Next Level: One Shot (2026-) #1 (Next Level: One Shot

by Gerry Duggan, Fernando Blanco (Artist)

The deadliest assassin in DCU history goes to the Next Level in Next One Shot—and uncovers a conspiracy that will change everything. Writer Gerry Duggan tells the tale of a job gone sideways, a father and his daughter, and a web of super-powered lies that stretches throughout the entire DC Next Level cast of characters…and points the direction to war on the horizon. This epic issue tells you everything you need to know about what’s next for Next Level…if you survive the experience.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics

Kindle Edition

Published August 26, 2026

Reviews

[Mike Wood]

a "They Live"esque one-shot lead-in to whatever DC Comics' next event/status-quo is, in which the Suicide Squad's sometimes-leader Rick Flag modifies Deadshot's eyepiece so that only he can see the mysterious [[somethings]] that have taken-over people. Throw in a major Jack Kirby reference with Project Cadmus and their genetic experimentations with cloning and animal-men (as seen in Kirby's "Kamandi"), and I'm sold.
This has all been done before. And in comics, most things have! -- and that never worries me if they're done well. I've loved/followed the near-entirety of Gerry Duggan's Marvel output for the past ~15 years, and I'm very excited to see him dip his toes into DC's pool for some hopefully long-term plans here.

[Whatslifeanyways · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was so confusing lmao what the fuck did deadshot get into. Also he is beefing with slade in his comics and here dealing with his own conspiracies

[Colin Post · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun way to ring in the next phase of All In, with a very intriguing reveal of super drones. I’m left with more questions since none of the stuff with Cadmus has been really set up prior to this. Weaving in the new next level series also felt a bit forced as we didn’t learn anything about how these disparate characters are connected to this emerging evil drone plot. Also, a minor issue but something that bugged me. Deadshot is in Detroit to scope out the Doom Patrol, and then the next page he says he’s going to Detroit to spy on Vixen - but he hasn’t gone anywhere else in the interim. You’re still in Detroit!!!

[Cybernex007 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately this one shot gave me exactly what I was expecting…an ad for the new titles, some cool action, and let’s be honest… a “connecting story” which will ultimately never have any real impact on the books it referenced. To start out with something more positive though, A+ to Fernando, Jordie, and Buddy for the fantastic art, colors, and lettering. Did not disappoint and really made the action scenes exactly what I would want out of a Deadshot book. Even though it was also kinda appearing in the recent Deathstroke series, I’m glad to see this classic Deadshot design back. The large helmet just doesn’t look as good as the skin tight one, in my opinion. But speaking of opinions, I already wasn’t a fan of Dugan’s writing style from my exposure in the Guy Gardner special…but this one really takes the cake for shameless. I can’t fully blame the writing though, having to fit in titles like “shadow of the bat” (which made me laugh in how it was so blatantly used) is not a fun feat for a writer to have to plug in, but outside of having to shove in all these new unconnected titles…the story didn’t feel concise, the whole Flag asking Deadshot to go to Gotham to kill his clone was not communicated properly, and it felt like Deadshot was taken down a notch from his standard demeanor to just sound like a much more generic gunman. This isn’t some rando like gunfire we are following here, this is Deadshot! We just had a secret six series showcasing him brilliantly, and that’s not even getting into Ostrander’s original suicide squad run and the Deadshot mini series where we see him mentally break. Bring some of that out.

The issue starts with a bang to hook us in as we see Deadshot running across buildings in Chicago as he reveals he is running away from Cadmus soldiers. But as he disables and takes a helicopter and leaves the last soldier alive for talking, he horrifically finds out that the soldier is some kind of Cadmus clone with dog dna spliced in. It’s not a pretty sight. You might be wondering why Cadmus is being portrayed as evil again, to find that out we have to go back a few hours to Lake Michigan where Deadshot was called on the old suicide squad channels by Rick Flag. Rick doesn’t look to good as he hands Floyd his journal. The two don’t get much time to talk before a squad of sea creature human hybrids armed to the teeth rise from the water and shoot at them. Flag now gets to show Deadshot why he is so on edge, they are some of the few who know that drones are secretly taking over the world and Cadmus is behind it all. They’ve had metahuman dna longer than anyone, and then they got sold and privatized. Honestly, a bit of a slap in the face to the secretive group trying to progress without intervention Kirby created. But it’s not the first time they’ve been portrayed as evil, just sucks to see again. Anyway, the core thing to get out of this is that Cadmus is pumping out clones. Even as the two split up the whole interaction was weird as in their “saying the bare minimum” way of speaking, Rick conveys that there is a clone of him in Gotham that Floyd needs to kill.

