JOHN OSTRANDER ON RETURNING TO THE SQUAD

[MattBrady]

As we reported on Friday, April will see four one shots tied to World War III, which will be happening in 52 #50. Two of the four will be written by Keith Champagne, while the other two will be handled by John Ostrander.

On top of those two special issues, DC Universe Executive Editor Dan Didio revealed that Ostrander would be working with a familiar property in the coming year as well – a new Suicide Squad miniseries.

If you go back and check out the initial news (in that first link, above) readers are still talking about Ostrander’s return to the Squad. To say that there’s a healthy fan anticipation…well, that’s an understatement.

For those not familiar with the connection, Ostrander created the current version of the Suicide Squad that’s been appearing around the DC Universe since their debut in Legends #3 (1986). His team then was a reimagining/reintroduction of the concept to the DC Universe, as it had first been introduced in 1959. The idea – kind of like The Dirty Dozen meets Mission: Impossible, but replace Bronson, Brown, Savalas, Sutherland and the others with the likes of Deadshot, Enchantress, Javelin, and Captain Boomerang (and replace Lee Marvin with Bronze Tiger and Rick Flag Jr.) – and then put Amanda Waller on top of them all. In short, the government used the criminals to do the dirty work around the world – missions where superhuman muscle was needed, but was too messy for the heroes to be involved.

Ostrander, who was the series’ writer for its 66 issue run used the characters, their missions, and the dynamics between the disparate – and desperate – villains to get inside heads and turn over motivations and explore them from the inside out. As a result, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang – to name two – became fan favorite characters during the run.

The Ostrander version of the Squad had a handful of appearances after the series ended in resurfaced recently in Checkmate, something which apparently only whetted appetites.

We spoke with Ostrander about the return.

Newsarama: While your fans and Suicide Squad fans are jazzed about you back with the Squad, the miniseries is the latest of a return for you to the DCU which has seen you on Batman as well as other projects - what got this larger collection of work going in the first place?

John Ostrander: This has been buzzing for awhile. Dan DiDio kept coming up to me at cons, saying how DC and I should work together again. Pete Tomasi, an old friend and one of my regular editors, kept sending me fill-ins on things like Aquaman - which I really enjoyed doing, by the way. Some of the writers who have come up since I left – like Geoff Johns and Gail Simone – kept bringing up my name. I’ve always maintained good relations with the editors I knew up there so I don’t think there ever was any ill will. I figure it’s just a cycle.

NRAMA: Had you been following along with the DCU so that you were able to come in without a tutorial from editorial on your 52 one shots and Suicide Squad, or did you need the crash course?

JO: A mix. Some things I was aware of, some not. DC has done a lot of change in the past few years which I think is healthy. Any comic book company needs to reinvent itself every so often.

NRAMA: That said, what's your take on where the DCU is now, and why you think it's a time for the Squad to return?

JO: I go back to the days just after Crisis on Infinite Earths. What that series did, IMO, is that it served notice to everyone – fans and industry -- that DC was opening everything up. Re-tooling itself, looking anew at what it did and how it approached it’s characters, that it was re-inventing itself. Infinite Crisis was not just a celebration of that anniversary; in my opinion, I think its doing the same thing.

As for the Squad -- my Squad as a re-invention of a former Suicide Squad and it came after Crisis and Legends. Also, I think fan interest is high again. Out of all the books I’ve ever worked on, the two most requested ones for return have been Suicide Squad and GrimJack…interesting since I’m also going to be doing more GrimJack at
about the same time.

NRAMA: Speaking of seeing the Squad “return,” you know Amanda Waller...in your mind, has the Squad ever not been around, despite what Waller might've said to say, a Congressional Committee?

JO: Oh, now that’s a fun idea! [laughs]

NRAMA: Larger picture – as you’ve said, you're aware of the fan excitement over just the idea of you coming back to the Squad, let alone, and hones to goodness return, and certainly, when you wrote the series, you seemed to click with the characters and stories. Why do you think that was? Was there something special about the whole set up that just hit you the right way?

