Harley’s shaping up to ship out of Belle Reve as Tim Seeley takes over on New Suicide Squad #17, the cadets are up to their necks in secrets and competition in Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy #3 and Springfield might not last as ‘A Nice Little Town’ as it survives the conclusion of Cobra World Order in Hama’s G.I. Joe #225. 

Still reeling from this week’s Alan Moore inspired Supergirl episode? There’s more to be had in ComiXology for the tie-in weekly Adventures of Supergirl Chapter 2 written by fan favorite Sterling Gates!

NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #17
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist/Cover: Juan Ferreyra
Publisher: DC Comics
Pub. Date: February 10, 2016
UPC: 76194132184401711
Price: $2.99
BUY IT HERE

Tim Seeley has been an architect of the current Batman & Robin: Eternal and other Bat-Books, Nightwing and most recently, Grayson.

Aside from his work as an artist and writer on many independent books, Seeley has grown into a DC Comics powerhouse, adapting to these important legacy characters and making them his own.

This August’s Suicide Squad movie will re-introduce the world to Joker and Harley Quinn with familiar faces filling the rolls. Suicide Squad is soon to be a household name, beyond the reach of the CW version we’ve seen in the Arrow-verse.

This jumping on point for readers feels much the same for Seeley, as he has admitted to not knowing much of Task Force X before taking this assignment. This is refreshing for me as well, as I’m not a huge Suicide Squad fan generally speaking, but was excited to check out these pages.

When Fred Van Lente took over on G.I. Joe in 2013, I feel like he had the same attitude, and these were some of the most refreshing stories I have read in the IDW run. Van Lente played it loose but with reverence, a fine line and difficult to do if you are a dyed in the wool fan. 

Tim Seeley’s Suicide Squad starts fresh with a basic mission of mismatched baddies selected by Amanda Waller to kick some ass before being locked up again. It’s formulaic for sure but a great jumping on point.  Seeley himself cites Harley Quinn for a big influence on his own Hack/Slash’s titular character Cassie Hack. All of that seems right.

If his first issue is any indication, there will be roster changes in the coming months and status quo will be messed with. This new run is off to a fun start, and a welcome shift from the issues leading up to #17.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]