Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum #1: Criminals, Psychos, and a Shark

Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum #1 serves as both a prequel to the Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League game and a sequel to the Batman: Arkham games. Fans of the game series will immediately find that the characters here read exactly like their game counterparts. In fact, if you are reading this concurrently with the game, all of that voice acting is bound to stick in your head. The most definitive piece here will be if the book brings in new fans, only fans of the game or a mix of both. As it stands, the comic book series is definitely aimed towards those playing the game as each issue comes with bonus tokens that can be redeemed within the game.

Appealing straight to those playing the series, John Layman writes these characters as if he was writing the script for a game. There often is a difference between dialogue in a comic book versus on TV, film, or even a video game. This is because each of those mediums has very specific constraints that have to be met so that the product works. Comic book writers have to focus on what can reasonably fit into a page, as well as what should be conveyed by the art or vice versa. Because of this, comic books traditionally break large chunks of dialogue up for the reader. Inversely, film and TV writers aim to convey their dialogue in different ways, with the added ability to give characters free reign to speak while action on the screen is happening. In video games, dialogue often is short to the point so that players maintain interest, although some games opt for longer, cinematic cutscenes. Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum #1 breaks the mold in that regard, reading as if it is a mix of all of those mediums. This may not work for traditional comic book fans but it definitely works in the context of this series.

Artwise, Jesus Hervas has a style that sometimes mimics the art of the game and other times looks completely different. Of course, the character models and physical attributes are directly pulled from the context of the game, but at times the unique style makes for some odd looking close ups. Batman is the only character who looks off in comparison to his design from the games. It’s almost as if his look was inspired by the DC Rebirth initiative instead of the games. That being said, most of this issue is set up for what the series intends to be, and the book is destined to shift over to the perspective of the squad members themselves, who likely won’t have costumes, since they are still locked up in Arkham.

The colors from Dave Baron really pop here, giving this book a lot of the nuance it needs to make it compare better to the games. A big plot point is that Arkham was rebuilt following the end of the Batman: Arkham series, a point that is clearly reflected in the design and layout of the prison itself. Baron does a great job in capturing the grittiness of the prison while highlighting its new design and layout. This definitely isn’t your daddy’s Arkham Asylum and Baron’s colors truly bring this new iteration to life.