Suicide Squad (2016-2019) Vol. 7: Drain the Swamp

Suicide Squad (2016)

by Rob Williams, Simon Spurrier, Fernando Pasarín (Artist)

“It’s always fun seeing familiar super-teams explored from an altered, outside perspective.” —IGN

 America is under attack. And America’s gonna fight back. The only question is which is worse for America’s dirtiest line of defense: Task Force X, a.k.a. the Suicide Squad!

 First, a hive of brain-draining alien insectoids has infested one of the country’s most beloved theme parks. Faced with an all-out incursion, Amanda Waller sends in Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc and a team of the toughest criminals in Belle Reve Penitentiary…plus some poor sap named Juan. What’s this sad sack’s secret? And why is he the only thing standing between the Squad and destruction?

 Then, the government unveils its latest plan to make America safe again: the Wall, a super-soldier commanded by Task Force X veteran Rick Flag and armed with enough power to take down every member of the Squad. And at the worst possible time, too: the super-cyberterrorist named Hack is back, and she’s out to unleash every single secret Amanda Waller has ever tried to bury.

 Now Harley Quinn and company must fight to protect the secrets of the Squad—and save Washington from its own red, white and blue metahuman of mass destruction!

 From writers Rob Williams (Trinity) and Si Spurrier (X-Force) and a squad of talented artists comes Suicide Squad Vol. 7: Drain the Swamp, a saga of action and adventure that trumps all the others! Collects issues #33-40 of the outrageous series.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fantasy, Crime

189 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2018

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts off with a meta story about a criminal with minor powers to pick locks is drafted into the Suicide Squad. He's painfully aware that he's cannon fodder and does everything he can to avoid dying. It's pretty funny. Then Hack returns for vengeance on Waller. It's drawn out at 6 issues and the new American hero The Wall dreamed up by Trump is heavy handed. You could instantly see exactly where this was all headed from the get-go.

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just pure insane fun.

World: The art is solid, it's bright, it's kinetic, it's bold and in your face, just what this book needs to be. And then there's the nice characters and their expressive illustration. The world building is solid, it builds on the previous arc and keeps building these characters. The meta textual nature of a Trump America and how it interacts with an off the books crazy Waller and a on the books crazy President is pretty fun.

Story: The first two issues with the Red Shirt is hilarious and sad but also mostly just sad. It's fun, it is self aware and still does what it does and it was quite refreshing. Then there is the six issue (yes it's two arcs but it's one large story) with Hack, the meta narrative of Trump and the Wall and the cloak ans dagger of Waller and it is just stupid fun. It's not smart it's pretty ridiculous but that's what this book needs to be.

Characters: The squad is great, Williams has done a wonderful job through his run to make readers care about this group, their little stories and characters are well established. There was not a lot of development on their front this arc and they were as is but the work before pays off. This is Waller's arc and his little bits of character make for a fun and interesting look. Good simply to the point stuff.

A fun arc.

Onward to the next book!

*read individual issues*

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Suicide Squad battle a returning foe, an alien invasion, and the American Government in the penultimate volume of Rob Williams' run.

The first two issues here are by guest writer Simon Spurrier, and they're absolutely brilliant. Spurrier has a way of deconstructing comics to their core and really honing in on what makes them tick, and he does this perfectly here by telling a tale from the perspective of a character who had no right to be on the Suicide Squad in the first place. It zigs a few times when you expect it to zag, and it ends in such a Spurrier place for a story. These two issues alone would get a five star rating, and that's without mentioning Fernando Pasarin's guest pencils which are of course sublime.

Drain The Swamp itself brings Hack back, as Belle Reve itself goes on the attack and the Suicide Squad fall apart just in time for Amanda Waller to lose her job. I like that Williams has pulled on the Hack plot thread a few times throughout the run, and this would have been a perfect ending to that arc if the follow-up story, Shock & Awe, wasn't an even better one. While I'm a tad bored of the Squad fighting each other instead of someone else, it does work pretty well here, and Shock & Awe's focus on Amanda Waller is exactly the kind of character beats I've been wanting for everyone else during the run. At least Williams seems to remember Enchantress and Killer Croc are part of the team for a change, and there's also some good moments for Captain Boomerang (that aren't just comic relief) and Katana as well.

