Comic Review: Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #4 (DC Comics)

Chapter 4 of this mini event continues.

With the Justice League and Suicide Squad come to terms, Maxwell Lord and his own super powered team finally execute their revenge on Amanda Waller. Lord’s brigade have finally made their move against the Justice League and Suicide Squad. While the opposing teams face off, everyone is wondering what is it that Amanda Waller is hiding? Why is it so secret? And you why is Maxwell Lord so interested in finding it?

As the events have unfolded in the prior issues, and have assuredly been well paced and enjoyable, this specific issue really begins to get into the nitty gritty as to why the players of the game are pitted amongst one another. The motivations are actually plausible, Lord’s group wants revenge on Waller, the Justice League want to end Waller’s operations in terms of utilizing the Suicide Squad, and the Suicide Squad, well, they have no choice in the matter other than to do what Waller tells them. This issue displays a good amount of pacing with the story, characters, and dialogue. Whether it’s Batman, Deadshot facing off against Lobo, or Emerald Empress facing off against the rookie Green Lanterns, or witty banter between the Flash and Captain Boomerang, Joshua Williamson really knows how to weave a tale (thus far) with a cast of varied characters. There are some really cool moments that address some of the promises that were made since the beginning of DC Rebirth.

   In addition to that, the editorial on this book really seems to be paying attention to bits of continuity, because Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn seem to have some friendly banter that stems off of the solo Harley Quinn book (in which Wonder Woman and she teamed up prior). It’s that kind of attention to detail, character relationships, and personalities that really display Williamson’s writing talent and understanding of the current DC universe.

The art by Fernando Pasarin is well handled in a blockbuster fashion. Each of the characters are well drawn, the splash pages, and double page spreads drawn by Parasin are well illustrated. His fight sequences are top notch, and his page layouts help to drive the narrative in a clear fashion. Thus far, this series has had Jason Fabok, Tony Daniel, and Merino handle the prior issues, and Pasarin’s art style is consistent with the tone established with the prior artists and the prior issues. Alex Sinclair and Skipper’s colors are consistent, Ryan’s inks do a good job at solidifying the volume and mass of the characters drawn by Pasarin. Rob Leigh’s lettering also continues to do a consistently good job. I have to say, in the last few years, whether there is a big crossover event or small, there tend to be delays, (Civil War 2 is an example), and refreshing enough, this mini-series has been consistently released on schedule on time, which helps keep the momentum of this mini-event from dying. That’s a great thing for a crossover whether large scale or small. Another solid issue, and I suggest picking this up.