Showing posts with label Rick Flag. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rick Flag. Show all posts

Friday, January 12, 2018

DEADSHOT versus ENCHANTRESS
Hitting The Fan (DC)
Where:
Suicide Squad #6 When: October 1987
Why: John Ostrander How: Luke McDonnell

The Story So Far...
When the Soviet Union proposes a trade with the United States for a controversial novelist's freedom; The Suicide Squad are called upon in secret to extract the prisoner right from under their noses!

It was a politically charged mission to Moscow none of them wanted to take, but the ingenious plan of new recruit Oswald Cobblepot, (aka; The Penguin), makes the trip behind enemy lines seem possible! There's just one catch: Nobody thought to ask Zoya Trigorin if she wanted to be rescued!

A hostile prisoner throws the mission into disarray -- much to the delight of Enchantress! With the Soviet Army closing in fast, Colonel Rick Flag has no choice but to order Deadshot to bring the wild witch down when she goes rogue!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Deadshot 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Enchantress 5 (Professor)
Speed: Deadshot 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Enchantress 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Draw 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Deadshot 4 (Trained)
Energy: Enchantress 6 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Enchantress 24 (Champion)

Floyd Lawton is Deadshot by name, Deadshot by reputation -- but can a bullet from the assassin's gun really pierce the magic veil of the Enchantress? That's what we're here to find out in a battle of Suicide Squad teammates!

We have, of course, seen another Squaddy take down Enchantress in a previous instance: Bronze Tiger was on-hand to make sure she played nice when the team went up against Brimstone in their inaugural mission [Legends #3].

Deadshot's aim was true, successfully taking Brimstone down with the use of a specialized laser weapon. The next mission was also a success for Deadshot, who defeated Manticore in a deadly close-quarters battle [Suicide Squad #2].

There's no denying Deadshot is a master marksman, but not quite every shot is a bull's eye! His very presence with the Suicide Squad is a result of being captured by The Flash, who was too fast for Deadshot's draw [in Legends #1].

No hero has gotten under Lawton's skin quite as thoroughly as Batman! Their multiple run-ins include Deadshot's very first outing, when he posed as a masked vigilante to oust The Bat. He nearly pulled it off, but as in most of their clashes, it ended in Deadshot's defeat. His eventual comeback in Detective Comics #474 is one such example.

Enchantress doesn't have the hand-to-hand fighting prowess of Batman, nor his unique insights. She does, however, possess a broad spectrum of magic powers as a witch that should be able to deal with most guns and munitions.

Without specialist weaponry, Deadshot seems pretty out of his depth against Enchantress. His greatest strength lies in long-range sniping to get the drop on an unprepared Enchantress. That's how Bronze Tiger closed similar odds.

Enchantress was supposed to impersonate novelist Zoya Trigorin while the Squad extracted her from Russia, but with the mission thrown into chaos, she's completely off the leash. That bodes well for Deadshot, who can capitalize on her distraction. Will it work? Let's find out...

The Tape: Enchantress Ranking: Deadshot (#114)

What Went Down...

An explosion rings out from the Novogorod Psychiatric Hospital. The mission has gone bad. Real bad! The Suicide Squad regroups in the snow covered woods just outside, while The Enchantress delights at the opportunity for chaos!


With Russian troops rapidly closing-in; Colonel Rick Flag is forced to make an urgent decision about the witch flying overhead. With time running out, he turns to Deadshot with a non-lethal order to shoot.


Deadshot feigns concern that he may not be able to bring Enchantress down without accidentally killing her. Flag puts a gun to his head and warns him not to miss!

Unaware of the conspiring gunmen below; Enchantress is completely unprepared when she hears the sudden explosion of Deadshot's rifle!



The searing sting of the bullet follows in an instant. Struck in the head, The Enchantress plummets from the sky to the thick floor of snow below.

Flag orders Nightshade and Nemesis to collect the body. A dark smile creeps over Deadshot's face as he assures the Colonel his shot was made to order -- on target and non-lethal.



Enchantress is groggy when Nemesis lifts her from the snow by the shoulders. He demands to know her name, but she instinctively refuses! If spoken, it will return the wicked witch to the darkness -- restoring innocent June Moone.


So Nemesis tells her she's June Moone: a spy who will be shot on sight! The barely conscious witch denies this, too. With time running out he leans over her face and asks who she really is. At last she says it: "Enchantress!"


