Review of
Suicide Squad: Phoenix Gambit Part 1,
comic written by John Ostrander & Kim Yale
Five out of five stars
The context is well set, reader primed for more
The story opens
with Waller in a dingy prison cell being visited by Steele. Steele is there to
offer Waller a deal where she performs an as yet unstated task in exchange for
the possibility of freedom. When Waller does not immediately agree and wants to
state her terms of the deal, Steele stomps out.
The focus immediately shifts to a costumed super being
of some kind that is being given an assignment. From this the story goes to
Batman and Commissioner Gordon at the scene of a murder on the ship docks.
Batman quickly concludes that the crime was committed by a “meta human with
superhuman strength and invulnerability.”
Vlatava is a
country in eastern Europe and that is the background of the story, which
includes a connection to Russia. Batman investigates and tracks down an
enhanced human, only to be drawn into the interplay between Waller and Steele.
At the end, an unlikely and uneasy alliance between Batman and Waller begins.
As the first
episode of a multi-part story involving previously introduced characters, this
story provides the extensive context needed to prime the reader with no
knowledge of their roles. It is clear that Waller and Steele have a dubious and
challenging history and that Waller is a formidable opponent. At the end, the
reader is left with a significant desire to read the subsequent issues.
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