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Keeping the synergy between DC television, film, and games, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League releases a prequel tie-in comic. Set after the Arkham Asylum trilogy, and before the events of the game, Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum softly introduces the new status quo. Let’s take a look!
Is This What We’ve Been Waiting For? This is nothing new. DC has consistently released tie-in adaptations for the DCEU, Arrowverse, Injustice games, and even various Arkham Asylum comics over the years. Admittedly, several of these tie-ins weren’t any good at all, but notably the Injustice books turned out decent. Not to mention, the Squad leads the confusingly non-canonical, but somewhat well received Batman: Assault on Arkham animated film. On the other hand, Suicide Squad has endured mixed reception as a property. In spite of this game and a new animated series coming out, fans seem pretty tired of this particular franchise. In fact, the actual game has faced significant backlash and controversy since it’s announcement until its release. That said, fans seeking more from this series now have Kill Arkham Asylum to worry about.
The Suicide Squad were first teased in WB Montreal’s Batman: Arkham Origins and feature heavily in the storyline of its side-scrolling spin-off, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. In both stories, Amanda Waller works behind the scenes to hire and recruit supervillains to do her bidding with the intention of eventually building her task force. Although Waller never officially assembles the squad, the events of Kill Arkham Asylum are the culmination of years of planning. For one, the book repeatedly dumps heavy exposition about what happens between the games. Apparently, A.R.G.U.S has set up shop in Gotham and have been renovating Arkham Asylum to their liking. In particular, they have been abusing and importing criminals of their choosing. Isn’t it neat how the Squad all have their first comic appearances as prison numbers here? No? Art by Jesus Hervas and Lettering by Andworld Design.
Creature Comforts In a nutshell, most of Kill Arkham Asylum #1 follows Amanda Waller giving Mayor Gordon the “nickel tour” of the new Arkham. As a result, readers get a good sense of A.R.G.U.S and Waller’s sinister priorities. In one of the rare moments I like, Mayor Gordon asks Harley Quinn for her opinion on the conditions of the institution. In addition to barring the inmates from humane creature comforts such as hygiene, A.R.G.U.S bizarrely withholds access to medical professionals. Stupidly, Waller’s excuse boils down to saying “jail isn’t about niceties.” Somehow, as unethical as this may be, Gordon does nothing about it, despite voicing his disapproval. Regardless, Waller foreshadows an eventuality where the Justice League won’t be around, and she will get to use these abused criminals as her contingency. Furthermore, the b-story surrounds Batman dropping off Killer Croc into the new Arkham. It isn’t interesting whatsoever, and feels like an excuse to insert action sequences into a mostly informational issue. Batman’s outfit is a bulkier and uglier fusion of his Arkham Knight costume and Greg Capullo’s Rebirth suit. Also, Killer Croc’s design is basically an unfamiliar mound of spikes and scales. On a positive note, I like the look of MadTV‘s Debra Wilson as Waller’s likeness in this universe. Yet, all the characterization anyone gets is explaining who they are, who they know, and what they’ll do. This includes Batman awkwardly explaining the A.R.G.U.S acronym back to Waller or Deadshot bragging about his title. The only character who comes out well is King Shark who spends the issue hilariously fending off harassment from Victor Zsasz.
Recommended If… You care about Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League. You want to expand your Arkham lore. Reading stories about Batman is comforting in general.
Overall For players of Kill The Justice League, this first issue isn’t necessary to pick up before playing. Apart from a few new bits of information, it provides no satisfying connection with the Rocksteady Arkham universe and an even less satisfying self-contained story. However, the look and humor of the book is decent. While overloaded with exposition that has to use smaller font to fit within the word bubbles, the rough inks give the illustrations a passable but gritty punk look. Unfortunately, the book is unsubtle, ugly, wordy, and frankly ridiculous. Ultimately, skip it if you have to, but pick it up if you feel the need. Score: 3/10
DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review.
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