With Amanda Waller now back in control—and some surprising new recruits—it's safe to say some things have changed for Task Force X.
The Suicide Squad finds themselves in…hell?! And their only chance for survival is…Ambush Bug?! And that's only the beginning.
Containing Suicide Squad #7-12 and Suicide Squad 2021 Annual, Suicide Squad Vol. 2 is an action-packed collection that takes the team to places they've never been before. And when Conner Kent joins the team, he'll be forced to question everything he thinks he knows about himself and his history.
Loved the addition of Ambush Bug to the team. Yes, he's used pretty much the same as Deadpool but it's really the other way around. Deadpool has just been more successful being used as Ambush Bug because Ambush Bug was around for the better part of a decade before Rob Liefeld created Deadpool. Amanda Waller is going all scorched earth during this run, trampling over rights and enslaving people who aren't criminals. I have a feeling we are soon going to find out she's the Waller of Earth-3 during the crossover. If not, that's some poor writing and really out of character for her. (Not that that would surprise me from DC.)
Suicide Squad Volume 2 is another hit from Robbie Thompson & Eduardo Pansica, who are joined by writer Dennis Hopeless and penciler Julio Ferreira as this relaunched Suicide Squad wraps up its first full year, heading full steam ahead into The War for Earth-3. This volume also sees Ambush Bug join the team, and how much you like this character will dictate how much you enjoy this arc, as get 6 more issues and an annual.
This arc has a ton going on, but handles it all pretty well. Building off the last one, one team is sent to deal with Swamp Thing, while Waller’s other team goes down a rabbit hole of various insane missions, and Bloodsport does his own thing on Earth-3, with guest stars popping in at the perfect time. Jo Mullein even makes an appearance which was very cool. We also see some movie-synergy as Rick Flag, Bloodsport, and Peacemaker are all taking center stage in this title. Superboy also gets an annual covering how exactly he ended up on the team with a pretty cool twist explaining that. The book ends with a rowdy final issue and a massive cliffhanger that has me excited to see how Thompson will wrap his third and final arc in War For Earth-3. Really enjoyed this though. This book has been the best ongoing SS in years. Amanda Waller also says “Nothing stops the wall” which is the greatest line the character will ever say in any piece of media ever.
The second and final collection of the most recent Suicide Squad series collects issues #7-15 and the Annual, which causes problems in the latter half, but we'll get to that.
The first half of this volume is excellent, just as good as what came before. The Squad are joined by Ambush Bug as they continue to recruit new members from across the Multiverse and beyond, journeying into Hell, space, and Earth-3. Ambush Bug fits oddly well with the team, offering some much needed levity during the more sombre moments, and the team dynamic continues to be surprisingly great. Culebra and Talon's little friendship is something I'd never have twigged from the get-go but it's kind of endearing actually.
Where it all goes wrong is the final few issues; everything in this run has been building to the War For Earth-3 crossover, which takes place...pretty much exclusively outside of this collection. There aren't even any recap pages to tell you what's happened in the meantime between issues, which is something DC haven't omitted since the early days of the New 52 trades. It's just sloppy, and it means you miss out on some massive plot points. There are some recaps in issue 14 as part of the story, but you'll definitely feel like you're missing out. Oh, and those final two issues post War feel a little redundant. The Squad's aimless after the War, and those two issues don't do anything to give them a new direction aside from a possible tease for a future series.
Artwise though, the book can't be faulted. Eduardo Pansica returns from the previous volume and looks wonderful, while Dexter Soy appears for some fill-in work and slides right into the book's aesthetic without even trying. Even if the story's letting you down, you can look at the pretty pictures.
A brilliant two-thirds let down by a disappointing ending. Such a shame.
After the first volume set the stage, I enjoyed the second volume a lot more. Ambush Bug shows up and adds some Deadpool "breaking the fourth wall" silliness, which I wouldn't think would work in this book. However, it didn't really detract from the story and may have even made it more entertaining.
We have some dimension hopping and we see some weird heroes from other dimensions, and unfortunately we never quite got the Suicide Squad vs. Crime Syndicate fight I was hoping for. We go have two Suicide Squads though, one led by Rick Flagg out to take down Amanda Waller's team.
I'm still not sure why Earth 3 is suddenly such a big deal (I need to read Infinite Frontier probably) but that's what's up next.
Not my favorite Suicide Squad series, but not bad either.
It was interesting, but it could have been so much better. Amanda Waller is a great character when portrayed with a bit more depth than what we got. She’s heartless, and moves in a very gray area, but this time we got just a flat portrayal of her “evil” self, and that made her just boring and predictable. On the other side, I know Ambush Bug has his fans, but his perspective was too distracting and didn’t blend that well with the story. I could really do without him. Peace Maker also fell flat, down the same line as Amanda Waller did… Anyway, besides this, the story had a hook, but it wasn’t that memorable.
