There's a phrase that I have been accused of overusing, but one that I enjoy nevertheless: Profoundly stupid. SUICIDE SQUAD, VOL. 1: THE BLACK VAULT is exactly what I'm talking about when I use that phrase....a book, TV show, or movie that goes beyond stupidity, but runs with that stupidity until it is writ large, until the stupidity becomes a thing unto itself, the entity's prime reason for being. The book/TV show/movie almost becomes a stupidity-delivery engine, perpetuating itself with its own dopiness and preposterousness.


 That's not to say that something that is profoundly stupid can't be entertaining. The SUICIDE SQUAD movie was a prime example....it had a stupid story, terrible editing, it was murky and hard to look at, it was horribly written, had clunky dialogue...yet, I had a ball watching it. The cast sold me, and you could tell that people had a good time making this movie. It wasn't GOOD, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but....I had fun.


 SUICIDE SQUAD, VOL. 1: THE BLACK VAULT was not as much fun, but it was every bit as profoundly stupid. I reviewed a few of the issues that are collected here last year, but the few measly pages of the main story that each issue contained made me give up on the individual issues, and wait for the collected edition.


 The collected edition has the exact same problem.


 This volume collects SUICIDE SQUAD: REBIRTH and SUICIDE SQUAD #'s 1-4. Jim Lee, who was my sole attraction to this book, only pencils issues 1-4, and only about 14 pages of those issues, with the remainder being a back-up solo story. So, in essence, what interested me about this volume could have been published as a 48-page one-shot, instead of a 161-page collection.


 The entire collection is written by Rob Williams, who is a terrible writer. Williams is British, and keeps having briticisms worm their way into the dialogue, which takes me right out of the story. (Someone like Harley Quinn, an American, would say "tastes like", rather than "tastes of"....there are a lot of instances like that, where an Editor should have stepped in and suggested changes.) Williams' idea of characterization is to give a few of the Squad members gross quirks, such as Killer Croc smelling like vomit, or afflicting Captain Boomerang with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, so he poops his pants constantly during missions. Hilarious....


 The main story finds the team sent to invade a Russian military installation to retrieve a "cosmic item" that he being held there. Williams has the group sent there with no extraction plan, but, luckily, they find another prisoner being held there who can teleport them home as soon as they get what they came for. SUICIDE SQUAD has never been better written than when John Ostrander and Kim Yale were at the helm (Hell, I'll go you one better and say that it has NEVER been written well other than the Ostrander/Yale team...), and the lack of actual, intelligent, espionage-driven stories REALLY hurts this title. Williams tells a stupid tale, filled with pants-shitting and vomiting and grievous bodily injury, and it's slightly buoyed by Jim Lee's detailed art, but that's just 48 pages. And it ends on an abrupt stop, which makes me feel like DC could have included a few more issues to A)- Round out the storyline, and B)- Give you a little more value for your money. The SUICIDE SQUAD: REBIRTH issue is a done-in-one that is equally stupid (Mongolian terrorists kidnap an American scientist who has created a "Meta-bomb", which can give/take away super-powers when it is detonated. They kidnap the scientist, force him to build the bomb, which they detonate, but never have the guy, I dunno...WRITE DOWN HIS PLAN FOR THE BOMB, so they can build more in case he gets killed....? Stupid.)


 The four back-up stories center on Katana, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang, and they range in quality from decent to dopey, but here's my main problem with this collection: Take away the copious amounts of covers, variant covers, credit pages in the beginning of the book, and tons of original art pages, and you only get about 80-something pages of actual story content for your

$16.99. There was a certain amount of dopey fun to be had from this book, but, much like the floppies that are collected here, there's not enough there to justify the price.


 SUICIDE SQUAD, VOL. 1: THE BLACK VAULT earns five out of ten Killer Crocs:

🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊


 DC Comics provided a review copy.

I've never been invested in the Suicide Squad one way or another, but this was a fun origin story. As someone who has seen the movie, it was nice that there were some similarities, but that it was still a unique story with its own plot line. I really enjoyed the solo stories at the end that provided more development of each specific backstory and circumstance.

This is just passable, and no more – we've seen the 'birth' of the Suicide Squad so often now another bunch o' reprobates being told what's what is a little tiresome, to be honest.  And the drama of their first story here is just so-so, as they infiltrate somewhere and find something and struggle to get out, all with mediocre artwork.  Beyond that there is a bunch of very short stories focusing on Waller trying to introduce the characters to us – sorry, give them their own space and psychoanalyse them.  And beyond that is about 50pp of cover gallery and sketchbook.  All of which means possibly the least bang for your buck in any SS trade, ever.