The Hammer...
This one may challenge your definition for a "fight", but the fact is: some conflicts end not with the throwing of fists, but with the firing of a single bullet! Such is the stock & trade of Deadshot!

As we build a bigger profile for Deadshot, it'll be interesting to see what his strike-rate as a marksman is really like. The reputation of killers in comics doesn't always match-up to results. Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see what today's win does for his overall fight rank!

Today we're here to track the movements of Enchantress, whose early tenure with the Suicide Squad provided one of the great sub-plots of the first couple of years. It loosely inspired elements of the 2016 movie, but as with most things in that adaptation, the source material was not well represented.

The premise is simple: The Suicide Squad are a band of convicted villains operating as a black-ops team to work-off their sentences. They're guided by trusted agents like Rick Flag and Bronze Tiger, but the criminal nature of most of the team means there's always an underlying tension of mistrust.

Enchantress is arguably the most openly hostile of the group, but she's tethered to the pleasant alter-ego of June Moone, who volunteered her services.

Moone initially has enough sway to keep the wicked witch in check, but every time Enchantress is summoned, her dark powers grow. The threat that she'll turn on the team is always there, but the trade-off is that her magic is one of the Squad's most powerful weapons, and sometimes can be directed.

Inevitably, this dangerous game means various members of The Squad are forced to take Enchantress down once her work is done.

We saw this in their inaugural mission, when Enchantress saved the team from being scorched by the flaming aftermath of Brimstone -- only to immediately turn on them! Bronze Tiger became the first teammate to shut her down.

Comics being what they are; there are different flavours to the various times Enchantress is thwarted. The next time we visit the theme it will probably seem vaguely comical, but each indignity is only building toward the inevitable.

The reader knows Enchantress' power and hostility is growing, and the tension that mounts is one of the great threads weaved into the tapestry of John Ostrander's early Suicide Squad!  It could've greatly enhanced the film had they taken it in the same direction, rather than abruptly making her the arch-villain of the first film. One of many mistakes.

If you're looking for more Suicide Squad, or follow-up entries, be sure to check out the Secret Archive. You'll easily find featured fights indexed by publisher, series, and issue! If you just want to read these issues in their entirety for yourself, you can support the site by using the Amazon link provided!

You can also follow Secret Wars on Infinite Earths on Facebook and Twitter to get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day! A like, share, or retweet is a much appreciated way to show support!

Additional Note: Assist stats will be recorded for Rick Flag for ordering the hit, as well as Nemesis & Nightshade, who helped ensure Enchantress switched back to June Moone. These details were important to securing Deadshot's triggerman victory.

Winner: Deadshot
#66 (+48) Deadshot
#846 (-314) Enchantress
#383 (--) Rick Flag [+1 assist]
#420 (+75) Nemesis (Tom Tresser) [+1 assist]
#527 (new) Nightshade (Eve Eden) [+1 assist]

Friday, August 12, 2016

RICK FLAG versus BATMAN
Up Against The Wall (DC)
Where:
Suicide Squad #10 When: February 1988
Why: John Ostrander How: Luke McDonnell

The Story So Far...
There's something not quite right about Belle Reve Prison and it's newest inmate: Matches Malone. Neither is what they seem and they're about to collide in a clash of wills!


Malone is in actual fact The Batman: Deep undercover, and intent on exposing what's really going on within the fortress stronghold of the Lousiana prison! Elementary for one of the world's greatest detectives and escape artists!

Having acquired the information he seeks, Batman stages his exit, but not without raising the alarm. Having faced down the female fury of Duchess and the gun scope of Deadshot - freedom is in sight, but the Suicide Squad have one more taskmaster to throw at him! Enter: Colonel Rick Flag!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Batman 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Batman 5 (Marathon)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnastic)
Fighting: Batman 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Batman 4 (Arsenal)


Colonel Rick Flag is a career soldier with ties to the original Task Force X and Suicide Squadron. The exact details of his early military career are unclear, but his unwavering dedication to the job, and years of experience, were evidenced in his role as field leader of a new Suicide Squad.


Created under Amanda Waller's Task Force X; The Suicide Squad forced Flag to accept command of a team of convicted super-criminals who accepted black-ops missions in exchange for an expunged record. His personal recruits included the deprogrammed assassin Bronze Tiger, and cavalier mercenary Deadshot.

