By Cat Wyatt

With the last of the Hack plot being wrapped up in the last issue, it’s time for Suicide Squad to take on a new plot. This plot is looks like it’s going to be different than the usual Suicide Squad stories, and I have high hope for how it’s going to go. Okay, if I'm fair at least part of that hope is coming from the seriously badass cover for this issue (seriously, look at it!) but I’m okay with that.

Issue 41 of Suicide Squad starts off with Deadshot in his cell. Now, that isn’t terribly new or different for him; he spends most of his time either on Task Force X missions or locked inside Belle Reve, with minimal exceptions.

The thing that makes this time different? He’s actually thinking about his past and wishing more than anything he could be out in the real world right now, and there’s a very good reason for that feeling. Deadshot was a killer for hire; everybody knows that. He never felt any remorse for his actions, and very likely found thousands of different ways to justify his job.

This is the first time he’s found himself wishing he could go and save somebody. You read that right, I said save, not kill. I’m sure you know where this is going; there’s only one person in the world (other than himself) that Deadshot cares about (and no, it isn’t Harley so stop thinking like that): his daughter, Zoe.

It turns out that Kobra has kidnapped his daughter. I honestly wouldn’t wish that fate on my worst enemy (you know what they do to people in their ‘care’), but having that done to a teenage girl? No way, no how. I’m so not supporting this. So obviously I’m on team Deadshot for this issue. I do have to wonder about Kobra’s motives for taking her. Are they doing it to get back at Deadshot? Was it a coincidence? (Okay, it probably wasn’t a coincidence). Was it to hurt Suicide Squad?

Waller, being the stone cold you-know-what that she is, is not planning on letting Deadshot out to save her. Even though this would actually be a relatively simple thing for her; I mean, she already has an assurance that Deadshot will come back home once he’s done (I’m fairly certain that no amount of love for his daughter would shut off the bomb in his brain, and he likely wouldn’t want her to see him go boom). But that really is Waller in a nutshell – intentionally punish and hurt those below her, especially when they show any amount of free will or disobedience.

Unfortunately for Waller, there’s another dad that’s aware of what is going on, and he doesn’t approve of Deadshot being kept out of the picture. Yeah, I’m sure you can guess where this is going. It’s Batman! (Sorry, couldn’t resist). Batman obviously isn’t going to step aside and let Kobra continue their evil plan with this poor girl. Apparently he always doesn’t want to leave Deadshot out of the picture, which is an interesting choice.

I mean, I actually do get it, in a way. Bruce is a father, and he didn’t get a chance to raise his kid for the first few years, because of the circumstances his son was in. So he understands Lawton’s pain and frustration right now. I guess that’s why he wants Deadshot to have the chance to rescue his little girl – as opposed to just doing it himself (something that he’s totally capable of, I imagine).

There’s a slight problem with Batman’s plan though. Deadshot is still sort of totally locked up inside Belle Reve, and I don’t think a kind request, even one coming from the infamous Batman, is going to change Waller’s mind on that count. Luckily Batman has a rather grey view on crimes, and doesn’t mind crossing the line for ‘little’ things like breaking a criminal out of a high security prison.

Okay, that sound a bit harsh; we all know that Batman is going to be one step behind Deadshot the whole way, and he’ll likely even return Deadshot once everything is said and done. I mean, he’s Batman. There’s nothing he loves more than putting criminals back in prison.

Which reminds me…umm…Batman’s methods for distracting the guards? They didn’t seem exactly nonlethal to me. I mean, maybe I’m wrong, but letting lose an extra crazed Killer Croc (remember, he’s even crazier and angrier than normal, since he lost Moon) doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that’s going to end in pillow fights. More like blood and gore and a nice big feast for Croc (unless the guards’ armor is really really good, in which case they’ll just be dead and not dead and food).

Overlooking the Killer Croc concern, Batman did a pretty good job with his little heist. He already knows how to deactivate the brain bombs (you’d think Waller would have changed them after that became known), and he’s pretty confident that Deadshot is going to willingly come with him (I mean, come on). I will say that I can’t wait to see how Waller is going to retaliate. She thinks she’s the big man on campus, but I’m not really sure what she could do to somebody like him. I guess we’ll find out though.

This was an interesting start to a new plot. It’s a good call to have the Suicide Squad split up for a bit; they’re already down a member anyway, and changing the dynamics further should help shake loose any staleness they’ve gained. At least in theory. I like the idea of Batman and Deadshot working together here, and I think it’s also showing the influences of the success from Dark Metal (we did hear that the influence from that was going to start bleeding over into other comics, so this makes sense). Suicide Squad has always tried to walk a darker line than many other DC series, so it’d be nice to see them let off the leash a bit here.

Score: 4/5

Suicide Squad #41
DC Comcs