October 10, 2007 - For those unaware, IGN Comics is now using the full 100-point system that the rest of the IGN Network uses. You will find that each rating corresponds to a description (see the Scale below), which should help you determine what all of these numbers represent. However even within these labels there is some flexibility. That's why we have a range of scores under each category (i.e. 3.0 - 3.9 is "Awful"), allowing us to indicate if this book was close to jumping a step higher or lower. Our previous rating categories were simply too broad, with many "Good Check Its" and "Bad Check Its" frustrating readers who wanted to definitively know if something was worthwhile or not.

Again, this is a work in progress. We welcome your feedback, which you can leave through the comments section below (the best method, to be honest) or via e-mail by clicking on the authors' names at the top of the article or the "Contact the Editors" link at the bottom. Ultimately this network is here to serve you, but the only way we can do that better is to hear from you. Don't be shy!

IGN Rating Scale
0.0 = WTF?
0.1 - 0.9 = Worthless
1.0 - 1.9 = Abysmal
2.0 - 2.9 = Terrible
3.0 - 3.9 = Awful
4.0 - 4.9 = Poor
5.0 = Meh
5.1 - 5.9 = Mediocre
6.0 - 6.9 = Passable
7.0 - 7.4 = Decent
7.5 - 7.9 = Good
8.0 - 8.4 = Impressive
8.5 - 8.9 = Great
9.0 - 9.4 = Outstanding
9.5 - 9.9 = Incredible
10.0 = Masterful

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The latest Suicide Squad miniseries is shaping up to be everything a fan of John Ostrander's original landmark series could ask for, as this mini bridges the gap between Rick Flagg's death in middle of the original series and his sudden reappearance in the pages of Greg Rucka's outstanding Checkmate. On the other hand, however, I feel confident saying that fans unfamiliar with the Squad and Ostrander's initial run on the title won't find this work nearly as engaging. Ostrander throws us right into the mix of Rick Flagg's struggle to return from the blast that apparently had taken his life years back, bombarding us with names and references to the source material that would likely fly over the head of any newcomer.

As a fan of that source material, however, I'm tempted to say screw you new fans, because this is precisely the type of book us Suicide Squad fanatics have been waiting for all these years. Since the issue focuses on Flagg and his arch nemesis Rustam's struggle to escape the Island that Time Forgot (made famous in Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier), this particular installments lacks much of the political intrigue that makes the Squad and Rucka's Checkmate so enjoyable. Still, there's plenty of dinosaur action as well as just enough flashbacks and references to the original series to make these twenty-two pages a surefire hit for those few of us who were heartbroken to learn DC had cancelled their plans to publish a Showcase collection of Ostrander's initial run on this title.