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Mild Mannered Reviews - Justice League Comic Books

Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #2

Scheduled to arrive in stores: December 28, 2016

Cover date: February 2017

"Justice League vs. Suicide Squad"

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Penciller: Tony S. Daniel
Inker: Sandu Florea

Reviewed by: Keith Samra

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The Squad do battle against the League at the orders of Amanda Waller. Everyone pairs of against someone from the other team. Superman vs Enchantress, Batman vs Deadshot, Aquaman vs Killer Croc, Harley Quinn vs Wonder Woman, Flash vs Capt. Boomerang, Killer Frost vs Cyborg and El Diablo vs both Green Lanterns...

Enchantress discovers that she has an upper hand over Superman, as she realizes his weakness to magic. Killer Frost manages to syphon most of Cyborg's heat, and escapes him, while the rest of the League manages to subdue their opponents in the Squad.

Meanwhile in the Swiss Alps, at Max Lord's castle hideout, Max reveals his plan to the his recently escaped Super Powered team. Lobo threatens to kill Max if he tries to control his mind in any way.

Back in Badhnisia, the battle comes to an end, with the League victorious over the Squad, when both Superman and Enchantress fall to the ground, both barely conscience. Waller see's this from her base in Bell Reve, and commands Killer Frost to absorb Superman's life force. Reluctantly Killer Frost obeys and has a rush of power, in which she manages to subdue the League all by herself!

Later at Belle Reve, Batman regains consciousness, and realizes that Amanda Waller now has him and the entire League in custody.

To be continued...

Story - 4: Though it is pretty much a giant slugfest, this issue delivered a few gems. The key being Killer Frost being able to absorb Superman's energy, and it having a supercharged (no pun intended) effect on her powers. I like that she is so similar to the Parasite, being an energy vampire. This is the kind of evolution I like with characters... When done in moderation of course. And let me just add, that before anybody says, "How can she do that to Superman of all people" or "Superman is a punching bag to the DCU" or anything similar, let's keep in mind, Superman was softened up a great deal by the Enchantress. Her magic made him more vulnerable toward Killer Frost. I saw it in a similar fashion to how Superman was not being at full strength during the battle with Doomsday in Batman v Superman... He had his first encounter with Kryptonite radiation and then he was nuked... Here he was blasted with magic weakening him, to the point he fell to the ground with Enchantress, leaving him at the mercy of Killer Frost, with absolutely no defense.

There was also a great scene before he and Enchantress do battle, in which he attempts to talk to June Moon, and help her without having to resort to violence. Williamson really gets the character I feel.

I expected more from Aquaman, seeing as how he was barely in the first issue. I enjoyed the way he took out Croc, and that Croc literally got under his skin.

Another thing I didn't like was that the JL is captured and are able to be subdued in Belle Reve. If this is really possible, then maybe something should have been established beforehand.

It's obvious that this chapter everyone does battle, and soon they will eventually team up. But as I mentioned I like how Williamson has peppered in some awesome elements.

Art - 4: I like Tony Daniel's art a lot. I think he is a great artist, and really has a knack for team books. I just don't like the fact that we have a change of artists for this mini-series. Call me a traditionalist, but I like consistency in the art in my books. I was really hoping that Jason Fabok had continued to do the rest of the series. Being an art guy, I feel it jarring when drawing styles are changed up in a single narrative. It's like watching a TV series and having the actors and director change the next episode. However, that is none of Tony Daniels fault. Daniels delivers a solid issue, full of high octane action scenes and great character beats.

I really liked the Harley and Wonder Woman battle. Daniel is really good at drawing the ladies in action... As well as motorcycles!

The underwater scenes with Croc and Aquaman were really good too. In fact I'd have liked to have seen more of those two, and less of say The Flash and Captain Boomerang or Green Lanterns and El Diablo. Sadly some of the fight scenes weren't as exciting, but that could be more to do with the pairing of the SS to their JL counter parts.

Superman vs Enchantress was better than I'd have expected it to be, though Daniel maybe could have shown the duality of June Moon and Enchantress a little better.

Alex Sinclair's colors are as excellent as ever. It's nice to see how he handles different art styles with his color palette.

Cover Art - 4: I like this cover very much, however the reason I gave it a 4 out of 5 was that it features Max Lord's "team", when they don't have that big of a role in the issue itself.

Variant Cover Art - 5: Call me biased, but I liked this cover a great deal, simply because it focuses on Superman and the Enchantress. A little cartoony but cool.

Variant Cover Art - 5: Again, I like it because it features Superman, but I actually like the composition of this one. I also like the way Terry Dodson and his wife Rachel render Superman and the Enchantress.

Mild Mannered Reviews

2017

Note: Except for digital first releases, the month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

January 2017

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December 2017

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Mild Mannered Reviews - Justice League Comic Books

Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #2

Mild Mannered Reviews

2017

DC Super Hero Fairy Tales

Superman Straw Cups

Superman Historical/Non-Fiction Books