We saw Flag bravely provide a guiding hand to Deadshot during the team's first field mission: A takedown of the burning behemoth Brimstone [Legends #3], who was an unstoppable living weapon sent to Earth by Darkseid!

Flag's role was strictly leadership, but thanks to the division's superior intel, his group succeeded where the Justice League of America had failed [Legends #2]! Had the mission required, he could've called upon expert hand-to-hand and firearms combat training. His two offensive options against the likes of Batman!

When it comes to tactical and combative expertise - few are better than The Dark Knight! We've seen Batman put on hand-to-hand clinics with renowned opponents like: Captain America [Marvel versus DC #3], Bullseye [DC versus Marvel #1], The Knight [JLA: Classified #3], Slam Bradley [Catwoman #22], Victor Zsasz [Detective Comics #796], and Killer Croc [Batman #621]. He's even relied upon fighting skills to face super-threats like: Amazo [Batman #637], Captain Marvel [Superman/Batman #4], Scorpion [DC/Marvel: All Access #3], and New God of evil himself - Darkseid [Superman/Batman #42]!

Suffice it to say: Rick Flag is up against steep odds! He does have a tactical advantage in this particular situation, though!

Batman has infiltrated the secret Belle Reve headquarters of Task Force X. To do so, he's already had to run a gauntlet of armed guards, new recruit Duchess (formerly of the Apokolips Female Furies), and old arch-enemy: Deadshot! It's a strategy Bane famously used to run Batman ragged before securing supreme victory - the famous "breaking of The Bat" - in Batman #497!

Granted, Bane's approach involved releasing dozens of the deadliest inmates from Arkham Asylum. That forced Batman into an exhaustive chase across Gotham City. In Belle Reve Prison, his shortlist of opponents are all in close quarters. That means less leg work, but more intense action, and a home field advantage where the lockdown security of the prison could force Batman into an unwinnable situation!

The Math: Batman Ranking: Batman (#1)

What Went Down...
Leaving a trail of defeated operatives, Batman sprints through the shadows of Belle Reve Prison. Approaching the main gate, he hears an apologetic voice...


Colonel Rick Flag dive tackles Batman from behind! The impact takes his legs out from under him, sending both to the floor.

Flag leans into his fist as he extends over The Dark Knight Detective's shoulder, pressing the advantage. Batman reverses the position, throwing his elbow back directly into Flag's exposed jaw!


The Batman uses the opportunity to rise to his feet. Both men hunching over, the pair of fighters square each other off at breaking distance. They move in!


Batman and Flag both lead with the backside of their left fist. Their forearms collide in a firm stalemate. Batman rockets his right fist into play, but Flag is able to curl his left arm up to block and sweep away from his face!

They lean into each other -- foreheads pressing like the locked horns of two bulls! Flag throws a probing right hand in the rib direction of Batman's body. The Dark Knight opts instead for a fist full of t-shirt. He pulls Flag toward him!


The gambit gives Batman the opening he needs to nail Flag with a devastating uppercut! The blow sends the Colonel sprawling to the ground! As he scrambles on all fours, The Batman leaps - cape extending like a giant living shadow!

Just as it seemed the fight was entering the end game - a volley of gunfire rings above both men's heads! They stop in their tracks!


The shots come from the gun barrel of Amanda Waller! Backed by Duchess, Deadshot, and the Belle Reve Warden and personnel who were taken out earlier - she challenges The Dark Knight!

He questions her methods. She draws parallels. Batman invokes the tax payers who unwittingly fund her squad of unreformed criminals. She trades a secret for a secret: The Batman had to go under deep cover to infiltrate the prison facility. He wasn't wearing gloves the whole time. She'll keep his secret identity if Batman agrees to keep theirs. The begrudging bargain brings Batman's excursion to an end. He's free to leave.

The Hammer...
While it looked as if Batman was getting the upper hand in the fight, we have no choice but to call this battle a draw!

For their role in bringing about a neutral conclusion to the outcome: Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Duchess, bespectacled John Economos, and moustached guard J. Daniel "Murph" Murphy have earned an assist.

I tend to think of the outcome in terms of the first Rocky. Just going the distance with Batman is as good as a win for Rick Flag.

If you thought he'd be happy about his team's intervention in the skirmish, though, you've got another thing coming!

