara Gordon practices at a police gun range, and wonders if she’d be able to kill Carmichael if he comes after her. She pictures the target as the Joker. Boomerang wanders one neighbourhood and gets surrounded by some tough guys. He takes them out with his boomerangs. Barbara is set up in the Hotel Tamarindo (I assume she’s in Gotham, as that’s where Carmichael was looking for her last issue, but I’m pretty sure the Squad was just in Philadelphia, so that’s interesting). Barbara has set a trap for Carmichael, but she still has doubts as to how far she can go to protect herself. Carmichael shows up, thinking she’s Amy Beddoes. A pair of cops recognize Lawton walking down the street, and follow him into an alley. Lawton gets the drop on them, and shoots up their car before leaving. Carmichael asks Barbara about who Oracle is, but she claims she doesn’t know her. He knocks her out of the wheelchair, and points out that the room is not set up for someone in a chair. Just then, Waller walks into the room and distracts him. Barbara goes for her gun, and Carmichael orders Waller to kill her. He’s surprised that Waller doesn’t obey him, and she punches him in the face. She explains that she can jam his powers, and then she starts beating on him. Finally, Barbara pulls the gun on Waller to stop her. Barbara wants to shoot Carmichael, but when Waller asks who she really wants to kill (and she pictures the Joker, Batman, her father, and Batgirl), she realizes she can’t kill. She goes to hand the gun to Waller, who uses it to coldcock and knock out Carmichael. Waller suggests they take off before the cops come (she learned where he’d be from the guy who killed his wife), and thinks she should keep Carmichael with her. She also wants to make Barbara an offer. At the Institute for Meta-Human Studies, General JEB Stuart has come looking for Waller, but LaGrieve pretends he doesn’t know where she is. Stuart explains that he needs the Squad because his god-son is missing. He reveals that the kid is Rick Flag’s son.

Issue fifty brought together all the Squad artists – McDonnell, Isherwood, and even Miehm, and original inker Karl Kesel, although I also would have liked to see Snyder do some pages. Years ago, in the days of the original Squad (Rick Flag, Karin Grace, Jeff Bright, and Hugh Evans, the team was in the Himalayas. They needed to get across an ice bridge, and Jeff was being resentful towards Flag. A Yeti appeared, and Hugh insisted that Rick and Karin go across the precarious bridge ahead of them. Hugh, Jeff, and the Yeti fell off a cliff, but unknown to the others, Jeff survived. He wandered for a few days, wearing the Yeti corpse for warmth, until being found by some Chinese soldiers. He eventually healed, but lost his fingers, toes, nose, and lips. The doctor that helped him pressed him into service creating China’s first meta-humans (which is what you do when you find a random American in the snow). LaGrieve argues with Waller about her insistence that he hold Cliff Carmichael. Waller wants Oracle to rewrite the chips in his brain, to keep him under control, and she manages to get Simon to agree for a few days at least. General JEB Stuart comes to see Amanda, explaining that the son of Rick Flag and Karin Grace has been kidnapped. In what observant Squad readers would recognize as the fake airport in Qurac that was shown in issue one, young Rick runs from the zombie-fied Mindboggler and some other zombies. Koshchei the Deathless is revealed as being behind this kidnapping. Waller tells Ben about what’s happened, and how Rick never knew about his child. Ben agrees to go on the mission, and Waller says that she’s going to leave Lawton and Boomerang out of this one, which Floyd overhears. Koshchei watches the kid sleep, and remembers being an American soldier in Korea. He was terrified during a bombardment, but was rescued by Rick Flag’s father, who parachuted in to lead him to safety. Rick Sr. called Koshchei a coward, which angered him. Some guy gets accused of being an imposter in his own office, and the person who has clearly taken his identity and the company explains that he’s turning the enterprise over to its employees. This is, of course, Nemesis, who appears to be fighting corporate raiders now. He’s met by Waller in the parking garage, and sees that she’s with Nightshade. Waller reminds him that Flag got him out of Russia, so Tresser is in, but wants to make it clear that he’s not working for Waller. Waller has learned that Koshchei has the kid, is in Qurac, and that he doesn’t know Flag is dead. Nemesis parachutes into the airport disguised as Flag. Koshchei reveals that he’s really Jeff Bright, and leads “Flag” into the airport. Waller prepares to leave with Ben and Eve, who is reluctant to use her teleportation powers now, because it gives the Succubus access to her. Lawton shows up with an unconscious Captain Boomerang, saying he wants to join the mission. Eve opens her portal. Koshchei explains how the doctor he was working with was arrested, and then Jeff was locked up. He was recruited by Zastrow, who helped him develop cybernetic feet and hands. He worked for the Soviets on the Rocket Reds, but then was leant to Jihad, where he developed Manticore. He was killed in a blast when the Squad attacked Jotunheim, but was later revived, at least his brain was, but his body was dead. He developed the tech to control other dead bodies, and then led the attack on New York in the hopes of getting revenge on Flag. Koshchei reveals to “Rick” that he knows the Squad is coming. Just then, Eve’s portal delivers them into the airport, but Enchantress has taken over Eve. Nemesis reveals that Rick is dead, and Koshchei knocks him out. Boomerang comes to as Enchantress attacks the Squad. He sees the zombies coming. Enchantress is angry that she can’t burn up the zombie-Manticore. Tresser goes after Koshchei, who now plans to kill Rick Jr. Ravan’s corpse attacks Ben. Enchantress, freaking out, returns control to Eve. Tom appeals to the fact that Jeff Bright loved Karin Grace, and he gives the kid to him, and tells him that the whole airport is going to explode soon. As the Mindboggler zombie is about to choke Boomerang, he hits her in the back of the neck, disabling her. Waller tells the others, and they take down all of the zombies. Tom joins them and warns them of the explosion. Eve opens a portal, and they escape just as the airport blows up. They make it back to the Institute for Meta-Human Studies, where Amanda comforts the boy.

