DC Finest: Suicide Squad: Trial by Fire

It's amazing how well these stories hold up today, and I can not believe that even Dumb Company (DC) comics took *this long* to release a trade paperback collection of what was obviously one of the most important series of the 80s. This collection contains the first 8 issues of the legendary Suicide Squad by John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell and is just a must own for anyone who collected the initial run of issues and who may have lost them over the years or anyone looking for high quality comics generally. Although definitely set in the era of the cold-war, the stories here have a vitality, relevance, maturity and sophistication of a fascinating tv series or a series of spy/anti-terrorism novels with well developed, but ultimately flawed characters. In Suicide Squad, a group of criminals and military personnel are thrown together to undertake covert missions that may just get them killed, with the promise that if they're caught or mess up, the US government will deny involvement. The series is a hotpot of major modern touchstone issues - with everything from international terrorism, to urban crime and espionage. The stories admittedly work best when the Squad is functioning as a proactive group forced to confront terrorism but the character interaction, and the internal politics of the team really make it a standout. Squad was also impressive and a little ahead of its time for featuring minority characters in lead roles in a major series. Although clearly a product of the 1980's, the themes and issues dealt with in the series gives it perhaps even more relevance today than it did back then. The series is also an amazing signpost of where DC comics was in the 80s, insofar as it was producing incredibly mature, high quality comics that contained strong writing at the time. DC's mantra in that period was that "comics aren't just for kids anymore," and in keeping with that broad philosophy, DC began producing series with a basis in reality and an edginess that distinguished them from the competition. Suicide Squad dealt with pretty adult themes, but managed to do it in a way that was entertaining and mature all at once. It was a series that was also incredibly prescient for its time - the first two issues predicted in some fashion, the escalation of international terrorism on the scale we know of today. Back in the 80s also, DC's real Achilles heel happened ironically to be their art, with most DC books just looking awful and amateurish compared to the more open and fluid pages of the average Marvel book. But Squad was also incredibly lucky to have the amazing pencils of Luke McDonnell, whose work was consistently excellent and whose strong figure work, excellent design sense, and fantastic storytelling abilities are a perfect complement to the strong, action packed plots here by Ostrander, balanced against great character moments. Simply put, Suicide Squad is one of DC's best produced series and deserved to have been collected a long time ago. Unlike Marvel, DC is fairly slow to recognize the incredible intrinsic and commercial value of their library and so this collection, like many that deserve to be released, almost didn't make it to market after taking forever to be released. Initially, DC solicited a black and white collection of the first 16 or so issues and then changed their minds abruptly to produce this collection of the first 8 issues. While a color collection of the first 8 issues is preferable to a black and white volume of more issues, for my money, it would have made more sense to have released an omnibus collection of the first 16 or so issues of this really important and commercially quite successful series, at least at the time it was launched. With a second volume to be released soon though, fans should at least be able to have the first year of this excellent series in an easily digestible form and I rather suspect that calls for the resurrection of the Suicide Squad won't be far behind. I highly recommend this and hope the folks at Dumb Company come to their senses and re-release these stories in a higher quality hardcover version at some point soon. If you haven't read this but are a fan of DC, buy this. You won't regret it.