Obviously Deadshot likes to avoid Gotham as much as possible due to you know who, so he decides to take a look in Flag’s notebook where he finds other leads that Cadmus could be targeting. And of course all of these leads go back to the new next level titles! The first place Floyd goes is the doom patrol, and completely unbeknownst to them he notices a “drone” watching them from another rooftop. He is able to recognize the clone because of an upgrade Rick left for his visor which now allows him to see beyond visible light and to identify the clones due to something in their chest. Floyd kills the man, but his body self destructs before Floyd can investigate. Next target Deadshot checks in on his Vixen, she’s fine and he doesn’t have to do anything. For some reason a picture of Guy is included in the journal, Floyd doesn’t even know why. He also checks in on the new teen titans, they are in Seattle and fine. Floyd then throws on autopilot as he takes the ship he stole over to Gotham, flying through metropolis as during this time Superman is still missing.

Finally Deadshot gets to Gotham, he has enough time to spot Jason Blood wandering around, he doesn’t look good but at least he isn’t yellow right now, and to get a cheesesteak. I find it hilarious that Deadshot is just holding this food out in the open as it’s pouring rain, but it’s not like he gets a chance to eat it anyway as the moment he climbs up into a roof…batman kicks the cheesesteak out of his hand. Deadshot gets super pissed as he claims he hasn’t eaten in two days…but we just left a scene where the ship he stole was filled with Chinese food takeout. But it was hilarious seeing batman just kick that first, and then swoop away. Deadshot left a contingency in case batman came, as he left a bomb back at the cheesesteak place and activated it right as the fight with batman began. Forcing batman to run off and disable the gun while Deadshot gets his scope ready to hone in on and take out the fake Rick flag across the street. But the moment Deadshot spots his mark, a giant king Shark + man-bat hybrid swoops in and tries to chomp off his face. Deadshot has died before and at this point he is ready to accept death, but then the monster freezes and cracks as batarangs break it apart. The good news is that Deadshot is alive, the bad news is that batman didn’t come back. Instead, Deadshot is now staring at clones of the Trinity and even worse it looks like clone Wonder Woman is wearing her NEW52 outfit, lmao. They have most of the powers of the trinity, but their creators have nerfed them in small ways to keep them in line. The only one we find out about is Superman’s nerf, as they disabled his eye sight as too many power make them too hard to keep in line. I guess this group was expecting the real Rick flag so they could take him out, instead they knock Deadshot to the ground and then reveal what had been showing up on deadshot’s scans…as in each of their chests is a Starro! Not exactly sure how that makes sense as Starro has been kicking it with Aquaman since DCKO and the visions but maybe there is a back-end thing we don’t know about and Starro is up to no good…or these are Starro clones. The use case for the Starro is definitely interesting as the trinity slaps it on deadshot’s face…but only temporarily to get a copy of him to send back home as the Superman clone shoves it back into his body. They then introduce Deadshot to the “last suicide squad” as they are a literal death squad, none of them are meant to live for long. As the final page is partnered with a trade for all the upcoming books I have to wonder…is this really going to go anywhere?!

[Roland Baldwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s okay but I’ve never found Deadshot that interesting. I enjoy the oft reviled prior run of The Suicide Squad so much I guess I’m very unsure of this. We’ve seen this weird clone type thing with Justice League 3000 and with Match. I’ll see where it goes down the line

[spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 | Never knew where this was going and really leans into the weird which I am all for. I’m excited to see what is going to happen with the new Teen Titans and all the Next Level books after this even if this doesn’t necessarily paint a very clearer picture of what is next.

[Annemarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was... kinda disappointing. To be fair, I only knew deadshot from the suicide squad isekai anime, and they weren't that similar.
I want a fan of the plot that much either, and the fact that this is potentially going to be the next event just makes it worse for me.

[alejandro galvez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn good!

Deadshot is so back! Its about time they brought him back. He is a really good character. It was long overdue. But I am glad they did. This plot is really interesting. I love it so far. Bring me more of this!

[Jadyn❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey wtf is going on! And like… there’s no way Deadshot’s still surviving via Lazarus resin so are they gonna actually explain that

[Faytanix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sold on the story yet, but it's a pretty issue.

[Cristhian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just another suicide squad prequel.

2.5/5

[Myles Gerber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dunno if this will actually go anywhere but it was kinda cool I guess? RIP Cheesesteak you looked delicious.