It's one of the interesting dynamics of the Suicide Squad team. Flag may be a career soldier with trouble in his past, but he isn't worlds apart from Batman when it comes to judging the covert employment of his super-villains teammates. He respects Batman, touting The Dark Knight's valor over the self-serving moral ambiguity of his team. An ally 100% committed to his team, even if he doesn't really like them.

Batman is a welcome presence throughout the issue. His break-in under the guise of frequent alias Matches Malone is a lot of fun. The way Amanda Waller uses it to turn the tables -- threatening to uncover Batman's secret identity through his need to go gloveless -- a great power play!

Did Batman really expose himself so carelessly? This isn't quite the invincible, omnipotent planner that Batman would become, but it is a tough ask to accept that he didn't have some kind of plastic fingertip covers, or the like.

His infiltration sets up an action-heavy escape for most of the issue. He runs through the guards, Duchess, and Deadshot, before being jumped by Rick Flag in the featured fight. I'm sure we'll aim to revisit the issue for those other fights. The battle with Duchess (aka; Lashina) is definitely one we'll need to document!

My only real complaint of this milestone issue is that the action seems to get away from penciller Luke McDonnell. It falls apart particularly in the Flag fight, which suffers from indistinct actions in a broken down, blow by blow battle.

It's no doubt the layouts are supposed to show the inching strategy and effort of the two fighters. An attempt to demonstrate Flag's ability to match Batman hand-to-hand, at least for a while. The exact movements are just a little too hard to discern from the artwork. The repeating, thin panels perhaps better replaced with a more dynamic impression of a short fight. I'm not sure.

McDonnell does great work throughout the early issues of Suicide Squad. I think his stylized photo-realism really creates an iconic look for the series. It's of the same cloth as Kevin Maguire's pencils, but lays on heavier shadows and slightly less super-heroic dynamism in scenes. This plays out well when "Matches" is setting his plan into motion in the empty prison. The way Batman slinks down the corridors and toward the reader in a two-thirds page reveal - awesome!

Want to see the whole issue for yourself? Pick up the collected edition by using the Amazon link provided for your convenience to the right! Like the tax dollars that fund the Suicide Squad, your purchase helps keep the wars infinite!

August is Suicide Squad month on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths. Check back for Friday Night Fights and Hero of the Week updates featuring the characters from the movie and beyond! You can find even more features by infiltrating the Secret Issue Index!

Winner: Draw
#1 (--) Batman
#370 (+125) Rick Flag
#95 (--) Deadshot [+1 Assist]
#406 (+61) Amanda Waller [+1 Assist]
#497 (new) Lashina (Duchess) [+1 Assist]
#498 (new) John Economos [+1 Assist]
#499 (new) J Daniel Murphy [+1 Assist]

Friday, August 05, 2016

TASK FORCE X versus BRIMSTONE
Send For... The Suicide Squad! (DC)
Where:
Legends #3 When: January 1987
Why: John Ostrander & Len Wein How: John Byrne

The Story So Far...
From distant planet Apokolips, the New God Darkseid and his minion Desaad curse the heroes of the world known as Earth! These mighty mortals have risen to thwart their wicked plans time and time again!


Inspired only by evil intent, the New Gods devise a new plan! Operation: Humiliation -- a scheme to attack the heroes through monsters and media manipulation!

On the frontline of Darkseid's war is the firey goliath: Brimstone! A creature of sentient plasma hatched in the heart of a nuclear reactor, he believes himself to be a blazing fallen angel sent to cleanse the world of false idols.

Having come up short against titanic Brimstone, Firestorm and Cosmic Boy joined the Justice League of America in trying to stop him. All succumbed to his mighty powers. With the situation getting desperate, Task Force X spook Amanda Waller opts to initiate her plan to employ known criminals as expendable agents. Equipped with an experimental gun, Colonel Rick Flag leads the team to South Dakota on what can only be considered a suicide mission!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Brimstone 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Enchantress 5 (Professor)
Speed: Bronze Tiger 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Brimstone 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Bronze Tiger 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Bronze Tiger 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Enchantress 6 (Mass Destruction)


Task Force X are: Rick Flag, Bronze Tiger, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, BlockbusterEnchantress.

Task Force X was originally established to respond to post-war super-human threats emerging in the absence of a congressionally disbanded Justice Society of America. Among their original personnel were members of the Suicide Squad who had served during World War II, and fought on Dinosaur Island.