After receiving an e-mail being notified that I had been approved to read this book, I was beyond excited to finally be able to read this, but I was a bit let down by this volume. In the first few panels, I found myself having to read over them multiple times, and in the end, I didn't really understand what happened in those panels. But, I can't deny that the art in this volume was absolutely amazing. I did feel that the story was a bit confusing at some points, but this volume definitely had its redeeming points. The story itself I really enjoyed, but it wasn't enough to save this book from this rating. If you are a big fan of the Suicide Squad franchise, then I highly suggest that you check this out.

If you enjoyed the film adaptation of the Suicide Squad or you are a fan of the individual members, this is definitely a comic book you want to pick up. As usual, DC knows how to step up their game by introducing a new team member that the squad can't control. Great storytelling and visuals.

This book is way better than the movie that was released last year. Wish I could read some more.

3.5 Star-Review

At first I didn’t really understand where the Suicide Squad came from. Then, last year, I went to the movies and saw the movie (which was okay, but not the best DC has to offer) and I got a little more curious about the background stories. So I decided I wanted to start reading the comics, and what better way then to start with the Rebirth series?

When I picked this volume up I didn’t know what I was getting into and didn’t have very high hopes. But the story actually turned out to be very interesting. Especially, I enjoyed reading those reintroductions of the characters so well known as the Suicide Squad! Except for Harley Quinn, I didn’t really know any of these characters very well so it was nice to get to know them a little better. 

This volume had a lot of humour to offer and that sorted it all out, in my opinion. I’m interested in where this is going and hope that I’ll like it better with time.

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love Suicide Squad. I can't say why, I just do. Probably the whole anti-hero thing and gray morality and dark humor rolled up into a super hero being team I can get behind. I even liked the film, despite everyone instructing me to dislike it.

And you know, I just freakin' adore Harley Quinn.

Now this particular collection was enjoyable to me as a re-reboot in the Rebirth era of the Reboot-not-a-Reboot DC Universe that comes after the actual Reboot that was the New 52. Huh?? Yeah, what I said. Regardless to the backstory/reboot/restart status of the series, this was a great introduction to the series. A new reader would be able to follow what's going on. I did notice that the team makeup is very similar to that of the film, and I suspect that is an audience they are trying to appeal too. Not entirely, though.

I did feel it was a bit short. The intro mission itself was wrapped up, but finished up a lot sooner than I expected. I will say that I enjoyed the short backstory pieces on the individual members, though they didn't cover everyone....at least not in this collection.

Definitely up for the second one.

Thank you for providing me with a free ARC to assist with collection development.

I actually read (and own) one of the issues in this volume already, but reading them all together like this was a lot better.

So this is obviously following the Suicide Squad, a group of villains and criminals pulled together by Amanda Waller. Their mission, under the code name Task Force X, is to remove some galactic matter from within Russian grounds. 

When introducing the members, Waller adds some humorous details on them. I really liked the little details thrown in throughout. And the relationships between the different characters are pretty good, too.

On this misson, they acquire Hack and end up running into General Zod and tons of other evil dudes. Not to mention the huge army of Russian dudes attacking them from the outside...

I absolutely love Harley in this. She's a great character! But I like how several characters have their backgrounds pulled forward, too, including Harley. I always really enjoy finding out about their pasts, and what made them who they are now. This volume includes the backstory of Katana, Harley, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang.

I think this is one of my favourite volumes of comics. The characters are awesome, the fight scenes are great - and the art is amazing. I think it deserves 5 stars.

I found this to be a mixed bag.  Some of it worked quite well, while other parts were nonsensical.  First, Jim Lee's art is, of course, great.  DC has decided to go with the team from the movie here, which I get.  However, I do have some problems with that.  Namely, how is Harley locked up in Belle Rive and running around Brooklyn in her solo title at the same time?  I haven't seen this explained in either book, but I'm guessing DC's answer is "She's our 5th most popular character!"

Beware: spoilers contained within.  Russia's recovered something from space and the Suicide Squad is tasked with getting it back.  Half the team is exposed to arctic waters trying to get to the arctic base but of course they're fine even though most of the team are baseline human.  Inside the prison is someone named Hack who they rescue and is their contact in the prison.  The team heads for the Macguffin which turns out to be an individual phantom zone prison for Zod.  He gets out and burns Captain Boomerang to dust from the ankles up.  That actually shocked me.  DC hardly ever puts their IP's at real risk.  With this underpowered squad, the same thing should have happened to the whole team.  Zod wasn't even partially depowered from being away from the sun or anything.  There's no way the squad could actually take him, but they do manage to get him back in his prison.  Partway through the fight, the Russian version of the Suicide Squad (Annihilation Brigade) show up and don't do squat.  I'm not even sure why they made an appearance.  Hack teleports them back to Belle Rive.

