In 2005 Gail Simone, alongside Dale Eagleshawn and Wade Von Grawbadger launched the series Villains United, which a year later would spawn the ongoing series Secret Six. With a team of several artists including, Jim Califaore and Nicola Scott, Gail Simone would go on to reinvent the classic 1968 team of the same name, creating edgy, yet fun stories full of heart that would span across more than 40 issues. I can't stress enough how amazing of a book Secret Six is, but that's not what this is about. While I'll implore for now that you check out the series, I'll save the multitude of reasons why for another post.
Flash forward to the year 2018. If you had told me that an animated Suicide Squad movie, would have been adapted, featuring a prominant story from the pages of Secret Six, I would have been delighted but doubtful. Yet here we are.
Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay features the rotating squad on yet another mission for Amanda Waller. This time it's personal. Even worse yet she's after something everyone is "dying" to get there hands on. (Yes I made a pun and yes you can deal with it) The fabled "Get Out Of Hell Free Card." It's exactly how it sounds. A one time use magic trick that allows the user, to bypass any hell they might wind up in, and go straight to heaven. If that's what you believe of course.
And of course Amanda Waller wants it, and she'll expend an entire Suicide Squad to get it.
If you've read Secret Six you'll find this plotline almost all too familiar. That's because it was a prominant storyline in the aforementioned series, spanning across issues 1-7. While it might not be a perfect recreation of the "Unhinged" arc, with the Secret Six not even being mentioned, and most of the members missing aside from Scandal Savage, Deadshot and Knockout, the influence is still there. This is the story created by Gail Simone, and I was over the freaking moon that it was being showcasted in an animated film.
I wanted to love this movie. I did love this movie. Personally I think it's one of the best animated films since the last Suicide Squad animated movie, Assault on Arkham. There were so many smaller characters featured that I've been dying to see on screen, including Brick, Silver Banshee, Knockout and Scandal Savage just to name a few. It even features the first lesbian couple in a DC Animated property, and one of my favorite pairings nonetheless.
Aside from some awkward writing here and there, which is a given in movies like these, a terrible outfit for Harley Quinn, and a few plot details, again something I can overlook, Suicide Squad Hell to Pay was a fairly decent movie.
But one glaring issue, pretty much ruins any enjoyment I had for the film. The credits, or rather lack thereof.
We see the credits of John Bryne and John Ostrander for Amanda Waller. Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for the creation of Harley Quinn, Dennis O'Neil for Bronze Tiger, so on and so forth. We even see the credits of Grant Morrison for Professor Pyg, a character who had only three minutes of screentime and minimal dialogue. And yall know how I feel about Grant Morrison. [If you don't feel free to ask me later].
Gail Simone's name is not even mentioned once.
Gail Simone who is the direct inspiration for this film's plot. Gail Simone, who created Scandal Savage, a character while who'd like to have seen more camera time, got enough of a due to at least earn the credit.
Nothing.
I've been disappointed by a lot of things DC Comics and Warner Brothers has done over the past few years, but this one by far hurts the most. As a woman I'm sadded not to see Gail get the credit she deserves, As someone who's dream it is to write comics, and potentially even some of these characters one day, I'm terrified. I'm honestly surprised with this release of the movie, there hasn't been more of a blow back or an uproar.
If Grant Morrison can get credit for a character onscreen less than five minutes, than Gail Simone deserves credit for an entire plot and storyline.
There is NO excuse for this. None. These are your people DC. Give these creators credit where credit is due. But it's not just DC anymore. Superhero films, wether live action or animated are becoming more popular. They're an important part of our current culture. We need to see more comic creators getting credit. Without them, you wouldn't have a movie.
Now I'm not saying you shouldn't watch Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay, it's a damn good film. But if you enjoy the film, consider purchasing the stories that inspired it. Read Secret Six. I'll leave links below for the digital and physical version of the book.
Purchase Secret Six on Amazon and Comixology.
