Where Do I Start Reading Suicide Squad?

This week Suicide Squad hit the cinemas with a splash. With some big names in its cast, the movie has been highly anticipated, even if critically it has been less than favourable. Whether you loved the movie and want to read more or hated it and want to see how it should be, you might be thinking to yourself “where do I start reading Suicide Squad comics?”

With almost 30 years worth of history it can be a bit confusing as to where do you start with Suicide Squad. Luckily with this guide, I’ve taken out the guesswork by offering a handful of fantastic places to start reading.

From the original concept to current day there are a lot of great places to start reading for all kinds of Suicide Squad fans. Each heading is a good jumping on point and the whole guide covers the most notable of all the Suicide Squad stories.

Classic Suicide Squad

This is the original Suicide Squad which began all the way back in 1987 and ran until 1992. If you want something that’s a bit different to the modern interpretation then this series is for you.

So far it has been collected into four trade paperbacks with a 5th on the way. Not all of this classic run of Suicide Squad has been collected in trade paperback. The remaining 36 issues will (hopefully) be printed over the coming years. If you can’t wait that long they call be found on Comixology or anywhere you find back issues.

Suicide Squad Volume 1: Trial by Fire
Collects Suicide Squad #1-8 and Secret Origins #14.
Written by John Ostrander. Art by Luke McDonnell.

Suicide Squad Volume 2: The Nightshade Odyssey
Collects Suicide Squad #9-16, Justice League International #13 and Doom Patrol/Suicide Squad #1.
Written by John Ostrander, Keith Giffen, J.M. Dematteis and Paul Kupperberg. Art by Luke McDonnell, Bob Lewis and Erik Larsen.

Suicide Squad Volume 3: Rogues
Collects Suicide Squad #17-25 and Annual #1.
Written by John Ostrander. Art by Luke McDonnell.

Suicide Squad Volume 4: The Janus Directive
Collects Suicide Squad #26-30, Checkmate #15-18, Manhunter #14, Firestorm #86 and Captain Atom #30.
Written by John Ostrander, Kim Yale and Paul Kupperberg. Art by Grant Miehm, John K. Snyder III and Steve Erwin.

Suicide Squad Volume 5 – Available in December 2016

There was also a Deadshot miniseries which spun on out of Suicide Squad. This was collected in a one collection along with a pair of Deadshot-centric Batman stories.

Deadshot: Beginnings
Collects Deadshot #1-4, Batman #389 and Detective Comics #474.
Written by John Ostrander and Kim Yale. Art by Luke McDonnell.

If you’re enjoying this series it is worth checking out this oral history piece that Newsarama did which tells the stories behind the stories of this classic run.

New 52 Era Suicide Squad

Between the conclusion of the the original series and the one I am about to talk about there were two short lived Suicide Squad series. Both are not that memorable and would be out of print so I am skipping those. Instead I am going to talk about the New 52 era of Suicide Squad.

With continuity starting fresh after an event called Flashpoint DC Comics decided to bring the Suicide Squad back. This series is notable as it is the first to include Harley Quinn, who would go on to be a popular character in the team.

If a Harley Quinn featured team appeals to you then this series is a great place to start reading.

This series is collected in five trade paperback collections and can also be read digitally.

Suicide Squad Volume 1: Kicked in the Teeth
Collects Suicide Squad #1-7.
Written by Adam Glass. Art by Clayton Henry, Andrei Bressan, Ransom Getty and Federico Dallocchio.

Suicide Squad Volume 2: Basilisk Rising
Collects Suicide Squad #8-13 and #0 and Resurrection Man #9.
Written by Adam Glass. Art by Jesús Saíz, Andres Guinaldo, Carlos Alberto Rodriguez Vazquez, Fernando Dagnino and Federico Dallocchio.

Suicide Squad Volume 3: Death is for Suckers
Collects Suicide Squad #14-19.
Written by Adam Glass. Art by Sandu Florea, Henrik Jonsson and Fernando Dagnino.

Suicide Squad Volume 4 Discipline and Punish
Collects Suicide Squad #20-23, Justice League of America #7.1 and Detective Comics #23.2.
Written by Ales Kot and Matt Kindt. Art by Neil Googe, Carmen Carnero, Sami Basri, Rick Leonardi and Patrick Zircher.

