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Suicide Squad (2007) #1-8
Suicide Squad: From the Ashes
The Suicide Squad makes its triumphant return in this new volume collecting the recent miniseries. But how did team leader Rick Flag Jr. survive a ground-zero nuclear blast and return from the dead?
Suicide Squad: From the Ashes Originally published in single magazine form as Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag #1-8.
Suicide Squad: From the Ashes Originally published in single magazine form as Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag #1-8.
192 pages, Paperback
Published September 2, 2008
About the author
John Ostrander
2,080 books173 followersJohn Ostrander is an American writer of comic books. He is best known for his work on Suicide Squad, Grimjack and Star Wars: Legacy, series he helped create.
Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, Ostrander moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about the character "Sargon, Mistress of War", who appeared the First Comics series Warp!, based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character Grimjack with Timothy Truman, who originally appeared in a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in his own book, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, by which time Ostrander was already doing work for other comics companies (his first scripts for DC Comics were published in 1986).
Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes himself as an agnostic. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus on the character's human aspect, a dead police detective from the 1930s named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.
Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, Ostrander moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about the character "Sargon, Mistress of War", who appeared the First Comics series Warp!, based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character Grimjack with Timothy Truman, who originally appeared in a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in his own book, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, by which time Ostrander was already doing work for other comics companies (his first scripts for DC Comics were published in 1986).
Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes himself as an agnostic. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus on the character's human aspect, a dead police detective from the 1930s named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
September 10, 2014
El retorno de Ostrander a uno de sus títulos más destacados se tradujo en una potente miniserie donde los criminales reclutados por Amanda Waller emprenden una enésima misión para rebajar condenas. Caras conocidas y varios nuevos en una historia no exenta de acción, tiempo de prestado y el trance concentrado que ya se vio en la serie continuada. Muy recomendable.
March 9, 2015
#10 of The 2015 Reading Challenge. Also reviewed in more detail hear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsUk3...
This has got to be one of the most slow moving, most boring books i have ever read!
This has got to be one of the most slow moving, most boring books i have ever read!
Read
October 20, 2022Not my favorite, but then again John Ostrander’s never really been my guy. On the positive, I think it’s really cool how smoothly the story of the original Suicide Squad flows so easily into this, while simultaneously Ostrander utilizes ongoing DC continuity and what other authors have done with his characters to move his narrative forward, as opposed to ignoring or sidestepping any developments. It makes the world feel real and aged. The workings of the squad continue to present an entertaining metaphorical indictment of both the prison and military-industrial complexes.
Ostrander struggles to handle this pacing-wise. The first 4 issues are the book playing catch up to fill in the cracks on the return of Flagg and the state of the squad pre and post Waller in Checkmate. The next 4 issues contain the more interesting maneuvering of Eilling to take out Waller, yet too much time is spent on the not so interesting op the Squad is being sent on. The through line across all 8 issues is Rick Flagg realizing he’s a brainwashed, preprogrammed assassin for Eilling, which doesn’t work to create interesting internal conflict. The Rick Flagg seen in Checkmate who came off as a reluctant yet stone cold attack dog for Waller seemed way more exciting. The art is fine but largely toneless, again underwhelming considering the beautifully grimy and emotive art seen in Checkmate.
That being said this comic ends with what is essentially Halliburton going Chapter 7 after Deadshot shoots up Dick Cheney and his fellow board members. So thats very cool.
Ostrander struggles to handle this pacing-wise. The first 4 issues are the book playing catch up to fill in the cracks on the return of Flagg and the state of the squad pre and post Waller in Checkmate. The next 4 issues contain the more interesting maneuvering of Eilling to take out Waller, yet too much time is spent on the not so interesting op the Squad is being sent on. The through line across all 8 issues is Rick Flagg realizing he’s a brainwashed, preprogrammed assassin for Eilling, which doesn’t work to create interesting internal conflict. The Rick Flagg seen in Checkmate who came off as a reluctant yet stone cold attack dog for Waller seemed way more exciting. The art is fine but largely toneless, again underwhelming considering the beautifully grimy and emotive art seen in Checkmate.
