Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

And while I wish he had his own ongoing - which would interest me far more than a new Deathstroke series, which I flipped through and went, 'nope,' to - I get Suicide Squad.   I'm quite frankly grateful for this much, as I could have, well, nothing.   (I got Vision's solo series and that's being taken away, too, so yeah, I'm kinda bummed that my current favorites are down on their luck as far as solo series go!)

This is all set up for a mission, and it's alright as that goes: it sets up the, well, rebirth of these characters as a team.   It's not bad, it's just that the new parameters of this world have to be set up, and so that takes away from things that interest me more - the character interaction.   

I always, always shelve my individual comic issues from Amazon and I was curious to see what was being said about this issue in particular.   As someone pointed out, the Deadshot personnel file - read background story about his origins - wasn't as well done as elsewhere. (I haven't read enough to know at this point to be honest.   I do know enough to see that this mirrors some of the origin stories from pre-New 52 continuity, and I did enjoy the nods to that.)

More than that, this wasn't dealing with a whole cast of characters, so even with a short page count, this balanced character development as well as the actual story.   It was also bookended by him being interrogated by Waller, and while I feel she's mostly onto something - his 'suicidal tendencies' being wrong - it was all rather a shallow reading.   There was more implied than strung together, like how he feels he's bad, messed up, and as much as he might be, she never ties this together with his death wish.   She also doesn't do all that much with how that death wish conflicts with his desire to live for Zoe. (I love that Zoe is in this, by the way, and I love the relationship their setting up: slightly different from the original story told in Bulletproof, but the fact that he cares deeply for her is the same.  I also like the shade she throws that hints at how messed up his family is, and I hope that story gets told.  Not because I like angsty hurt/comfort stories - I do, but that's not why I hope this is told in this case - but because Floyd Lawton tends to be a very jaded, cynical, and even misogynistic character.   As opposed to this being thrown out there, though, his backstory tends to show that he has reasons for turning out the way he did, and to his credit, he tends to try when someone proves they're wroth trying for.   And that makes me love his character all that much more!)   Basically, regardless of if it's been done better before, I found this to be satisfying for me.   

I see myself picking up at least the next couple issues of this run and seeing how that goes.   I'm interested in the personnel files on Killer Croc - although I'm iffy on if I'll enjoy his character in this series based on this first issue - and Harley Quinn.   I am unimpressed with Captain Boomerang - less of a chauvinist pig than in the original Suicide Squad, but he manages to read as one dimensional to me no matter where - and I'm least impressed with Enchantress.   It's odd: the internal tension of having two people but living in one body intrigues me as an idea, but she manages to bore me so I'm guessing I have issue with the execution.   Every single time.   So something built into how the writers are kind of hobbled into writing her.   I'd probably be bored by her personnel file, or Waller's, or Flag's, which would be a major letdown.   The personnel files are at the end of the issues, by the way. 

In a lot of ways, though, this tension seems to be even flatter to me in this series than in some others.   And I'm not a fan of hers, nor of Flag's, so them being together on the same team, meh.  

Regardless, there were nice hints hints of the movie - at least the novelization - and of old continuity.   Overall, I enjoyed it, and I know I can be harsh on issues one: just like in the pilots of TV series, even spin-offs, often times the writer is getting a handle on the world, the characters, and the pacing, and all the particulars of a new series.   I'm willing to give it a little time to settle in here, especial since this is a huge reboot.   I'm not a massive fan of some reboots, and I haven't picked up anything else rebirth, but I wanted a shot of Lawton.  

I'm satisfied, at least for now.