Overview: In the final issue of the series, as the team must defeat the Vets before they escape to the surface from an underwater Russian prison and infect the world.
Synopsis (spoilers ahead): The issue opens with Grier and his men, the Vets, torturing the Annihilation Brigade’s Gulag for the location of Temho-Meyta prison. The story then shows Grier and his men raiding the facility and being infected by the Tunguska Alien virus.
In the present, Rick Flag is attacked by Amanda Waller, who is now infected, giant, blue, and has a gaping fanged mouth spitting fire out of her belly. Rick is joined by Harley Quinn and her mallet and the two are saved by Cosmonut, who holds off the possessed Waller’s energy blast so they can get away as Cosmonut melts into the floor, dead. In the meantime, Boomerang is attacked by two of the Vets. Katana comes to Boomerang’s aid and chops off one of the Vets’ arms, which grow back, and the Vets blast Katana with their Tunguska energy, which causes the souls in her sword to react. Deadshot appears and fires at the Vets and they make a run for it. Deadshot and Boomerang find a sub and try to make a break for it over Katana’s protests, as Harley and Flag join them and convince them to stay and fight and the room shakes as the prison breaks free to the icy surface of the lake.
The Vets climb to the roof of the prison and are attacked by Flag and Deadshot, leading Flag to realize that the Vets are men from his old unit long thought dead. Flag and Deadshot continue to fight off the Vets, as Flag begins to become infected by the Tunguska energy. Meanwhile, the rest of the squad finds Tunguska’s body, the source of the energy, and prepare to destroy it as they are attacked by Waller. Harley lunges at Waller and takes a massive blast of energy and becomes infected as Katana and Boomerang drag Tunguska’s body.
On the surface, Flag stops fighting and walks towards Grier and the Vets, who reach out to finish infecting Flag. Katana and Boomerang drag the body to the large dimensional door that brought the virus to their world, which Katana activates with her sword as the infected Harley and Waller break through a wall and enter the room. Katana summons the souls in her sword and the portal opens.
Back on the surface, Flag refuses to join Grier and begins fighting the Vets with his fists. The Squad manages to send Tunguska’s body into the portal, which Deadshot then shuts before it sucks them all in as well. With the infection gone, Harley and Waller instantly recover, and Killer Croc wanders into the room, alive and well. Harley declares themselves to be heroes, with Waller then correcting her that they are criminals and always will be and that no one leaves the Suicide Squad. The issue ends with Flag standing over the lifeless corpses of the Vets.
Analysis: And so ends this particular iteration of Suicide Squad. It seems pretty clear that this was intended as more of the end of this particular story arc than to cap off the series. The story ends with another threat disposed of and the team presumably headed back to their cages to wait for another mission. That’s one of the most frustrating things about this run on the title is that there was never an attempt to change the status quo. None of the characters in this book really seem changed or different by anything that has happened to them. They are still prisoners. Waller is still running the show.
Even this plot line is yet another variation on a theme. The team goes to an exotic location. Weird alien energy threatens the world. The Suicide Squad takes care of it. The Squad goes back to prison. It’s not that this storyline was poorly executed. The action set pieces work well and the rising prison is a good “ticking clock” for the story to work around, but it just didn’t feel all that different from what’s come before. The Vets continue to be a forgettable set of villains. I think part of the problem with the Vets is that they aren’t visually interesting or distinct and as a result, aren’t interesting. I also think it was a waste of time to save Flag’s revelation that the Vets are his former unit.
The art in this issue is serviceable and for the most part, tells the story well. The sequence where Cosmonut sacrifices himself feels very stiff and awkward and there’ not a good sense of anatomy in the sequence. There are three different artists for this book but I suspect that it’s Brent Schoonover who handles these pages. The rest of the book’s art, by German Peralta and Will Conrad, I quite enjoyed but I do wish they would either give one artist time to do the entire book or at least find artists with complementary styles. I’m a sucker for a Jim Lee cover but for me, the artistic standout is the variant cover by Francesco Mattina, which is simply gorgeous.
Final Thoughts: It’s inevitable that the Suicide Squad will be back. What I would like to see is a writer take the reins that isn’t afraid to take some risks with this title. Take the team out of the prison. Put the team on the run from Waller. Tell smaller and more personal stories of a group of broken people bonded by the suicide missions they are forced on. I’d happily read any of these books. Just not this one.
