Suicide Squad #26

Writer: Rob Williams

Artist: Stjepan Sejic

Letterer: Pat Brosseau

This issue marks the third entry into the Gotham Resistance tie-in arc to the Metal event. It's weird having so many tie-in issues when the main event is only two issues in, which leads into my main complaint about this crossover. I think Metal needed to breathe a little bit more before this crossover started up. The reason I say this is because I wanted the villains, especially the Batman Who Laughs, to be a bit more defined. I wouldn't have minded having the Dark Batmen one-shots released week by week before this crossover started so they could even appear. It might have felt more earned. But I'm not Scott Snyder.

This issue was fun despite my hesitations about the event itself. I think Rob Williams nails Harley Quinn's voice, and might be the best writer working on her right now. The pace of the issue is nice and the humour is just stuff into every scene, which I mostly appreciated. The constant humour made the serious moments more effective since nobody was joking around. It's a classic storytelling trope, and Williams impressed me with this issue.

Stjepan Sejic somehow found the time to not only draw the Aquaman monthly series and this issue at the same time. My theory is that this issue was the first tie-in to actually be written, since the issue doesn't exactly begin exactly where the last issue ended. Hence Williams might have been given a broad view of the story and was told to go from there. Just my theory. In any case, Sejic draws the most insane issue he's drawn for DC so far. The world he portrays looks like it was ripped right out of one of the Mad Max films. It's detailed enough and his shading and colouring work is fantastic.

I personally wouldn't recommend this crossover unless you've been reading Nightwing. Otherwise, stick to the main event or the one-shots. However, the issue was fun and the art was great.