Front Lines - Mini-Reviews (Week of August 3) - DC Rebirth and Civil War II

Suicide Squad Rebirth #1 by Rob Williams and Philip Tan

Summary: The issue starts with President Obama ordering Waller to disband the Suicide Squad.  She explains to him why the Squad is needed.  He says she needs someone to hold them accountable.  She says she has just the name, Colonel Rick Flag.  We find out that Flag is in Guantanamo Bay for refusing to follow a commanding officer’s order...an order which ended up killing a lot of men.  

Meanwhile, Harley, Deadshot, and Boomerang are working to rescue a scientist who invented a bomb that can turn superpowers on and off.  The Squad manages to recover the plans for the bomb and execute the scientist so he can’t make another one.   Flag arrives to lead them out of danger.

​Mike: Suicide Squad was one of the most consistently strong parts of New 52.  This "relaunch" didn't change much, just re-adding Flag into the mix.  It basically takes the "if it's not broke, don't fix it" method, and that was a smart decision.  Hopefully this book will get some attention because of the movie.  I know people have been real hit or miss on the movie, but any attention for comics is good news.

Civil War II - Kingpin #2 by Matthew Rosenberg and Ricardo Lopez Ortiz

Summary: Kingpin is promising criminals that he can keep them safe from heroes with the help of his Inhuman, Janus.  He roots out a SHIELD infiltrator, forcing Janus to be the one to kill him.  Kingpin quickly brings several villains under his influence.  Someone murders Crime Master to try and send a message to Kingpin that “it’s not your city.”  

Later on, Spider-Man is involved in a raid.  Kingpin tries to escape with Janus, who collapses.  Kingpin has some medical tests run on him, and things seem bad.  Kingpin offers to take him for a drive.  Janus has a vision of the future and says he doesn’t feel well enough to travel.  When Kingpin heads out to the car, it explodes.  

Mike: This series continues to be dense and dull.  I definitely think Kingpin can head his own mini-series, but this is just not the right one for him.  Janus feels like a plot point, not a complete character.  If I wasn’t trying to cover Civil War II for this crossover, I would have never bought this issue.  Definitely something you can skip without concern.

Deadpool #16 by Gerry Duggan and Mike Hawthorne

Summary: Deadpool catches up to his Mercenaries for Money team, and they end up locked in a time locked vault over night.  Last issue, we had found out that Solo (disguised as Deadpool) was the one who saved an ambassador’s life, which is what had made Captain America decide that Deadpool was hero material.  This issue fills in the rest of the story.

Solo had been hired to help protect someone who’s wife had been kidnapped, but it was all a setup.  At the time, Solo had some debts, so he was wearing Deadpool’s costume to keep himself off the radar.  A diplomatic convoy is passing by, and Solo realizes that this was all a setup to frame Deadpool.  Solo rescues the ambassador from mind controller Secret Service men, allowing a big peace treaty to go through.  And Deadpool ends up with all the credit.  Listening to the story, Deadpool realizes that his old enemy Mindcap was the one doing the mind control.  He is supposed to be dead, but Deadpool is certain he’s still out there.  In the end, we see Mindcap as a little Voldermort like creature taking over a victim.

Mike: This had absolutely nothing to do with Civil War II, but I really enjoyed this story.  It really put Deadpool in a whole new perspective.  A lot of heroes had believed that Deadpool had a bit of hero in him, but we find out that it wasn’t him, it was Solo.  The story never quite explains WHY Solo decided to dress as Deadpool, but that is just a strange little plot contrivance that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this story.  I do hope this keeps Solo in the spotlight, I have kind of always liked the character.

Invincible Iron Man #12 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato

Summary: Stark is sitting in the ruins of Stark Tower after the attack by Maximus.  He thinks about something that happened three weeks ago.  He returned from faking his death in Japan to find his company slipping away from him.  He goes to visit Amara, but she moved to Europe.  He goes to the college she worked out, and finds out about Riri Williams...a student who made her own armor.  He decides to visit Riri.  She managed to reverse engineer one of his armors...at the age of 15.  Stark is impressed, but she needs an AI to control the armor.  She asks him for one.  He says it’s too expensive, so she decides to make one herself.  Stark takes Riri and her mother out for dinner to discuss her future.

Back in the present, Maria Hill and SHIELD approach Stark.  They are concerned Stark is about to declare war on the Inhumans.  He admits that he has no idea what he’s going to do next.  Victor Von Doom arrives, offering to show him what to do next.  Doom teleports Stark away.

Mike: Like Deadpool, most of this issue was a flashback to events before Civil War II.  This issue did a great job of selling me on why I should care about Riri Williams.  She has the potential to be as great a character as Miles Morales or Kamala Khan.  This issue really turned me around on her as the “new Iron Man” although I still  want Lila Rhodes as the new War Machine.

The end with Doom finally felt like some real escalation in the Civil War II storyline.  As of now, Stark has just kidnapped Ulysses and mostly just been pouty.  Throwing Doom in the mix really kicks things up to a dangerous level.  Especially this new "post Secret Wars" wild card Doom.

Squadron Supreme #10 by James Robinson and Leonard Kirk

Summary: At Nighthawk’s orders, the Squadron Supreme go to check out a Think Tank in Germany.  But thanks to Ulysses, Blue Marvel knows they are coming and has prepared weapons to take them down easily.  Nighthawk realizes they knew he was coming and orders a retreat.  

They head back to their base.  Power Princess arrives saying that Warrior Woman stole her powers and identity when she betrayed the Squadron Supreme.  Warrior Woman is looking to bring Namor back to life to help her conquer the Earth.  She also tells them about Ulysses.  Warrior Woman is looking to steal a time machine from the Baxter Building.  As the team arrives, they find Warrior Woman is already there and fighting Spider-Man

Mike: While I know it’s not cool to admit it, I love Teen Titans Go!  So when I saw that Warrior Woman’s plan involved a time machine, I started laughing much harder than I should have. Robin would be impressed...

Squadron Supreme has been a real strong series, and this was just another real good issue.  I did like the subtle ways it tied in Ulysses, but this week was basically full of Civil War II crossovers that you really don't need to read to follow the main Civil War II story.

Uncanny Inhumans #12 by Charles Soule and Carlos Pacheco

Summary: Medusa orders New Attilan locked down in case Stark tries to retaliate against the Inhumans for the attack on Stark Tower. She tries to figure out who made the attack, investigating Black Bolt and their son.

Meanwhile, another group of Inhumans led by Lash attack a Stark base in Switzerland.  He claims the attack is being down in the name of Queen Medusa of New Attilan as retaliation against Stark kidnapping Ulysses.  Medusa teleports onto the scene with soldiers working for her son demanding answers.  We find out in a flashback that Maximus had reached out to him.  Lash tells Medusa “I didn’t do this, you did!”  And the Ultimates arrive on the scene to confront her.

Mike: This series feels slightly out of canon with the main Civil War II series.  It's hard to tell exactly when this takes place, because it is way out of sync.  I don't typically like the Inhumans, but Soule has written a strong issue here...but I spent most of my time with this issue trying to figure out "does this make sense with what we've seen in the main series?"  And the answer to that, so far at least, is a big no.