Suicide Squad #26 Review and **SPOILERS**

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A Croc Among Men

Writer: Rob Williams 

Artist & Cover: Stjepan Sejic 

Letterer: Pat Brosseau 

Cover Price: $2.99 

On Sale Date: September 27, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Another crossover with Dark Night: Metal! Often, the announcement of comic book event crossovers elicit moans and groans from the faithful. But not this time! Metal has been, if you’ll pardon the pun, very metal. Okay, you don’t need to pardon that pun, it was awful. And not really a pun. But that shouldn’t taint your opinion of Suicide Squad #26, my review of which you can read right now!

Explain It!

It may strain credulity to believe that even the most sinister clandestine organization would employ enslaved criminals to carry out their Black Operations. It’s not, however, beyond belief to suggest that these ne’er-do-wells would be sent out to fight an onslaught of demons or straight-up evil spirits that threaten the very fabric of reality. What have we to lose? If a serial killer knows how to keep leathery minions of Satan at bay, then I say let him have at it. He’s likely caused only a fraction of the pain and strife endured under an Armageddon, and if he’s unsuccessful in his attempts—no real extra harm done, is there?

That’s the essential idea of this installment of “Gotham Resistance,” previously laid out in issues of Teen Titans and Nightwing. The same motley team of heroes and villains—namely: Damian Wayne, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Harley Quinn and Croc—endeavor to penetrate the mysterious mountain that’s appeared above Gotham City, and it’s screwball villains from Batman’s Rogues Gallery all the way down. This issue is concerned primarily with the latter two on that list, and how they cope with their one-time colleagues turned against them by the forces of the Dark Multiverse and the Batman Who Laughs. Harley has some comeuppance when Poison Ivy proves to be murderous, but she is distracted by an evil Starfire that, by rights, should have already reduced Gotham City to rubble. Just sayin’.

Things really get cooking when they walk through a zone of Mad Hatter’s design, which looks like a grim take on Alice in Wonderland and let’s Stjepan Sejic really stretch his skills. Ultimately, they fight against the evil-fied members of their respective teams—the Teen Titans and the Suicide Squad, naturally—while Nightwing is enticed by some deeper connection to Batman’s predicament as a portal to the Dark Multiverse. He fights an evil Robin for a while, which taunts him with some tantalizing clues, but Killer Croc sacrifices himself to let the rest of the team escape these demonic counterparts. Nightwing has the sinking feeling that Bruce Wayne died when connecting Multiverses, a fact Damian cannot face (and which is probably not, all told, a fact at all.) Before any of that can set it, Mister Terrific shows up, and he’s got a plan! Probably!

There’s a lot to like in this issue, starting with Stjepan Sejic’s phenomenal artwork that always classes up any project. But like the other tie-ins preceding the next issue of Dark Nights: Metal, this implies a whole bunch of stuff about the Dark Multiverse and the denizens within that we simply do not know. I suppose we can take it at face value that the Dark Multiverse is corrupting, but I fail to understand how or by what standard folks are chosen for possession. If it can take over hero and villain alike, why haven’t Damian Wayne and the Gang succumbed to it? Has Gotham City become overrun with demonized humanity? On the plus side, this one-off allowed Rob Williams to concentrate on a couple of members of the Suicide Squad instead of trying to make the entire team relevant, and it worked a lot better. Some good quipping and dialogue throughout, actually. These tie-ins to Dark Nights: Metal continue to be intriguing and I absolutely appreciate that we get no more than two a week, but perhaps those two could have explained more specifics instead of throwing us into Advanced Level Apocalypse without any preamble.

Bits and Pieces:

"Gotham Resistance" continues, and our team of heroes are drawn ever-deeper into that crazy mountain hovering above Gotham City. This isn't such a Suicide Squad-specific issue, and the change-up in roster feels pretty good. We learn a few things relating directly to Dark Nights: Metal, which might be a bummer if you're not reading that series, but there's also Stjepan Sejic's artwork in here, so that should lift your spirits.

7/10