The back of the book is filled with little origin stories for the squad.  They needed to have one to show Amanda Waller binge eating to explain why she's back at her pre-new 52 weight.

First things first, I got this book from NetGalley, so thank you netgalley and DC Comics for this opportunity.
So, I have always had a mind to check out what the hell 'Suicide Squad' was all about (even more after the movie that left a lot to be desired). Fortunately Netgalley was offering the first volume for requesting and I picked it up. So the question is, does the new comics counterpart of the series disappoint like the movie or does it live up to the promise?

The movie had left a sense of despair for what could have been and also a desire to know more about the characters. So I did welcome the chance to check out their latest incarnations form 'DC Rebirth' and dived right in.

The Black Vault tells mostly the story of a new mission of Task Force X into an underwater facility that houses an artifact that Amanda Waller wants, and as predictable the mission is not so straightforward as it seems. The team gets to fight a massive super villain who escapes from his prison, and meets a new character to join the crew. There are also several 'Personnel File' back-up stories exploring the individual stories of some of the members of the team.

The main story feels just a bit too short and the main villain is defeated too easily to be believable. There is a sense of deja-vu here, as this gives the feeling of something missing just like the movie. The plot progression is too fast at times and action is a bit unrealistic, I mean, these are a bunch of second tier character and they shouldn't have a such an easy time fighting such a powerful enemy at all. Then again, the most fun part about these characters is their interactions and their banter which is quite lacking here.

The back-up stories are definitely a good introduction into these characters for new readers, but might seem a bit redundant to older readers. But the positive about these 'Personnel File's are the different artists that were used who gave varied enjoyment for me and added much to the flare of these characters with remarkable and imaginative drawing.

So, to me the first volume of this new ongoing for 'Suicide Squad' does provide a nice introduction for new readers into the world of these flawed yet lovable characters despite having a lot of flaws in the execution. I'll definitely come back for the second volume cause I have high hopes that the author just might deliver on the promises of these characters in the future.

Meanwhile, I give this one 3 out of 5 stars.

For more reviews and stuff check out my blog -
http://ihate00critics.blogspot.com/

Well, DC is rebirthing all their titles . . .  again.  Suicide Squad being one of the many books starting all over.  And while I didn’t know what to expect from it, had to get a grip on all the new stuff going on, overall, I thought it was a good beginning with lots of promise.

[PIC]

The new origin story begins the fun.  Director Amanda Waller as the head of A.R.G.U.S. recruits a team of villains called — Task Force X, or Suicide Squad.  (Not that there is much of a team here, because Waller runs the show, and if anyone does anything she doesn’t like or tries to escape or anything else, then they will die.)  She also convinces Captain Randall Flagg, long-time Navy Seal, to become the team leader.

Once together, the group heads out to the Black Vault to steal a cosmic item.  The adventure filled with action, surprises, and loads of “villains” to put down. And when that is done, we get extended backstories (personnel files and interviews) about Deadshot, Katana, and Boomerang, as well as a stand-alone adventure with Flagg and Harley Quinn.

[PIC]

So the good stuff.  I loved all the characters.  Especially good was the back stories of the guys spotlighted.  And the art was really, really good.  Really liked all the variant covers and pencil artwork.

Bad.  The main story was too short for me.  I also didn’t find it too interesting.  Sure, it had loads of fights and stuff, but it seemed pretty pointless.  At least, I didn’t get it.

[PIC]

All in all this was a good graphic novel.  The story was decent.  The characters were really interesting with cool back stories.  Much better than the New 52 versions for me, at least.  The artwork was pretty amazing.  The characters looked realistic and expressive with action and motion popping off the pages.  So, if you want to give DC Rebirth a try, this looks like a really promising team book to jump on board with.

I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. I’d like to thank them for allowing me to receive this review copy and inform everyone that the review you have read is my opinion alone.

A great retelling of the origin of the characters, that seems out to prove that Harley is not the focus but one of the team and the team itself is pretty great!!

I remember it like it was yesterday: Warner Brothers was going to be making a Suicide Squad movie! So exciting! And then the news reports began to seep in. Joker’s wardrobe tests ( Hot Topic mall punk!!), hurried post-( Deadpool reshoots (now that was a great movie!!), Jared Leto’s behaviour. And then the actual movie came out: loud, incoherent, and dumb. So disappointing – a real wasted opportunity.

