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Suicide Squad #12 pits Task Force X up against Earth-8’s pastiche of Marvel’s Thunderbolts, the appropriately named “Lightning Strikes.”
It was recently confirmed that Suicide Squad #12 will feature Task Force X going up against DC’s version of the Thunderbolts Lightning Strikes, on Earth-8 — a world intended to serve as an homage to the Marvel universe.
A new preview for the issue titled “The Beginning of the End” shows the squad duking it out with the team, which consists of thinly-veiled riffs off of Marvel characters, like Thrill Kill (Punisher), Dead Red (Red Hulk), Oedipus (Elektra), Thing-Man (Man-Thing), and Blood Puch (Deadpool). The teaser even goes as far as having the Suicide Squad’s fast-talking, fourth-wall-breaking Ambush Bug — clad in an outfit right out of a ’90s Marvel comic — veering close to calling this team the Thunderbolts before muttering, “For legal reasons I can’t finish my line.”
SUICIDE SQUAD #12
- (W) Robbie Thompson (A) Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira (CA) Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Marcelo Maiolo
- Rick Flag attacks! The Squad has their hands full with the marvel that is Earth-8, and soon learn that this “test” was actually just a decoy for Waller’s real Suicide Squad. If they’re going to get off Earth-8, they’ll have to get through a whole other Squad in the process! And just as Flag is about to take down Waller once and for all, he’s betrayed by a double agent in his ranks!
- In Shops: 2/1/2022
- SRP: $3.99
It’s worth pointing out that Lightning Strikes first appeared in Suicide Squad #11, with Dead Red proudly exclaiming that the team is a collective of “bad guys” sent to do dirty work that nobler heroes refuse to touch. Readers will probably recognize the mission to be similar to that of Marvel’s Thunderbolts, a group of reformed super criminals and anti-heroes who first appeared in 1997’s The Incredible Hulk #449 and included the likes of Baron Zemo, Red Hulk and Taskmaster.
Suicide Squad #11 also featured Task Force X battling a new incarnation of the Retaliators, the Earth-8 version of the Avengers that made their debut in 2014’s The Multiversity, a guide to the various worlds of the DC multiverse written by Grant Morrison.
While several members of the original Retaliators fell in a battle against archenemy Tartarus in Justice League Incarnate #1, the team’s initial lineup was composed of characters parodying Marvel’s Mightiest Heroes. That roster specifically featured American Crusader (Captain America), Machinehead (Iron Man), Behemoth (Hulk), Wundajin (Thor), Deadeye (Hawkeye), and Red Dragon (Black Widow). The team even yelled out “Retaliators Ready” and “Retaliators Rampage” as nods to the classic “Avengers Assemble” battle cry.
Recent events in Suicide Squad have seen Task Force X at odds with their former boss Amanda Waller, who has aggressively sought to expand her power beyond the limits of Earth. Since the start of the series, Waller has sent Bloodsport to gather intel across the multiverse, while the scope of her ultimate plan can be seen in the recently released two-part series Future State: Suicide Squad. That series, in particular, imagined a possible future where Waller relocated to Earth-3 and created her own version of the Justice League after being fed up with the petty conflicts and power plots of her own version of Earth.
Suicide Squad #12 is written by Robbie Thompson and Dennis Hopeless, and illustrated by penciler and cover artist Eduardo Pansica, inker and cover artist Julio Ferreira, colorist and cover artist Marcelo Maiolo and artist Dexter Soy. The issue also features colors by Matt Herms, letters by Wes Abbot and variant cover art by JonBoy Meyers. The issue goes on sale Feb. 1 from DC.
Source: DC
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