The art gets a bit crunchier as things go on though, with each issue drawn by a different artist. There are contributions from Eduardo Pansica (doing his best Eddy Barrows impression), Tom Derenick, Neil Edwards, José Luis, and Jack Herbert, so the book's visual consistency definitely feels a bit piecemeal. Suicide Squad hasn't managed to nail down an artist since Jim Lee left, and the rotating door of guest A listers seems to have dried up. While none of these artists are bad by any means, they're definitely a smorgasboard of styles that don't always gel together - at least it's always one artist per issue rather than a load of overlap.

Drain The Swamp manages to capture what I've been wanting from Suicide Squad for a while - well distributed character moments, a compelling plot line, and decent (if inconsistent) artwork. The guest issues at the beginning are the highlight, but that's not to detract from what feels like it could have been the denouement of the entire run in the back half of the trade.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

You open with a throwaway story about a new character we don't care about. Killer Croc swings wildly from sub-moronic monster to love-struck schoolboy, and once again a comic book about costumed criminals and crime-fighters is hijacked to push a bureaucrat to center stage, because scheming pencil pushers apparently are the REAL heroes today.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's nothing more deadlier than being a nobody close to a somebody.

[Nicole Westen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it just me, or does Harley's spine and mid section look like they're made of rubber and being stretched on this cover image?

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

With one of her many past sins putting Waller against the wall, the choice between duty and family becomes a decision that will test who exactly Waller is deep down.

So this volume is comprised of two stories. The first is by Simon Spurrier who pens a story about a background extra who knows he is doomed. I thought this story was great fun and an interesting and irreverent way of breaking down one of the sillier aspects of comic book story telling. The fact that extra's with no names always die while the main characters will always live. The way the character was aware of this fact and dreading it all the while on the mission was just good comic book storytelling and I think Spurrier did a great job with it.

The main story is about Hack returning in the form of digital information, and she can now hack (duh) into... well everything. She takes over Belle Reeve, she takes over the new "hero" named: the Wall (complete with Trump president stand in), and she takes over all of Washington DC. She then has Waller choose between Waller's family dying, or her secret files being released to the public. And knowing what we know about Waller as a character, her choice may surprise you.

Rob Williams gives us a solid story about duty vs family set against the Suicide Squad world. This was a highly entertaining and interesting chapter of the Suicide Squad.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few storylines here. One was a humor storyline, which wasn't bad but seemed a little out of place. The others dealt with the return of Hack, who has no love for her old Suicide Squad teammates.

Overall this was okay, but that's about it. This title seems to be spinning its wheels but I think the next storyline may change that.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Volume was hilarious in just the right ways! Continuing the good streak set by the last Volume, "Drain the Swamp" hits the team from all different angles making a good read. Some highlights:
- The first two issues revolve around an adventure from the perspective of one of the "fodder" (AKA Redshirts, or the people who no one cares about that namelessly die and are forgotten) named Juan Soria. Having powers of his own and having turned to a life of crime after being rejected for the JLA, his mission with Task Force X is revealed to be a sham orchestrated by Waller to test his abilities. The story is very funny though... "Juan Soria does not belong in this story." LOL
- The majority of the rest of the Volume surrounds the return of Hack, a girl who was part of the team several Volumes ago, and has remanifested inside the computers with full intent to take down and destroy Amanda Waller. Mind control, the death of a teammate, and the control of a hero known as "The Wall" (seriously, I could not stop laughing at his entrance... the announcement of this hero came from a press conference from the President. Yes, that one... the orange emperor himself. Also, this is the first time I've seen DC acknowledge the current president in office, and I read TONS of comics). Up against the wall from Hack, will Amanda Waller choose between keeping all her files secret or the safety of her family?
It's been great to see this title develop and grow. I hope it continues.
Strong recommend.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the larger collections (almost twice the size of some of them), and in spite of some less than impressive artwork this was actually pretty good.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pain does strange things to people.

