This article is part of The Reading List, a recurring column where we encourage you to take your enthusiasm for a particularly groovy movie or TV series and direct it into a wide array of extracurricular studies. This entry ranks the best Suicide Squad comics and then supplies a few bonus tales representing the movie’s maniac vibe.
The weirdo doesn’t have a leash. james gunn, the madman behind slither, super and guardians of the galaxy, drips on every inch of the suicide squad. he is destroying sensibilities, attacking tastes and somehow offering empathy to the absolutely repulsive. The film gleefully embraces DC Comics’ nastiest and weirdest characters, putting layers of identification and heart over their depravity.
You are reading: Suicide squad comic books
It will be too much for some, but for the cult that will form around them, the suicide squad will be their favorite comic book movie. and it’s the kind of movie that will have you screaming from the shelves of your local comic book store. You already love harley quinn, but you’ll want a lot more from king shark, peacemaker and polka-dot man. well, we have your connection.
This month’s reading list is a celebration of DC’s most famous “superhero” team. What you will find below are the best books featuring Task Force X with a strong focus on the John Ostrander era. gunn clearly loves ostrander time in the books. he goes so far as to place the comic book scribe in the film itself. and provide you with a killer line reading.
Ostrander’s Suicide Squad comics are as comedic as it gets, catapulting plotlines from insane heights and combining those spikes with over-the-top melodrama. but the longer you remain in those clouds, the more infected you will become by its charms.
After you crash through the ostrander comics, we’ll take you into the most modern era with the new 52 and beyond. From there, you’ll find recommendations that extend from the characters and tone of the film. and even gunn’s radical ability to combine the grotesque with deep compassion. These are heroes and antiheroes who defy sympathy, but we can’t help but give in to them.
the suicide squad: trial by fire
See Also: Bentley Little – Book Series In Order
start here and don’t stop. The Suicide Squad: Trial by Fire contains the build you probably already know. Federal Agent Amanda Waller needs a team of super criminals to do the deeds that Batman and Superman would never do due to their stupid morality. you won’t recognize all the members of task force x, but you will see a few on the cover: rick flag, captain boomerang, deadshot (the character by will smith in the david yesterday iteration of the suicide squad, and that’s the last time we’ll mention him).
the trial by fire trade paperback is designed to give you a taste but leave you wanting more. John Ostrander, paired with artist Luke McDonnell, delivers weirdness and violence, but the joy comes from how these treacherous teammates interact with one another. From here, you’ll probably want to skip right to the second paperback, or you could skip to…
the suicide squad: apokolips now
Do you want to go crazy? let’s get Crazy. the suicide squad: apokolips now is where the book goes off hinges. Shortly before this story, John Ostrander teamed up with his wife, Kim Yale, and they created some of the most passionate comics DC has ever published.
here we witness what happens when amanda waller loses control of the team. she gets kicked out and an incompetent jerk moves in. this allows the team to implode from within and be sucked into a galactic civil war. What can Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and Poison Ivy do against the despotic psycho Darkseid? If you were a little curious about the climax of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Suicide Squad: Apokolips will now satisfy you deeply.
the suicide squad: the phoenix gambit
the suicide squad: the phoenix gambit continues immediately after apokolips now. Needing a new Task Force X, Amanda Waller turns to Batman for help. he is reluctant, but complies, and together they find some controllable criminals for his list. however, the most exciting thing about this chapter is the characterization of barbara gordon, the old batgirl.
See Also: YA Fundamentals: Which age group is YA for?
as you may or may not know, prankster paralyzed barbara thanks to alan moore and brian bolland’s killing prank. Kim Yale didn’t appreciate how Moore and Bolland froze Barbara to improve the Batman character, so she went to work. In The Phoenix Gambit, Barbara Gordon confronts her trauma and finds new purpose from her wheelchair. Gotham’s new vigilante, Oracle, is born.
suicide squad: bad blood
As great as Ostrander and Yale’s Suicide Squad comics are, they lack some fan favorites: Harley Quinn and King Shark. The joker’s former moll didn’t join the team until the rebranding of 52. But since then she’s had a recurring role on the series, and her best is hands down suicide squad :bad blood.
Like James Gunn, writer Tom Taylor delights in bickering between team members. these are gleefully obnoxious individuals who don’t want to socialize with anyone, let alone the equally obnoxious. To make matters worse, the team needs to take down an equally powerful terrorist organization known as the Revolutionaries. after each conflict, their opponents are asked to join the team. Tensions rise with each problem, as does bloodshed.
harley quinn amanda conner & jimmy palmiotti
There are no two writers who have contributed more to the character of Harley Quinn than Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti. The second husband-and-wife creative duo to appear on this list, Conner and Palmiotti transformed Quinn from the prankster adventure to the devastatingly capable and certifiable badass we see in both Birds of Prey and Suicide Squad.
Where do you start with your comics? you should read them all, which is not an impossible task. the conner/palmiotti harley quinn comics are superbly collected into three great omnibuses. they’ll cost you a few coins, but you won’t lose a dime.
related topics: the reading list
See Also: The 66 Books of the Bible in Chronological Order (When & Who Wrote Them) – ConnectUS