Kicked in the Teeth (The New 52) - Suicide Squad Vol. 1

I liked this graphic novel. Harley Quinn has been changed a bit in the new 52, she's on her own, new costume, and new hairstyle. Still pretty lovable though. I'd say Suicide Squad's main character is Deadshot and Harley Quinn really is the "second" main character. Mostly because while we do follow Harley around (mostly towards the end of the novel) Mainly we follow Deadshot. Other team members come and go but there is always the Diablos whose powers consist of fire related combustion, and Shark King? He's basically a big shark who loves "meat". He reminds me of Killer Croc as a shark. I also like how Amanda Waller is now skinny and almost in her own right pretty tough. (If I remember rightly she used to be more heavy and older. I didn't read many comics with her in it but I'm going off of the Animated shows in the 90's had her look like). Anyways, if you like Harley Quinn and Deadshot you will like this. It's got action and a pretty decent storyline to it. I was disappointed with Harley's Origin story. I thought it was going to be NEW and different you know to fit the "NEW 52" and since it was hyped up by DC when it was coming out in Comic book form. Honestly, if you want this issue for it I'd suggest just reading Mad Love if you have it already or can find a copy. It basically felt the same and didn't change much if anything. Otherwise this was a great first novel of Suicide Squad. 4/5

-B

Though I found the opening issue of Suicide Squad to be something of a guilty pleasure, I quickly found I wasn't alone in my tentative praise of the book. Though I didn't pick up the second issue, Suicide Squad`s reception was relatively positive, and when I learned that it was the first New 52 title to break the inevitable downward sales trend and action start selling up, despite not having any crossovers, I was interested to see what the book was all about. Suicide Squad: Kicked in the Teeth collects the first seven issues of the ongoing series, and seemed like a good place to start with the series.

And, you know what, I actually mostly enjoyed it.*

It has its problems, and they aren't small. Writer Adam Glass shows a huge improvement here over his Flashpoint: Legion of Doom miniseries, but he still needs to work on some basic areas like pacing, dialogue and general set-up/payoff plotting, all of which are, at various turns, fairly uneven throughout the title. For example, #2 ("When the Levee Breaks") has some terrible dialogue - "Zombies?!? I'm going to squeal! I love zombies!" - and the pacing is flawed, jumping from getting the mission to fighting hordes of faceless enemies, but it does set-up/payoff pretty well, getting Deadshot infected here, reminding us periodically over the next couple issues, and then finally bringing it back in a huge, climactic firefight.

But what Glass does VERY well is the conceptual stuff. You have six hours to kill an entire football stadium worth of infected, prevent the infection from spreading beyond the walls, and retrieve the cure. You have 20 minutes to put down a riot at Blackgate Prison before the bombs in your neck go out. Harley Quinn is running rampant in Gotham: hunt her down and capture her without being caught on camera. These are all fantastic hooks that let new readers jump in with ease and find an exciting little action romp that builds on what came before without relying on it. Which is an immensely difficult type of plotting, and if Glass can master some of the more basic skills it is what could very well propel this book to excellence.

The book's other main issue are the redesigns. Harley is the biggest offender, obviously, going from iconic to Hot Topic just like that, but most of the characters feel the problem to one degree or another. Amanda Waller just looks more generic - the Wall was such a fantastic character before - while Deadshot's costume just looks a little bit off.

Suicide Squad is never going to be for everyone, and the extremes of violence the book goes to even in this opening volume suggest it may get even out-there by the end of it, but reboot wasn't the trainwreck it easily could have been (or the trainwreck everyone suspected it would be). In fact, people craving quick, dirty, mission-based action comics could do a lot worse than Suicide Squad: Kicked in the Teeth. It isn't a classic by any means, and it has its fair share of problems, but I found myself eager to see if Glass could grow as a writer and make his own mark on one of DC's most fascinating legacies. As is, however, much like Justice League International: The Signal Masters, it's a lightweight but mostly enjoyable take on some classic material.

*And I (almost) made it through the whole review without mentioning how inferior this book is to the similar SECRET SIX.

Pretty good intro to Suicide Squad. Art is well done, comic is high quality. Definitely recommend if you're a fan of Harley or Deadshot - leaves alot to be desired with the other characters backstory.

It immediately pulled me in, I couldn't stop reading! So far a wonderful series, and I cant wait to continue reading the next volumes! I would recommend this to anyone who loves DC villains, and comic books in general.