[J.M. Giovine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well certainly this was a change of pace. I complained in the previous volumes about the lack of higher stakes and, I think, hinting towards the ending of Williams run (at issue 50, apparently) this started to escalate things in the proper way.
Hack is back from the death (big surprise, another one), and she's sworn to find out the identity of her killer under Harcourt's command, back in the first volumes, and to accomplish that, she'll take control of the Belle Reve prison, in order to obtain every single file and secret archive from Waller's main servers. Mayhem and chaos are unleashed, and the Suicide Squad will face judgement by the hand of their former member.
This is interesting, and for once, we are granted the presence of a different writer; the first issues here are written by Si Spurrier, and while not connected to the main storyline, they work as a fine and fun little distraction that introduces us to the character of Juan Soria, who's constantly in the line of fire as one of the disposable members of the Suicide Squad. Fernando Pasarin is the artist of these two issues and his work is reminiscent of others who worked in the series previously. In fact, plenty of the artists involved in this volume share a similar style. The main story revolved around the return of Hack and the introduction of "The Wall", a sort of cyber-super soldier created by the government, and commanded by Rick Flag, since he's no longer a member of the team, but as expected, things will explode, and Amanda Waller will face the potential destruction of both: her work and her family.
As I said, this actually toyed with the drama that worked previously in the series, and now the main focus is the retribution of the Squad at the hands of Hack. There are actual casualties, and even the dramatic aspects of the villain's motivations makes for some good and ruthless situations, which is interesting given the treatment Hack receives as the brand new villain in the team, which makes me think that we haven't seen that situation before in the series; a former member of the Task Force X turning rogue. We're still under Williams typical disposal of previously seen characters, for example, 'El Diablo' is never to be seen in here, so he is constantly been removed and reintroduce out of nowhere. The Wall was an interesting addition to the series, for once I thought he'll be a modern version of the Peacemaker, but he's strictly a new character created for this arc, unfortunately, his presence here is limited by the purposes of Hack in the final issues. The art of Eduardo Pansica, Tom Derenick, Neil Edwards and Jose Luis is decent, not at the same level of previous artists, but is consistent with the tone and style presented for these characters. I wish the series would've been more violent. There are some "gory" moments, mostly related to Killer Croc, but other than that is mostly violence contained in the way other titles would handle. This is the only series in DC that, I think, deserves the most gruesome and bloody treatment possible; they are villains fighting other villains! But the real highlights in here are the dynamics and the dramatic value of characters like, Amanda Waller, dealing with the decision of protecting her life's work or her family, so we have the opportunity to see more of her character's depths. Also, is it me or this felt a little too "anti-Trump"? Not that I'm supporting or criticizing, is just, I found it funny but odd, since all of a sudden the series felt as attempting commentary against government and the Right wing, something out of nowhere and random coming from this.
I really dig this step forward, and I enjoyed how personal it felt; bringing back an old established character to work as an antagonistic, and working a little better on other current ones regarding their development and aspects of their personalities. Hopefully the final arcs in the series keeps those qualities.