That being said this comic ends with what is essentially Halliburton going Chapter 7 after Deadshot shoots up Dick Cheney and his fellow board members. So thats very cool.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2021
I thought this was one of the better Suicide Squad stories I've read. John Ostrander wrote the original 80s series and probably has done the most with the characters. This one featured some revelations about Rick Flag and several of my favorite Squad members (Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, etc.)
Good story with good art. Some fans may have missed this series as it was a little under the radar, so if you're a Suicide Squad fan this is worth checking out.
Good story with good art. Some fans may have missed this series as it was a little under the radar, so if you're a Suicide Squad fan this is worth checking out.
January 3, 2026
genuinely so enjoyable, had some very profound moments, good twists, silly easter eggs, and rick flag finally got the main character arch he deserves!!!!
March 10, 2023
What an enjoyable read! Nice and easy with plenty of twists to keep readers on their toes. It's action movie bliss with some spycraft thrown in. Only one proper reference to feminism was used, but it was quickly backed up with violence, like God intended. The only dowside to this volume is that it could have afforded to be split in two, maybe even extended.
Amanda Waller is told by general Wade Eiling that Rick Flag may still be alive. She rebuilds the Suicide Squad and sends them to free Rick from where he is supposedly imprisoned, but they find no one.
Amanda Waller is told by general Wade Eiling that Rick Flag may still be alive. She rebuilds the Suicide Squad and sends them to free Rick from where he is supposedly imprisoned, but they find no one.
Read
September 5, 2024John Ostrander’s return to the Suicide Squad more than a decade after his original run largely retains the elements that made the first series so good. Political intrigue, funny interactions, black ops violence, Waller being a hardass (and badass), betrayals, and power struggles. This story centers on Rick Flag, Jr., who is not dead as believed. He uncovers secrets about the Squad and himself while figuring out where his allegiances lie. The middle becomes unfocused, and Ostrander spends too much times catching the reader up with Flag and what Waller’s been up to since Checkmate. But it comes together by the end. Plus there are dinosaurs, a flaming sword, and Waller as Chemo (“you’ll excuse me, but I need to spit”).
August 13, 2023
Aunque no soy fan del trabajo de Ostrander, creo que era una obviedad que él debía ser quien manejara esta reencarnación del Escuadrón Suicida. Me gustó mucho como el trabajo de Javi Pina logró modernizar la serie para hacerla más atractiva.
A su vez, si bien siguen manejando esa forma horrible que tiene DC de entremezclar sus series, al menos en esta ocasión todo puede ser entendido sin demasiados problemas. Quizás también tengo la ventaja de ya haber leído lo anterior del escuadrón entonces los personajes no me son tan desconocidos, pero en línea generales creo que se trata de un buen cómic que tiene la cantidad de acción y muertes que uno esperaría del título.
A su vez, si bien siguen manejando esa forma horrible que tiene DC de entremezclar sus series, al menos en esta ocasión todo puede ser entendido sin demasiados problemas. Quizás también tengo la ventaja de ya haber leído lo anterior del escuadrón entonces los personajes no me son tan desconocidos, pero en línea generales creo que se trata de un buen cómic que tiene la cantidad de acción y muertes que uno esperaría del título.
April 5, 2023
This was bad. Really bad. A super generic, poorly written love note to a lame era of Suicide Squad. John Ostrander is capable of much better. Here, he throws a ton of garbage at the wall and nothing sticks. The art was basic and unspectacular. I wanted this to end so badly. Overall, a complete misfire.
August 26, 2021
I wondered whether John Ostrander would be able to recapture the magic of his original Suicide Squad run in this 2008 miniseries. Turns out, he could.
November 13, 2023
Having read the original Suicide Squad series from 1986, I was pleased to see a collection that picked up where that left off.
I never thought I'd see Rick Flag again outside of a flashback, but they found a way for him to survive the nuclear explosion he set off to destroy the Jihad's Qurac headquarters. I was glad to see his return- it doesn't seem like the Squad without him leading the charge. Of course it doesn't seem like the Squad with no Captain Boomerang, but he died. Guess that's why they recruited his son to take his place. Bronze Tiger is still there as the team enforcer, Deadshot of course rounds out the core group, and Amanda Waller has her covert strike team to use as she sees fit.
