In the Land of the Sword
Writers: Jai Nitz, Mike W. Barr
Artists: Scott Eaton, Philippe Briones
Inks: Wayne Faucher
Colorists: Guy Major, Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Cover Artist: Frazer Irving
Group Editor: Jim Chadwick
Editor: Harvey Richards
Cover Price: $4.99
On Sale Date: January 9, 2019
**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**
Hey! This comic! I feel the same way seeing this show up that I do
bumping into an old friend whose name I’ve forgotten. “Hey, you!” I’m not mad
to see it, I’d just forgotten about this series entirely. But now that it’s
here, I remember that I named this THE BEST VALUE ON THE COMICS RACKS TODAY on
the podcast wherein we covered the last issue. Do I still feel that way? Find
out by reading my review of Suicide Squad
Black #3, and then tell the world!
Explain
It!
So the last issue began with the Katana story and finished with the
Suicide Squad Black, but this one has reversed the order…I guess I’ll just
cover them as presented. So last time we left Suicide Squad Black, they were in
the Hell part of Gemworld, considering a deal brokered by Sebastian Faust: join
him and become your best, most powerful selves, just before destroying magic
totally, or die. Funnily, the team is more spooked by Amanda Waller than they
are of Sebastian Faust’s kid, especially when they find out that he only wants
to quash magic because his pregnant girlfriend has a magic flu and this would
cure it. Eventually, Klarion hulks out and clobbers Sebastian into another
dimension, and then it looks like the whole place caves in before Enchantress
can teleport them out!
In the Katana issue, she is still running around in the sword
dimension, now being called the Fukumaden, with her husband’s soul. Before they
pop out of a portal into the real world, where she can stop the Snake Queen’s
plot against her team, they notice that the other, for some reason more
zombified souls, are attending a meeting, convened by some monk in a cloak
looking to escape the sword? Like, that can happen? Katana takes control of the
souls with her Soultaker—since that’s what it does—and stops this rebellion,
and eventually goes through the portal. Like after a day. By then, the whole
Suicide Squad has been captured and the Snake Queen, in Katana’s body, is
threatening the one that Katana’s soul has jumped into. And guess which that
one was?
This Katana story, it’s starting to read like something Neal Adams
wrote. We learn new things about this realm of the Soultaker in each issue that
makes it feel more and more improbable. Still, these goofy details make the
story more fun, particularly since the Suicide Squad are just wallpaper to
what’s going on. Halo played a special role in Kobra’s plans, but those details
will come to be known soon, I expect. The Suicide Squad Black story was pretty
thin, and Sebastian Faust’s reason for destroying magic—that his pregnant
girlfriend was deathly ill with some magic-based virus he brought home—was dumb
as hell, even though it put Sebastian in the place to make the sacrifice for
his child that his dad, Felix, never made for him. Klarion turning into the
Hulk was also silly, but I guess it’s better than him doing nothing. In the
end, a couple of mediocre comics that are fun for their silliness, and therefore
this is still THE BEST VALUE ON THE COMICS STANDS TODAY!!!
Bits and
Pieces:
A couple of middle-of-the-road stories with some silly comics tropes, makes for a decently-passed hour. You're not likely to get this much entertainment at this cover price in most other books.
6/10
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