Suicide Squad (2019-) #4 looped Captain Boomerang in.

[thanekos]

He'd been out - was out, in a bar in Portland, Victoria, Australia, telling his audience that " Task Force X is run by a bunch of muppets. "

Nearby mobile phones picked up on that, spawning an alert that eventually made its way to the team's current handler, Lok.

Lok got in touch with some " well-trained and discreet people " on a United States Navy ship docked in Portland, who set out to silence Boomerang's being loud about the Suicide Squad.

" You sent a group of regular soldiers up against Digger Harkness? " Deadshot asked him, later.

" I imagine that didn't go so well. "

" No.. " Lok answered.





" .. but we tracked Harkness to Eyre Road on the Nullarbor. "

The Squad was flown to Australia, where a van was ready for them: " Boomerang will hear a helicopter coming for miles, and he'll be expecting it. "

So it was that the Squad - Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and some of the aptly-named conscripted Revolutionaries - went on a road trip.

They stopped at the Great Australian Bight, where Harley wondered about the Revolutionaries to Deadshot.

" Let' s pitch the tents. "

" Yer hidin' something from me. "

" Pitch the tents, Harley. "

(He's hiding his having been pulled into the Revolutionaries' plans in #3.)

That night, Deadshot and the Revolutionary Osita woke to find themselves restrained (after having been dosed with ether).

Harley loomed over them: " Somethin' happened in Bahdnisia.

" And yer both in on it. "

She regarded Osita, having worked out that the Revolutionaries' agenda could be traced back to before that mission: " .. why'd ya let yourselves get captured? "

" Because you've hurt us. "

That was Thylacine of the Revolutionaries, surprising Harley and letting Osita break her bonds.

She tackled Harley, wrapping her hands around her neck: " You want answers? "

" Well.. hnng.. yeah. If that's okay.

" But it kinda feels like.. hnng.. like the power dynamic has shifted. "



" I married her. "

" What? This is a love story?

" What a twist! "



In the confusion, something'd come whistling, taking an arm and a life.

" She died from a boomerang to the chest. "



" Your boy put a boomerang in my wife's chest, and after everything we'd sacrificed for them, the U.S. government stuck her in a fridge. "

She walked them through the start of her vengeance: " I learned about Task Force X. That the country I'd sacrificed for was employing and defending criminals.

" I tracked your fights.

" I found others who'd been hurt all around the world. People trying to do good, who'd been collateral damage in Task Force X's missions. "



" I dropped clues for you to come and get us. We put ourselves out in the open. "

That was where the Squad'd come in, in #1, pulling them into the spider's parlor as expected.

What Lok'd done to one of the flies to assert his dominance, detonating the bomb he'd had implemented in the Revolutionary T.N. Teen, hadn't been expected.



Harley and Deadshot discussed things.



They returned to the Revolutionaries.



The next morning, the Squad's trip came to a stop when the Aerie spotted Boomerang's truck from the air.

They pulled into " the car graveyard ".

" Fan out. " said Osita.

" Look for- "

" Nah. No need..



(Jog is a speedster..)



(.. who ran headlong into a trap.

Pagecount's a little more than 7 of 22.

Writing's Tom Taylor, pencils're Daniel Sampere, inks're Juan Albarran, colors're Adriano Lucas, and letters're Wes Abbott.)

Comments

[akodo_rokku]

They sent the speedster. At Boomerang. This may be the single dumbest thing they have done.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

I dunno, his win/loss record against speedsters isn't great

[skjam]

In Suicide Squad titles, he does better, as the speedsters he goes up against aren't as experienced and well-trained as the Flash family, who've all either learned from experience or been carefully taught how to handle boomerangs.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

More like the speedsters he fights don't keep the pace for long.

[cainofdreaming]

His win/loss record against the fastest speedster around. And all those losses still give him heck of an experience factor.

[silicondream]

His win/loss record against Flashes isn't great. But he's a Rogue, winning and losing against Flashes is just part of the game. Keeps the players entertained and most other folks don't get hurt.

If you cross him and you're not a Flash, expect him to be a lot more dangerous.

If you cross him and you're not a Flash or as fast as a Flash, but you still have a speedster's combat style and weaknesses...oh boy, good luck.

[lilacsigil]

Ha, I live near Portland and Boomer would fit right in there (it's a very pretty, but very rough town where the main industries are fishing and aluminium smelting).

[iamrman]

What's this, a Boomerang that is actually competent?

[lilacsigil]

Hey, Boomer is very competent...right up to the point that his ego and need to show off get in the way. Sometimes that's very early in his plan, sometimes not until he's done some damage!

[iamrman]

Mind you, he is fighting a speedster. He has prior experience with that sort of thing.

[cainofdreaming]

He's a Rogue. They tend to get underestimated.

[crabby_lioness]

This may be the first good Suicide Squad story since the original run.

[beyondthefringe]

I like that the Revolutionaries are made up, at least in part if not all, of people with a legitimate grudge against the Suicide Squad program (and its handlers) because they were basically incidental casualties. It's almost like weaponizing supervillains to fight shadow wars and conduct covert ops may actually backfire on occasion, leading to collateral damage.

I also like the Revolutionaries, and it sucks that some die before we really get to know them. But hey, it's in the spirit of the Suicide Squad to actually have a body count, and not a stable long-term roster (outside the core handful, anyway.)