If You Loved ‘Suicide Squad’, Try These Comics Next

Terror Assaulter just might be the single greatest comic ever created. It beautifully lampoons the medium’s love of violence, revenge, and sexy ladies in a fun action adventure comic. No time is wasted and no quarter is given as the One Man War On Terror gets to work saving the world from the very concept of Terror with a capital T.

Benjamin Marra’s prolific output is packed with gems in a similar vein, but capture the absurdity of western action stories better than Terror Assaulter. They say that to spoof something you need to really understand it, and that’s what makes this comic so great. There may be people out there who miss the joke, and if they do that’s fine, because it’s still one of the best action comics of the decade.

We’ve previously recommended Mark Waid and Peter Krause’s evil-Superman comic Irredeemable, and Incorruptible is literally the flip-side to that series. It stars Max Damage, a supervillain who goes straight after former hero The Plutonian begins his rampage. Realizing that the world now needs a new hero, Damage steps up to and puts his criminal ways behind him, despite the protests of his sidekick and fellow crooks.

Often darkly funny, and a lot more wry than Irredeemable, the series really digs into the motives of Max as a supervillain and as a superhero, and helps establish the lore of a post-Plutonian world for fans of that comic. Incorruptible stands well on its own, however, and is one of the best modern villains-as-protagonists stories.

Nemesis was first pitched by Mark Millar as, “What if The Joker was also Batman” and despite what you may think of it, that’s certainly what it is. Millar and Steve McNiven pull absolutely no punches in this non-stop action story where the world’s only supervillain is a super rich sadist who just wants to watch the world burn.

Not for the faint of heart, Nemesis will shock you every issue and make you question yourself at every turn. It’s definitely not to everyone’s tastes, but there’s a good chance that if you liked Suicide Squad, you’ll love Nemesis.

Absolution starts from the idea of superhumans working within the police department, tackling some of the most distressing and emotionally haunting cases. Unlike an average police officer, they cannot be transferred, so they're put through the ringer on the daily basis while witnessing the very worst of humanity.

One such officer, John Dusk, takes the law into his own hands and begins killing criminals extrajudicially, and the series becomes about how much horror a person can endure before they snap, and about the ethical and moral implications of Dusk’s vigilante behavior.

Of course we were going to talk about Copra.

When Copra first started, calling it the best Suicide Squad comic in decades was a compliment. Now, it seems almost reductive, as the series has spiraled well beyond its inspirations into something unique and exciting all on its own.

Copra wears its influences on its sleeves, with characters obviously influenced by Deadshot, Count Vertigo and Shade The Changing Man, but it plays with these archetypes in new ways while mashing them up with analogues from other publishers and some of the most innovative villain designs in modern comics.

What Michel Fiffe has made is truly a once-in-a-generation comic, a must read if you loved the Suicide Squad movie, or perhaps more importantly, if you didn’t. If you’re a Suicide Squad fan that felt let down by the movie and the franchise’s treatment at DC in recent years, seek out Copra. You won’t regret it.