interesting to me to watch the evolution of the Suicide Squad as it started, where captain boomerang was specifically the "who gives a shit" comic relief, to now where his attitude fits the entire crew

you get the various Secret Six series that contribute to this, which have a more comedic tone on the whole, but i think it's actually Deadpool as a character that changes the game here with his impact on superhero comics and pop culture, then into Harley Quinn's reinvention...

...and after a whole lot of snowball effects you end up here, miles away in tone from Ostrander's politically focused thrillers - and notably, Oracle nowhere to be seen, and Waller a less and less important character (and frequently made much thinner/into an action character)

deadshot as a comedic figure, even when being the straight man, is also something when his primary deal thru ostrander's foundational material was the fact that he really, truly, didn't care if he lived or died. egotistical, yes, but deeply self-destructive too

the removal of Bronze Tiger from the squad's frequent lineups is also huge, cutting down the squad's number of black characters and also greatly cutting out the no-nonsense types. you absolutely don't need Rick Flag - though you could do surprising things with him - but, hm.

anyway, i think i'm far beyond (mostly) caring if this is 'my squad', per se, but i do know i miss ostrander's politically focused touch on this stuff, and would love to see how he'd approach a fresh squad now with whatever he's learned about politics and incarceration since

(i am very much caring about 'my squad' when it comes to amanda waller, but that is also tied up in keeping an eye on creatives treatment of fat people, black people, women, and fat black women)

also also the removal of oracle from depictions of the squad is a huge whole thing and that's wrapped up in an even larger Thing of nostalgia and ableism

does a huge disservice to the stories and the character tho, oracle is the perfect match for the squad