Chain gang capers
Rob Williams and Jim Lee elevate Suicide Squad to the big league
“This is a comic with energy and a punk aesthetic,” says writer Rob Williams. “It’s going to make a sarcastic comment, hit you in the face and look good doing it!”
With its release timed to coincide with this month’s highly anticipated cinematic outing, the latest incarnation of DC’s answer to the Dirty Dozen packs a punch like no previous run. Written by Williams and illustrated by leading artists Jim Lee and Philip Tan, the bi-weekly title is intended to elevate the band of misfits to the front and centre of the DC Universe, and will feature a roster similar to the big screen line-up.
“Any book lives or dies on their cast, and the Suicide Squad are such fun to write,” Williams tells Red Alert. “They’re villains, they don’t like each other, and they absolutely hate their boss, Amanda Waller. There are all kinds of insane dynamics between them, as Harley Quinn is crazy, Boomerang’s a selfish coward, Deadshot is the world’s greatest assassin, and Killer Croc just wants to eat everyone!”
While he refuses to confirm its precise nature, the first arc will see the team attempting to solve the mystery of the Black Vault. “They’re sent on a mission to retrieve an unknown item from a secret undersea prison in the Laptev Sea near Russia,” reveals Williams. “What they find there will change everything. Not just for them, but potentially the whole planet.”
Suicide Squad: Rebirth #1 is published on 3 August and Suicide Squad #1 on 17 August.