New Suicide Squad #14 “Freedom”
Written by Sean Ryan
Art by Philippe Briones
Colors by Blond
In this month’s issue of New Suicide Squad, Sage is told to accelerate his secret, evil plan! Why? Because Sean Ryan is on his way out! That’s why! Woo hoooooo!
If you didn’t see Jay’s post about some creative changes that are taking place in February, then you may not know that Tim Seeley (Grayson, Batman & Robin Eternal) will be taking over New Suicide Squad! Now, I don’t think Seeley is as good as his Co-writer on Grayson, Tom King, but he’s WAY better than Ryan. I’ve been asking for a stronger talent to come on this book, and I’m (we) are finally going to get it! We just have to endure the status quo until February.
In the current arc of New Suicide Squad, Sage has been working with other organizations, behind the Government’s back – or perhaps even with the government. He’s also convinced the government that Amanda Waller wants to be in the field with Task Force X, which they’ve approved an initiated (don’t get me started on how many holes are in this plot, as well as how illogical it is… The way the entire thing was executed really irks me).
Anyway, Waller, Deadshot, Harley, Boomerang, and Parasite are in the field on a mission, and their cover is blown early on. Big surprise. Their reveal leads to what could be considered an all-out, local war, and the team is left to try and fight their way out of it. Again, big surprise. It’s Sean Ryan’s thing, and apparently his only formula for creating conflict.
Thankfully this issue feels a little different since Waller is in the field with the team. The moment we jump back into the mini war, Waller calls an end to it. She knows Sage has been compromised, and has a plan to stop him. She also correctly predicts that Sage has most likely detonated all of their neck bombs, and will assume that they’re dead. Only catch is that Waller disabled everyone’s bombs prior to starting this mission, concerned that Sage might stoop to that level. The book then takes a turn in a way that could’ve been interesting, but is executed so poorly and unbelievably that I wish it hadn’t even happened. The remainder of the book is mostly action, making it a rather quick read, before finishing with a nice little twist that May or may not have been expected.
The Art: Briones delivers exactly what I expected. When he first took over, I was really impressed, but his work was being compared to the prior artist who was TERRIBLE. While I think Briones’ art is good, his faces tend to bother me. He doesn’t do the best job in capturing emotions, and that can greatly impact the art. It’s the one thing that could potentially take him from a solid artist, to and artist you desperately want to have on a book. Regardless, he is above average, and is consistent with his quality! That speaks volumes based on what I’ve seen over the past few years.
The Good: Sean Ryan is getting better as a writer. I want to make that very clear. Do I think he’s good? No. But he has gotten better. Let’s consider that a positive. If he would take more risks, rely on his standard formula less, and continue to work on character development through cause and effect, and he could actually become a writer that I look forward to reading.
The Bad: Sage and Bonnie. Look, I mean this in the nicest way, but they’re idiots, and I can’t wait to get rid of these yahoos. Bonnie is forever gullible and never learns from peoples’ behaviors, and Sage acts and reacts like a five year old… Each month, they test my patience more and more.
The attack on Waller.
So… Waller informs the team that the neck bombs have been disabled, and their first instinct is to attack her. I can understand that. Really, I can. I don’t think it’s the smartest thing to do, but I get it. What I don’t get, is that they’re trying desperately to kill her… and find it even more unbelievable that between Deadshot, Harley, and Boomerang, none of them can successfully kill her. I mean, Deadshot is supposed to be the second most dangerous assassin behind Deathstroke, and while I understand he’s having issues with his arm, he can’t manage to hit Waller once? And Boomerang can’t get her with a… well… boomerang? Add in some bad dialogue to this whole assault, and it only gets worse.
When they do get the upper hand on Waller, they suddenly start kicking her on the ground instead of killing her, which gives her the opportunity to tell them that she reconfigured their bombs to go off if her heart rate stops… Of course she did… Is it February yet?
Recommended if:
- You want to see Bonnie act like a gullible fool.
- You want to see Sage act like a five year old.
- It’s been too long since you’ve seen Waller kick some butt.
Overall: New Suicide Squad is ok compared to the standard Sean Ryan has set, but overall is just ok. I’ve been trying to give the guy the benefit of the doubt lately, but now that his run is coming to an end in January, I just want to get to February.
SCORE: 5.5/10
