Justice League and Suicide Squad fight vampires and become the undead in October DC comics

The undead are attacking DC's comic book line on two fronts this October, with the new series Task Force Z and DC vs. Vampires.

Former Marvel-exclusive writer Matthew Rosenberg is taking point on both series (with a little help from James Tynion IV), just in time for Halloween.

Task Force Z

After being teased for backup stories beginning in August's Detective Comics #1041, Task Force Z will be branching out after those backups for an ongoing series of its own. In this special, someone is taking deceased criminals from Infinite Frontier #0's recent 'A-Day' event and resurrecting them for an even more bizarre version of Suicide Squad's Task Force X.

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"On A-Day, hundreds of Gotham City's most dangerous and deranged criminals were left dead after an attack on Arkham Asylum and now, they're getting a second chance at life," reads DC's description of Task Force Z #1. "A mysterious benefactor is bringing together a new Task Force and has recruited the only person who could lead them, someone who knows what it's like to come back from a brutal death: Red Hood."

Jason Todd famously died at the hands of the Joker in the '80s, but was resurrected in the early '00s and remade as the Red Hood.

"Now Jason Todd has to unravel the mystery surrounding this team of the recently deceased while leading a line-up of some of Gotham City's worst criminals who've ever lived: Bane. Man-Bat. The Arkham Knight. Sundowner. Mr. Bloom."

Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreira are drawing Task Force Z #1 (and its primary cover), with variant covers planned by Tyler Kirkham, Dan Mora, Rodolfo Migliari, and Kyle Hotz.

DC vs. Vampires

And from an ongoing to a twelve-issue series, DC vs. Vampires will see Rosenberg team up with Batman writer James Tynion IV and artist Otto Schmidt as a secret army of vampires attempt to overrun Earth under the Justice League's watch.

Schmidt will draw the primary cover to DC vs. Vampires #1, with variants planned by Francesco Mattina, Jorge Molina, and Ejikure.

Both Task Force Z #1 and DC vs. Vampires #1 will go on sale on October 26.

For more on zombies, vampires, and all things horror, make sure you check out Newsarama's recommended best horror comics.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)