JO: I’m very attracted to flawed characters and the Squad certainly had that! Even the good guys were badly flawed. It was also fun to take what were sometimes second tier characters or throw-aways and making something out of them. Deadshot was probably one of the best examples – we took a very minor villain and really played with him, juiced his backstory, until he became a very complex, dangerous character. With the stories, I - joined later my wife Kimberly Yale - used current events and then projected forward a little, made it an espionage based story and found we had things resonating with the real world. I had one person I know call me up at one point to ask where I was setting the Squad that summer because she was booking her vacation and she did not want to go anywhere we were sending the Squad since, at that point, it tended to get “hot” in the real world around the same time the issues came out. Spooky!

NRAMA: With taking the characters and set up this time around - what was the appeal to you about going back to this particular well? After all, you had a great run on it, fans loved it...isn't there a danger of sorts of going back home again?

JO: Oh, always and that did make me hesitant. As I’ve said, I’m also doing GrimJack again, so I don’t want people thinking I can only do the characters I’ve already done. Fortunately, I also have some new things in development that I can’t yet talk about and I am doing Star Wars: Legacy [with Jan Duursema] over at Dark Horse and that’s all new characters. The biggest concern I have is – can I do anything but screw the Squad up now? Fan expectations may be high; can I possibly meet them? That’s the risk but that’s also what makes it interesting, isn’t it?

NRAMA: Obviously, we're a ways away from the start of the mini as well as the events that precede it, but in broad strokes - Dan said that after WWIII, there's a need for the Squad...anything you can say to that? Is the DCU after WWIII a world where dirty deeds are needed to be done for dirt cheap?

JO: That’s always been the premise of the Squad since I brought it in during Legends. Funny thing is, when I proposed the concept – that the government would sponsor a covert action team using criminals and possibly illegal methods – it raised concerns at DC. Would people buy into that? And then Irangate broke between the time the proposal was accepted and our first issue came out and made us look like pikers. So, in our own twisted fashion, the Squad reflects the real world – and that’s part of its strength. That’s what makes it “feel” real. And it may not be so much the events after WWIII that make a Squad necessary as the events during it.

Of course, Dan knows a lot more about the state of the DCU afterwards than
I do. [laughs]

NRAMA: Are there any familiar faces you're looking to bring back in to the mix?

JO: The story has ties to the past and some of it is set there so you’ll see “classic” Squad members in it. Yeah, that means you, Boomerbutt. So get out of your grave and look sharp. Yer fans are calling.

NRAMA: Finally – again, it’s a little ways off, but big picture - what will this miniseries encompass?

JO: So – how did Rick Flag survive being at ground zero when that nuke went off in Jotunheim? I’ll tell you a little secret – I knew when I wrote it. How’s that for a tease? [laughs]

We also want to redefine certain characters and aspects of the Squad. The stories were originally written in the ‘80s so the history can use a little re-tooling. I want the Squad to be as vital a part of the DCU today as it was in its heyday. If the Squad is ever going to get its own series again, this needs to be its launching pad. If I do my part, I know the fans will do theirs.

[Korvac]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[SpyGuy]

MEMO TO DC COMICS

Subject: Ostrander and Yale's SUICIDE SQUAD

Dear DC --

Trade paperbacks -- in color, not this "Showcase" nonsense -- starting with #1. Make it happen. Today.

Warmest regards,

Your Consumer Base

[Ye Olde Iowa]

I am so incredibly, undeniably sold on this miniseries. Ostrander is one of the best in the business and had a great year in 2006, between more SW:Legacy, the World War III issues, and a new Suicide Squad mini, I'm guessing 2007 will be even better for him. Now if only he was on Batman full-time (I love Morrison, be he has been an ill-fit for the character and Ostrander's arc was crazy-awesome)!

