Remember The A-Team? I’m not talking about the uninspired film from 2010, where Liam Neeson and the rest of the cast sleepwalked through the whole thing. I’m talking about The A-Team show that reigned in the 1980s; the original, where a ragtag team of four (five if you count Amy Allen) dealt out some PG-level violence on crime bosses, biker gangs and a whole platoon of other unsavory characters.
The thing I loved most about the show wasn’t the gunplay or the car stunts. Let’s face it, if you had a nickel for every time someone actually got injured on that show, you wouldn’t be able to buy a sheet of paper. What made the show so great were the personalities of each member of the team and how they interacted with each other. I could have watched an entire episode of Mr. T’s B. A. Baracus arguing with Dwight Schultz’s insane Howling Mad Murdock and been totally content.
I’m loving the Suicide Squad: Dream Team miniseries for the same reason. It’s like a much darker, edgier version of The A-Team. It’s The A-Team with teeth.
Suicide Squad: Dream Team #3, written by Nicole Maines, with art and colors by Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Di Benedetto, Jose Luis-Garcia Lopez and Adriano Lucas, is another super fun issue, as Amanda Waller orders the Suicide Squad to find and neutralize Dreamer.
DC Comics
The first few pages of the issue show the Squad members (Bizarro, Deadeye, Harley Quinn, Black Alice and Clock King) loaded up in a van and racing to the alien refuge Parthas, which is protecting the city from hate attacks. We get some great interplay between the characters here, primarily between Harley and Deadeye, who also happens to be Amanda Waller’s nephew. Harley and Deadeye have some great banter, with Harley’s devil-may-care attitude annoying the grim Deadeye to no end. What’s fascinating about Deadeye is his disdain for good old aunt Amanda and it seems the only true joy he gets in life is when Amanda’s having a rough time. Thanks to Dreamer, Amanda’s not just having a bad day, she’s having a bad month, and Deadeye loves every second of it. But he knows he still has to take Dreamer down.
I also love Bizarro here. He’s part Stan Lee-era Hulk and part Lennie from Of Mice and Men. He’s simultaneously hilarious, sad and terrifying, a massive creature who can rip apart skyscrapers, is prone to rage, but also desperately craves the same love and respect Superman gets. He blindly follows Amanda’s orders because she gives him that attention and (fake) respect, not realizing how deeply manipulative and bonkers Amanda is.
Writer Nicole Maines takes time letting us drink in these characters and their eccentricities for a bit before kicking the plot in motion. Like The A-Team, I enjoyed these characters just interacting and arguing a while. Too many books don’t give the characters voices or want to move the plot along at the sacrifice of any character development. That doesn’t happen here, thankfully.
When the showdown with Dreamer comes, it’s thrilling, with Dreamer enraged at Amanda Waller and refusing to be taken down. It’s a fantastic battle and I especially love one scene where Dreamer and Harley face off against each other like two gunfighters in an old West film. The two have become friends during this miniseries but at this point, is Harley going to help her or attack her? What happens may surprise you.
Once again, Eddy Barrows’ art shines, both in the van scenes and the battle, bringing out the humor and the thrills. I especially love how he draws the mammoth Bizarro, who fills the majority of any panel he’s in.
I love it when a plan comes together! Plan on getting this issue and the entire miniseries – it’s one of the best books out there.
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