Suicide Squad Volume 5: Walled In
Collects Suicide Squad #24-30 and Suicide Squad: Amanda Waller #1.
Written by Matt Kindt, Sean Ryan ad Jim Zub. Art by Jim Fern, Jason Masters and Patrick Zircher.

You can read Suicide Squad #1 for free.

New Suicide Squad

After 30 issues of the New 52 era Suicide Squad DC Comics decided to relaunch the series. Slapping “New” at the front of the title the series came back a month later with a new #1 issue, new team members, creative team and craziness.

Adding major villains such as Deathstroke, Black Manta and The Joker’s Daughter, New Suicide Squad dialled up the craziness up to 11 with big action and ridiculous plots.

New Suicide Squad Volume 1: Pure Insanity
Collects New Suicide Squad #1-8.
Written by Sean Ryan. Art by Tom Derenick and Jeremy Roberts.

New Suicide Squad Volume 2: Monsters
New Suicide Squad #9-12, Annual #1 and Sneak Peek story.
Written by Sean Ryan. Art by Philippe Briones.

New Suicide Squad Volume 3: Freedom
New Suicide Squad #13-18.
Written by Sean Ryan and Tim Seeley. Art by Philippe Briones and Juan Ferreyra.

New Suicide Squad: Futures End #1 has been collected in Futures End: Five Years Later Omnibus.

If you’re unsure if this series is for you here are some preview pages for New Suicide Squad #1 to give you a taste.

Rebirth

As part of the Rebirth publishing iniative DC Comics has relaunched Suicude Squad this week with a brand new series. Written by Rob Williams and with art by Jim Lee and Phillip Tan, this series is a fantastic place to start if you want start reading Suicide Squad in single issues.

This team consists of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Katana, Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc and others.

Start with Suicide Squad: Rebirth #1, which is was released on August 3rd, then pick up Suicide Squad #1 on August 17th and then subsequent issues afterwards. There are new issues released every 2 weeks.

There’s no word on when the the first collected edition of this series is released, but I assume it will be in early 2017.

Most Wanted

Most Wanted are miniseries starring members of Suicide Squad starring in their own stories. Each issue is split into two stories starring a different character, which allows to explore different characters.

So far there has been:

Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Deadshot
Collects the Deadshot stories from Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Deadshot and Katana #1-6.
Written by Brian Buccellato. Art by Viktor Bogdanovic.

Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Katana – Available September 27th
Collects the Katana stories from Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Deadshot and Katana #1-6.
Written by Mike Barr. Art by Diogenes Neves.

In the latter half of 2016 there will also be a new Suicide Squad Most Wanted miniseries which features even more villains. Every few issues the cast which be shaken up a bit.

The issues will go as so:

Suicide Squad Most Wanted: El Diablo and Boomerang #1
Written by Jai Nitz and Michael Moreci. Art by Cliff Richards and Oscar Bazaldua.

Suicide Squad Most Wanted: El Diablo and Boomerang #2
Written by Jai Nitz and Michael Moreci. Art by Cliff Richards and Oscar Bazaldua.

Suicide Squad Most Wanted: El Diablo and Killer Croc #3
Written by Jai Nitz and Chris Sebela. Art by Cliff Richards and Brian Level.

Suicide Squad Most Wanted: El Diablo and Killer Croc #4
Written by Jai Nitz and Chris Sebela. Art by Cliff Richards and Brian Level.

Suicide Squad Most Wanted: El Diablo and Amanda Waller #5
Written by Jai Nitz and Vita Ayala. Art by Cliff Richards and TBA.

Suicide Squad Most Wanted: El Diablo and Amanda Waller #6
Written by Jai Nitz and Vita Ayala. Art by Cliff Richards and TBA.

War Crimes Special

If you only want to dabble a little bit into Suicide Squad then this one-shot out in late August should suffice. In this 40 page story the team must extract a US politician who is being tried for war Crimes before he can spill government secrets.

Suicide Squad: War Crimes Special #1
Written by John Ostrander. Art by Gus Vazquez.

Have You Read Any Suicide Squad Comics?

Have you read any of these comics? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments below or via the How to Love Comics Facebook or Twitter.