Harley's Crew - Suicide Squad - Book Club, Weeks One and Two: (08/17/2020 - 08/30/2020) SUICIDE SQUAD (2011-)

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Hell Yeah!
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  • From 08/17/2020 to 08/23/2020 we’ll read read the first four books. Feel free to express how much you’re enjoying them, but please keep from spoiling anything for anyone.

  • From 08/24/2020 to 08/30/2020 we can talk about the books all we want without worrying about spoiling anything for anyone at all!

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You can also start taking part in this discussion Harley's Crew Book Club, Weeks One and Two: (08/17/2020 - 08/30/2020) Batman Adventures: Mad Love where we’ll be taking these two weeks to read Batman Adventures: Mad Love

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Can’t wait to see what everyone thinks! :heart:

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:diamonds:Hey there! Do you like polls? (Of course you do—who doesn’t like a poll!?) Vote and sound off below! :sunglasses: Dont forget to hold spoilers for next week!

Have you read New 52 Suicide Squad?

  • Hell yeah!! :+1:
  • Yeah, but :-1:
  • No, and I prob won’t, because I like…video games TOO much.
  • No, but I plan to now that there’s a club to read it with!

0 voters

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AAAAAASND this book club discussion is a GO!!!
We are no free to discuss our thoughts, opinions and FEELS about what we’ve read!

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Yesss!! Woohoo! okay so my thoughts as I was reading…
Ugh. Sorry y’all, but again with Zombies?

“Stop playing the fool.” I love that he thinks Harley is mocking him when she laughs. Personally, I think she’s laughing cause he made a pun and she couldn’t help but see the funny, as usual. (#2 pg. 10)

I really appreciate how Harley just kind of does what she feels like doing. Also, Deadshot being all, “I don’t do clowns.” Yeah. Okay. So all I’m getting from this is Harley is apparently a very good kisser or Deadshot just likes to sound tough.

What a cliff hanger! Love it! Also, what kind of idiot looks at Harley Quinn and thinks, nah she’s not dangerous at all. Sorry dude. You needs fired. No if, ands or butts about it.

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This was my first time reading the Suicide Squad and they were a fun read. I always think I’ll know what’s going to happen next but this is Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad we’re talking about here. Some things were unexpected like Deadshot shooting Voltaic. I like how Diablo is trying his best to be good, not so much as Deadshot who is set on completing the mission on time. That he intervened when he thought Deadshot was going to kill the baby and to carry Black Spider to get medical care rather than leave him. Another aspect that I enjoyed was how Deadshot gives an order to Waller when he had the baby, threatening that the baby will die with him if Waller so chooses to have Deadshot die. I thought it was pretty clever, not so much just Waller ordering them around because she could blow their heads off if they won’t comply.

The cliffhanger though, about 18 minutes for the squad to take care of the riot or they’re dead! So much pressure for these folks! Can’t wait to see how they handle that.

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Yes! I love how hard Diablo tries. I was so scared about what they were going to do with the baby. When Diablo stepped up I was cheering him on so loudly. Deadshot killing Voltaic was a great twist.
Classic Harley to turn on the gas at the restaurant. I think that was my favorite moment.

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Just so I know how future readings work. Is the full series being read or certain issues?

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We’re going to read the entire series.

…and I’ve only read issue 0 so far, so I haven’t read any other comments. I should be able to read the other 4 issues on my breaks at work tomorrow and join the discussion tomorrow evening.

(You know life is good when the biggest worry you have is your PILE of reading!)

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So I haven’t read this series before, and while it’s interesting to read if only to see the book that cemented Harley as a mainstay in the Suicide Squad, it’s kind of a mixed bag.

One thing I really like about these issues are it’s pacing and story structure. These four issues have one on-going arc with the “rot virus” (which I wonder if it was maybe at one time going to have something to do with the Swamp Thing and Animal Man series which would both deal with with the Rot); however, each issue has it’s unique hook, setting, and one-off plot. It kind of reminds me of some of the old-school bronze age era comics.

In regards to Harley herself, so far she doesn’t have a terrible lot to do – mostly she just makes wisecracks and offers up some cheesecake. I’m sure she’ll have more to do in future issues, especially since there’s a Death of the Family tie-in with this series.

I’m unsure what to make of her sex scene with Deadshot. I’m not inherently against it – I thought it worked in the Assault on Arkham animated movie, and the two had good chemistry in the Suicide Squad movie (though how much of that was the characters and how much was Will and Robie, who can say). But considering how we first meet her trying to gain back The Joker’s favor, it seems odd for her to just hook up with a random who happens to be the top alpha male of the group…or maybe I just answered my own question?

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Yowza! Floyd and the rest of the crew are really in a jam here. Scribe Adam Glass along with artists Federico Dollocchio, Ransom Getty and Scott Hanna set the edgy tone for this series’ reading experience early with some raw scenery right outta’ the gate. I’m locked in.

