Suicide Squad 4: Discipline and Punish

Comic Info

Suicide Squad (3) #21

Reprints Suicide Squad (3) #20-23, Detective Comics (2) #23.2, and Justice League of America (3) #7.1 (July 2013-November 2013).  The Suicide Squad is at the mercy of Amanda Waller.  She can kill them and she can bring them back to life.  With a new recruit in the Unknown Soldier and James Gordon Jr., Waller’s got a whole new game for the Suicide Squad…unfortunately for Task Force X, Waller’s past in Team 7 is coming back to haunt her in the form of John Lynch.

Written by Ales Kot (Suicide Squad #20-23) and Matt Kindt (Detective Comics #23.2 and Justice League of America #71.), Suicide Squad Volume 4:  Discipline and Punish is a DC Comics New 52 comic book collection.   The follow-up to Suicide Squad Volume 3:  Death Is for Suckers, the volume features art by Patrick Zircher, Rick Leonardi, Andy Owens, Derek Fridolfs, Marc Deering, Sami Basri, Keith Champagne, Carmen Carnero, and Bit.  The collection also includes two stand-alone origin issues from the Villains Month during Forever Evil.

I have to give Kot some credit.  He tries really hard in this volume.  The story is assembled from a lot of pieces and brings back story aspects of the short lived Team 7 series which were left relatively unresolved.  The problem with Suicide Squad 4:  Discipline and Punish is that it never feels like the pieces lock together.

Justice League of America (3) #7.1

The first part of the collection is the actual story.  It deals with the ramifications of Harley, King Shark, and Deadshot’s coup attempt and how Waller handles it.  The story is mixed with the second storyline which has a monster attacking Las Vegas and an over-arching story involving John Lynch.  The storyline is filled with flashbacks and pieces that you have to just assume until they are revealed later.  It comes off as sloppy instead of creative.

The two issues focusing on Deadshot and Harley Quinn also feel like filler (like much of the Villains Month in general).  Harley Quinn’s short lived history has been full of origin issues and this just feels like another retelling of how she became Harley Quinn.  The Deadshot story is a little more interesting in that it isn’t as widely told as Harley, but I think I would rather have had an actual Suicide Squad story instead of the stand-alones.

Every writer seems to try to make Suicide Squad something different but in the process garbles the story more.  Much of the first few books were the development of the relationship between Harley and Deadshot, but it feels like that was not really played up here.  I like the Unknown Soldier and had hopes about his introduction, but I don’t know that he works in this title…though James Gordon could be an interesting add.  Suicide Squad 4:  Discipline and Punish is followed by Suicide Squad 5:  Walled In (which is the final collection of the series).

Related Links:

Suicide Squad 1:  Kicked in the Teeth

Suicide Squad 2:  Basilisk Rising

Suicide Squad 3:  Death Is for Suckers