Amanda Waller contracts out the Suicide Squad to the Japanese government for what should be a simple mission--track down a hoard of stolen Soviet weapons and destroy them before they're sold to the Yakuza. But nothing is simple for the Squad.
Racing to find the weapons before the Soviets and Yakuza, "The Wall" brings on two high-liability, yet essential, members to get the job done: the invulnerable Steelwolf and unhinged new Thinker. With the Soviets and Japanese closing in and the new additions' interference, the Squad find themselves in more trouble than ever before!
The Suicide Squad reaches new heart-pounding peril in this collection by acclaimed creators John Ostrander, Kim Yale and Geof Isherwood. SUICIDE SQUAD: THE DRAGON'S HOARD collects issues #50-58 of the classic series.
John Ostrander is an American writer of comic books. He is best known for his work on Suicide Squad, Grimjack and Star Wars: Legacy, series he helped create.
Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, Ostrander moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about the character "Sargon, Mistress of War", who appeared the First Comics series Warp!, based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character Grimjack with Timothy Truman, who originally appeared in a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in his own book, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, by which time Ostrander was already doing work for other comics companies (his first scripts for DC Comics were published in 1986).
Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes himself as an agnostic. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus on the character's human aspect, a dead police detective from the 1930s named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.
At some point the Suicide Squad turned into a group of mercenaries as they are hired by a Japanese firm in this to hunt down a weapons cache. However, there's still that sense of danger and chaoticness as the s#!t inevitably hits the fan on each mission. I think that may be my favorite part of these Ostrander scripts. Missions always quickly spiral out of control and the team must go off-book to react and complete the mission.
Another volume that shows the excellence of John Ostrander's Suicide Squad at its best.
The heart of this volume is "The Dragon's Hoard", a five-part story about the Squad facing off against a variety of sources all looking for a stolen weapon's horde. It's really impressive for its intricate complexity, with so many people having so many different goals. However, there's some great action too, with a scene involving Amanda and the Atom being particularly memorable.
The rest of the comic is one-offs, and they're ever bit as a good. There's an issue about Rick Flag's history, a funny issue about Dr. Light, and a serious one about Deadshot and identity. They're every one as intriguing as the longer story, because they're such good character studies.
The issue ends with a War of the Gods crossover, and it's well-written and interesting, but it's such a small fragment of the larger story that it's not particularly great. (Clearly, DC needs to collect the whole of War of the Gods if it's to make any sense.)
Katana, Manhunter Mark Shaw, and the "new" Atom join up with Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad to find and destroy a hidden cache of weapons (codenamed the Dragon's Horde) before various forces from Russia, Japan, and Cambodia can get their hands on it. It's a high speed espionage adventure that runs through most of this volume. Another highlight is the one-off about Doctor Light (the villain) trying to get out of hell by body swapping with Doctor Light (the Japanese heroine, in a comical cameo). Plus, Rick Flag's got a long lost son.
This is the first volume that collects issues I didn't read as they were coming out - this is the period where I had "given up" comics. I think that fact, coupled with the high quality of those issues, means this is one of my favorite volumes of the series. We get missions that delve into the history of the group, an issue where Floyd Lawton "kills" Deadshot, and the great titular five-partner, which is full of double crosses and tension and everything that makes the Squad great. Even the less-important issues, like the zanier one where Dr. Light talks about how he escaped from hell and the one that crossed over with the "War of the Gods" storyline, have bits that are great, such as the appearance of a character known as The Writer in that crossover issue. I love how Ostrander and Yale use characters from other books they worked on - Mark Shaw, Stalnoivolk - as well as putting Oracle in a more prominent position. Oh, and I think Geof Isherwood really comes into his own as the regular penciller too. I know I'm writing a lot here, but man, this was great.
Ostrander firing on all cylinders for this one! I feel like the Squad is best served with Zastrow and his Soviet Squad as antagonists, as the rescue of Nemesis from that Ukrainian prison was my previous favorite book.
