DC Comics/Hanna-Barbera 2017
Written by Tony Bedard
Penciled by Ben Caldwell
Inked by Mark Morales
Coloured by Jeremy Lawson
Lettered by A Larger World’s Troy ‘N’ Dave
“SUICIDE SPLITS”! Mistaken for metahumans, thrown in the bowels of Belle Reve, the animal rock band Banana Splits are recruited by Amanda Waller for a secret mission: to save the Suicide Squad! What follows is the weirdest team-up you never thought you’d see! How can Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky stand up to Harley, Deadshot, Katana and Croc?
And in the backup feature, Snagglepuss is a Southern gothic playwright working with an ensemble cast of cultural figures, exploring an intensely creative time in the New York City theater scene of the 1950s.
Utterly effin brilliant that’s my assessment of this book! As a kid who grew up with the Banana Splits and remember them fondly this is kind of a dream come true. Granted Bubblegum pop and the Suicide Squad sound like they go together as well as oil and water but Tony is a man who could literally make any combination work no matter how bizarre sounding it is. Now I want him to do a New Zoo Revue/Titans crossover!
I’m not usually a big fan of the cartoon artwork I’m more of detail oriented guy but it really does fit the nature of the beast as it were. Though i’m sorry Harley really needs to not look like some awful anime tentacle porn chick. This iteration of her look doesn’t translate well anywhere for me and animated is even worse. I will say too that I adored seeing how the Banana Splits are rendered here from their introduction to their sting at Belle Reve to being outfitted for a mission by Waller all of it is so perfectly on point.
The way the personalities mix and match as we see how the Squad interacts with those sent to save them is something I never could have dreamed would work so well. Harley and Snorky were actually the best combination this issue and that’s coming from after seeing Bingo and Croc together. If anyone at all remembers the show, which was partly filmed in Cincinnati where I spent time in my childhood, this is a must have collector's item from the sheer fact that it’s a reminder of the past mixed with the present and just gives all the good feels. This is such a bizarre feel good book and this can’t be the end i’d love to see more.
DC has access to some of the best properties on the planet. That they are now willing to go that extra mile and dust them off and bring back the past and make it current once again is amazing. I cannot recommend this enough it really is something incredibly fun, incredibly silly and perfectly suited for both groups. Plus if this is your introduction to the Banana Splits well sit back relax and enjoy.