Suicide Squad, Volume 1: Kicked in the Teeth

Not surprised I didn't like this. I thought maybe...but then I looked at it and...certain things tipped me off. But I thought, ‘Well, let's try it, maybe I'll like it anyway.'

Nope.

Sophomoric, badly planned violence, the women weren't that well written, and the sex-ish scene with Deadshot and Harley was pointlessly stupid. The characters were lacking. I'm down with sex and violence, but I'm not down with mediocre writing and meh characters.

I was surprised by how much I liked this! The only character I was really familiar with was Harley Quinn. But I really like Harley, which is why I picked it up. Really fun and with some ~superhero ethics quandaries~, if you're into that.

Of note for librarians: I ordered this for teen graphic novels since I was doing a big DC order, but I'm having it recataloged to adult. It's just... pretty violent, and Harley's puh-retty scantily clad on the cover, and it's called Suicide Squad. I do think older teens would enjoy it, but I'll let them get it from adult GNs when they go to get their Walking Deads.

There's a lot going on in this first volume of the New 52's Suicide Squad. Zombies in a stadium, prison riots, bad guys chasing bad guys for other bad guys....and Harley Quinn's on the loose.

There can't ever be enough Harley Quinn as far as I'm concerned. She's creepy and crazy and I just love her. In the last two issues of this volume Harley's escaped from Belle Reve and she's headed to Gotham to find out if what everyone's told her is true. The Joker's dead and GCPD has his face stored away.

Deadshot and the other members of the Suicide Squad are tasked with bringing her back dead or alive. Easier said than done for a girl who doesn't have any ‘powers'.

It's fun to watch the bad guys not being completely bad. Plus, there's this never ending pool of villains to grab from so we're exposed to more characters with each mission. This series is a keeper.