Deadshot walks into a bar in Marseilles, France, and shoots everyone in it. When it’s done, he pulls his mask off, and we see it’s some blonde guy, presumably the person who found Lawton’s missing gear. Waller wakes up Cliff Carmichael, who immediately tries to take over her mind, but instead gets a splitting headache. Waller explains that she has had his implants rewritten so he can’t use them against people. As well, he has to enter a code she gives him every day, or the microchips in his brain will be wiped clean. She explains that in return for the code every day, he’s going to work for her. After, she talks to LaGrieve and Amy Beddoes (who we know as Barbara Gordon, aka Oracle) about her plans to have a conscience programmed into Carmichael. Waller also asks Oracle to join the Squad, in a hidden capacity, and to take control of it in the event of Waller’s death. Amy agrees to think about it, and leaves. Waller and Simon talk about how it’s going to be difficult to fix Oracle’s spine; the tech that worked on Ravan won’t work on her. Ben goes to see Mari, who is sleeping in her hospital bed (I thought she just took some throwing stars to the back, but she’s been out for a while now), but won’t actually go in the room. Count Vertigo approaches Lawton to ask if he’d kill him if someone were to try to take control of him again. Lawton agrees. Boomerang comes up to him to ask why he knocked him out to take him to Qurac, and Lawton tells him that he doesn’t like him, and still blames him for his lost gear. Boomerang contemplates killing Lawton. Eve and Tresser talk. Eve is going to stay with the Squad, agreeing to keep an eye on Waller in return for help with her Enchantress problem, but Tom is not willing to stick around. They end up kissing. A day and a half later, Lawton is in Marseilles. Henri Ducard, from Batman’s past, sent him a telegram alerting him to the fact that someone is using his gear. Ducard explains that some guy named Marc Pilar found Deadshot’s suit, and is using it to edge in on some gang activity. Ducard claims he wants things to go back to being calm, so he can conduct his business. Next, Ducard heads to see Pilar, as he wants to get some betting going on who will kill whom. At night, Lawton is at the docks, as is Pilar, and Ducard, who is watching and taking bets against Lawton. The two men start shooting at one another, and Ducard points out that this is a psychological battle for Lawton – that he’d be killing himself to shoot the man in the Deadshot gear. Pilar chases Lawton through a warehouse, but Lawton shoots Pilar in the forehead, and then tells him he can keep the suit and leaves.
Issue fifty-two has a complete change in tone from what this series is usually, and features guest art by Jim Fern. Waller has been summoned to Belle Reve, despite the fact that the new Warden wants nothing to do with her. She’s greeted by Murph and Father Craemer, who reveal that Doctor Light has returned from the dead. She asks him to explain, but he gets into an argument with someone who isn’t there, and needs to explain that too. He tells her that the ghost of Jacob Finlay (called Smith before), the first Doctor Light, has been haunting him, and is responsible for him getting killed on Apokolips. He explains that they were both trapped in Hell with a demon named Mister Biff A. Stopholies (actually) and his minion. Mister Biff decided it would be amusing to let one of the two return to their body. He sent Light to his, but it was trapped in his coffin, and his suit was out of energy, so he suffocated and returned to Hell. Next, the demon sent Finlay to his body, and while he was able to dig his way out of his grave, his body was stiff and decomposed. Finlay immediately went about playing the hero, trying to stop a man from mugging a family in an alleyway. The family, seeing the zombie-like Finlay, stomped him to death. Next, Mister Biff sent Light’s spirit back. The current Doctor Light, Kimiyo Hoshi, was meditating with someone, against her will, and was able to send her astral self out of her body. As she floated in the room, Light’s spirit entered her body, and freaked out. Light could see Hoshi’s spirit, and started arguing with her. Somehow, the old man teleported Light’s body to the room, and Hoshi entered it. The two Lights began to fight, but then the old man cast another spell, and swapped them back where they belong. Hoshi blasted Light out of the room, and he began to fall a great distance. He figured that he’d end up back in Hell, but the minion appeared to tell him that Mister Biff’s superiors told him to end his little game. Light survived his fall, and got to keep living. He explains that he made his way to Belle Reve, and that he wants to return to the Suicide Squad. Waller refuses to take him, and leaves.

The Dragon’s Hoard starts in issue fifty-three, and features a return to form for the series. A year ago, a Russian Captain, Ziulko, conspired with an Australian arms runner named Billy Tidewater to steal a large shipment of Soviet weapons that were being shipped back from Afghanistan. Tidewater had connections in Cambodia where they could hide the guns until they were ready. They killed a Major, left a bunch of dead bodies, and torched their trucks. In New York, Waller meets with a Mr. Fujiwara from Japan. He wants to hire the Squad to stop Tidewater from selling the weapons, now called “The Dragon’s Hoard” to the Yakuza. Waller accuses the man of racism, and there is some back and forth before they decide on a fee of three million dollars. News of the Squad’s hiring travels quickly to Tokyo, where it is reported to Ryu, the oyabun of the Daichi Doku Yakuza clan (he was a semi-regular character in Manhunter). Ryu wants Mark Shaw (fka Manhunter) left alone, unless he helps the Squad. Waller goes to Belle Reve, having arranged for Stalnoivolk to be transferred into her custody. When the new Warden, Hastings, asks how she got Steel to agree to this, she says she gave him a night of wild passion. Murph tells her he’s a little bored now, but turns down her job offer. When Stalnoivolk is brought out, he attempts to escape by jumping away, but Waller has Deadshot hidden somewhere with a laser rifle, which he uses to shoot him in the leg. Waller explains that if he completes the job, he can go free, but if he turns on her, she’ll have him killed. He agrees, so long as it doesn’t betray his country. In Gorky, Major Zastrow meets with someone, explaining that he’s removed Blue Trinity and the People’s Heroes from the Red Shadows, and feels that his team works best without Gort now. The man talks about how they’ve discovered Captain Zuiko’s deception, and assigns Zastrow to track down the Captain and his weapons. In Cambodia, a Khmer Rouge military leader has Ziuko captured, and through interrogation, learns that Tidewater hid the weapons from him. We also learn that the Khmer Rouge have a spy in Ziuko’s organization who they hope will lead them to the guns. In San Francisco, Fujiwara visits his distant cousin, Tatsu Yamashiro, aka the Outsider Katana. He wants her to take on the same job he gave Waller, but she refuses, claiming that she owes a debt of giri-ninjo to Halo, who is in a coma after having saved her life. Fujiwara apologizes for his presumption and leaves. Nightshade goes to Southern Cross Salvage, looking for Mark Shaw, unaware that she’s being observed by some Yakuza. Mark and Eve start to talk, while the Yakuza confirm who she is and call for someone named Catseye. Shaw does not want to help Waller, because he’s retired, and because he doesn’t want to break the truce he has with the Yakuza. Just then Catseye, a cat themed martial artist, breaks through the window as the Yakuza rush the place, firing on Mark’s employees. Nightshade starts to fight Catseye, while Mark takes out some of the Yakuza. Catseye flees, and the others withdraw. Mark can tell they’re Daichi Doku, so he decides to join the mission. Fujiwara returns to Tokyo, and the car that picks him up explodes, killing him. It turns out that Okami, his assistant, works for Daichi Doku, who now intend for him to take on Fujiwara’s job, and cancel the contract with the Suicide Squad.
Captain Ziuko manages to escape the Khmer Rouge camp in Cambodia, but we learn that the commander of the camp allowed this to happen, and that one of the Russians that went with him is working for them, and will hopefully lead them to the Dragon’s Hoard. Waller and the Squad (Eve, Vertigo, Lawton, Carmichael, Shaw, Turner, and Boomerang) have arrived in Tokyo. There’s a large packing crate that breaks open, revealing that Waller drugged and shipped Gort as freight. Lawton aims his laser gun at Gort’s head, calming the man. Waller briefs them on their mission, explaining that the Yakuza know they are there. She knows that Tidewater is in Tokyo. She also brings up the possibility that Zastrow might be around, but Gort promises that he’s going to kill anyone who gets in the way of him returning to Russia. Waller hands out assignments – Gort, Vertigo, and Lawton (he refuses to be called Deadshot now) are going to Cambodia (via Blackhawk Express) to look for the Hoard. Turner and Shaw are headed to Daichi Doku HQ to see what they can find, while Boomerang and Carmichael are going to explore the bars looking for Tidewater. Waller explains that Oracle is monitoring them, and can lift the restrictions on Carmichael’s powers temporarily, so he can learn where the weapons are. Eve is heading to the Soviet embassy, while Waller is set to meet with Fujiwara. Zastrow meets with some Yakuza, asking that they turn over Tidewater or Ziuko to them. The Yakuza don’t agree, so Zastrow’s companion, a middle aged woman named Mrs. Gradenko, turns into a bear and mauls them to death, except for one, who Zastrow sends back to Ryu with a message. Another member of the Red Shadows, Yerosha, tries to trick Zastrow with an image of Gort, and we learn that he has the ability to fool one person’s senses at a time. Katana arrives in Tokyo for her cousin’s funeral. Back at the Institute for Meta-Human Studies, Oracle sits with Adam Cray, waiting for word from the team (Adam can travel through the radio waves to support whoever needs help). Adam explains that he stole Ray Palmer’s equipment from the man he left it to, his ex-wife’s new husband. Cray is a thief and criminal who was recruited by Waller, and denies to Barbara that he is Ray Palmer. He also reveals that Deadshot killed his father. Tidewater (whose first name was Billy last issue but is now, apparently, Terry) is in a hotel having sex with a woman. When he falls asleep, she calls Zastrow, and identifies herself as Lamia. She explains that she hasn’t gotten the location of the Hoard yet, but will continue to use her powers on him. She wakes him up for round two. Lady Blackhawk flies her plane over Cambodia. Gort jumps out ahead of schedule, without a parachute, in an attempt to escape them. Vertigo, who can fly, is about to go after him, but instead, Lawton dives out carrying an extra chute. He catches up to Gort, and aiming the laser at him, tells him to take the chute and deploy it. As they come down, they are spotted by the Khmer Rouge. In Tokyo, Waller arrives for her meeting with Fujiwara, but is surprised to see Okami in his place. He explains that Fujiwara is dead, and that the board has put him in charge. He tells Waller that his company (I thought they worked for the government) wants to cancel their contract with the Squad. Waller refuses, and threatens to look into Okami to figure out how a secretary ended up in charge of a big corporation (why would a corporation be concerned about gun running and the Yakuza?). She leaves, but in the parking garage, she is attacked and shot multiple times.