A arte é boa e o plott terminou muito bom no final do volume um, e oque mais queríamos ver pelo que entendi só vai acontecer no arco da guerra pela terra 3, então achei isso meio enrolado claro que é muito massa ver pessoas indo contra o sistema da waller mas talvez essa pataquada de terras cansa, creio que com uma boa promo pego a conclusão dessa série tudo graças ao esquadrão do James Gunn que fez gostar tanto!!
O segundo volume do Esquadrão Suicida de Robbie Thompson continua bastante empolgante. Dessa vez, ao contrário de fazer um tour por diversas Terras do Multiverso DC, o autor e sua companhia limitada de artistas focaram mais em estabelecer as dinâmicas da equipe, principalmente trazendo à tona a verdade sobre o Superboy que foi recrutado por Amanda Waller. Além disso, a equipe tem uma adição metalinguistica às suas tropas: o Besouro Bisonho - um personagem que fez poucas aparições aqui no Brasil. Além disso, a equipe enfrenta os Retaliadores, uma versão dos Vingadores da Marvel na Terra 8 da DC Comics. Achei curioso que esta foi uma das primeira vezes que as cores do brasileiro Marcelo Maiolo me cansaram: muito uso do branco e do amarelo nas páginas, como a própria capa do encadernado comprova. Também o uso de vários artistas por edição, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira e Dexter Soy se revezando, não me pareceu uma escolha editorial muito acertada. Assim, o forte do encadernado acaba sendo mesmo o trabalho de Thompson, mas nem por isso devemos deixar de lado o impacto da arte dos desenhistas e coloristas.
Nesse segundo volume do Esquadrão suicida, temos desenvolvimentos de elementos interessantes que foram apresentados no volume anterior, se tornando uma trama de ação e conspiração com pitadas de mistério. E vale ressaltar que esse encadernado, diferentemente do primeiro, possui história focada apenas na revista, sem depender de interações com outras publicações da DC.
Nesse segundo volume, logo no começo, temos as respostas envolvendo o Superboy, que foi o grande cliffhanger que encerrou o volume anterior. Assim, o leitor já começa a leitura com a resolução desse problema do Superboy e vendo o quão longe a Waller pode ir para cumprir seus objetivos.
Após essa resolução, Waller se tornou figura procurada pelo governo dos EUA, e por isso, ela e sua equipe se deslocam até uma ilha remota com uma base de operações secretas. Apesar dessa situação, Waller não desiste de seus planos, e a equipe continua a ser enviada para missões, sendo uma delas no espaço, para resgatar outro personagem necessário para o plano de Waller.
Após essa missão, alguns conflitos entre membros do grupo ocorrem, muitos envolvendo o mais novo integrante da equipe: o Major Desastre. Com as estruturas abaladas, mas ainda obedecendo Waller, a equipe vai até o inferno em busca de cumprir as ordens de Waller, e mais uma vez conflitos ocorrem.
Esses conflitos, acompanhados do sentimento de desconfiança com a Waller, gera revoltas internas no grupo, que somam com aliados externos – coordenados por uma figura importante – para trair Waller. A partir desse ponto, o sentimento de desconfiança é presente em toda a HQ, deixando o leitor curioso para um momento que tudo dará errado.
Outro elemento interessante nesse segundo volume, é a apreciação da Waller por outras terras do universo DC, que quando explicadas as ligações com o plano de Waller, fazem a HQ ficar ainda mais interessante, assim como conhecer mais a natureza da Amanda Waller. Ademais, essa edição conta com momentos de ação bem massavéio, com desenhos que funcionam em maior parte da trama e não comprometem. Além disso, a participação do Besouro Bisonho em quase toda a trama, é uma adição de alivio cómica muito bem feita.
Thompson's comic continues to make good use of its cast of characters. The Superboy reveal that leads off the volume is perhaps a little unfortunate because it didn't happen in the previous volume (but otherwise a great reveal), but from there the plot and storyline head upward, particularly with the introduction of Ambush Bug in the second issue, who Thompson makes great use of.
The big, big problem with this volume is that DC Comics decided to absolutely murder it as a story. Everything was leading up to the assault on Earth-3, and then that becomes a 5-part crossover and the idiots putting together collections at DC only put one of the issues in this volume. So, the whole point of this whole run of Suicide Squad isn't included!
Then, just to be more anti-climactic still, we end on two funny issues. I mean, @#)$(#@*)_@(#$!
DC probably ruined this comic by cancelling but they definitely ruined this collection by their typical idiocy in deciding what belongs where.
