Dreaming A Little Nightmare — Reviewing ‘Suicide Squad: Dream Team’ #1

Villains of the DC Universe are very familiar with Amanda Waller’s Suicide Squad. What if, though, a hero got pulled? It would probably greatly change the dynamic, especially if they came to learn exactly what terrible thing Amanda Waller might be after.

That’s exactly the type of question asked in Suicide Squad: Dream Team #1, the first of a brand-new mini-series written by Dreamer herself Nicole Maines, with art from Eddy Barrows, inks by Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas on colors, and lettering courtesy of Becca Carey.

One hundred percent this was a truly fun read.

Sure, Waller is doing her whole thing and it’s leading up to an event called Absolute Power (where Waller will surely do terrible things), but by golly that was fun.

Maines knows Dreamer well, having played the character for numerous seasons of The CW’s Supergirl series. But she’s just a fantastic writer overall. It would be easy to assume that she had been writing comics and these characters for numerous years rather than having broken in only recently.

Right from the start we have Harley Quinn there as not only the stalwart Suicide Squad member (and she ain’t happy about that) but the comic relief. It sets the tone because, like Harley, we’re meant to be sick of Waller’s crap. I mean the little title captions for each character has H.B.I.C (Head Bitch In Charge) for Waller, which is just a chef kiss.

Maines even finds a way to tie the book into other DC work without it being an anchor to the story. Jonathan Kent Superman dealt with the island nation of Gamorra and issues with Henry Bendix in his recent books. Of course, Waller would want to step into the vacuum that has been created there with access to advanced weapons on the line.

Helping the feeling is how Barrows presents the work. Panels are solid and often at weird angles, lots of slashes, giving the right sort of ordered chaotic feeling a book like this needs. Dense work with tons of detail but also room to lead things ambiguous. Characters’ emotions and personalities shine through just from their facial expressions or body language.

Ferriea’s inks bring a heavier overpowering feeling to everything. Giving them that extra little kick to achieve the sort of foreboding weighty tone that is desired.

Normally Lucas has been found on books like Nightwing that come with lighter happier aesthetics. Not a beat is missed changing to something rougher and darker. Shadows are the prevailing feeling around the artwork, letting the outside lights do a lot of work on many pages. More vibrant supercharacter-type colors drop in, but with darker shading to match with the rest of the story.

If we’re talking about fun, having that in the lettering is definitely where one turns to a letterer like Carrey. Who can nail the overall mission to get the words on the page and infuse them with energy but take that a step further. This can mean having a character’s shout be font that is so bold and big it bursts from the bubble (Hello Harley), down to the fun slanted nature of the character intro caption boxes. Not to mention SFX which can be small or large while still having the same level of impact all the way through.

Suicide Squad: Dream Team #1 is now available from DC Comics.