Letters to Suicide Squad #12

Suicide Notes:

Now that my run is over I just realized thatI never should have written this series here at DC2. I mean, no one else here can claim to be a bigger fan of these characters or the original DC series that inspired this title. So I guess that’s where I have a problem with the concept here. ‘Fan Fic’ should never be done by someone who is intimately involved with the characters they write because somewhere down the line you will be disappointed. I was always worried that I would never be able to do the original series justice so I purposely went out and tried to do it differently and I think I succeeded at least on some levels. But when I look back at the entire story it doesn’t look like the Squad I know and love. Maybe I set myself up for failure by picking a title that has always had more of a cult following instead of the iconic status of some of the bigger titles or characters.

When I joined this site in October ’05 I never thought about reading fan fiction, and I certainly never thought I’d write any myself. But I was inspired by how much fun I had checking out the first issues here and how good the stories were. So I sent my pitch in. Once David gave it the OK I spent an entire weekend plotting everything I wanted to do in the series. Of course writing it proved to be much harder and took much longer then I ever expected. What was I thinking using over fifty characters, most of whom nobody really cared about? My first major obstacle came when Brian and Mark ruined my plans for ‘Oracle’. In case you didn’t know, Barbara Gordon was going to be Oracle as well as Batgirl over in New Outsiders. They said NO WAY and everything turned out better then I ever imagined, so thanks guys.

I’d like to say that everything went exactly as planned but that wasn’t the case. Some things were altered during the writing process as certain characters and or events kind of took over and went in their own direction. Some of the highlights for me were developing characters like Enchantress, Black Orchid, and Mark Shaw. Other parts were the scenes that were never planned but just came about during the writing process. Some that come to mind are:

Deadshot shooting Boomerang.
Bronze Tiger and his failed attempt to recruit Calendar Man.
Every scene with Killer Frost.
Every scene with Enchantress.
The death of Resurrection Man.
Dolphin telling Rick Flagg that she saw him die.
The entire Oracle plot.
Lord ordering Deadshot to shot Waller.
The redemption of June Moone.
The origin of Mark Shaw.
The surprise at the end of issue #12.


Of course there were big setbacks that came in the form of numerous delays with several computer crashes, forcing rewrites, real life poked it’s head in more then once, and finally writers block struck every once and a while. But I managed to do thirteen regular issues, the Black Orchid back-up tale, Rogues Gallery #2 (which is really just SS # 8.5) and two annuals (which was just one giant 20k word story). So even with delays I managed to average one issue a month over the last seventeen months which is a pretty good run in my opinion.

Due to the numerous delays I wasn’t able to wrap up one major subplot that was left dangling from the original plotting session. If you’ve been following along you know which one I am referring to. But fear not, that story will see the light of day in the new
Checkmate ongoing that starts in September. I never intended to go right into another ongoing but I think that Checkmate is the natural evolution to everything I have done with the Squad. That is why the untold story arc will be a natural fit for that series. Also I was happy to step away from this title and allow the super talented Jay McIntyre to take over here. Jay came in and helped with the last two issues of my run and added so much more then I ever expected. For that I am forever grateful. I encourage everyone to check out what he has in store for this title starting next month. I guarantee it will be great and every issue will post on time.

I want to thank every artist that worked on the covers including Jim, Scott, Kevin, Dr. Dread, Craig, and last but not least Ramon, who never missed a deadline even when I did. I truly loved every cover and each one inspired me to keep going.

I also want to thank Dave, Mark, and Brian for their outstanding editing efforts and for making me look like a better writer then I really am.

Finally, thanks to everyone one who read one issue or every issue. It means more to me then you will ever know.

When I said I never should have written this series, I was wrong. This was more fun then I ever expected it to be. There are a lot of talented and passionate people on this site. I hope in at least a small way I was able to add to that. If you read the entire run together I think everything makes much more sense. This is a story that I am extremely proud of even if this is still one of the best-kept secrets on the site.

Thanks for your time.

Bloody hell... Immense! Loved it!

This was my favorite issue to date! Of course I say that about every issue, probably. But this one was intense to the extreme. I loved everything that went down with Lord and Nemesis. Both endings blew me away (as it did them).

Boy, that President Lord sure is getting tough.

Great ending, can't wait to see where Christine's story goes from here... hmmm... ;D

Finally, this has been one of my favorite titles since it started, and the new writer has some very, very, very large shoe's to fill. However, I've seen the new guys work (read Elseworlds people, the guy is magnificant!), and I know he's going to do great.

Still, you made this your own, John, and what you did with this book has been some of the strongest and best on the site. You will be missed.