It ends with an issue from an inexplicable crossover, as superhero books tend to do, but Ostrander does a good job keeping me up to speed on what "War of the Gods" was about so even this - usually the nadir in any comic book collection - was kept light and amusing. Also, I can't lie, Poison Ivy tied up by the evil Amazons in her underwear probably helped with that.
An entertaining collection of issues. The depiction of the Japanese people is kind of stereotypical (especially Katana), as you would expect from comics of the 80s, but it wasn't as offensive as I was expecting. Also the last issue just kind of ends in the middle of the action, which I'm guessing is because it probably is a tie in to a larger event comic storyline. Also love the fact that Grant Morrison is just a character in here that can warp reality by writing about it and gets killed when they get writers block.
Aunque comienza muy mal, con el correr de los números Ostrander logra levantar un poco el nivel. Si bien siempre nos quedamos con una sensación de que aún falta algo, de que la historia está recortada e incompleta, aún así podemos llegar a disfrutarla o al menos a no padecerla.
Aún así debo admitir que a esta altura lo único que me motiva a continuar esta lectura es terminar la saga.
The main arc story here, whilst bursting with nostalgic charm, reads a little dated and flat-footed now. The individual, interstitial stories are great though. Even the still largely incomprehensible War Of The Gods crossover issue
Agora na sua penúltima lombada, o Esquadrão Suicida se tornou um grupo de mercenários. Alguém tem uma missão, alguém paga um milhão e sai da frente. Parece simples, né? Claro que vai dar merda. A primeira história é sobre o legado do Rick Flagg e tenta ligar alguns acontecimentos do Esquadrão original às histórias atuais e tem zumbis. Apesar dos zumbis, é bem meia-boca. Depois temos a história que dá nome ao volume e coloca os protagonistas de ação americanos contra o grande inimigo da época, o comunismo. Porém estamos falando do comunista raiz; que sabe a letra da Internacional, só usa roupas militares, marcha na praça vermelha, dobra aço com as mãos, não tem medo dos "malditos americanos e seu capitalismo porco". Ah, e Yakuzas, porque tudo fica melhor com ninjas. Todos os planos dos nossos "heróis" dão errado e vão por água abaixo na primeira oportunidade numa daquelas clássicas histórias que misturam filmes de ação do Braddock matando comunas em alguma selva do Camboja com filmes de trapaça em que todo mundo engana todo mundo. Honestamente, não é uma história tão boa assim, mas é bem divertida e tem uma pegada de tensão por todas as 5 ou 6 edições. A última história é a parte 19 do evento Guerra dos Deuses que, presumivelmente, envolve a Mulher Maravilha, um daqueles eventos da DC que, nem na época, ninguém leu. Além de tudo isso, o Ostrander adiciona mais camadas ao grande personagem do Esquadrão, o Pistoleiro que teve sua bagagem roubada na última edição e tem alguém utilizando seu uniforme para matar bandidos por aí. Sério, dia que o King quiser outro Eisner, escreve sobre o Pistoleiro e o Bumerangue numa road trip pela América e seus traumas, não tem erro. No geral as histórias são bem divertidas, mas a arte fica devendo muito e isso me incomodou bastante, mas faz parte. Estamos chegando no final, tá na cara que o grande momento do Esquadrão já passou, mas tá se encaminhando para um final digno.
The collection opens with the series' 50th issue, which rounds up some old faces for a surprisingly nostalgic exercise, given the book's title. But somehow, it doesn't quite click, the dialogue feeling stiff and that meaning the series can no longer power through its often variable art like it has in the past. But after that, and in a way which follows from it sufficiently to dispel the scent of a gimmick story, things get briefly back on track, with Lawton trailing the wannabe who's stolen his Deadshot costume. One spectator suggests that Lawton won't be able to shoot at 'Deadshot', because that would be killing the best part of himself. Shows what he knows about Lawton – and reminds us again why affable Will Smith was a baffling piece of casting for one of the most dead-behind-the-eyes characters in comics (now, if they'd gone for Jamie Hector, aka Marlo in The Wire...). Then you've got perhaps the most outright comedy issue of the run thus far, explaining the return of Dr Light, before the title story lumbers into view.