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It took a couple of extra reads to realize just how Floyd was being tortured. You just know that’s a torturer who’s so experienced and done it all that he’s just bored and experimenting at this point.

This was also a great intro to Harley in general. If this was your first time reading her as a character, I can definitely see how someone might be interested in her and want to read more about her.

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Hmm. Y’know what? I kinda’ sound a bit like I’m portraying the super talented writers/artists of this comic in a less than positive light in the tail end of my last comment above, and I’m here to say that truly was not my intention (trying to balance working from home with post commenting and I’m not doing a bang-up job of it today:slightly_frowning_face:) It would seem that I’m the one mucking things up.

What I meant to say @Jay_Kay was that Bruce Timm and Paul Dini master-crafted such a fantastically entertaining and timeless character in Harley Quinn that when writers and artists in the DC bullpen get the call to add their spin on the legacy of the character they’re probably at once filled with a blend of angst and glee because while Harl has an incredibly solid foundation of ingeniously crafted pathos to her character it must be kinda’ scary going into the experience of placing her in story knowing that as the writer/artist you have a solemn duty to add value onto one of the greatest character legacies in the history of the medium. This cannot be an easy task in any way and yet Glass, Dollocchio, Getty, and Hanna seem to have answered the call with a solid style and engaging grace, at least so far in what I’ve read.

M’kay- hoping that clears up my mess. My bad. :slightly_smiling_face: :neutral_face:

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Agreed @Jay_Kay.

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Ok. I finally got it finished. I haven’t read through the comments yet, but herenare my thoughts:

  • Daisy Duke Harley is now my FAVOURITE!
  • “Mister, I’ve seen scary. And you ain’t got his smile” *CHILLS!!!
  • King Shark eating people is my new JAM!!!
  • This team in a back woods town full of what looks like the cast of Deliverance is not inconspicuous…like…AT ALL.
  • I knew Captain Boomerang couldn’t POSSIBLY be their new leader!
  • “If you need any help with that…” “OOOO creepy! I’m starting to like you Yo-Yo.” My favorite part so far!
  • I absolutely LOVE the group shots of them walking like the team of total bad-asses they are!
  • And we all know Yo-Yo is going to be that “most gruesome Squad causality ever” that we were told to anticipate at the end of issue 4.
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Finished my re-read yesterday. I went ahead and read #5 since it concludes the events of #4.

I read this series as it came out and enjoyed it. Of the category it was in, The Edge, it was one of my favorite titles (as I recall offhand at least) of that group and of the wave 1 New 52 titles in general, I’d say Suicide Squad was somewhere in the top 20.

The big strike for me on these issues is the art. It’s good, but in some places it looks a bit rushed or just outright ugly.

I’m all for a Suicide Squad book having an unpolished look, so as to accentuate the grime, or edgyness, of a tale, but these first few issues just missed the mark a little bit. Again, good, but not great. Ken Lashley did the covers of a couple issues, and I would’ve sooner seen his work on the interiors than the actual interior art we did get.

My favorite line is “Pizza party!” from #1. It just sounds like something Harley would say. Plus, ever since the release of #1, whenever I hear “pizza party” in general, my mind automatically goes to that scene. Always.

Overall, a swell read, and I’m looking forward to re-reading more of this series, in particular the Forever Evil tie-in arc, which is my favorite of the whole shebang.

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This was a hard read for me, but Harley and King Shark got me through.

When it comes to New 52, the only title I devoured like a glutton was All-Star Western. I skipped Suicide Squad when it came out and issue #1 wouldn’t have persuaded me to read it if I’d picked it up. It’s not a horrible title, but I found it jejune. Of course, it comes down to my personal preferences and is in no way meant to insult the title or anyone who’s enjoyed it! :slight_smile:

Harley and King Shark elevated dull to fun, no two ways about it, with Harley doing the heavy-lifting in that department. She’s spunky and playful, but carries that unbalanced and unpredictable edge that makes her a true wild card. It’s very much in keeping with the spirit of her character, I thought.

El Diablo, on the other hand, I wanted to toss out a window because that sanctimonious stuff drives me nuts. If you want to do good, fella, do good for your own sake. Don’t go all ‘holier than thou’ on other people, this isn’t a missionary trip.

I’m not trying to be overwhelmingly negative and I hope it doesn’t come across that way. I only want to share what I liked and what I didn’t like. :heart:

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This is my first time reading this series and I just finished the first 4 issues! I think the first issue did a great job with the introductions—I mean, Waller testing the Squad’s will by weeding out the “weak” ones through some pretty gruesome torture? That set up the tone of the series pretty well, I think. I do have to say that I’m not the biggest fan of King Shark’s hammerhead appearance though. :grimacing:

I’m really liking Black Spider and El Diablo though (and, of course, Harley but that goes without saying)! I’m crossing my fingers that they actually gave Black Spider some medical attention and didn’t just, y’know, off him in the helicopter ride back. I’d be pretty bummed if they did.

