What a difference a week makes.
When I was finished reading issue two of the six-part Justice League vs Suicide Squad crossover, I couldn’t wait for to see what Joshua Williamson and his ever-changing art team had in store for issue three. When I finished issue three, I was left wondering what went so horribly wrong.
Issue 3, penned by Williamson and drawn by Jesus Merino, was, to put it mildly, horrible. It was boring beyond all comprehension, with the lone real action coming at the start when a bound Batman beat up an assortment of guards at Belle Reve. The bulk of the issue is spent watching the teams banter, which is as exciting as watching paint dry.
About the only interesting part of the book came at the end, when Amanda Waller admitted that the five villains Max Lord sprung from an underground prison: Lobo, Doctor Polaris, Emerald Empress, Rustam and Johnny Sorrow, were members of the first incarnation of the Suicide Squad. As a huge fan of the John Ostrander series from the 1980s, this revelation was met with a giant meh. If this weren’t the middle part of an important crossover, I’d say skip the issue entirely.
Onto issue four, which was as good as issue three was dreadful…it was fantastically good. Williamson and artist Fernando Parasin got the story back on course and delivered one of the most gruesome splash pages I’ve seen in years.
Lord and his crew arrive at Belle Reve and after some cliche supervillain monologuing, the teams square off. Lord quickly takes out Enchantress and Sorrow unleashed the King of Tears’ army on the unsuspecting allies, while Green Lanterns Cruz and Baz team to face the Empress. Rustam’s plan to release the inmates of Belle Reve is thwarted by Katana, leading to beautifully drawn swordplay.
Missing during the brouhaha are Lord and Killer Frost. Lord has whisked the newest member of the Squad away to a different part of Belle Reve to help him with his insidious plan.
The combined might of the League and Squad eventually prove to be too much for Lord’s crew, save for Lobo. The Main Man was busy fighting Batman and Deadshot, and during that brawl Batman injects a bomb into Lobo’s neck…the same bomb Waller injected into the Squad members as a way to keep them in line.
Lobo captures Waller, despite the best efforts of the foes-turned-allies. Batman is left with no choice but to trigger the bomb in Lobo’s neck, blowing his head off his shoulders. No, that’s not a really long typo: Batman. Blew. Lobo’s. Head. Off.
Lord forced Frost to blow open a vault in the sublevels of Belle Reve. Inside the vault was, in Waller’s words, a diamond containing an incredibly malevolent power. As a longtime DC reader, my immediate reaction was “uh-oh. This can’t be good.” She then told Batman the gem is known by many names, including the Eclipso Diamond. Lord used the diamond to posses the entire Justice League, save for Batman, and threatened to make the world safe…his way.
What an issue! This is the kind of issues that make crossovers like this feel important, rather than an excuse to have an “event.” Here’s hoping Williamson and crew can keep their regained momentum going into issues five and six.
Preview:
