Suicide Squad: From the Ashes #1 of 8

Back in the day, I loved John Ostrander's "Suicide Squad". The concept and execution were exellent and Ostrander handled the various "bad guys" well, adding depth to each character. I thoroughly enjoyed the introduction and growth of Amanda Waller as well. Flash forward quite a few years and Ostrander is back with a miniseries explaining how the team leader, Rick Flag survived a nuclear blast in Qurac and made it back to the pages of DC Comics.

Ostrander assembles the classic Suicide Squad in the pages of "From the Ashes" and sets up the series end point of finding Rick Flag. The writing in tense and action packed, with each squad member getting an introduction. The team dynamics are reastablished and Amanda Waller is reintroduced as the badass that we know she is. The squad is gathered together and sent into Russia to find the thought dead Rick Flag. The mission goes awry with Ostrander delivering good dialague, action, and character motiviation. The art by Javi Pina on pencils, Robing Riggs on inks, and Jason Wright on colors is outstanding. All capturing the nuances of each character.

I'm not a follower of "Checkmate". I really had not planned on buying this series, but decided to pick up the first issue on the spot at my local comics store. This issue really drew me in and made me want to read the entire series.