The Suicide Squad can go to Hell. No, seriously, they literally go to Hell, as seen in the previous issue and in Suicide Squad #8 out this week. Amanda Waller has made this team go to terrible places, but to what end would she need them to go to Hell? We find out in Part 2 in a story that’s somehow also super new reader-friendly.
Robbie Thompson does some incredible things with Ambush Bug in this issue — more specifically, Ambush Bug’s narration via captions. They are dense captions, but they literally recap everything you need to know in this issue, in Swamp Thing, and in other books too in order to understand the story. This helps keep the many pieces clear as well as help readers understand what it is Waller is after in the final few pages.
It’s entertaining because it feels fresh when Ambush Bug breaks the fourth wall, which isn’t easy to do given Deadpool has been doing it for decades. The character gets to actually do things in the issue too, which is somewhat comically done off the page.
A lot of captions end up being a major selling point for the issue.
Credit: DC Comics
The action on-page is highly entertaining too. Again, Thompson shows how clever he is with some interesting twists, some character reveals, and some deaths too. Characters like Talon continue to intrigue even though they say very little because there’s anticipation for what they may do next. That goes for most of the team here, which only gets amped up more by the cliffhanger.
The art is by Eduardo Pansica and Dexter Soy, with inks by Soy and Julio Ferreira and colors by Marcelo Maiolo. You can definitely tell when the artist changes, but given much of the book is taking place in Hell in very chaotic fight scenes it’s not such a big deal. There’s plenty to ogle here, from flexing muscles to Peacemaker taking Swamp Thing on directly. It gets the job done, especially when the captions are so addictive to read.
Suicide Squad #8 has some of the best fourth-wall-breaking captions you’ll read all year, clever ideas at work that make the superhero action feel new, and a hell of a cliffhanger ending. Suicide Squad continues to have the chaotic energy and ridiculously over-the-top characters we love wrapped up in a package that takes plenty of chances.
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