Suicide Squad #1 (1987) Review

"TRIAL BY BLOOD"

Writers: Robert Greenberger, John Ostrander
Pencils: Luke McDonell
Inker: Karl Kesel
Cover Price: 75¢
Release Date: February 3, 1987

Review written by Joey Casco of TheWineStalker.net

We begin this issue at what an airport supposedly in the United States where Air Force One is touching down. The mayor of the town and the governor of the state are there to greet the President, and security is jacked up.

Two men wearing red shirts, who we later learn are Rustam and Ravan, leave a bag and a device on the ground. Uh-oh!

Rustam whispers "now" to a communicator on his finger, a portal opens up on wall, and Manticore and Jaculi come out and just start slaughtering everybody.

The device left of the ground was the "bottle" for Djinn, the first digitized man.

It's just a massacre of innocent people, and Ravan finds the governor and mayor.

Meanwhile, Rustam is outside to greet Air Force One.

The plane crashes and explodes, and they all use another portal to get the hell out of there. It only took one minute and seven seconds for them to litter the airport with bodies.

But here's the thing: this was all staged! A display to show those interested in hiring this team called Jihad. The airport, actually located in Qurac, was built just for this. There was no president. The security, police, governor, and mayor were actors believing they were playing parts. The citizens were "criminals, dissedents, intellectuals, and artists". The client was impressed and decides to hire them.

After the deal is made, we're taken to Belle Reve Federal Prison in Louisiana, where the Suicide Squad is learning about their next mission: taking out Jihad, Qurac's super-powered terrorists for hire.

So we see the Suicide Squad is made up of Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Enchantress, Captain Boomerang, Plastique, Mindboggler, and lead by Rick Flag. And we get some backstory for each member.

Then Amanda Waller walks in and breaks down the mission and each member of Jihad with a little bit of a backstory for each one. There's Rustam, Djinn, Manticore, Jaculi, Chimera (she creates the portals), and Ravan. 

Of course it wouldn't be Suicide Squad if there wasn't banter and Boomerang making an ass of himself.

Wait... "you black--" what??? What was the rest of that sentence? Yikes!

Bits and Pieces

This gives you everything you want in a first issue. That first scene with Jihad at the airport was friggin' awesome and brutal, so it kicks off showing you exactly what kind of series this is going to be. Things slow down once we meet the Suicide Squad, but you get everything you need to know about the team, their purpose, and that they really don't like each other. It also leaves you excited to see these two teams face off.

8/10