REVIEW: ‘Suicide Squad,’ Issue #6

Suicide Squad #6 is published by DC Comics, written by Tom Taylor, art by Bruno Redondo, colors by Adriano Lucas and letters by Wes Abbott. After giving their pursuers the slip in Central City, the Squad finds itself in Gotham. But with a fresh bounty on their heads they are likely to attract a lot of attention. And someone might not be happy with all this going down in his city.

After some heavy reveals and tough moments over the last couple issues Suicide Squad #6 takes things a little lighter as it hits the streets of Gotham. Wait… things got lighter in Gotham… There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write. Anyway, Taylor flexes his writing muscles here with a load of witty banter as the Squad gets their bombs removed, face down international assassins, and have a run in with the Dark Knight himself.  The team dynamic of this newest iteration of the Squad continues to gel as we see roles get reinforced. Like Wink’s solidifying her role as team jokester here. After all, once you’ve pulled a fast one on Batman, you have officially made it.

Taylor’s writing crescendos with a capping scene between Deadshot and Batman that is equal parts heart, poignant argument and humor. Making Batman funny in a way that feels natural is a trick few can pull off, but Taylor nails it.

This scene is just the latest in a long series Taylor crafts around Deadshot. I’m not overly familiar with the character in general, so I can’t say how unique Taylor’s approach to the character is, but I love this version of him. Deadshot is a complicated, labyrinth of confused emotions that have been betrayed far too many times. His struggles with what the Suicide Squad is, was, and if he can keep up with where it’s going are palpable. He sees the future for the team as possibly being genuinely good. But it is the goodness of the new crop that almost pushes him out of it. He sees himself as a villain. And It feels like he’s afraid he’ll taint what they could become. I hope he gets over it. The Squad needs their grouchy father figure.

Redondo’ s art does a great job of navigating the shifting tones of Suicide Squad #6. Keeping the heart and humor balanced with the dark allies of Gotham is not the most natural pairing. But Redondo’s lines, combined with Lucas’s continuing magic with colors keeps both the setting and tone of the story balanced against each other.

Abbott’s lettering rounds out Suicide Squad #6 with skill and precision. Every bubble is placed well, in both terms of cohesive reading, and melding with the art it goes with.

Suicide Squad #6 delivers another great read. It has humor, and character in abundance. Whatever happens to the team in the coming issues I find myself hoping more and more that these characters get to become standing staples in the DC Universe. They are deep, unique and a wonderfully diverse crew. All things any universe can use more of.

Suicide Squad #6 is available June 23rd wherever comics are sold.