I could see myself buying a larger collection or omnibus of Suicide Squad and Titans Academy if they were properly collected, but this mess is so bad (atop the mess of early volumes of the two series) that I finished it and don't know what happened.
Conclusão de mais uma série do Esquadrão Suicida. Dessa vez a Amanda Waller monta uma equipe que viaja pelas terras do multiverso pra conseguir o que a Waller quer, que é uma terra pra chamar de sua. Aparentemente seu objetivo é a Terra 3, inclusive com integrantes que são oriundos dessa terra, como a Sereia Negra. Enquanto isso, o Rick Flag monta sua própria versão do Esquadrão pra tentar deter a Waller, que já não tem também o apoio do governo. Eu achei essa edição bem confusa. Os desenhos são ótimos, mas a narrativa não ajuda. Quando a ação se passa em várias frentes, eles ficam alternando entre uma e outra, o que não é necessariamente ruim, mas o jeito que é feito deixa tudo bem confuso. Ainda tem a adição do Besouro Bisonho aqui, e ele faz o papel de Deadpool da equipe quebrando a quarta parede, mas eu achei bem exagerado e que não funcionou bem. E o pior, a história não termina aqui. Uma pena pra uma série que começou bem.
DNF... This comic has gone completely off the rails. A Superboy clone, Waller playing multiversal terrorist and dictator AND invader, Peacemaker and Rick Flag leaving the squad to form their own... "War For Earth 3"? But only a few parts.... and Ambush Bug? A third wall breaking, unfunny hybrid of something like Booster Gold and Gwenpool?
I'm lost.
Where's Harley? Geez. Someone kill Waller already so she can't go off the deep end with this team.
If you're here from the recent movies, this ain't that. It's not John Cena's goofy Peacemaker, and all the other interesting parts never get room to breathe. Really very little happens here except to keep a Suicide Squad comic on the shelves. Then they just throw in Ambush Bug, in the same way Marvel throws in Deadpool, when ever a writer's run out of ideas.
Its a little embarrassing but as a lifetime comic book fan I had never actually owned any comics and at the time I was so excited for the Davis Ayer suicide squad that I went out and bought the new 52 series and I thought it was great and just an awesome concept and calls for great combinations. I haven't read any new comics in the last couple of months but this run has been awesome and made me think of multiple comics I own that I can't wait to go back and read 📚
An improvement over volume 1, but only a marginal one. I actually really enjoyed Ambush Bug; sure he’s a blatant Deadpool ripoff, but he still adds a lot of welcome levity to the team, and Peacemaker and Bloodsport continued to be my two favorite members. Kinda weird that this volume collects the “War for Earth-3” tie-in issue without so much as a recap page to explain what happens in that story; it really made the story progression feel sloppy.
The follow-up to Suicide Squad: Give Peace a Chance better clarifies how the storyline leads into the set-up established in the Future State storyline included in the beginning of that volume, but Walker’s motivations in the overall story arc are much harder to understand despite the reader being told what they are upfront. That incongruity works to take a fun story but prevent it from reaching its fullest potential.
There’s a lot going on that click he really great. Part of it is plot holes and maybe too much story. It kind feels like there was a charge to finish the title.
In the end, this newest iteration of the Suicide Squad is brought low by both hyper-compressed storytelling (Waller's descent into cartoonish supervillainy happened so fast and with so little build-up that it barely had time to register) and the addition of Ambush Bug to the team roster (along with all the annoying meta-humor he brings with him). But it's still a fun little jaunt with a unique and dynamic team line-up; Peacemaker should have been on the team YEARS ago.
It's just kind of a shame to see the book's core premise (supercriminals recruited by the U.S. government to do black ops missions) unravel so quickly and completely over a mere fifteen issues.
Edit: Teď uz tak nadsenej nejsem. Druhé volume je zabavnejsi nez prvni, to ano. Je to hlavne diky pridani Ambush Buga do teamu.
I pres to je to ale chaotickej akcni maglajz, kde postavy ktery byli predtim hezky nacrtnuty -s prislibem ze se jim pribeh bude vice venovat- jsou jen hazeny z alce do akce. Skace se tu do pekla, do ruznych dimenzi a stridaji se tu linky jak na bezicim pase. Coz mi bylo lito, protoze ty postavy maji opravdu potencial a v prvnim volume to z nich slo citit. Tady jejich prostor k dychani je udušen velkou mirou zbytecne akce. Jasne je to Suicide Squad, jenze tady uz to byl fakt prestrel.
I tak, me to bavilo porad. Odsypa to, je to vtipny a jak jsem rikal postavy jsou sympataci, treba Culebra a Talon me hodne bavili, samozrejme i Ambush Bug.