Comic Books

Suicide Squad #21 Review

Harley Quinn is a whole new person as she takes command of the Squad.

July 12, 2017

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Suicide Squad #21 begins a new chapter that shows us Harley Quinn as the new leader of the Squad. After the loss of Rock Flag, Harley Quinn is put in charge to lead the Suicide Squad which seemed like a huge step; she was so broken at the end of the last issue it was uncertain if she would even be able to handle putting her emotions aside to lead her crew. The loss of Rick Flag only fueled her character however, because she now feels like she has nothing to lose and we get to see the less-talk-more-walk Harley.

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Harley Quinn is usually shown as a psychotic character, full of jokes and smiles. This issue takes her down a new new route and gives a Harley Quinn we’ve never really seen before. I was more than skeptical when the last issue announced Harley Quinn as the leader of the Suicide Squad–I personally thought it should have been Deadshot or Katana. That said, after reading this issue I was totally surprised by how she took charge of the entire issue. It’s as if she’s a completely new character. It’s a Harley Quinn sans laughs, giggles or bad jokes. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.

Suicide Squad #21 Review

Every Squad member followed their directions and seemed just as shocked as I was to see Harley Quinn take charge. This was a Quinn-focused issue, but every other character had just as much page time and stuff to do. Enchantress really shined in this issue and has some key moments crucial to the story. Getting to see some more out of her was great as she got to show off some new abilities. Captain Boomerang as always is the comedy relief and never seems to get bland.

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Amanda Waller’s story was short and sweet but also it felt like it was its own story. Some interesting new details emerge in the Amanda Waller story so it’ll be interesting to how they go forward with this. I’ll admit I wasn’t overly ecstatic about what was next for the Suicide Squad since they had closed some chapters and ended some of their storylines, but I can definitely say I’m all in; “excited” is an understatement.

Gus Vasquez did a wonderful job on the art. It’s very clean with much fine detail especially on the Enchantress magic and Killer Croc.

Rob Williams did a superb job on the story. Harley Quinn is a whole new person, and what Williams has opened up new chapters and created some of the most shocking moments for the Squad yet in this issue alone. As usual there’s comedy and action but this time around it’s much bigger than that.

Suicide Squad #21

Is it good?

This is a very important issue for Harley Quinn fans, and non fans of the character may just have their mind changed here.

Seeing the more serious and gritty side of Harley Quinn with almost no jokes was a surprising twist and I hope we get to see some more of that.

Enchantress showed off some new abilities she's capable of and that was a highlight for me. Just when you think you've seen her do it all she then turns a plane into a dragon.

Amanda Waller's parts of the story were fine but I felt like we could have had just a little more of her.

Great

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