The Yakuza move in to finish Waller off, but Oracle is listening on Waller’s communicator, and knowing something is wrong, sends Atom through the radio waves. He surprises the Yakuza, and is able to take them all down. He asks Oracle for help, and then passes out. In a club in Shinjuku, Boomerang and Carmichael are hanging out and not getting along. Cliff moves to a different table just before the Russians (including Ziuko, I think) approach Boomerang and ask him if he’s calling himself Billy (I guess we’re back to that name) Tidewater. They know Tidewater though, so Boomerang has to think quickly and come up with a dumb story about them being cousins with the same name. He also claims that his cousin cheated him and suggests they look for him together. He says that Carmichael knows where he is, so the Russians grab them both and walk them out of the club. Nightshade slips into the Russian embassy, having seen Zastrow in a window. She reads the files on the new Red Shadows, and then gets caught when the entire room lights up. Zastrow and Mrs. Gradenko enter, and Zastrow explains that he figured Waller would send Eve. She smashes a couple of lights and her shadows fight Mrs. Gradenko in her bear form. She tries to leave the room, but is shocked to see Rick Flag in the doorway. Of course, it’s an illusion made by Yerosha, and Mrs. Gradenko is able to get the drop on Eve, knocking her out. Zastrow calls in Schrek, his vampire, and orders him to bite her, but to only take enough blood that he’ll be able to control her. In the jungle in Cambodia, Lawton lets Vertigo know that his laser pistol is broken. Lawton, Vertigo, and Gort are surrounded by Khmer Rouge fighters. Vertigo tries to take them all out, but they recover quickly, and the three men start to kill them. The commander watches and orders an artillery strike on the area. The three men run into the jungle. Turner and Shaw break into the side of the unassuming Daichi Doku headquarters. Shaw explains that the clan is not what it once was. Shortly after entering, they are attacked by Catseye, who rakes Ben’s back with his claws. When he cuts Shaw, he realizes that the claws are poisoned, and Catseye is able to take them both down. We see Katana, in her costume, has also entered the building.
Lawton and Vertigo flee from the bombardment and argue over who is in charge. Lawton lets Vertigo know he’s ready to kill him whenever he asks. Gort approaches the Khmer Rouge, trying to join them, but when they start to shoot at him, he kills them. Lawton arrives and gets him to stand down. Vertigo’s found their equipment, and radios Oracle, updating her and learning that Waller’s out of touch. She tells Vertigo to keep moving, but then the tree he’s in explodes. Ziuko has taken Boomerang and Carmichael to a safe house, and Boomerang has told him everything about the Squad, although Ziuko doesn’t believe him as Waller is not at the hotel he told them about. Another Russian comes in to say that he found Tidewater at a hotel with a sex worker, and the Russians head out. At the Daichi Doku HQ, Turner and Shaw are given the antidote to Catseye’s poison. Mark points out to Ryu that he only got involved because they attacked his workplace. Some other Yakuza report that some of the men sent to kill Waller are dead. Ryu sends Catseye and some men to kill Waller. Ryu learns that the woman with Tidewater was calling the Soviet embassy, and sends more men to kill the woman. He orders Turner and Shaw killed too, but Katana appears out of nowhere and frees them while Ryu takes off. She tells Shaw and Turner that they now have a debt of giri-ninjo owed to her, but Ben argues that his debt to Waller comes first. Shaw agrees to work with Katana to catch Ryu, while Ben goes to check on Waller. At the Soviet embassy, Zastrow confirms that Schrek has control over Eve. Lamia calls in and tells him where Tidewater hid the weapons in Cambodia. Zastrow finds the temple on a map, and we learn (a little too coincidentally) that Yerosha once went there with his Soviet archeologist mother. Zastrow orders Schrek to take the Red Shadows there, using Eve’s powers. She explains that she needs to have a mental image of the place to teleport there, but Yerosha is able to use his powers, making it possible for her to see his memories, and they head out. Lamia kills Tidewater just as Ziuko and the Russians enter her room. Lamia tries to use her seduction powers on him, but he just knocks her out. The Yakuza enter the hotel room and the Russians shoot them. The police interview Cray at the hospital, because they have no idea how he got into Japan. The doctor gets them to leave him alone, and Cray immediately grabs his gear to check in with Oracle, and explain that travelling through satellite transmissions are difficult (he claims that Ray Palmer told him this, but that doesn’t fit with what we learned before). Oracle gets a call from Ben, informing her that the Yakuza are after Waller. She sends him to the hospital. Cray suits up, and is concerned to find the hospital floor abandoned. He finds the room where Waller is being operated on, but then sees Catseye and the Yakuza approaching.

