- Written by Rob Williams
- Pencils by Jim Lee
- Inks by Scott Williams
- Colored by Alex Sinclair
- Cover by Scott Williams & Jim Lee
“The Black Vault” part one! When a mysterious and definitely super-important cosmic item falls out of the heavens and into enemy hands, America has only one option: Task Force X, Amanda Waller’s strike team of incarcerated super-criminals. A one-stop-shop for plausibly deniable espionage and ultra- violence, this “Suicide Squad” only handles missions they’re not expected to survive. An insane new era of SUICIDE SQUAD begins here with superstar artist Jim Lee and red-hot writer Rob Williams (UNFOLLOW, MARTIAN MANHUNTER).
Pickup your copy of ‘Suicide Squad: Rebirth’ #1 at Comixology now!
In a case of art imitating art ‘Suicide Squad: Rebirth’ dispells with the recent lineup to reintroduce the team seen in the recent film. ‘Rebirth’ came along at a perfect time for Task Force X. Rebooting the series has enabled Rob Williams to reintroduce Rick Flag to the series whilst repositioning Katana as his second in command.
The story is also similar to the film. It doesn’t paint Enchantress as the villain but it does spend more time on setup that story.
Williams clearly has to balance rebooting the series under the ‘Rebirth’ title with what will surely be an increased readership due to the current level of exposure brought on by the film. What he creates in this issue is a well balanced introduction with the beginning of an insightful story arc.
Following on from the appearance of Barak Obama this issue spends some time with Amanda Waller. Much like the film it follows her whilst she puts together her team alongside Flag and Katana. It’s reminiscent of the film but not a direct copy. The look of Belle Reve has been upgraded to something more modern and there’s technology abound. It’s a modernisation rather than a realisation.
Ensuring that Task Force X remain darkly comic there are moments like Killer Croc vomiting in his helmet. Silly humour, but humour nonetheless.
There’s some imbalance in the characters with Harley obviously stealing the show alongside Deadshot and Waller. Flag and Boomerang are given a small amount of dialogue whilst Katana remains silent.
The imbalance isn’t hugely palpable but more of a bugbear based on my own personal knowledge of the characters. There’s a lot of history to mine in amongst that cast. Williams challenge will be to make sure he shines a light on all of them in future issues.
Given that the Suicide Squad has been around for a number of years now fans will have little patience for more setup. Thankfully this issue does push the story forwards before its close. Putting the squad in danger and beginning to call on their different skills. It going to need to pick up the pace in future issues to hold the audience’s attention. As great as the characters are they alone will not make the series successful.
Anybody who knows me knows that Jim Lee is my favourite artist at DC Comics. I’ve been a long time fan and have been lucky enough to meet him at SDCC. I subscribed to this series off the back of the announcement that he would be providing the artwork.
Lee is best known for his character portraits as well as his action sequences. There are a few of those moments here. But only a few. On the whole he is able to flex some different muscles as characters are very still, often sitting and deep in conversation. It’s a different side to his art and one that is rarely seen. He, of course, handles it masterfully and the issues looks great throughout.
Verdict
‘Suicide Squad: Rebirth’ #1 is a fun, easy read. If you re a fan of the film who hasn’t read the comics then this lineup is perfect for you. Jim Lee’s artwork is great as always and there’s the beginnings of a great story here.
4 stars