The Hoard in question turns out to be a cache of Soviet weapons, but only conventional ones, and as such, maybe not enough of a macguffin to justify international superteam involvement or this level of plot and counterplot. Particularly with most of the characters out of costume, it feels more like an eighties action film than a superhero story, which is not a problem in itself, but Isherwood's stiff art means it's not a good one, more Segal than Schwarzenegger.
Finally, an issue tying in to forgotten crossover War of the Gods, chiefly notable for its passing response to Grant Morrison's metafictional shenanigans in Animal Man. What with one thing and another, you can see why they'd have started to think about wrapping the series up around here.
The main story of this collection, “The Dragon’s Horde”, takes place all over the map from Afghanistan, to Japan, to Cambodia, to America. At the tail end of Russian-occupied Afghanistan, a general betrays his own troops and smuggles thousands of weapons to a cache in Cambodia with a plan to sell them onto the Yakuza. Sounds like a spy novel. Essentially it is, only with superhero teams for the Russian, Japanese and our dear old Suicide Squad added into the mix. Intelligent, violent, and all sorts of fun.
Book-ending the main tale are a few shorts. The double sized issue takes a look back at the original two iterations of the Suicide Squad from the 50s and 60s. Following that is a solo issue dealing with Deadshot and his psychosis. A further one focuses on the deceased Dr. Light and his return to this side of the river Styx - easily the weakest of the stories.
The last issue in this volume is part of the forgettable D.C. crossover event for 1991, War of the Gods. It spanned twenty five issues across different titles like Dr. Fate, Wonder Woman, Starman, Animal Man, Hawk and Dove, The Demon, etc. ad nauseam. In this storyline, after the Amazons announced themselves to the world, Circe has been lurking behind the scenes watching Diana's every move. Circe is responsible for a series of brutal murders where various artifacts of power have been stolen. The Amazons are framed for these crimes and public hysteria is whipped up against them. Not that great. The big event results in nothing permanent happening in the DC universe. Presented only in single issues, a slice of a much larger pie, it was forgettable. I found myself rushing through it, so as to get back to stories actually important to the title.
Issue 50 contains a retcon that instantly made me think of the Winter Soldier. I have to wonder if Brubaker got the idea of resurrecting Bucky from this issue, because there are striking similarities. This one doesn’t feel as natural and shocking as Brubaker’s, possibly because Jess Bright isn’t as well-known as Bucky, but also because it the writing feels forced. The next two issues are couldn’t be more different in tone, yet both highlight the series’ strength in characterization. First we have Lawton trailing someone in his Deadshot costume and confronting his own identity. Then Dr. Light explains his return from death in what’s likely the funniest single issue of the series.
Sadly, I found the titular “Dragon’s Horde” to be tedious. It’s a fine idea for a Suicide Squad arc: the team heads to Japan (and elsewhere) to weed out a Soviet weapons cache. But there are too many moving parts for it to be the slick action story it shoots for, and I don’t think Isherwood’s art suits the bombastic tone.
The “War of the Gods” issue that closes out the book is surprisingly good. It’s the 19th issue of the crossover, so I expected to be expected lost, but it’s a decent little Suicide Squad mission stacked with characters. And kudos to Ostrander and Yale for shoehorning in Grant Morrison (“The Writer” from Animal Man). I’m glad his metafictional musings gained some traction early on.
Not bad but losing the drive and urgency of the beginning of the run. I wonder how abrupt the cancel will feel next trade. It feels weird to see Oracle working so intimately with a squad of killers...