Cray is lucky that his size-changing abilities kick in when the Yakuza attack (again he mentions knowing Ray Palmer, this time in his internal monologue). Boomerang suggests to Zuiko that he can find out what secrets Lamia is hiding by letting him use his communicator to unlock Carmichael’s powers. Ziuko agrees to this, warily, and soon Cliff has Lamia explaining her pheromone powers, and the location of the Dragon’s Hoard near the Cambodia/Vietnam border. Cliff tries to use his powers on one of the Russians, but since he doesn’t speak English, it doesn’t work. Instead, he convinces Ziuko that the others are going to betray him, so he starts shooting them, getting shot himself in the process. Boomerang takes out the rest, and just as Cliff tries to use his powers on him, Oracle shuts him down again. Oracles tells Vertigo where the weapons are, and he starts flying, while Gort leaps, carrying Lawton on his back. They don’t know that they are being followed by more Khmer Rouge. Nightshade’s portal opens, and the Red Shadows emerge just as Gort and his group land. Gort asks Shreck to kill Lawton, who, it turns out, speaks Russian. Gort tells the Shadows to stand aside and let him destroy the weapons, even though that’s what both groups want. Schreck tries to order Nightshade to attack, but Enchantress has taken her over, and that’s when the Khmer Rouge attack in helicopters. In Tokyo, Ryu hides out in Okami’s office. Shaw comes in with Katana, who kills Ryu. Shaw heads out to link up with the others. Turner enters the fight at the hospital, taking on Catseye, and wondering who Cray is. Vertigo takes on the Khmer Rouge copters while Mrs. Gradenko attacks Gort. Enchantress fights Shreck, who in addition to being a vampire, has the metagene. Lawton shoots Yerosha and goes to destroy the weapons. Turner takes down Catseye, Gort takes down Gradenko, and Lawton blows up the weapons cache, and the temple it was hidden in, which upsets Vertigo. He tells everyone that more Khmer Rouge troops are on their way, so Lawton slaps Enchantress, forcing her to say her name and turn control back to Eve. She opens a portal, despite being worried about Enchantress, and Lawton calls Vertigo over. He also lets Gort, who is still fighting with Shreck, know that he’s free, and they leave him behind. In Tokyo, Katana acts as second as Okami commits seppuku. At the hospital the next day, a doctor tells the Squad that Waller’s operation was not successful, but then realizes he’s talking to the wrong people. Waller’s doctor says that she’s going to make it, and Boomerang is happy to learn that she’s in a lot of pain.
Issue fifty-eight is chapter 19 of the War of the Gods event. I remember reading the parent title, but don’t recall if I picked up all of the tie-in chapters or not. Poison Ivy is in the Amazon, restocking on botanicals and hiding out from Count Vertigo. She spots an island populated by women warriors, and is attacked by a werebeast. At the Institute for Metahuman Studies, Vixen packs her bags and says goodbye to Turner, making it clear their relationship is over. Outside, two of the Captains of Industry (Maser and Catalyst) discuss Catalyst’s drug issues when Firehawk approaches with Silver Swan. At the same time, Black Adam arrives, dressed in a suit. Maser attacks him, and then so do the others. Waller is in her hospital bed inside the Institute, talking to Mark Shaw on the phone. She wants his take on Outlaw, John Henry Martin, who he once fought in his own book. Mark says he’d be okay, but would have legal trouble in the USA. Waller also offers Shaw a job working for the Squad, but he turns her down, leaving the door open if she needs help. LaGrieve comes to check on Waller just as Catalyst gets tossed through the wall. LaGrieve explains that Black Adam is there to see her, so she puts on her robe. A little later, Waller meets with Adam, along with all the heroes from outside. Basically, he wants the Squad to go to Circe’s island in the Amazon and distract the werebeasts and other guards so he can go after Circe. Waller agrees, but decides to increase the size of the Squad for this mission, recruiting Maser, Catalyst, Firehawk, and Silver Swan on the spot. Adam insists that everyone should wear their costume, for symbolic reasons. Soon, the expanded Squad is assembled. In addition to the regulars (Count Vertigo, Nightshade, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and Bronze Tiger), we see some former members (Major Victory and Javelin), the four Waller just recruited, and some new members (Enforcer, Sportsmaster, Outlaw, and Karma, who used to be in the Doom Patrol). In addition, “The Writer”, aka Grant Morrison, wrote himself into the mix. Waller tells Eve to keep close to Black Adam. The Writer explains that he can influence reality by writing about it on his little laptop, and sometimes, can glimpse where the script is going. In the Amazon, one of the women tries to interrogate Isley, who is strung up over a pit. Since they don’t speak the same language, that doesn’t go well. One of the werebeasts sounds the alarm, because the Squad has arrived through one of Nightshade’s portals. Werebeasts and the Brazilian Amazons begin to fight the Squad. Eve sees Adam slip away, so she grabs Javelin to follow with her, not knowing that Boomerang is following them. The Writer gets writer’s block and is killed by a werebeast. Vertigo heads towards the temple. Karma is shot to death. Vertigo finds Isley in the temple, but as it starts to shake apart, he leaves her behind. The entire island starts shaking and falling apart. Major Victory sends Maser to zip around and tell everyone to retreat. Lawton watches the Enforcer get killed, and then shoots a werebeast. As the island continues to shake, the team crosses to the mainland, and sees it all collapse. Maser has brought Poison Ivy, surprising the people who know her, and angering Vertigo. Over the island, Pariah appears, and Firehawk explains who he is.