As usual, there was an impressive array of B, C and D villains to round out the team. Count Vertigo and Multiplex seem to have found their way onto the core team, and Cliff Carmichael of Firestorm fame was there too. Apparently he graduated from school bully to super villain at some point, and fell into Waller's hands as her new tech guy. William Hell returned as the White Dragon, along with Twister, Windfall (formerly of the Masters of Disaster), Marauder, Blackguard, Plastique (with no memory of her first tour of duty with the Squad), the General and Chemo.
Their mission was bloody as usual, largely because of duplicity from within. I was pissed about Windfall- she was a good character and deserved better than to die as cannon fodder on the Squad. It was classic SS though, which is always good to me. The movie version notwithstanding, this is the Squad to me.
I never thought I'd see Rick Flag again outside of a flashback, but they found a way for him to survive the nuclear explosion he set off to destroy the Jihad's Qurac headquarters. I was glad to see his return- it doesn't seem like the Squad without him leading the charge. Of course it doesn't seem like the Squad with no Captain Boomerang, but he died. Guess that's why they recruited his son to take his place. Bronze Tiger is still there as the team enforcer, Deadshot of course rounds out the core group, and Amanda Waller has her covert strike team to use as she sees fit.
As usual, there was an impressive array of B, C and D villains to round out the team. Count Vertigo and Multiplex seem to have found their way onto the core team, and Cliff Carmichael of Firestorm fame was there too. Apparently he graduated from school bully to super villain at some point, and fell into Waller's hands as her new tech guy. William Hell returned as the White Dragon, along with Twister, Windfall (formerly of the Masters of Disaster), Marauder, Blackguard, Plastique (with no memory of her first tour of duty with the Squad), the General and Chemo.
Their mission was bloody as usual, largely because of duplicity from within. I was pissed about Windfall- she was a good character and deserved better than to die as cannon fodder on the Squad. It was classic SS though, which is always good to me. The movie version notwithstanding, this is the Squad to me.
November 14, 2019
Was the original Squad series this good? This book was a blast. It starts slow, lots of Rick Flag backstory and an "all you knew was a lie" revelation (I didn't know anything, so I wasn't really bothered), but once it starts to cook, this story sizzles.
Man, that was a corny line. Sorry.
Ostrander does a good job setting up all the players, establishing loyalties, etc. Some of the cast don't get much character time, Bronze Tiger for example, but Ostrander still conveys the important information. The action's really good, absolutely brutal, and lots of good twists packed in. I enjoyed it a lot.
+++++++++++++++
Reread this as part of a complete-Ostrander Suicide Squad reading, and I still like this series. It's more fun to read it in light of the original series - the connection between Deadshot and Boomerang Jr is only a delight when you know their relationship between Floyd and Boomer Sr. Ostrander handled Flag's return shockingly well, although his return to action after all the trauma he endured in the original series felt glossed over. And the mission itself was a "sh*t-hits-the-fan" delight.
Man, that was a corny line. Sorry.
Ostrander does a good job setting up all the players, establishing loyalties, etc. Some of the cast don't get much character time, Bronze Tiger for example, but Ostrander still conveys the important information. The action's really good, absolutely brutal, and lots of good twists packed in. I enjoyed it a lot.
+++++++++++++++
Reread this as part of a complete-Ostrander Suicide Squad reading, and I still like this series. It's more fun to read it in light of the original series - the connection between Deadshot and Boomerang Jr is only a delight when you know their relationship between Floyd and Boomer Sr. Ostrander handled Flag's return shockingly well, although his return to action after all the trauma he endured in the original series felt glossed over. And the mission itself was a "sh*t-hits-the-fan" delight.
November 24, 2020
La campaña promocional, y de aprovechamiento, del estreno del último intento, por el momento, de Warner/DC de conseguir un gran éxito en la gran pantalla ha multiplicado en nuestras librerías la oferta dedicada al Escuadrón Suicida, en sus varias encarnaciones. Aunque la mayoría de estos últimos lanzamientos se dedican a la última versión del grupo, la más cercana a la de la película, o a Harley Queen también ha servido para que se edite en España esta miniserie originalmente aparecida en 2007 en que John Ostrander (el arquitecto principal de la época clásica del Escuadrón) vuelve a tratar con el grupo.
http://aventurasextraordinarias.blogs...
http://aventurasextraordinarias.blogs...
