New Suicide Squad #7 “Defective”
Written by Sean Ryan
Art by Rob Hunter & Vicente Cifuentes
Colors by Blond
So… How much longer do you think the New Suicide Squad will be “defective?” No, I’m not talking about the arc, I’m talking about the book itself. You all know that my opinion of this title is less than positive. Hell, calling it mediocre would pretty much be a complete and utter lie at this point. Going into this week, I couldn’t help but wonder if DC purposely released both of their villain team-up books on the same week (New Suicide Squad and Secret Six) just for the sake of showcasing their vast difference in quality… And then I saw the teaser for New Suicide Squad’s return in June at the end of the issue… I was literally dumbfounded. With all of the new titles hitting the shelf in June, DC is spending money on this title. I understand they probably want to put some momentum behind this title due to the film, but this book is going to need a lot more than some buzz and a roster change to hold people’s attention. Simply put, the man currently at the helm of this book – the man who irritates me beyond belief with his stories because there are no consequences, and hardly a trace of plausible cause and effect – will continue to run this book. If Sean Ryan continues to oversee this book, I’m afraid he will run it into the ground. I hope he can prove me wrong, I really do, but at this moment, I’m preparing myself to see terrible interpretations of the characters below. Which, by the way, I want to point out that none of the characters that will be featured in the film, are in the New Suicide Squad’s roster beginning in June… Why do you think that is?
Alright, I’ll stop ranting about the future now. I thought this issue was the best this book has been in a while. BUT, it’s still far from great, a leap from good, and has yet to match the quality of its own debut. The increase in quality is largely due to Cifuentes’ art. If you’ll remember, last month, I pointed out the art that was on the last two to three pages of the book, and asked for that artist to continue. Well it clearly went from my mouth to God’ ears because we got more from him! Hunter’s atrocious art is still sprinkled in there, but there are even times he delivers some decent panels! It was the first time in months that I didn’t feel like I was reading an Animaniacs version of New Suicide Squad! Check in the spoiler tag for some internal art. You’ll be able to see the drastic differences between each artist.
Unfortunately, Sean Ryan’s writing is still less than stellar. There wasn’t anything too crazy or bad in this issue, but that’s partially due to the fact that not much happens. I’ve had trouble writing reviews for New Suicide Squad because it’s mostly just action and there’s barely any plot or character development. Each time I read an issue, it ends up being a really short read. I could essentially recap each issue within two paragraphs… And that remains true here.
The Squad was sent to China to stop the creation of metahuman clones. As expected, nothing goes right, the Squad gets caught in a huge fire-fight. They blow everything and everyone up, and now they’re running from some super powered metaclone. The team manages to find a place to lay low, but are quickly found by the clone… and the rest of the issue is essentially just a brawl. The only other thing to note without going into detail is that Waller decides to do something that is meant to be shocking, but it isn’t. The Chinese military shows up. Deadshot gets a page to remind us that he’s out of commission. And there’s a “cliffhanger” to the issue… That’s literally it. I feel nothing while reading it, and I get no desire to read the next issue.
The other bad thing about Ryan, is that due to the lack of characterization or development, the characters feel like they could be anyone. You could essentially take his scripts, remove all of the names, and drop different characters into those roles. If Black Manta didn’t mention his hatred towards Aquaman, then he could easily be a poorly written Deadshot. Everything presented in this title is just hollow… and it terrifies me that this writer is going to approach this next arc (Isis) with a whole new group of characters…
The Good: There weren’t a lot of mutated clones running around, so I guess that’s a plus.
The Bad: The writing. The story. The characters. But hey, at least the art was much better for a chunk of the book!
Overall: This book continues to fall incredibly short of its potential. Even when I’m not a total champion of a title, I can usually find reasons to recommend them and feel good about doing so. I wouldn’t, and I don’t, stand behind this book in its current state. If you’re going to throw down money for monthly issues, then you should get what you pay for. That won’t happen here.
Recommended if:
- You’ve been waiting for the art to improve.
- You want to finish the team’s mission in China.
- You’re completely amused with how much of a mess this New Suicide Squad is.
SCORE: 4.5/10