President Marlo, of Qurac, is being held prisoner on an island in Chesapeake Bay, awaiting trial. The MPs watching him are nervous as he walks around the base where he’s being held, but also believe that no one is too interested in freeing the man. Waller is on a boat with Carmichael, watching Marlo through binoculars. Eve joins them to let Waller know that the rest of the team will be there the next day. Batman enters a bar in Gotham, looking to speak to a man named Monte Walsh. Typically, he has to fight off half the bar before catching up to Walsh outside. Walsh explains that he has information for Batman that Waller knew about the explosion that killed Ray Palmer, and was perhaps responsible for it. Some shadowy figures talk about Marlo and whether or not he’s revealed anything about their cabal, which is working on something called the Chessmen Agenda. In Metropolis, Superman meets with a CBI agent named Pollard, who is concerned that the Suicide Squad might be moving to either apprehend or kill President Marlo, whom Superman helped bring in in the first place. At the Institute for Meta-Human Studies, two small criminals – Blacksnake and Sting – watch Cray walk through the halls, and think that he is Ray Palmer. They want to kill him. Vertigo watches Isley, who is in a hospital bed. LaGrieve explains that she is mending and will be fine soon. Vertigo explains that he was thinking about killing her, but then LaGrieve lets her know that between the drugs the Vlatavans put in his system and the drugs that Isley subjected him to, the imbalances that caused his bipolar disorder have been cured. Vertigo doesn’t believe that at first, but LaGrieve explains that it’s partly because he has to learn to live without those cycles. After LaGrieve leaves, Lawton approaches and asks Vertigo if he’d like him to kill him yet. Vertigo responds by saying that Lawton is in worse mental health than he is. After Vertigo walks away, Cray approaches Lawton to let him know that he killed his father, Senator Cray (I’m surprised I never made that connection before now). Cray tells Lawton that he owes his family, and Lawton tells him that he can take one shot at him. Golem, from the Hayoth, sneaks onto Blood Island, where Marlo is being held. He’s seen by Agni, the pyrokinetic from The Jihad, who is out on a boat watching. He radios that information to his superiors, and is told to wait and allow the Israelis to free Marlo, so they can take him from them. We learn that Major Victory has joined the Captains of Industry as its new leader. Oracle is confronted by Batman in the halls of the IMHS, and she takes him into a secure room after reminding him that her name is Amy Beddoes, not Barbara. Batman tells her he wants to talk to Waller about Ray Palmer. Barbara suggests that Adam Cray could be Ray Palmer, and that she doesn’t believe that Waller would have killed the first Atom. Batman shares that he’s had “Palmer’s” body exhumed, and that it was hard to identify but that there was definite evidence of size-changing. Waller has the team (Turner, Carmichael, Lawton, Vertigo, Cray, Boomerang, and Eden) assembled in a motel in Maryland, but we readers have not heard the actual briefing. It’s clear that Eve isn’t completely on board with the plan. Lawton threatens Boomerang again, so he goes to see Cray, suggesting that they work together to make sure Lawton doesn’t return from this mission. In Gotham, Batman meets with Superman and Aquaman to tell them his suspicions about Waller’s involvement in Palmer’s death. Superman shares that he’s been asked to watch the Squad because of Marlo. Batman wants the three of them to go find the Squad and ask Waller and Cray some questions.
The Hayoth make their move. Ramban, who is floating over the water off Blood Island, sends a bank of fog to hide Golem and Judith as they move in. Agni continues to watch from a boat, and reports that he can’t see anything. His contact tells him to move in with Badb, while he or she contacts Piscator. We learn that Superman is on sight, watching what’s happening. Marlo sits in his cell and smiles. Piscator is an underwater character, swimming beneath Ramban, not knowing that Aquaman is watching him. Badb approaches the fence and uses her mental powers to take out the guard. Judith makes her way through the fog, not knowing that Batman is following her. Colonel Hacohen is nearby, talking with Dybbuk. He explains the ways in which he feels it’s justified for Israel’s metahumans to take custody of Marlo away from their American allies, partly out of fear that the Squad is after him. Superman blows away all the fog and turns on lights, so that the Hayoth’s presence is revealed. Agni’s contact tells him to go grab Marlo. Batman starts to fight Judith. Piscator drags Ramban into the water, but is attacked by Aquaman. Piscator, who is telepathic, reveals that he is part of Janissary, the Middle Eastern version of the Squad that Ben worked for before. Superman fights Golem. Agni makes his way to Marlo’s room, freeing him. Batman and Judith fight for a couple of pages before he takes her down. While Aquaman and Piscator fight, Ramban frees himself and makes his way back above the water. Agni brings Marlo to Badb, who starts to dig into his mind to learn if he’s afraid. She realizes something, but Marlo kicks her and knocks Agni out, before revealing that he’s really Nemesis. He radios someone to report that his cover is blown. Ramban tries to help his teammates but the fight is ended when Nemesis gets their attention. A little later, the heroes, Tresser, and the Hayoth, including Hacohen, meet to discuss things. Hacohen insists that his actions were given tacit support by his American contacts, while Tresser reveals that he’s working for Sarge Steel. Aquaman wonders what any of this has to do with Ray Palmer, and wonders where the Suicide Squad is in all of this. Batman wonders what Waller’s plan is. And now, on the last page of this issue, we see that Waller is holding a gun on Carmichael, ordering him to use his powers to get Marlo to talk about The Cabal.