[Rolando Marono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi tomo favorito de esta historia hasta ahora. Rob Williams ha contado una historia desde su tomo uno y me gusta que tome elementos de los volúmenes anteriores para darles protagonismo en el tomo 7 y darnos una historia interesante que se siente familiar porque aprovecha la cantidad de números que se han publicado.
El volumen se divide en dos historias. La primera, aunque no me encantó el giro que tiene, se me hizo muy bueno que Rob Williams cambiara el estilo narrativo y el protagonismo para darnos una historia desde un punto de vista interesante. Lamentablemente creo que el protagonista que escogió para esta versión diferente pudo ser más atractivo y mejor construido.
La segunda parte es sobre "El muro" una especie de súper héroe que combina a personajes conocidos como el Cap América, Superman y Homelander, para darnos una alternativa a Amanda Waller. Si recordamos, el sobrenombre de Amanda es "El muro" también, cuando el gobierno se cansa de sus decisiones y su autonomías crean este proyecto para contrarrestarla pero no todo sale como ella esperaba.
Lo que no me gustó de esta segunda historia fue que aunque en un momento de la trama, parece que les irá muy mal a los personajes, eso dura un par de páginas y nada más. Esa falta de consecuencia no me agradó.
El villano del tomo me gusta aunque su sed de venganza no me convence del todo. La encrucijada final en la que pone a Amanda me gustó mucho porque parece que Rob Williams se ha encargado desde el primer tomo de construir su personaje y volverla un miembro del equipo, a veces incluso el protagonista.
Me gustó que uno de los personajes del SS no estará en el siguiente tomo. En runs anteriores, cada dos o tres números había un miembro nuevo al menos, reemplazando a otro que murió de alguna manera horrible. Aquí no hemos visto eso y el equipo que recrea la sinergia de la película, se ha mantenido hasta la fecha con muy pocos cambios.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rob Williams and Si Spurrier collaborate on the seventh collection of the Suicide Squad for the Rebirth era. The opening arc centers in Juan Soria, a no-name metahuman lockpick who has been groomed to join the Suicide Squad. Sent with the A-list team into an extraterrestrial hive nest, Juan recalls how his life has amounted to nothing. Barley surviving the alien onslaught- at the cost of his hands no less - the sad sack discovers that the entire mission centered on his negative and suicidal emotions to end the threat. The book then jumps into a quick fight against the newest DC powerhouse Damage, before finally following up on the murder of former Squad member Hack. Now a digital consciousness controlling the Belle Reve prison, Hack is out for revenge on the teammate who murdered her- Captain Boomerang. That mission of vengeance is interrupted by Washington’s new toy soldier, dubbed the Wall, who manages to not only eliminate the Enchantress but to get possessed by Hack as well. Again, Rob Williams bounces from plot to plot for his storytelling, failing to fully imbue his characters with any gravitas. This is highlighted by the short arc from Si Spurrier, who successfully turns a nobody into a fully-formed character over the course of just two issues. The artist carousel continues to spin, creating that disjointed effect that has plagued the book since its return in Rebirth. Suicide Squad: Drain the Swamp hints at great ideas underneath the mucky surface, but chooses to drown out those possibilities instead.

[Fandom SK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recenziu pre Fandom.sk napísal Ivan Kučera:

Samovražedný oddiel (alias Operačná skupina X) aktuálne pozostáva z bláznivej majiteľky gigantického kladiva Harley Quinn, zaľúbeného ľudožrúta Killer Croca, mierne zbabelého Austrálčana Captaina Boomeranga, nekromantky Enchantress alebo ostrostrelca Deadshota. V tomto zložení metaľudia zažijú v komikse Sebevražedný oddíl 7: Vymýtit zlo hneď dva náročné prípady.

Prípad číslo pochádza z pera Si Spurriera (Liga spravedlnosti versus Sebevražedný oddíl 1 – 2) a je najlepší. Žiaľ, zároveň najkratší. Nejde ani tak o to, čo oddiel rieši, ale s kým. Nováčikom v tíme je totiž vystrašený civil Juan, ktorý v akcii bez pomoci zjavne nemá šancu prežiť. Ani minútu, nieto ešte hodinu. O to viac si je vedomý axiómy, že počas výsadkov zomierajú len anonymovia, nie hlavné postavy. Preto sa s každým členom družiny snaží skamarátiť. To je samozrejme problém, keďže ho berú ako otravný hmyz, prípadne si žijú vo svojom vlastnom vesmíre a niekedy ani sami poriadne nevedia, kde a prečo sa práve nachádzajú. Juan je nevýznamný, s nábehom na bezvýznamnosť. Na konci sa ukáže, že všetko bolo inak, než sme si mysleli nielen my, ale i drahý Juan...

Celú recenziu nájdete na Fandom.sk https://www.fandom.sk/clanok/recenzia...

[Darik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The closest Rob Williams' run ever gets to making a coherent point, and he STILL flubs it.