I hope Harley gets some better time to shine! So far she hasn’t really done too much and I’m ready to see her in action! I suspect she’s the one behind the riot breaking out at the end of issue 4, and if that’s the case, I can’t wait to see what happens!

Also, I wanna drop some of my favorite panels here as well!

(The “Ah, nerts” panel is also a fave, but I forgot to screenshot it!)

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I’m so glad you guys are reading this! This was my first comic book ever so I’ll always love it. I love the relationships, and I love that most of the cast is expendable. (Excluding Harley and Deadshot) Might have to reread it along with you guys, love this series.

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I read these issues A WHILE back, and I meant to comment and then I never did. So I’ll do it now, 3 months later…

I’ll start by saying that reading these issues reminded me of how much I love the Suicide Squad. So much so that I decided to go back and try to read every Suicide Squad issue and appearance in order. I didn’t quite read them all, but I read quite a bit. Currently, I’m on issue #13 of this 2011, New 52 series.

In all my Suicide Squad reading, so far, the Ostrander/Yale run from 1987-92 is still my gold standard for the Squad. And, it’s maybe not fair to compare this 2011 run to my favorite, but… I also can’t help it. That’s just the way I am. So, I’m going to frame my comments by outlining the differences, both positive and negative, between the 1987 run and the these first four issues of the 2011 volume.

I’ll start with my biggest complaint: There is no moral, humanistic balance in the first four issues of this 2011 run. The 1987 run started the trend of sending supervillains on suicide missions. However, the '87 team also contained some heroic characters like Rick Flag, Bronze Tiger, and Nightshade. You also got to know some of the Belle Reve support staff who provided some great humanistic character moments. The '87 run even gave Amanda Waller some sympathetic traits (especially following Kim Yale’s addition to the book as co-writer).

In contrast, this 2011 team is all-villains, all-the-time. There are quite a few problems with this. The first being there’s no real moral counter-point. El Diablo tries his best, and comes off as, maybe, the most sympathetic, but it’s not quite enough. This also forces Deadshot into the leadership role which alters his character quite a bit from how he used to be written. Finally, it was just so difficult to relate to a majority of this 2011 team or to feel positive about anything that was going on.

Another thing that was absent from these first four issues was the global, social-political “realism” attempted by the '87 run. The '87 team would be thrust into real-world crises like the fall of the Soviet Union or the hunt for the Columbian drug cartels. In these issues the 2011 team were sent into a domestic terrorist situation against a fictional organization. On one hand, this may be a positive. If there’s any major criticism I can throw at the '87 run it’s that the treatment of some of the real world situations they engaged could be considered reductive. For instance, it’s hard to go into the real nuances and complexities of the South American drug trade and US policy on it within 25 pages of a comic book. In these 2011 issues, this wasn’t an issue. However, putting the Squad into these real-world scenarios made these C-list villains feel important, valid. That magic was also not present in these 2011 issues.

These first four issues were also a lot darker, more violent, and more cynical than I remember the Squad ever being. Sure, the '87 Squad was violent and played heavy on moral ambiguity. Also, the concept has always been pretty dark. It is the SUICIDE Squad, after all. These issues went over-the-top, though. This was the moment that really got me:


I mean holy $#!%… cutting the baby out of a dead zombie’s womb… That’s DARK. And I’m not saying you can’t go there, but, if you’re going to go there, I have to feel like there’s a reason. Like there’s some message or payoff that the moment needed to convey. I didn’t feel it. I felt like it was there to be dark and mature and shocking. And that’s cynical… And that’s how I felt about a lot of the things that when on in these issues. It was all just pretty joyless and cynical just to be joyless and cynical. That was never the point of the Squad.

All that being said, I don’t want to come off as all negative. There was one, bright point that the 2011 issues had that the '87 squad never did:
Harley Pizza Party
Adding Harley to the Suicide Squad was a brilliant idea. For the Squad, it gave them the kind of popular, marquee character they never really had. For Harley, it allowed her to step out from under Joker’s shadow. She added the fun that I needed in these issues, and she got me through them. I’m not sold on the Harley/Deadshot hook-up moment (felt like another moment where the book was trying to convince me how edgy it was, and I do not ship it). It was great having Harley be part of the Squad, nonetheless.

Anyway, those are my reactions regarding the first four issues of this 2011 volume. I try not to be quite this negative most of the time, but… I felt this rant coming, so I guess I needed to get it out. I mean, I did just say all of that and still went on to read the next 9 issues, so it wasn’t all bad. I promise I won’t be as negative in my next post. Thanks for reading!

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