Marlo, under Carmichael’s influence, begins to explain about how The Cabal contacted him years before. They are made up of military, intelligence, and industry types, and were looking to model a program on the Suicide Squad, but by controlling some bigger name heroes, similar to how Marlo controlled the Jihad. Waller figures out this is why they were after Ray Palmer. Marlo takes some prompting, but reveals that his contact is a Major George McClellan, in the air force. Carmichael tries to get Marlo to kill himself, so Waller takes a shot at him and then has Oracle shut Carmichael down again. Oracle lets her know that Batman is after her. Nightshade sneaks into the meeting between the heroes and the Hayoth, attaching herself to Nemesis’s shadow. Tom brings her up to date by whispering to her. Batman talks about how Ray Palmer had issues with the government, having to shrink some of the agents that came after him. Batman connects these agents to the Jihad, and Superman reveals that he heard Tom whispering about the Cabal. Eve, realizing she’s been found out, escapes, and Batman turns on Tom. Waller commands Eve to go to the rendez-vous point, and is then visited by Sarge Steel, who we learn is the person who hired the Squad for this mission, knowing that agents in the government were up to no good. Waller tells Steel about McClellan. We see that McClellan is on the phone with General Wade Eiling, who orders him to proceed with whatever it is they have planned, which involves capturing The Atom. Boomerang sends Atom into a building on the base to have a look around, and when Cray opens the door for him, Boomerang tosses a boomerang and knocks him out. He shrinks him by touching his belt, and then hands him over to Blacksnake and Sting, who have arranged to pay Boomerang a half million for this. The little men carry Cray off, and Boomerang is attacked by four government agents. He calls Waller, who, upon learning that they took Cray, says things are going to plan, and tells Boomerang to link up with Eve. He wonders if that means he didn’t get paid. Steel lets Waller know that McClellan is on Blood Island. Steel figures he’ll take off, so he wants the Squad to grab him, quickly. McClellan goes to check on the Jihad prisoners, and then shoots the guard. He frees Agni, telling him to free the others and to go to a certain hangar where the real Marlo is, but really, he’s using them as a diversion. Eve brings the Squad onto the island. Turner tells them to avoid fighting the big heroes, and to find McClellan. He tells Vertigo to hang back. Some soldiers find McClellan, and tell him that Eiling has told them to kill him. Shots are fired, which draws everyone. Ben goes after McClellan, but Superman, Batman, and Aquaman block him. The Jihad and Hayoth get into this too, and Vertigo flies in. A big fight breaks out, giving McClellan the chance to escape. The Micro Force (there are four of them, including a Mr. Bailey and Ms. Hubbard) starts interrogating Cray, believing that he’s Ray Palmer. Cray escapes them, and circles back to get his belt from Ms. Hubbard. Blacksnake impales him from behind with a nail, and brags that he killed Ray Palmer.
Blacksnake gloats over Cray’s body, but Bailey and Hubbard are upset with him. Blacksnake takes Cray’s belt and uses it to return to his proper size and promptly kill the other two. When Sting sees what happened, he reveals that Cray is not Ray Palmer; in fact, Sting is. They fight. Waller and Steel talk about how things are going wrong with the mission, and who’s to blame. This gives us a recap of things. On Blood Island, the four way fight between the Squad, the Hayoth, some of the Justice League, and the Jihad agents continues, giving McClellan the opportunity to slip away. Badb makes Superman go a little crazy. Aquaman follows McClellan, while wondering what any of this has to do with his dead friend. Ben fights Batman, who points out that his anger is making him sloppy, which makes him more angry. Lawton takes out the soldiers that were working for the Cabal, and then thinks of helping Boomerang, who is fighting Agni, but decides against it. McClellan makes it to the boat that Agni was using, and starts to escape. Aquaman goes after him, and calls in some dolphins to help him. Nightshade fights Judith. Palmer, back in his regular Atom outfit, shrinks Blacksnake very small and then takes his belt, leaving him there. He restores Cray to his proper size, and it’s clear that he’s dead. Aquaman catches up to McClellan who starts shooting at him. McClellan crashes his boat into some rocks, and presumably dies. Superman regains control of his mind and manages to stop all of the fighting by clapping his hands really hard. Later, Palmer explains to his friends that he faked his death to stop the Micro Force, who were working for the Cabal. He partnered with Waller, and arranged to make Cray the new Atom, while he went undercover as Sting (he’d decided to quit Micro Force, and it was the body of a fifth Micro Force member that was buried in Ray’s grave). Ray explains that he couldn’t tell his friends what was going on because superheroes like them aren’t suited for this kind of clandestine work (it’s weird that he’s telling Batman this). Waller and Steel make their report to the President (an unseen George HW Bush, based on when this came out), who burns their file. He suggests that they thought he was involved, and Waller sidesteps the question (but I mean, given Bush’s intelligence background…). She also suggests that if something happens to her, news of the Cabal will be leaked. As they leave the White House, Waller tells Steel that Palmer is going to stick with the Squad for a bit, but that he’s really upset about Cray’s death. Waller also tells Steel that every death on her watch sticks with her, and that she thinks of them every day.

On the island of Diabloverde, a group of five meta-humans (Bolt, Deadline, Blockbuster, Sudden Death, and Shrapknel) are in charge of enforcing a curfew for the island’s dictator, Guedhe. They spot an old man in the streets and take their time killing him. His grown children watch, as this is a distraction. The two kids make it to the shore, and the woman, Maria, gets in a boat. The plan is for her to get to Florida, and then track down and kill Amanda Waller. At the Institute of Meta-Human Studies, Waller and LaGrieve head to a room where they’ve set up an experiment to try to help Mindboggler, who became the programmed Jihad AI Ifrit. Some of the Hayoth – Ramban, Dybbuk, and Colonel Hacohen are there (against Hacohen’s wishes), as are Oracle and Dr. Calendar, who used to work at Belle Reve. Dybbuk is eager to be of help, and interfaces with the device Ifrit resides in. We see Maria sneak into the Institute, and take Boomerang hostage with a gun. Lawton receives a package containing his old Deadshot costume, complete with a bullet hole in the forehead. Ducard sent the clothes to him, and he puts them on. Carmichael is interfaced with a computer, attempting to do some hacking, when someone contacts him through the computer with an offer that intrigues him. Representatives of Vlatava meet with Vertigo, trying to convince him to return home and take up the monarchy to help his country, but because of his mental illness, which he has not recovered from despite being cured, he refuses and leaves the room. Waller and her group are worried when they see that Dybbuk is starting to manifest with another AI. That’s when Maria bursts into the room, holding her gun on Boomerang. Ramban pretends to enact a spell, scaring Boomerang enough that he flips Maria. Dybbuk appears, and introduces Leah Wasserman, who is the manifestation of Mindboggler from before she went into her punk rebellious phase. Dybbuk says that he wants to be called Lenny now, and that he and Leah are going to be married. Hacohen is furious, but everyone else is amused. Waller turns things back to Maria, who explains that she wants to kill Waller because her Suicide Squad is raping and torturing people in her country. Later, after things calm down, Maria explains how Guedhe started out as a decent leader, but then turned to worshipping a god of death, and is now worse than the old regime he overthrew. He hired this Squad to help keep the public in line. Waller calls Sarge Steel, who explains that this Squad is run by the CIA, as they have Guedhe under their protection. Steel pointed out that Waller doesn’t own the concept of the Suicide Squad. She hangs up and gets Maria to give her one peso so she can claim she’s been hired to go deal with Guedhe and this fake Squad. Boomerang objects, but Waller makes it clear that she’s going to pay everyones’ fees with her own money, and that this is their last mission.
Ray Palmer, in his Atom costume, addresses the press as he accompanies Blacksnake to be booked at a police station. The cops take Blacksnake inside, while Ray stays outside to talk to the media. The four members of the new Task Force X – Pathfinder, Kaliber, Metamorpheus, and Sidewinder – break into the police station. Sidewinder, who is mostly a snake, grabs a cop, and Metamorpheus takes his shape. He enters the room where Blacksnake, who has said that he has information about a government cabal, is being fingerprinted, and stabs him through the chest with his shape-changing hands. The others come through the room’s ceiling and kill everyone. Atom rushes in, having heard gunshots, and chases Task Force X to the roof. There, the four assassins use magnetic devices to fly upwards. As Ray jumps to try to catch one, the police station explodes behind him. We see the Cabal, in shadows, talking about how visible this operation was, and how that will send a message to any other operatives who think about revealing their existence. The leader, who sits behind a screen, talks about setting a trap for Amanda Waller. At the Institute for Meta-Human Studies, Waller briefs the Squad (Count Vertigo, Bronze Tiger, Deadshot, Poison Ivy, Captain Boomerang, and Carmichael) on their mission to Diabloverde. She talks about how Guedhe, the nation’s leader, is a meta-human who became evil after the meta-bomb exploded. Waller wants the Squad to overthrow Guedhe and return the country to the people, and she wants it done very visibly, to counter the notion that the Squad is working for Guedhe. This is why she wants everyone in uniform. Nightshade and Outlaw are flown over Diabloverde by Lady Blackhawk. They jump out (with Eve riding John Henry’s shadow) without a parachute, and leave a small crater. Deadline investigates the noise that was made, but sees no sign of them. Eve scouts the capital city, spotting Shrapknel and Blockbuster before returning to Martin, and then teleporting to get the others. Boomerang lets Lawton know that he is the one that arranged for him to get his gear back, and Lawton says he wishes he’d killed him. LaGrieve tells Waller to leave Lawton, who now insists on being called Deadshot all the time, behind, but like old times, she refuses. Oracle lets Waller know what happened with Ray Palmer, and suggests the Cabal might be behind the situation on Diabloverde. Eve opens her portal, and the Squad steps through it. Waller gives everyone their targets, while she, Maria, and Carmichael are going to go after Guedhe. John Henry finds Blockbuster and starts fighting him. Deadline is still looking around trying to figure out if someone is on the island when Deadshot starts shooting at him. He hits him in the back of the helmet with a bullet, taking it off. Ivy finds Sudden Death sleeping in his quarters, and uses her potions to take control of him. Waller, Carmichael, and Maria approach the doors to Guedhe’s office, but find it empty when they burst in. Waller quickly tries to get Oracle to shut off Carmichael’s powers, but he grabs control of her mind and has her put her gun in her mouth, and orders her to pull the trigger.