The Suicide Squad gets embroiled in a bit of nasty arms-dealing involving a rogue Russian squadron, the Yakuza and a "bloomin' onion" Australian double-crosser who could be Captain Boomerang's cousin (something the book plays for laughs). John Ostrander manages to take his crew to Japan without being too cringe-inducing--a notable achievement for superhero comics in the early '90s.
The plotting is relatively taut, the characters are crisp and amoral, and the action, when it comes, can still be surprising and brutal. This isn't the series at its best, but Ostrander has invested so much in developing the cast that their relationships carry the material...even when that material involves a suicide run to rescue a kid from an airport wired with explosives and filled with zombies.
More Suicide Squad fun. It you like political intrigue, twists, and turns and stories that are actually about people than this is yet another read for you. It's got two big story arcs in it and two or three little done in one stories. (It's something the big two don't do a lot of anymore unless it is 'An Off Week Stunt'.) Ostrander and Yale knock it out of the park every time. I mean, it's a little annoying that it doesn't reprint the Waller cameo's and 'backup squad' guest shots in Firestorm which Ostrander was writing (and wrapping up) around this time but you can't win them all. It's only annoying because a few of those stories get a brief nod. But overall, a very good read.
I really enjoyed the first half of this volume. Collects stories include a double-sized issue #50 in which an individual from the Squad’s past returns and kidnaps Flag’s son, a petty criminal stealing Deadshot’s costume, and the multiple life and death’s of Dr. Light (My personal favorite issue of the collection.
The second half of the volume is a 5-part arc titled The Dragon Hoard in which the Squad battles the Yakuza. I really couldn’t get into this arc. There was too much going with the Soviets also getting involved.
This was the penultimate collection. Very curious to see how the first volume of Suicide Squad comes to an end.
An improvement over the last volume. The story focuses on the characters a bit more and creates some interesting new plotlines. Campanella becomes the main inker, which makes Isherwood's art look a LOT better. The titular Dragon's Hoard storyline is a little complicated at first, but that just makes it more enjoyable by the end.
Highlights include: *The "return" of Rick Flag. *Deadshot fighting "himself" and abandoning the identity for awhile. *Deadshot using a laster pistol (that doesn't work) to keep Steel Wolf in line. *Grant Morrison's cameo.
The main chunk of this volume involves the Squad stuck between the Yakuza and the a team of Soviet meta humans, all scrambling to find a hidden cache of weapons. It's a big action movie of a story with lots of super powered action.
Its padded out with a handful of one off stories that are pretty decent. The Deadshot one is better than the Dr. Light and the Zombie one makes great use of SS history.
Baffles me how someone took a comic this good and then turned around and made that horrible movie.
Great read for the evening and morning after. For fans of meta human or mercenary fiction. Delighted to see these early 90s stories get collected. I have read all 7 volumes so far, and will continue as the rest of John Ostrander's run gets printed!
A pretty underwhelming volume bordering the exploitation genre of the era, it's got too much going on at once with very little structure. Issue 51 was especially atrocious, there were very few redeeming qualities.
This time around, Amanda Waller’s gang fights zombies, an arms deal, and each other! Oracle joins the team, and Deadshot suffers a kind of death. Seven volumes in, this book is rock solid, supervillain espionage at its level best.
The main story is a bit too long, but Ostrander/Yale set up some great situations for the Squad to work their way out of. The last isse was a War of the Gods chapter and was boring so skipped it. Art is not up to quality and McCraw's colors are garish snd too dark at times.
Very solid entry with an arc dealing with the Yakuza and Khmer Rouge. Much more grounded than a typical super hero book and that’s why it holds up better. Will definitely keep reading the series.
A return to a great SUICIDE SQUAD adventure when everyone's thrown into danger and every corner twists in a direction you can't predict! But THE WRITER? LAME.
Dragon's Hoard is one of the series' most Machiavellian storylines, and terrific fun. Credit to Ostrander and Yale for making the "War of the Gods" crossover chapter almost work.