Either way, this miniseries will be a must read for DC.

[DiManna1]

More GrimJack is always a good thing!!

[Deadshot77]

THANK YOU John. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
And Thank you DC & Didio & Geoff & Gail & any one else who lobbied for Mr. Ostrander's return.

It's also good to know that John left an out for Flag or had planned for him to live after all. Hopefully he had input in that Checkmate story, then.

Boomer's younger version should be alive somewhere, since I believe we seen him come out of the future in one of Geoff Johns' last issues in Rogue War.

And John MUST get Deadshot back. I think with Gail's admiration, she'd gladly give John ol' Floyd back. Nobody wrote him as well as John. The mini-series still goes down as one of the darkest & coolest of all time.
In fact nobody wrote Nightshade, Bronze Tiger, Nemesis, Wall, hell anyone John touched, he made gold. This will be awesome. I think a monthly, if John wants it, should only be a formality. This is going to kick major a$$.

Need I say, THANK YOU JOHN, one mo' time?
I can't wait. This is a dream come true!

LONG LIVE THE SQUAD!

[ElijahSnowFan]

From John Ostrander: If I do my part, I know the fans will do theirs.

you're damn right, we will!

go! go! go!

[God-Man]

I'm definitely looking foward to this.

[gorillaboss]

This is the happiest comic news I've read in over a decade.

Wow. Just wow.

[Squashua]

Who is this Ostrander guy, some sort of n00b writer?

[jaggedpill]

Suicide Squad was my favorite series from the 80's. Welcome back John.


Hopefully Duchess can be brought back. I know she was actually Lashina spying for Apokolips, but I bet her character longs for her Squad days on our little "mudball". For those who don't know, Duchess was like if an amazon on steriods had a child with Rambo and yeah she carried a Big F'in Gun or BFG if you will. Seriously one of the most kick@ss female characters in comics at that time.

The Wall, Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Rick Flag, Nightshade, Boomerang(Jr or Sr), Duchess and a gaggle of "disposable" criminals...I'm ready!

[jeircho]

I find it so interesting how many people are excited about this writer getting back to SUICIDE SQUAD. I've never read the series plus the only thing I've read from Ostrander was a collection of the first few SPECTRE issues (which I liked quite a bit). That and his writing article on WRITE NOW magazine. Anyone know of any trades I can pick up on the series or anything else he's done that I can try? I'm curious since everyone is touting this like the second coming of Christ -lol.

[mrblasphemy]

I've loved this series ever since I found issue #3 in a quarter bin several years ago; I've since gone back and collected most of the rest of it...also often from quarter bins.

It's inconceivable to me that we'd be reading the excellent Checkmate series today without the foundation Ostrander and Yale laid in Suicide Squad. The best thing about the series was that the writing and the art were always completely comfortable with the fact that there were all these kookie characters running about, like Punch and Jewelee and Captain Boomerang. Rucka's doing much the same thing today on Checkmate.

So I'll be giving this a look...

[Snarf5181]

If they cancel Outsiders ('cause it sucks!) this would be a good place for a few of those guys -- Boomer, Shift, Katana, Grace. They could either get brought up on charges for some stuff they did during the missing year or some could be non criminal members like Vixen, Shade, etc...

As far as trades go, at least put out the Janus Directive as a collection. I think I finally tracked them all down, but its a real pain getting them all together to read that story. What was it, 13 chapters? I'd pay 29.95 for that if it was in color.

Edit: For more Ostrander, check out the Clone Wars trades or any issues of Republic with Quinlin Vos. Same artist as Legacy (which is great). For more Duursema, check out Arion, Lord of Atlantis for super cheap =P. Shes pretty good, I've always dug her Star Wars stuff, but thats the only thing from the Big Two I've noticed her on. Has she done more DC or Marvel Stuff?
Also, did Ostrander write the original Checkmate? I've only read a few issues, but it seemed alot wordier/slower than Suicide Squad. The new Checkmate feels like a much better companion. I wonder if he will reference that 12 issue Suicide Squad from a few years ago. Alot of fun, but not on the same level.

