Suicide Squad Volume 1: Kicked in the Teeth by Adam Glass, Ryan Benjamin (Cover Artist), Frederico Dallocchio (Pencils/Inks), Ransom Getty (Pencils), Scott Hanna (Inks), Val Staples (Colorist)

Suicide Squad, Vol. 1: Kicked in the Teeth by Adam Glass
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


There is something absurdly appealing about this series to me. I guess it's because it's so crazy and out there. A team of super-villains is selected from the population of Belle Reve, a maximum security prison in the middle of the Louisiana swampland designed to house dangerous meta-human criminals. the only ones selected for the team are the ones who survived vicious torture without breaking. They have nanite bombs implanted that will blow their heads off if they don't come back to the prison after the mission is completed, and are sent into missions where their chances of survival are extremely limited.

I haven't read much Batman in a long time (queued up on my reading list), so my experience with Harley Quinn is based on watching Batman movies and tv shows. She's seriously crazy and homicidally inclined, but in a strange way, I kind of liked her. Don't judge me! I'm trying to process it myself. Deadshot, I think I might be developing a crush on him. Stop judging me! I find King Shark disgusting. I hope he dies. He's yuck. Black Spider is interesting, although I don't trust him. Not that I trust any of these guys, but he has a sense of superiority because he's a vigilante who likes to kill criminals. A bit of self-righteousness can make someone very dangerous because they are good at justifying even their most questionable actions. El Diablo is quite a character. An ex-street criminal who felt severe remorse after flaming down a house full of women and children. He has the ability to start fires, and his numerous tattoos are burnt off in the process. There are a few other characters who round out the very fluid team membership. Amanda Waller, warden of Belle Reve, is the no-nonsense command officer for the Squad. She don't take no mess. She is fierce, and lays down the law with the members. It's do or die for them.

I think the creators of this series like the fact that they can go for it. You don't get those moments where the 'hero' wouldn't do 'that' or they wouldn't cross that line. They are pretty much what you think: violent criminal offenders who have a personal agenda for what they do. Admittedly, some have a bit more of an ethos than others. Their first mission is about as crazy as it gets. Getting dropped in the middle of a sportsdome full of people infected by a technovirus. Yeah, crazy!

Can I admit I'm shipping Harley Quinn and Deadshot? Well I am.

Yeah, I must keep reading this series.


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