Nightshade attacks Shrapknel, and after taking him to her shadow dimension, is able to take him apart with one good hit. Waller approaches her, but it’s actually Metamorpheus, who distracts her while Kaliber shoots her with bullets of light. Eve manages to get away from them, which means that she knows the new Task Force X is in Diabloverde. Bolt patrols over the jungle, and Captain Boomerang tosses a few boomerangs at him. As Bolt fires on Boomerang, Count Vertigo disorients him. Once Bolt is on the ground, Harkness keeps punching him in the face until he teleports away. At the President’s house, Carmichael reveals that he’s been in touch with, and is now working for, The Cabal. He orders Waller to shoot herself, but Maria hits him with a chair and he loses control of her. He escapes as Waller shoots at him, but when she calls Oracle to fry his computer chips, he lets her know that he’s disabled that function. Carmichael leaves, and Waller and Maria talk about the fact that Guedhe must be in his other headquarters, which is deep in the jungle. Maria explains that the jungle is mystical and very dangerous, and is surprised by how seriously Waller is taking this mission. She explains that she has ideals, and wants to get the job done. Waller speaks to Oracle to get an update, and learns about the new Task Force X. Outlaw continues his fight with Blockbuster. He’s able to take him down, but in turn gets dropped by Pathfinder, who is informed that the Squad knows they’re there. Sidewinder attacks Turner, but Deadshot arrives to shoot her and help him out. Deadshot has Deadline with him, and Turner is surprised to see that he left him alive. Soon, the team gathers (without Outlaw) and Waller brings them up to speed on everything. Vertigo objects to Poison Ivy keeping Sudden Death as a pet, and Waller forces her to knock him out. The three men of Task Force X find Sidewinder, who is badly hurt, and kill her. The Squad enters the jungle, knowing that it will affect their perceptions and show them things. Eve explains that she doesn’t want to teleport out of fear of the Enchantress, but she’s badly weakened. Task Force X tracks the Squad to the edge of the jungle and begins to follow. As they walk, Ben is confronted by a vision of the Bronze Tiger and fights it, claiming its mask and putting it on. Boomerang has a vision of everyone who laughs at him. Guedhe is joined by Blockbuster, Sudden Death, and Bolt in his Apocalypse Now style hut. He drinks blood and claims that after he kills the Squad, he will be invincible.
The three remaining members of Task Force X continue to pursue the Squad through the jungle. Maria talks to Ben, who feels more balanced after confronting himself last issue. We check in with the visions that most of the team are experiencing. Waller walks past the hanging dead bodies of the Squad members who have died, and of her dead family members, but she keeps walking. Count Vertigo confronts his suicidal ideations. Nightshade is confronted by Enchantress and the other people who have tried to make her feel worthless, but her faith gets her through this. Poison Ivy is confronted by the fact that she has a tear in her nylons. Deadshot, through all of this, has just been walking forward calmly. Ben suggests the team groups up to plan. Waller wants Eve, Ben, and Lawton to hang back and deal with Task Force X. She wants everyone else to confront Guedhe’s soldiers and mercenaries, while she and Maria go after the country’s ruler. She pulls Ivy aside for a moment. A little later, Ivy confronts Sudden Death outside Guedhe’s compound, and takes control of his mind again. When Bolt attacks, Sudden Death fights back, and with help from Boomerang, Bolt is brought down. Vertigo takes on Blockbuster, and keeps him on the ground, but Ivy refuses to get near Vertigo’s powers to bring him under control like she now has Bolt. A number of Guedhe’s zombies approach. The three Task Force X guys recognize that they’re about to be ambushed, and that’s when Eve, Ben, and Lawton attack. Waller and Maria enter Guedhe’s throne room, and we learn that Maria is his wife (which explains how she knows where to look for him). Guedhe is basically a walking corpse. When the meta-bomb went off, it killed him and woke up psychic powers that allowed him to stay alive, and now, since he can’t die, he wants everyone else to die. The two factions of the Squad keep fighting. Boomerang is hit in the side with a knife, and Eve gets hurt when Pathfinder phases his hand into her stomach. Waller tells Guedhe that she has a power herself, and can kill someone just by touching them. She demonstrates on Maria, who instantly falls dead. Guedhe is thankful that Waller can kill him, and accepts her touch. Ben takes out Pathfinder, and Lawton blows up Kaliber and shoots Metamorpheus. The zombies attacking the others all collapse. Waller revives Maria, explaining that she used some of Ivy’s neurotoxins to kill her temporarily, and that the power of suggestion was enough for Guedhe to accept death. Later on, things are returning to normal in the capital, and Ben and Maria approach Waller, who is standing on a dock. She tells them that Eve and Boomerang are in the hospital, expected to recover, and that the surviving members of Task Force X will share what they know about The Cabal. Waller wants the fake Squad to stand trial in Diabloverde. When Ben asks why Waller looks down, she tells him that she’s decided to end the Suicide Squad, after seeing how easily its concept was perverted. Maria suggests she become the president of Diabloverde to help it get on its feet, explaining that the people would support her (which is interesting, because does she even speak Spanish?), and Waller accepts the idea, already coming up with ideas like getting a Justice League embassy in the country. Elsewhere, Vertigo stands on a cliff with Deadshot. He says it’s time to decide if he wants to live or not, and after a brief conversation, and a number of panels of Lawton aiming at him, Vertigo says they aren’t going to do this, and they leave.

