Episode 1819 Talkback: Comic Talk
i_am_scifi
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It's been a while since we caught up, so we pack as much Comic Talk as we can into this week's episode. This includes spoilery conversation on DC's latest movie to hit theaters and HBO Max, The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, Bloodsport, Ratcatcher 2, TDK, King Shark, Harley Quinn, Polka Dot Man and all. We also touch on the season finale of Loki (also with spoilers), the launch of new digital comic book publisher Substack, Shane gets his wish and talks Blue and Gold with Chris and Ian, Tim Drake comes out as bisexual, Murd opines on Chrisopher Cantwell's The Blue Flame and Wally West Quantum Leaping into the Superfriends reality, Chris brings his to-read pile which includes some of the latest James Bond comics, Tom King's Supergirl: The Woman of Tomorrow, Spider-Man Spider's Shadow, Fantastic Four's Bride of Doom arc, Gerry Duggan's X-Men, Black Hammer: Reborn and Black Hammer: Visions, United States of Captain America, the first three trades of Invincible, Hadrian's Wall, Dracula MoFo', Garth Ennis' Sara, and more. Plus, Chris, Ian and Murd review Jeff Lemire's Primordial, Ian tackles JH Williams' Echolands, Shane gives us a World of Toys update, we Muddle the Murd, and other random ramblings! (2:34:14)
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Comments
I actually watched The Suicide Squad last week (hey, I was surprised too), and it was... fine. My son said it didn’t feel so much like a movie as it did a collection of scenes, and I kind of agree. Bloodsport is the only character with a full arc in the story, and that in and of itself would be fine, but unfortunately his arc didn’t really feel earned. His relationships with his daughter and with Ratcatcher II are just taken as given after a short conversation. It just didn't feel true to me. Rick Flag dies for the sake of Bloodsport's arc — if he'd lived then it would have been him leading the fight against Starro, not Bloodsport. When you said that Ratcatcher II died in the original script instead of Polka-Dot Man, that made sense to me, because it would strengthen Bloodsport's arc. It would have been seen as a Woman in Refrigerator, though, and I'm sure that's really why the scene was changed.
King Shark was just Drax without the emotional backstory (with Sebastian filling in for Baby Groot), but he was fine. Polka-Dot Man was there to be weird and goofy and colorful. I would have liked a little more with him, but Bloodsport's arc was already pretty lean as it was and didn't need another distraction. Peacemaker was there to be the antithesis to Bloodsport, and that's fine. I'm sure they're saving his backstory/character arc/etc. for the miniseries, and what they presented here fit the needs of Bloodsport’s story. I thought Cena was pretty good in the role. Ratcatcher II was there to be the emotional lynchpin for Bloodsport's story. She doesn't really serve any other purpose other than to be the surprise powerhouse of the bunch when taking down Starro.
Which brings us to Harley. Her character is one of the few who isn't there simply to serve Bloodsport's arc, so, yeah, it felt a bit jarring when she had that extended scene being romanced by the general. I mean, it was a nice scene — probably the best live-action Harley Quinn I've seen — but it disrupted the flow of the movie a bit too much. I do like that it affirmed her "growth" as a character in Birds of Prey, but I think it hurt the movie more than it helped.
I did laugh a few times, but just as often the jokes fell flat. I liked it more than most of the DC films I've seen this century, but that's a pretty low bar. I give it a flat 3 freking sweers. Go read Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese comics instead.
Speaking of, here's one last thing: Does anyone remember when they were talking about Weasel on the plane to Corto Maltese? Remember they said he ate several children? I think it's kind of fitting that (unintentionally or not) the US left a serial child murderer running loose in Corto Maltese at the end of the film. Think about that before you start cheering and laughing that he survived. ;)
I feel dumb. So we talked about suicide squad during our group chat and I listened to episode. Heck I think Eric and I talked about how Corto Maltese by Hugo Pratt in the same conversation. I didn't make the connection; my brain just skipped over "hey the island they are going to is named after that comic is you have on beside shelf and have read lots of volumes of"
Like I said dum-dum.
Also read Corto Maltese. It's really really good comics