Who'd Like A Cocktail? #13

Despite being really busy with boring things like work, I'm going to endeavour to get back into the weekly swing of things as far as the Cocktail posts go. Having said that, I'm away next weekend so that one might be delayed as well.

Tricky one this week: The Four Horsemen came to a satisfying conclusion with #6; Green Arrow And Black Canary #4 almost redeemed Judd Winick's urge to kill every hero from the previous issue (though I still have reservations which I'll deal with in another post); Green Lantern Corps #20 almost made it but the short hand conversation between Kyle and Guy rankled a little; Countdown To Final Crisis #16 killed a lot more people; Salvation Run #3 almost got the Cocktail for the great surprise ending; The Boys #14, while a good solid read, didn't do anything spectacular; and the frankly bizarre Teen Titans Lost Annual #1 was just too . . . bizarre to cope with unless you'd taken as many drugs as Bob Haney had.

Which you couldn't because he'd taken all of them. All of them.

As you can tell from the picture, though, it was Suicide Squad #5 that stood out for me this week.

Having taken his time in explaining how Colonel Rick Flag (previously thought dead) was back in the Squad, John Ostrander's story begins to pick up pace nicely as the first mission for the new Squad is placed in jeopardy before the members even leave the warm and welcoming corridors of Belle Reve prison.

Giving the bad guys the most attention this month, Ostrander neatly reveals that The General is still as devious a son of a bitch as he ever was. Unknown to Amanda Waller, the Squad's leader, The General is in control of Flag and plans to sell the Squad down the river to the very people they're due to go up against.

On top of that, Bronze Tiger has to reprimand Captain Boomerang for pissing off Deadshot, neatly foreshadowing an upcoming conflict between the pair. Deadshot and the original Boomerang were never the best of friends and with the new Captain's ill considered attempt to annoy him, it's certain that things will quickly come to a head.

Rather than rush into explaining how Flag returned, Ostrander once more showed what a damn fine writer he is by bringing him back in a way that, while bizarre, made perfect sense within the larger world of the DCU. Using the same steady flow, he has built the series towards what promises to be a damn fine climax which should hit just before Final Crisis.

I for one can't wait.