This article is part of the DC Database Recommended Reading project, a series of articles written by our editors. They are meant as a guide to help both new and old readers, either getting into comics for the first time or looking to read more on their favorites. These should not be taken as a definitive guide; obviously you can start wherever and with whatever you want, but they're some general suggestions that we think you might find useful and enjoyable.
Dying to save the world
The Suicide Squad is a black-ops team of incarcerated supervillains put together by U.S. government agent Amanda Waller as part of the Task Force X program. With nanotech explosives in their skulls, the members of the Squad are forced to do things the United States legally can't do in dangerous missions, all in exchange for reduced prison sentences. The name originally belonged to a group of soldiers during World War II led by Rick Flag, Sr. As with any long-standing super-team, they have a complicated publication history, and several stories to sift through. Hopefully this guide will help new readers (and older ones) sort through the mayhem.
New readers[]
- Suicide Squad (Volume 1) is a series written by John Ostrander that began to tell the tales of the U.S. government's secret supervillains. This is where it all started, with key cast members such as Waller and field leader Rick Flag being introduced, iconic stories such as "Trial by Fire" and "The Janus Directive", and a ton of inspiration for future projects, including later runs on the book and the film The Suicide Squad. It's a great place to start for any new reader.
- Suicide Squad (Volume 5) is the DC Rebirth run on the book, taking a lot of inspiration from the original Ostrander run, while modernizing and reworking it for the modern continuity. Written by Rob Williams, the series is chock-full of great action, artwork, and character development for our leads. If you're looking for a more modern version of the original comics, this is the book for you.
- Suicide Squad (Volume 6) is Tom Taylor's take on Task Force X. It sees the team get taken over from Waller by a mysterious force, and a team called the Revolutionaries attempt to fight back and take control of the Squad for their own means with the help of Deadshot and Harley Quinn.
Further reading[]
- Legends (Volume 1) is the miniseries that introduced Waller's new Suicide Squad to the DC Universe. A massive crossover event, it saw the New God Darkseid attempt to weaken the heroes of Earth.
- Suicide Squad (Volume 7) is the latest run on the team written by Robbie Thompson, following Waller's further descent into villainy, a new team led by the Peacemaker, and Flag abandoning Waller to fight her with his own Squad. The series is heavily tied into the ins and outs of the DC universe and multiverse, even being a big part of the storyline "War for Earth-3", so further reading from other books such as The Swamp Thing and Batman (Volume 2) is recommended.
- Suicide Squad: Blaze (Volume 1) is an Elseworlds story published by DC Black Label that follows the Squad as they hunt a cannibalistic metahuman. Full of gruesome violence, dark humor, and a clear understanding of its source material, this is a very entertaining and engaging read, despite not being canon to the main DC universe.