Decades later; Agent Amanda Waller assumes control of Task Force X, seeking to resurrect the Suicide Squad as a secret team of government sanctioned super-villains. They are an expendable black-ops force operating with complete deniability for the chance to have their criminal records expunged. The only requirements: Accept the mission, complete the mission, survive the mission.

Leading Waller's team in the field is Colonel Rick Flag, whose father was a member of the WWII Suicide Squad, and Task Force X. Flag recruited deadly deprogrammed assassin and second-in-command Bronze Tiger, along with crack shot mercenary Deadshot.

They headed an original line-up of complicit and reluctant villains:
- Mark Desmond, aka; Blockbuster: A chemist whose experiments turned him into a dim-witted powerhouse who clashed with Batman and The Outsiders.
- June Moone aka; Enchantress: A powerful mystic able to conjure constructs, magic energies, illusions, and various other magic phenomena.
- Digger Harkness, aka; Captain Boomerang: Australian boomerang expert and frequent criminal foe of The Flash!

Operating as Task Force X; the Suicide Squad would learn of their expendability through their first field mission: To destroy a giant flaming monster rampaging across the United States! The monster they're targeting: Brimstone!


We've been following Brimstone's destructive exploits a lot in the last month. He first appeared from a techno-seed planted in a nuclear reactor in Legends #1, where he soundly defeated Firestorm. He would then fend off Cosmic Boy, before defeating the entire Justice League of America in Legends #2! That's a pretty formidable record, but the Suicide Squad have something the JLA didn't!

Understanding that Brimstone is composed of 'super-heated hydrogen plasma given sentient form by complex magnetic fields', Task Force X is able to equip Deadshot with an experimental laser rifle. Capable of firing a single blast able to penetrate the nexus of Brimstone's field - it's their only chance for success!

Can he make the shot? We've seen Floyd Lawton find his target fighting Manticore [Suicide Squad #2], but it was coming up short against the new Flash that got him caught in the first place, leading to his Suicide Squad recruitment [Legends #1]. A master marksman with skinny odds and a death wish.

Everything is working against their success, but that's what the Suicide Squad is for! Will they be the first to take down Brimstone, or die trying? Let's find out...

The Math: Brimstone Ranking: Brimstone (#92)

What Went Down...
In the shadow of Mount Rushmore, The Suicide Squad march uneven ground toward their fate. Captain Boomerang asks if he can change his mind. Brimstone welcomes the sinners with expectation and an explosion! No turning back now!

While the team recovers, Colonel Flag helps Deadshot size up the target. One shot to hit a bullseye at the nexus of magnetic fields. To help make it easier, Flag deploys the super-brute Blockbuster. With "spade-like" hands he scoops up the rock beneath Brimstone's feet and lifts!


Captain Boomerang does his best to chip in, tossing a baffle-rang that swirls around the monster's head. It induces momentary disorientation, but only serves to provoke an attack!

A column of flame descends from the goliath's hand. Despite her best efforts, Enchantress discovers she's unable to transmute the sentient plasma! The heat worries Bronze Tiger, but Enchantress remains confident and cool.


Blockbuster continues his attack of Brimstone's vertical base, smashing through the rocky terrain to reduce it to treacherous rubble! This too only serves to aggravate the behemoth.


Darkseid's destroyer reaches down with a giant hand and wraps it around Blockbuster. The size were as if he were a mere insect. The intense burning heat of the plasma - enough to reduce Blockbuster to a smouldering corpse!

Captain Boomerang is horrified as the sizzling body lands before him. His sacrifice provides sufficient distraction. While it fell, Deadshot sized up Brimstone through an experimental rifle scope. Seeing an object at the heart of the creature's magnetic fields, he finds the target! Rick Flag orders him to fire!


The focused laser beam strikes at the centre of Brimstone's chest! The unfeeling creature is confronted with sensations of agony unlike anything he has known!

Brimstone cries for the dark god who forsakes him, clinging to a delusion of religion that tells him he is a fallen angel. Darkseid shows no mercy. A truly expendable agent whose usefulness is served in the defeat of the Justice League and death of one of Earth's legends: the man-brute, Blockbuster!

Coming apart at the seams, Brimstone becomes a screaming, out-of-control blaze! Even in death - he continues to threaten the lives of the Suicide Squad! A giant ball of flame hurtles toward Bronze Tiger and Enchantress!


