New Suicide Squad: Freedom Review (Volume 3) By Deffinition

The New Suicide Squad has gotten off to a bad…bad…BAD start. Destroying most of the goodwill set up by the initial Volumes, the series has jumped the King Shark a bit (ha! See what I did there). The characters are one-dimensional versions of themselves and the plots are so mundane and predictable that they have become a chore to get through.

However, there is always hope.

After all, this is a Squad that has come back from the brink of Death numerous times and their New 52 run should be no different.

Diving into the third volume in the ‘New’ series I’ll discuss whether Sean Ryan has finally found his feet or if his footing is far beyond gaining stable ground.

Let’s kick start New Suicide Squad: Volume 3: Freedom.

Rogue Squadron

Realising that an evil corporation has infiltrated Belle Reve, Waller and the Squad go rogue. Off-radar, the team must work as one in order to discover the shadowy organisation.

It’s a really interesting plot narrative that packs purpose and priority from the off. Whereas the other volumes were often lacked meaning, this storyline has a real drive to it that makes it easy to become entangled with early one. I loved watching the team go dark and they work perfectly as a cohesive unit that is one mood swing away from dismantling completely. There is drama in the fact that they are no longer under the thumb of the Government.

Waller must work twice as hard to keep them on a leash and the book once again develops her as an interesting leader that is so bad she’s good.

Pearl Group

Revealed as the shadowy organisation that has infiltrated all aspects of the Government, Pearl Group pose a huge threat. However, they fail to live up to their full potential and never come across as anything more than a nuisance, even when springing free villains like Black Manta.

On his own, he provides a roadblock for a few pages and the squad must work as a team to take him down but it is a very shallow affair and fails to develop the characters in interesting ways. Taking place over a couple of panels the entire arc barely had time to find its footing before readers were flung into the eventual climax. It’s sorely under developed and drops a lot of the potential that it had. Waller is rogue for, at best, half an issue and it’s sad that such an intriguing motif was dropped at the first hurdle in order to get back to the standard repertoire.

That’s not to say it’s bad, it’s just very short lived with the only real interest coming from the fact that Waller realises that she is just as trapped in Belle Reve as the rest of the prisoners. It’s a note that showcases what the book could have been had it not been rushed and it marks another disappointment for the Squad.

We end with two standalone epilogue chapters that involve Deadshot and Katana respectfully. Both end on cliffhangers and like the storyline that preceded them, fail to deliver. There is no bang for your buck here. This is more Dudshot than Deadshot.

The Verdict

I’d rather commit suicide than have to read another Suicide Squad book like this. It’s mundane, misses the mark and makes me mad. So far Sean Ryan has done an abysmal job of handling the team and everything he touches involving them ends up a waste of time that eventually leads back to square one with little development within our characters or their environment.

The Squad should be a monumental force that changes the DC Universe in unexpected ways but once again they are meaningless and it makes for a poor read.

I really can’t recommend this at all and that’s why Suicide Squad: Freedom gets a…

4/10