September 10, 2015
a tightly plotted epilogue to ostrander's legendary 80s run on SS. Your knowledge of Rucka's likewise excellent contemporary CHECKMATE and the counter-intelligence networks of the DCU might determine how much you can follow the goings-on (I live and breathe this stuff and I had to look up a couple of things) but for the most part Ostrander catches readers up with graceful exposition. The art gets a bit rushed-looking toward the finale but Deadshot killing Dick Cheney and Amanda Waller controlling Chemo makes up for that. a shame they couldn't have collected SS 67, the Blackest Night tie-in here but that'll hopefully get fixed in the new trades.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2018
Maybe not the best Suicide Squad story, but good fun to see Ostrander playing with his toys once more. He has to do a fair bit of playing the ball where it lies in relation to various crossovers - like the continual references to Checkmate - but he finds intriguing ground, as when Deadshot is reluctantly paired with Captain Boomerang's son. And there's a special delight in seeing the Amanda Waller Chemo vomiting on the bad guys. It's the kind of book that makes you wonder - whatever happened to Javier Pina?
October 13, 2017
A really messed up and slow-paced volume, the real deal only picked up in the final 2 issues. Waller is back to assemble her suicide squad, this time they must fight Jihad in Dubai; a paralelle story is about Rick Flag escaping Qarac. This volume was gruesome, the team suffered HEAVY casualties and even the bad guys all met gruesome ends. Deadshot was awesome though, I loved this iteration of him, but there weren't many redeeming factors.
September 30, 2019
The final story in the epic series by Ostrander. In this volume we learn about Rick Flagg’s past and current whereabouts. Now if you are not familiar with Ostrander’s run on Suicide Squad this storyline won’t mean as much and may even be a little confusing. That said if you’re a fan and are up to date on the amazing run this is a wonderful conclusion. It’s a must read by anyone who enjoyed the head of its time run.
April 27, 2019
I found myself really enjoying this one. The first half is kind of revisiting of past squads along with the secret history of Rick Flag. The 2nd half winds the pieces of the first half for a current (at the time) story of the squad reforming. As a fan of John Ostrander’s original run I really enjoyed how this one came together.
April 19, 2008
*Spoilers*
The story had a lot more potential which was left unused. It also had some historical/cultural mistakes like Rustam was tagged as a Pakistani hero not an Iranian hero, and of course Rick Flag had to kill him which was very disappointing.
The story had a lot more potential which was left unused. It also had some historical/cultural mistakes like Rustam was tagged as a Pakistani hero not an Iranian hero, and of course Rick Flag had to kill him which was very disappointing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 19, 2011
This is a nice return to a concept that was genius. Why did I only give it 3 stars, then? Well, the characters simply could not be developed in a mini the way they were in the regular title. And why hasn't DC followed up on this mini-series yet...?
March 31, 2015
Great concept, terrible execution in pacing and stuffy writing that kept me wincing. Definitely the worst major-market graphic novel I've read, which given the potential of the source material evinces tragic disdain.
May 24, 2016
Not what I was expecting out of my first Suicide Squad graphic novel, but still not a bad story. Centers on one character and most of the regulars people expect from the movie are non-existent. Still found it interesting, but more background on the story and the squad would have helped me.
January 16, 2009
not as good as I'd hoped
April 27, 2012
Decent book, but it was far from spectacular or worth writing home about.
January 6, 2015
Nice read. Found it on a top-list of Suicide Squad comics as I've been curious since the announcement that there would be a movie. Didn't get hooked though.
Want to Read
June 29, 2016Edición española con el reboot del Suicide Squad del 2007, que no se había editado en castellano hasta ahora.
July 17, 2016
This was a pretty ok book. Kind of slow. 2.5
September 10, 2016
not the original but great !!!
October 17, 2016
Pacing is kind of weird on this one.
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December 19, 20202020 Popsugar Reading Challenge
26. A book with a pun in the title
(I'm counting this based on the original title of Raise the Flag, because it's my reading challenge and I do what I want.)
26. A book with a pun in the title
(I'm counting this based on the original title of Raise the Flag, because it's my reading challenge and I do what I want.)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews