Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Suicide Squad #1 is a Great New Launch(Spoilers)

There’s been a few Suicide Squad reboots over the years, but since The New 52, there’s been a few constant team members: Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and the leader of “Task Force X,” Amanda Waller, pulling the strings. In Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Suicide Squad #1, we return with all of them, plus some new faces that, as Harley promises on the cover, are dead by the end of the issue. But for the first time in ages, the roster will have a major shakeup: Amanda Waller is quitting Task Force X. And the new boss? Not quite the same as the old boss.

The New Man in Charge of the Suicide Squad

(Image: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Suicide Squad #1, DC Comics)

So, who is this Lok and should we take him as seriously as Amanda Waller? Well, first off—no. No one can ever replace Amanda Waller. This is like in Skyfall, when they replaced Dame Judi Dench with Ralph Fiennes. Maybe it was time for Dench to retire the role of M, but she’ll always be Bond’s boss in our hearts. It’s the same with Waller. Someone else might be in charge, but he’ll never feel right.

And Lok…he’s trying way to hard to be the new Waller, including doing something really twisted and unethical, but we’ll get to that soon. But Lok? He’s like wealthy white privilege shoved in a low carb sandwich wrap with a lotta mayo. And the Squad hates him from the first order he gives them, even before they know Waller quit. His exchange with Harley Quinn after he zaps Deadshot with a cattle prod kind of says it all:

(Image: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Suicide Squad #1, DC Comics)

Tom Taylor introduces Lok’s New “Flies” on the Suicide Squad

Tom Taylor starts Suicide Squad #1 starts with a group called the Revolutionaries attacking three brand new nuclear-powered ships in Australia, and so Lok calls in Task Force X. Waller is still there to “ease the transition.” Lok starts by handicapping the team with two useless new members. Magpie, a thief with no powers, and Cavalier, a swordsman who thinks he’s an actual Musketeer. There is one other new member, Zebra-Man, a telekinetic, and no…he has no reason for the Zebra theme.” Yeah. Two of them are dead at the end of the issue, but they aren’t the only new members

(Image: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Suicide Squad #1, DC Comics)

Lok isn’t going after the Revolutionaries to stop them—he wants to control them. He has Deadshot shoot them with the mini bombs that will blow up their heads if triggered…the trademark Suicide Squad stick. He wants them for his new Task Force X, joining Harley, Deadshot, and King Shark. Yeah…he has the Suicide Squad attack and kill some of them and then forces the Revolutionaries to work with them. It’ll be a fun disaster moving forward.

Harley Quinn and Deadshot Respect Amanda Waller

(Image: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Suicide Squad #1, DC Comics)

From the beginning of Suicide Squad #1, Taylor makes it clear that Quinn and Deadshot don’t like Waller, but they don’t hate her. In fact, they kind of admire her. When Lok starts giving orders, they aren’t bothered by the orders themselves really, but that Waller isn’t the one delivering them. And when she announces her departure, they’re blindsided and upset. And why shouldn’t they be? Waller has always been with them even when she was deep behind the curtain. If she’s gone…her rules and methods are gone too.

I’m looking forward to more of Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s run after Suicide Squad #1. The new members, new dynamic, and Redondo’s action scenes were great. Can’t wait for more.

Grade: Eye-Popping

Poor <redacted>. Okay, it’s Cavalier and it’s a brilliant scene. (Image: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Suicide Squad #1, DC Comics)

(Featured Image: Suicide #1, DC Comics)

Roman Colombo finished his MFA in 2010 and now teaches writing and graphic novel literature at various Philadelphia colleges. His first novel, Trading Saints for Sinners, was published in 2014. He's currently working on his next novel and hoping to find an agent soon.