A genuinely interesting satirical hook is WASTED here, as President T***p's new walking-phallus superhuman golden boy, the Wall, is introduced as the overt, shameless counterpoint to the covert Task Force X... and then any commentary that may exist to explore there is thrown completely out the window as Hack returns from the dead to get revenge for her murder. Hack's motivation bounces all OVER the place as she eventually decides to target Waller and her loved ones specifically, becoming a remorseless killer seemingly arbitrarily in another of Williams' famous unmotivated character swings.

This book has proven to be a tedious chore to trudge through, as none of the characters' motivations track from storyline to storyline, and the moments of pathos can't land because the writer keeps swinging the tone between darkly absurd nihilism and sappy sentimentality. But at least this volume comes closest to feeling like a story with meaningful ideas and consequences underpinning it, as opposed to being a free-for-all of violence, grimness, and edgelord humor.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

Someone read Reshirts....
The first story, about Juan, feels very much like John Scalzi's redshirts, reskinned for Suicide Squad as it tries to be a bit meta. It has fun moments, but goes a little overboard, and I don't think the final reveal really justifies the rest of the story.
The second story (and the third, which is pretty connected to the second) offer a way to wrap up the Hack storyline from earlier volumes, but it gets a bit messy. The new 'hero' The Wall is a bit on the nose in a lot of ways, and his ultimate fate was pretty clearly telegraphed from the beginning.
The story is a bit scattered, with absurdly high stakes disappearing when no longer required, and the ultimate resolution was a bit disappointing as well. While there's some good action and a few decent character moments, overall, it felt like it was treading water a bit, and definitely felt like a step down from the previous volume.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Two storylines here. The first has a nervous new recruit to Task Force X convinced he's a Red Shirt and making running meta-commentary on how these adventures go; the result was more annoying than clever.
The second combines a new defender of America, "the Wall" (hmm, where did they get that name?) and a scheme by a computer-controlling villain to destroy Waller. It wasn't as insufferably cute, but it wasn't very good either.
And lord, the art is like bad '90s art. Which is not a good thing

[Sarospice · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've been reading this current series this long there are some fun pay offs here. I liked the JUAN SORIA two-parter a lot. I'm always complaining this group of VILLAINS never die anymore in the SUICIDE SQUAD since they became movie stars. Nice to see the writer has noticed too! The second half of this trade has potent political mayhem, with a government hero names THE WALL, and lots of character development for Amanda Waller. All of that I enjoyed, as well as the return of HACK.

[Sylvester · Rating 1 out of 5]

Three separate arcs were presented. The first was a fourth wall break story about insectoid infestation and Waller's secret plan for a nobody criminal. Drain the Swamp was a good arc featuring the return of Hack, who was hellbent on finding out who killed her. Lastly we had Shock and Awe which was simply atrocious, it was the sole reason why I can't give this a higher rating.

[Will Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey, this is the best collection of the Suicide Squad in my opinion!

The first arc is about a sad sack "villain" who ended up in Belle Reve and is actually funny and a meta commentary about nameless folks who die in movies/comics.

The second arc is a previous character's return mixed with a silly incarnation of The Wall, some poking fun of the Trump administration. And a fun time is had!

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good story with all the elements of treachery and bang bang shoot em up that I want for a traditional Suicide Squad tale.

And I really loved the opening story which focused on storytelling and one's role in a story.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Redshirt story was much better than the latter half of the volume, which dragged on for a bit too long. I did like Hack but we should’ve most likely had her story end prior to taking over the newest Super Soldier.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm starting to feel some real deja vu with this series. And, is next volume really another breakout?

[Laura Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am really liking the continuity here and looking at each character better.

[Eldon Farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the whole, this collection was rather unremarkable. I can't pick anything specific I disliked, but nothing I particularly liked either.

[sdkic leoixv · Rating 1 out of 5]

what of the worst stories i've read. also, very stupid ! written by a kid i suppose.

[Ella Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a bit gory not suitable for young children but I thought it was amazing, would definitely recommend

[Ian Raffaele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't much care for all the Trumpy references. I did like it when they brought Hack back for a chance to menace Amanda Waller. That's why this is a four star instead of three.

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This run loves to keep reviving characters they killed off in previous volumes.