Here, then, is what the Suicide Squad movie should have been. Part of the DC Rebirth relaunch of their titles, Suicide Squad Vol. 1: The Black Vault reintroduces the team of supervillains led by Amanda Waller:

Harley Quinn – Smart, crazy, violent, manic-pixie-nightmare-girl
Deadshot – Super-assassin with a death wish
Rick Flag – Soldier, leader, moral core of the group
Katana – Flag’s second-in-command, has a mystical sword filled with souls (including her husband)
June Moon – Graphic designer, utterly useless wiener
Enchantress – Insane sorceress, trapped inside June Moon, actually more likeable
Captain Boomerang – Australian, alcoholic, throws boomerangs of death, huge arsehole
Killer Croc – Giant crocodile man, eats humans, would like you to know he’s not an alien

This first volume hits the ground running, getting to know the team and their dynamics, and putting them against real super-enemies. The stakes are high! They’re devoid of moral compasses! Thankfully, the writers seem to have learned what worked in that movie, and what didn’t, keeping a strong focus on Harley and Deadshot, but also maintaining interest in the rest of the motley crew. The humor is bonkers, the dialogue zippy, the action non-stop. Tonally and plot-wise, this is what the movie should have been: a fun, light, action-heavy ode to anti-heroes getting the job done, in the most chaotic, destructive way possible.

*3 and a half stars *
I think a better start for the Suicide Squad than then the last reboot. Redesigned characters to mirror the movie a bit, has its pros, and cons. I thought this was good, but not great. The artwork was undoubtedly my favorite aspect of this. Jim Lee is the man. I wasn't blown away by this, but it was a solid book.

The introductory panels had an almost blurry effect to them that really detracted from the content. This improved as the book entered the main plot. The story follows some of what the movie went with as the history of the group but with some creative deviation: some good choices, others not. 

Considering the length of the graphic novel, there wasn't much depth to the characters with exception to Harley Quinn. The villain, Zod, was defeated in an anticlimactic frame, but he did do something right before dying: he killed off someone I'm very much not a fan of lol Hack was introduced as a new character but she didn't really leave much of an impression on me. 

The art started getting better for me when the characters' individual stories were brought to fruition at the end. It was very detailed and vivid. These mini stories, more than in any other part, seemed to showcase the artists' talent best. 

I've got to say I was a little disappointed, but with a stronger story line and consistently strong art, I see potential in the series. 

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

I got mixed feelings about this comic. Don’t get me wrong, I love DC comics, their characters and specially their villains, that’s what makes it a bit difficult to write trying not to compare the comic to the recent movie of Suicide Squad.

The comic tells the story of a dysfunctional group of mischief villains that comes together for a deadly mission that goes wrong even before it begins. When they are called in to steal something called The Black Vault, they are faced with a super-villain that will take something that has been lacking: teamwork. How to put it off? 

First things first, the artwork is great; I think it matched the story line just fine. Then we have the story line in itself. I must say I was a bit disappointed, I felt like there was a lack of balance between scenes. Sometimes it felt like everything was happening at the same time, others that there was no action at all. I really enjoyed the backstory of the characters; it’s always nice to know more about the anti-heroes, but then there are characters that I just couldn’t figure out their objective or mission. It wasn’t completely clear for me how they got together.

The villains of this comic took me by surprise, I was expecting someone a little more human to balance things a bit. Instead I found a super villain from another planet with a very bad temper and a group of mischiefs that are supposed to mirror the Task Force X. For me, it went a bit overboard. I think the point was to bring something new to the table, something unexpected, but I didn’t see it that way. Even so, the stories got me engaged enough and I couldn't stop reading it.

I hope to see something different in the next volume and a better balance and connection between the events in the story and the characters.

Overall, a nice read.

This book seemingly starts off with Amanda Waller and President Obama and it doesn’t get any more sensical. They’ve rebooted Suicide Squad again. It still feels unnecessary, but somehow less fun than last time. The characters are slightly more detailed than in the movie but still feel like caricatures. I always think that Suicide Squad books will be fun and then I usually just find myself frustrated. They feel like they’re trying too hard and it’s just draining. Harley Quinn is usually fun, but even she gets a bit tiresome after a bit. Plus, here she’s got her movie hair and makeup and that is not my Harley Quinn. There are some funny lines, of course, but that’s about it. I was glad we got to see more of Katana, I’m not used to seeing her in such a position of power. She’s also not as overly sexualized as Harley, so that’s nice. June Moone is also not overly sexualized, which I appreciated. However, there were also things I didn’t appreciate, like Killer Croc vomiting into his space helmet. Don’t ask me why they were in space. Overall, it was a typical Suicide Squad book, which is to say, not my cup of tea, but not terrible.

http://choccygrl.booklikes.com/post/1541832/suicide-squad-the-black-vault-vol-1-rebirth