Now that Brimstone's flame is no longer sentient -- Enchantress can end the threat with a simple enchantment that turns inferno into a harmless snowstorm!

The Hammer...
Just like that: Deadshot and The Suicide Squad save the day!

Not a bad result for their first appearance! Of course, poor Blockbuster wasn't so lucky. His rather grisly death helped drive home the name and mortal stakes of The Squad. He, the first in a list of fatalities that would plague the group!


In revisiting these early, post-Crisis comics, I'm really reminded of the livewire sense of excitement they created! As much as this was a new beginning for the DC Universe, it also clearly felt like a sharpening and refining for a lot of characters, and properties.

The Justice League got a much needed jolt in transition away from Detroit-based third stringers [Legends #2], to a constructive mix of old and new icons, some originally sourced from other publishers. An all-star assembly that could refresh classic heroes, and elevate new ones to legendary status!

The Suicide Squad played a big role in that reinvigoration and juxtaposition, too! By assembling a few issues earlier in Legends, they became of the same world, cut from the same cloth. They were destined to compliment and clash with the heroes that would leave issue six to become Justice League International. A step ahead of the global topical concerns of the JLI, more immediately rooted in the world of military black-ops, espionage, and beaurocracy.

It was fitting that the two teams would finally meet in battle in Russia. Both teams would feature in stories negotiating the friction of the tail end of Cold War hostilities between The Soviets and America. JLI may have been taking a more worldly view of super-heroes, but The League and Squad both owed their origins to the height of the Cold War in the early sixties.

The Suicide Squad was originally created at the tail end of 1959, appearing in The Brave and The Bold. They were uniform soldiers in the mould you know. A far cry from recurring super-villains like Deadshot and Captain Boomerang, but a modern legacy that continued its tradition -- rather than deleting it in reboot.

The Squad of the late eighties refreshed what was around them by building something new from old parts. Rather than partaking in hard rebooting, the meta principle became part of the core of the book. What if you could have a team with a genuine sense of mortal danger? What if the modern new DCU tried to get a little something extra out of some of its lesser characters, rather than simply writing them out, or frivolously destroying them?

In the world of the Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller is giving them a lifeline of redemption and clean slates. In the world of publication, characters like Blockbuster and Enchantress are getting second chances to mean more than they had in the past. Granted, I'm not sure the series really played out like a do-or-die scenario for expendable intellectual property, but that core concept is exciting! Join the book and become a new icon - or be deleted!

In Legends #3; overseeing arch-villain Darkseid chalked Blockbuster's death up as a win in the spread. If only he knew what would happen! Siblings and clones would keep the DC Universe populated with Blockbusters for years to come! Brimstone came back pretty quick, too. Darkseid promised he would, though.

I'm not sure either character was compelling enough to demand their deaths be undone, but I go with it. Misfits of science both, their pseudo-resurrections have a way of working with their innate simplicity. I especially like that Brimstone continued as a recurring problem for Firestorm. Their encounter in Legends #1 has stuck with me these past few weeks. Somehow it just worked!

Thirty years later, death doesn't mean what it used to. I may forgive the pseudo-return of the team's original fatality, but the circus of death and resurrection is fairly constant in Marvel and DC Comics. It's hard for the Suicide Squad to really mean the same. Likewise, the material drifted over the years, losing the drama of the early Ostrander years to action-movie frivolity. Yet, through it all, there's no denying the appeal of this ragtag group of villains, held to a short leash by a very scary, very powerful woman called Amanda Waller!

Little wonder, then, that Warner Brothers has launched the property into a feature film screening in theatres today - August 5th!

We'll be taking the opportunity to look closer at some of the characters in the film with a feast of feature fights and Hero of the Week spotlights throughout the month of August!

Read and own the entire first appearance of the Suicide Squad by using the Amazon purchase link embedded in this article [right]. Find more stories with these characters and others by following links, or diving into the Issue Index Archive!

Winners: Deadshot, Blockbuster & Captain Boomerang
#95 (+206) Deadshot [+1 Kill - Brimstone]
#98 (-6) Brimstone [+1 Kill - Blockbuster]
#291 (new) Blockbuster (Mark Desmond)
#292 (new) Captain Boomerang
#404 (+63) Bronze Tiger [+1 Assist]
#495 (new) Col. Rick Flag [+1 Assist]
#496 (new) Enchantress (June Moone) [+1 Assist]