The letters pages at the ends of issue sixty-five and sixty-six talk about how the low sales on this title necessitated it being cancelled, but because the book was so good, it got a reprieve, allowing Ostrander and Yale time and space to wrap up their storyline. I’m thankful for that, even if the dissolution of the team still felt a little rushed, and some plotlines were left unresolved.

The early 90s were a strange time for comics. Record sales were happening with some truly terrible titles, and while many quality ones were able to continue existing under the radar, many others were not able to make it work. We were moving into the era of extreme action, character designs, copious amounts of cross-hatching, and crummy writing. It seems like Suicide Squad was just out of touch with the time, and while Ostrander and Yale were taking things deeper into the realm of costumeless espionage, people wanted pouches and boobs.

I feel like the approach that was taken to this book in its second half, when the focus was less on costumed battles, and took on more of an undercover tone, should have been more successful. The focus also shifted away from being as focused on character, as things contracted around a smaller team, lacking a large support infrastructure and supporting cast, and doing away with the very popular Private Lives chapters.

That said, the book remained very character driven, and it was cool to see Amanda Waller move into the field more, and take a more active hand in how the Squad operated. Waller became both softer, and more ruthless, during this part of the run, and I felt like we got to see some new sides to her.

Deadshot was shown to be more mentally ill than originally suspected, as he began to see himself as two separate entities – Floyd Lawton or Deadshot – depending on what he was wearing at the time. I was happy to see him back in costume for the end of the run, because I love his classic look, but it also felt like a shame, as Floyd was making progress.

Bronze Tiger started this stack pretty broken, and didn’t get a lot of screen time here. His resolution with himself at the end felt a little forced, but I’m sure, if the book continued, he would have been explored more.

Count Vertigo became a very interesting character during this part of the run. I always loved his costume design, and the way he’s shown when flying, but it was in these issues that Ostrander and Yale really explored his mental health, his relationship with his country, and his feelings after being used as a pawn by Poison Ivy.

Ivy herself didn’t do a lot here. The same is true for Captain Boomerang, who stayed a reliably terrible person without any real growth, even when we got to see what his childhood was like.

Nightshade’s story didn’t really get resolved here. I know that she later turned up in Shadowpact, but I don’t remember if or how she got separated from the Enchantress. I liked Eve a lot at the beginning of this series, but as time went on, I found her boring.

Ravan was a great character, and I wish he’d been used more, or again in a memorable fashion (maybe he’s turned up, but I have no clue where).

I really liked Adam Cray as the Atom, and think it’s a shame that we never got to know more about him. I feel like he had a lot of story potential, as the ex-con son of the corrupt Senator that Deadshot killed, but it was not to be. I also liked the idea of Ray Palmer, the traditional Atom, joining the team. It would have been interesting to see a character like him dealing with the Squad’s sense of morality, which is so different from that of the Justice League. In a lot of ways, he’d have taken Vixen’s place.

Cliff Carmichael’s inclusion in this book is interesting. I remember Cliff being a Flash Thompson-like character in Firestorm before John Ostrander took it over and turned him into a true sociopath. His inclusion on the team added a sense of suspense, because we all knew he’d betray them, but never knew when. It’s too bad that his story wasn’t resolved here – I wonder whatever became of him, because I don’t remember.

One of the most impactful things done in Suicide Squad was the development of Oracle as a unique and important character in the DC Universe. I really liked seeing Barbara (posing as Amy Beddoes) officially join the team and hang out at the Institute for Meta-Human Studies, and get to know some of the other members on the team. It’s a brilliant use of a character that was being written out elsewhere, and I’m sure it meant a lot to the disabled community.

I was a little surprised to see that the Squad moved into the Institute, since their goals weren’t exactly aligned. It was nice to see Simon LaGrieve again – that’s another character who should still be kicking around.

I really wanted to see more of Stalnoivolk in this series. He’s the opposite of Captain America – a Soviet super soldier who ages very slowly, and is therefore out of touch with the culture and time he lives in, but also, he doesn’t really care. How would Gort feel about the current state of Russian/American relations? Why is no one using him now?

It’s clear to me that Ostrander and Yale were reading a lot of espionage novels, and that influenced their writing. I really like when writers try to think logically about how meta-humans would interact in the real world. The development of the Russian Red Shadows and the Israeli Hayoth built on the Jihad, and the hinted-at Janissary. All of these teams (okay, the Red Shadows got torn apart) would have been interesting to explore further in another setting. I thought that Judith and Ramban were cool characters.

Geof Isherwood drew most of this run, with some issues handled by Luke McDonnell, and I really liked his work here. He kept things pretty down-to-Earth, as for the most part, no one wore costumes, but were always easy to recognize. This was not a flashy comic at all, but it was handled very competently.

I do regret that a few plotlines were left unfulfilled (at least here). I don’t know what ever happened to The Cabal, but thought the fact that General Eiling was a part of it was significant. Maybe when I get around to Morrison’s JLA, the Shaggy Man storyline will reference this. I’m realizing that as we moved into the 90s, I didn’t retain as many details of the comics I read compared to the reading I did when I was younger, which is burned into my brain.

After this run, the Squad did turn up again in a few forms. Waller ended up in the relaunched Checkmate, which was an excellent series by Greg Rucka. I remember liking Keith Giffen’s short-lived take on the team, despite the overly cartoonish artwork that didn’t match the tone. I also remember that Ostrander returned to the book for a miniseries, but I don’t really remember any details of it right now. I don’t think any of these books are old enough for me to consider them “Retro” enough to tackle in this column, but I’m tempted to reread them while all of this Squad stuff is fresh in my mind. Similarly, I’m not going to revisit the Blackest Night tie-in that continued this run for one more issue.

The New 52 Suicide Squad was a disappointment, as have been most of the comics that have come since, because they have never been able to capture what made this book work so well – the fine balance between intricate plots and missions, character-driven stories, and the ingenuity that Ostrander and Yale brought to every issue. I liked Tom Taylor’s brief run, but it was a very different beast. The current Infinite Frontiers take on the Squad has been enjoyable, but after rereading these comics, I see how flat and undeveloped the characters are.

I never would have expected that the Squad would end up in the movies, and while I haven’t seen the latest version (please, let’s not talk about the first one), I’ve heard good things about it.

This is a title I’m always going to treasure, as it opened my eyes to some of the possibilities that come with taking a new approach to unloved and underused characters. I think that my focus on oddball titles began here. I also think that this is a series that deserves to be studied and celebrated. Ostrander is top five, for all time.

Next time around, I’m going to dig into a miniseries that featured a hugely popular character, an underrated character (especially at the time), and an experimental approach to using two artists.

If you’d like to see the archives of all of my retro review columns, click here.

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Retro Reviews: Suicide Squad #40-66 By Ostrander, Yale, Isherwood, McDonnell, & Others For DC Comics

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