I can't believe any DC fan isn't excited about this/is suprised by the fan response! This is the coolest DC news since JSA #1!!!

[wespierce1]

I always lovced the SS. No, not that SS. The return of the Suicide Squad marks a decidedly better turn for the DCU. It was always a book that alloowed us to see what was going on behind the scenes with characters that had no other outlet and would otherwise be sitting in comic Limbo.

Deadshot, C.B., Enchatress, Bronze Tiger and all of the others always made the stories run smooth and kept a special place in my heart. Besides, when everyone says, this character needs revamping... what were they to do? The usual answer was kill 'em off. What beter way to do it than by tossing them on a team where at least one member was expected to die, and not in just some cheesy-pleasy way.

I look forward to this with profound enthusiasm!

Until next time.. Make Mine... No wait.... Excelsi... No, not that either... DRINK CREATINE UNIFORMLY!



(Well, until the DCU comes up with their own phrase that's what I'm using.... )

[kingofcities]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

JO: The story has ties to the past and some of it is set there so you’ll see “classic” Squad members in it. Yeah, that means you, Boomerbutt. So get out of your grave and look sharp. Yer fans are calling.

I don't see a [laughs] there. That mean this is really happening?

[Kent Horton]

JO: Oh, always and that did make me hesitant. As I’ve said, I’m also doing GrimJack again, so I don’t want people thinking I can only do the characters I’ve already done. Fortunately, I also have some new things in development that I can’t yet talk about and I am doing Star Wars: Legacy [with Jan Duursema] over at Dark Horse and that’s all new characters. The biggest concern I have is – can I do anything but screw the Squad up now? Fan expectations may be high; can I possibly meet them? That’s the risk but that’s also what makes it interesting, isn’t it?

Please tell me this means another Grimjack mini is coming this year.

[Gamma Duck]

I've been unimpressed, disliked or out-and-out hated 99% of what DiDio's done since he came to DC.

Welcome to the 1%.

[Thalya]

I wonder... Does this mean we'll get a Boomerang on the team and have Calculator fill in on the Oracle role this time around?

[holtom2000]

awesome. flag, boomerbutt, just awesome

[Samy Merchi]

There is an extremely limited amount of series that I put more than one issue's worth of money behind. I can count on the fingers of one hand, the times when I've bought more than one copy per issue of a given series.

I will be buying 10 copies of each Ostrander NewSquad issue. Because I feel that strongly about this. Ostrander on the Squad is one of the best things that could happen. It's like having Byrne back on FF or Simonson back on Thor.

[Tony Lee]

Dear Dan Didio.

Thank you for giving me a Christmas present late this year.

Ostrander back on Squad? Sold.

Tony


www.tonylee.co.uk

[wespierce1]

Originally Posted by Samy Merchi

I will be buying 10 copies of each Ostrander NewSquad issue. Because I feel that strongly about this. Ostrander on the Squad is one of the best things that could happen. It's like having Byrne back on FF or Simonson back on Thor.

Right there with you on everything except for the Byrne: FF. If he were to touch that nowadays given his recent histroy, it would be what we army folks call 8 up. He no longer has the knack... Look at all of his recent works to verify that... As for Simonson on Thor... Don't make me drool. Go Ostrander!!!! Go!!!!



Drink Creatine Uniformly!!!!

[Drcharles]

Not all that familar with the Suicide Squad, but I wonder how they will interact with the Secret Six since DeadShot is now with the Six ?
I love all Villain Groups, so I may get this series, but it will depend on the artist.

[jpreader]

I can't buy that I'm the only reader who cites Ostrander's Squad, Morrison's Animal Man, and LSHv4 as the mold of my reading habits.