Next Level: One Shot #1: You Better Run, Better Run, Faster Than My Bullet

The Next Level: Oneshot serves multiple purposes for the direction of the DCU as the next round of Team-based titles are poised to drop the first Wednesday in September and more (discussed below).

Duggan drops readers into the middle of Deadshot being chased across the roof tops of Chicago by a unknown paramilitary group. During this opening sequence and throughout most of the issue, the story is driven by Deadshot’s inner monologue giving readers both new ( there may be someone who hasn’t picked up at least an issue of Suicide Squad ever...) and old a snapshot of Deadshot’s current status, aside from his cameos over Deathstroke: The Terminator.

A dossier gives from one of his pursuers gives his history in a digestible Cliff Notes rundown with facts about him including his origin, a mention of his daughter, and the fact that he still possibly has the Get Out Of Hell Free pass from The Secret Six run. The recent-ish DCU crossovers such as Beast World and Absolute Power serve as the starting point this thread as someone has got a hold of Cadmus and the left metahuman DNA Waller used in her latest attempt at grabbing power and control which lead into the All-In era of the DCU. While it makes sense that this is the fallout if Absolute Power, it remains unclear as to if this is going to work, given that the particular event was mediocre.

The rest of the book is basically introducing the next round of DC Next titles Doom Patrol, Teen Titans, Vixen, and Shadow Of The Bat,, The Demon;  with the omission of Static, Jonah Hex, and Legion Of Superheroes. The inclusion of Guy Gardner seems to be odd man out  of al the cameos in the issue.The issue also sets up a new and seemingly different take on the Suicide Squad. It would have nice if there could have been some connective threads to the current Next Level titles, but doing so may have retracted from the story being told.

Fernando Blanco’s is good and the action scenes are dynamic and is brought to life by Jodie Bellaire’s always top-notch colorwork. The loser art for theflashback scene with Flagg is a nice touch. Where the main story art lacks is in the sequences where Deadshot is spying on the different teams. Blanco uses a nice mix of page/panel layouts to keep readers engaged, the action flowing, and the overall experience enjoyable.