MY WEEK IN COMICS - - - JULY 26, 2026

MY WEEK IN COMICS  - - -  for the week ending Sunday, JULY 26, 2026  

#284 - #289 =  SUICIDE SQUAD: GET JOKER Book One -Three of Three by Brian Azzarello and Alex Maleev (DC Comics/Black Label, October 2021 - July 2022)

Is it possible to be entertained and disappointed both at the same time? The answer is yes, at least as far as my personal tastes/feelings go, and this story serves as evidence. 

What hooked me on picking up this book was its' premise. DC's Black Label imprint is meant to take some liberties with established comics icons and allow for more adult themes than standard comics. A mission to kill the Joker, not just subdue him like Batman does and put him in Arkham Asylum or prison until his eventual escape? I 've been in favor of a story where the Joker dies for a long time. Realizing that DC would never let that happen to a top-tier popular villain, it seemed to me like this Black Label (also kind of an Elseworlds/What If? alternate universe) version would finally get the deed done. I'm in for that. While I appreciate the character of The Joker, sometimes he can be so annoying that it caused my desire to see him finished off. 

This story started out very promising, and along the way it lost some of that mojo. Perhaps the long delay between Book Two and Three contributed to that. Also, the art is not representative of what Alex Maleev is capable of. There are some great scenes, but also some that look cluttered or just sloppy. 

However, the rough language (plenty of f-bombs and sexual innuendoes), extreme violence, and some truly off-the-wall scenes (Suicide Squad in an adult bar with naked female dancers, and Harley doing a pole dance) some plot twists (a mole/traitor in Amanda Waller's orbit), plus snarky exchanges among the Squad members (totally dysfunctional) held my attention (guilty pleasure, I admit) and kept me reading. As the writing of Brian Azzarello goes, this is also not representative of what he is capable of. 

I'm going to spoil it here, so stop if you have decided to read this . . . . . the alleged death of Joker occurs off panel, with only a "blam" textural sound effect and a teary Harley Quinn, to hint that Red Hood shot him. Or, shot himself - as Joker was trying to talk him into suicide. What happened is left up to us readers, as the story ends there. 

Across the three issues, all but two of this Suicide Squad bite the dust.] Led by Red Hood/Jason Todd this particular Suicide Squad includes arsonist Firefly and vigilante Wild Dog (a January 6th insurrectionist). New members are Silver Banshee (energy absorber), Pebbles (strong with impervious skin, like Marvel's Luke Cage/Powerman), Meow Meow (necrotic, and an under-utilized character), Plastique (explosive touch), and Yonder Man (teleporter, also under-utilized). 

Fun, as long as you lower your expectations - - - but mostly non-essential reading.  THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#290 - #291 =  SHUDDER magazine #2 by various creators (Warrant Publishing, February 2022) 

The cover story is my favorite for two reasons. It features werewolves (my favorite creatures) and some really fine art. In “Happy Howl-Aween!” by Don Glut and Kelley Jones a couple’s car breaks down, stranding them in the creepy countryside on Halloween night.

   The second-place story (my ranking, of course) is “Flesh For Fantasy” by Bambos Georgiou and Benito Gallego, not because of the predictable ending but because it also serves as a warm tribute to the genius of stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen.

Third place goes to the adaptation of E.F. Benson’s classic “At The Farmhouse” by Artie Godwin and Santos Zaballos. An artist plans to murder his nagging, alcoholic wife. Plans can be disrupted. 

In other stories, a ventriloquist gets in trouble by listening to his dummy in the appropriately named “Who’s The Dummy?”; a big-game trophy hunter tries to gain membership in an exclusive club (“Under His Heads”) and an Old West outlaw murders and robs to pay for his passage to the land of the dead. (“Hell To Pay”). Overall, 3.5 STARS - - beter than Issue #1, but not at the high quality level of Issue #3.

#292-#296 =  THE MANY DEATHS OF LAILA STARR trade paperback by Ram V and Filipe Andrade (Boom! Studios, July 2024) Collects the five-issue mini-series . . . . . .

Superb story. Excellent visuals. Bold colorization. A book that entertains and offers food for thought and later contemplation. So good that I read it a second time to make sure it all sinks in. This is one of those books you tell your friends about and share. Thanks to Captain Blue Hen’s Book Club for making it the July selection.

Writer Ram V utilizes Hindu mythology (but with his own slight twists here and there) to tell a powerful story on the meaning and significance of both life and death. The main character is the Goddess of Death, robbed of her immortality and send down to Earth as a mortal after it is learned that a child is about to be born who will later discover immortality for humans - therefore making the presence and importance of Death meaningless.

The goddess (Kali) requests that she be placed on Earth in close proximity to the soon to be born child (Darius),She then inhabits the recently deceased body of Laila Starr. Kali's plan is to find the baby and kill him so that immortality will never be discovered and she can return to her place among the gods. But, she is either interrupted by security guards within the hospital or decides that she just can't kill a baby. 

I'm not going to spoil this. It's too good not to be discovered fresh and unspoiled. Suffice to say that Laila herself experiences death as well as life, and this influences her thinking as the years and decades pass. She eventually has a heart-to-heart discussion with Darius. The cycle of Hindu mythology is life - - death - - reincarnation. Kali/Laila gets to experience it all, but rather than be reincarnated she is resurrected within the same body of Laila Starr, brought back to life by another banished god (the God of Life) who becomes her friend and more. 

There are heart-warming moments throughout, and many fascinating characters such as a young ghost, a funeral crow that talks, and a lonely Chinese temple of worship. The story is also told from various points-of-view, which often separate the chapters. None is more entertaining than the passages that are narrated by . . . a cigarette. 

I did not anticipate the irony/surprise of the ending. I want to share this great graphic novel with relatives and friends, and may need to purchase a second copy to keep and re-read again some day.  FIVE STARS.