Publisher: DC
Writer: Sean Ryan
Artist: Phillipe Briones
Colourist: Blond
Editor: Andy Khouri
Release date: OUT NOW!
Price: $4.99

New Suicide Squad Annual #1 is an emotional rollercoaster for some members of the team. As part of the “Monsters” storyline the group finds itself outside Turkey and besieged not only by hostile troops but rock-throwing children as well.

In the New Suicide Squad Annual #1 there are plenty of monsters to go around: the Squad, their boss Amanda Waller and Saladin the military strong man the Suicide Squad are sent to eliminate. Manta has joined the villain’s operations, but when Saladin suggests Manta go on camera and denounce the United States Manta balks. “They’ll kill me if a I do that,” says a noticeably shaken Manta. “Yes. Gloriously,” says a beaming Saladin.

Saladin detonates a bomb that will send the blast radius back through time, and all the citizens with it. Reverse Flash won’t have it. “Everyone deserves saving,” he says while looking at Harley Quinn.

Phillipe Briones’s art has weight and expression. Faces clearly reflect emotion. Backgrounds are detailed, and the layouts are fast-paced.

New Suicide Squad Annual #1 gets points for giving the story more depth than a simple adventure, writer Sean Ryan, makes sure of that. Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.” But for Harley Quinn and Reverse Flash it’s the opposite: they started out as monsters and looking into the abyss is pushing them to change.

New Suicide Squad readers probably should not start with this issue, but will want to get there in the end. It’s not clear if the story inNew Suicide Squad Annual #1 marks a new beginning for Harley Quinn, or just a blip. But either way, now we want to find out.

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker