By Cat Wyatt

Suicide Squad #44 is here, and with is the conclusion of the latest plot arc. Last we saw Deadshot and Batman were teaming up in an attempt to save Deadshot’s daughter from the hands of Kobra. The rest of the Suicide Squad team hasn’t been making it easy, naturally. Actually, it’s thanks to them that Deadshot and Batman are currently free falling what has to be at least fifty feet into water…so there’s that.

Actually, pretty much everyone is falling. Deadshot and Batman jumped, aiming for the water at Batman’s urging. The helicopter is failing, leaving Harley and Boomerang plummeting as well. Captain Cold seems safe, but that sounds about right for him.

Batman pushes Deadshot into the waterfall itself, know that it’ll both protect them and help to cushion their fall. And by waterfall we of course mean the water pouring out of the hole in the dam. You know the one that Deadshot just made.

Meanwhile Captain Cold stepped up to save Harley and Boomerang. It’s probably worth noting that Batman didn’t really do anything to try and save them, despite his ‘no killing’ policy. Apparently that doesn’t apply to allowing villains to die in his proximity. Sounds about right.

Admittedly Batman is a little busy. Both he and Deadshot are in the water, and Deadshot is wearing a lot of heavy armor. The only way to get the man up and out is to remove the armor. If he had spent any time trying to save the other two it’s likely that Deadshot would have drowned.

Captain Cold is slightly regretting his reflexive move to save his teammates. Apparently he’s spent too much time hanging out with his softer counterparts, for he didn’t even hesitate to help them. He also didn’t think twice about calling in for backup. Still not sure if he was doing that bit because he knew they wouldn’t win against Kobra, or because he realized how big of a threat they are right now. Regardless, the help was probably appreciated.

Meanwhile Zoe is doing her best to resist the Kobra plans. It’s not going great, all things considered. But her daddy has teamed up with a superhero, and that means they’re guaranteed to arrive at the most dramatic moment possible. In this case it’s when Kobra’s gas is all around her, as is Lord Burr, ready to take possession of a new body.

As it turns out though, Kobra never wanted Zoe to be the new body of Lord Burr. They wanted it to be Deadshot – they couldn’t think of a better punishment for him. Which is a bit strange, since there’s a good chance he wouldn’t be aware of what is happening to him once they succeeded, but whatever. It could be that he’s aware of everything while unable to control his own body. That would be pretty terrible. Especially if he were to then witness his daughter die – potentially at the hands of the man newly possessing his body…okay yeah now it all makes sense, in a twisted sort of way.

Thankfully Batman is here, so while some parts of the plan succeed, like Deadshot getting possessed, other parts will never happen. They may have gotten Lawton’s body, but Batman will surely protect his daughter. He’ll also likely put a stop to all the shenanigans happening here. Given time, that is.

As it turns out though, it wasn’t actually Batman who brought a stop to everything. It was Zoe. After doing what she thought was something truly horrible, she tried to make the same promises Deadshot once made…but Batman isn’t really in the mood for that crap. Apparently he’ll happily train one child after another to be his apprentice, but he’ll never stand for a child stepping into Deadshot’s shoes. Though it makes some sense, in a messed up sort of way. In a Batman sort of way.

We’re still left with questions at the end of this plot, but we’re sure to be seeing what happens. How will Waller react to everything that’s happened? We know she’s ticked off, but now that her people have taken out a major branch of Kobra, and Deadshot’s been returned, will she back off?

This was a decent ending to the whole Deadshot and the kidnapped daughter plot. Admittedly the whole Deadshot getting possessed bit was a little much, but otherwise everything was pretty interesting. And it mostly fit in with all of the characters too, which is perfect.

Score: 4/5

Suicide Squad #44
DC Comics