The Suicide Squad, in its current, Harley Quinn-driven iteration, is DC Comics' version of the Dirty Dozen-handling jobs the Justice League wouldn't touch, or even care to know about. Twenty-nine years ago, however, it was more like DC's answer to "Mission: Impossible," as the Squad undertook high-risk covert missions with political implications on the Federal government's behalf. This is especially evident in the "Mission to Moscow" storyline collected in this volume. The team is sent behind the Iron Curtain to Moscow to free a revolutionary writer the Communist government is holding prisoner. But the mission runs into a major hitch when the Squad learns that the writer, Zoya Trigorin, doesn't want to escape. In order to return to the States, the Squad must battle the People's Heroes, a Russian team of metahumans. And there are prices to be paid: Trigorin dies, and Nemesis-a former vigilante turned government operative-is captured by the Russians. After the Squad returns to America, mission director Amanda Waller unleashes her wrath upon the Squad's liaison to the UN Security Council, Derek Tolliver, when Tolliver tells her he just assumed Trigorin wanted to leave communist Russia. "Trial by Fire" also includes two other Squad adventures. In the first, the Squad battles a group of super-powered terrorists from the nation of Qurac-a storyline which highlights the treacherous nature of Flash villain and Squad regular Captain Boomerang. The second is a one-issue-and-done sequel to modern Squad writer John Ostrander's "Legends" miniseries in which Darkseid sends the Female Furies to free his minion Glorious Godfrey from prison. The collection begins with a story from DC's "Secret Origins" series in which Ostrander ties together the histories of his modern Squad and two previous groups created by writer Robert Kanigher-a Squad which was formed to fight monstrous menaces in the absence of the Justice Society of America, and which included modern Squad members Rick Flag, Jr. and Karin Grace, as well as a true "Dirty Dozen"-style group of military misfits and riffraff formed during World War II and commanded by Rick Flag, Jr.'s father. This story, in keeping with the late-eighties political climate, features a guest appearance by President Reagan, who assigns Waller to direct the new Squad because she's been too effective as an aide to a Democratic congressman who's opposed his programs. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev also appears here, though series penciller Luke McDonnell makes him look more like Lou Grant with glasses and a ketchup splotch on his forehead. (He also makes Flag, Jr. look like a particularly square-jawed version of Captain James T. Kirk-ironic, given that he began his career illustrating issues of Marvel's first Star Trek comic, an assignment he said he hated.) Though I've made much of this Squad's similarities to the IMF, it departs from its video counterpart in a significant way: It examines the characters' lives, motivations and psychological makeups. Particularly notable in this area is the tortured relationship between Flag and Grace, because Grace believes Flag abandoned her after her nervous breakdown in the wake of the final mission of that first Squad of which both were a part. We also see the team's psychologist interviewing Boomerang and other members of the team. It doesn't have Harley Quinn, but "Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Trial by Fire" features a blend of political thrills, melodrama, and capes-and-tights action which make it well worth reading. These early adventures of the modern Squad are highly recommended.

A pretty good introduction to the Suicide Squad. It shows its age but the stories are well told and there are a few laugh out loud moments. I prefer the Adam Glass take on the Suicide Squad but it wouldn't exist without the tone and direction of this book.

I bought this trade because I've always loved the parts in DC The New Frontier with Task Force X & specifically the part that talks about it splitting into Argent & the Suicide Squad. & since the Suicide Squad movie is coming out soon & I couldn't really find any collections of Task Force X comics, I thought I'd try this book out & boy am I glad I did, because I really enjoyed it! Not only does it start with Secret Origins #14 that gave me that little taste of old school Task Force X I wanted but once the story get's going it feels like the anti-hero X-Men with G.I. Joe thrown in the mix! It's awesome, has many instantly interesting & surprisingly down to earth characters like Amanda Waller, Rick Flag, etc. & the "villains" are actually pretty solid & real as well, specifically the Jihad. & As someone who can be really picky when it comes to the artwork, I actually really ended up liking the kind of a simple mix of basic 60's comic art but with a small flare of 80's stylistic quality thrown in that really makes it feel of the era. Also I thought I wouldn't like the revolving door of team members i.e. members dying, needing time off for various reasons, new anti-heroes/villains entering the team to get "time off", etc. but it really adds an extra layer of realism. Also taking some risks like having an entire issue take place from the point of view from the team's psychiatrist especially adds new dimensions to the characters as well. It's easily one of my new favorite comics & I already ordered Volume #2. Highly Recommended!

This was such a great era of the Suicide Squad. The stories were of international intrigue. Villains doing the United States Govt dirty work. They go up against international Terrorist Super Villains like the Jihad (Ravan should still be seen as a handsome playboy Indian assassin IMO) and The Super Heroes of the Soviet Nation The Peoples Heroes. ...I wish we had a story of them written by a Russian- theyre actually a great team. I was lucky to get the Bronze Age Joker and Doom patrol Omnibus and wish this series came in the same format BUT at least I get this little treasure. Its a solid 5/5 for me.

Such an incredibly strong start with lots of depth and strife amongst the characters! DC was obsessed with using President Reagan in their books during this decade and this was the best use of him! Being exactly what he should be, a punching bag. Even without some of the iconic members of this team it will later get, this starting line up is surprisingly really solid and women forward! Honestly this book aged fantastically!

Not that great plot jumps around all over the place mostly just random side stories.

A great comic series from the 80's finally makes it's way to print! This book collects the first issues of DC's Suicide Squad. The squad is a collection of covert operatives that do the tasks for the US government that no one wants to do. The squad is mainly comprised of villains who upon completing the assignment, can have their time commuted- if they can stay alive ( and some don't!) Several heroes are on hand to make sure the villains are compliant. It is a rotating cast traveling the globe that makes it a fun read. Similar in some ways to Gail Simone's excellent Secret Six as well as the great Mission Impossible series back in the 60's. Hopefully DC will continue putting out more collections.