Exclusive DC Preview: Suicide Squad #23

DC has provided ComicBook.com with an exclusive preview of Suicide Squad #23, due this week from writer Rob Williams and artist Gus Vasquez.

The issue picks up from last month's controversial Suicide Squad #22, in which Amanda Waller offhandedly referred to Batman as a "metahuman," and the comics internet went a little crazy about it.

The logic at the time was that whether or not Batman actually possessed enhanced abilities, Waller's role in ARGUS likely meant that if she considered the Dark Knight as such, so did the government. This is not the first time he has been categorized as such, but it is the most recent (and likely the only time recognized as canon). Batman and Green Arrow were referred to as metahumans by the slimmest of margins under '90s superstar writer Chuck Dixon, but that has long since faded from memory.

"Not to speak for Suicide Squad, but Batman is not meta," longtime Batman writer Scott Snyder tweeted in response to all the attention the story was getting. "He gets powers for stories (like Darkseid War), but he's never been meta in nature."

Of course, that leaves open the question of whether he will have been classified as metahuman for a reason in this story, and/or if he is going to get powers in the Suicide Squad story that Snyder himself acknowleged he cannot speak to, but there are some context clues that say neither of those things is at play here and that it is more likely Waller referred to "metahumans" in the same catch-all way that many fans refer to "superheroes."

Fans can find out more later this week, when Suicide Squad #23 hits the stands.

You can check out the official solicitation text below, and the preview in the attached image gallery.

"KILL YOUR DARLINGS" part three! Amanda Waller's gone off the reservation! She's ordered Task Force X to go full-on super-villain and take down the Justice League! No, not that one—they tried that before! This time she wants Batman's new Justice League of America driven before her—dead or alive—and the Suicide Squad is happy to oblige.