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Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is one of the year's most talked about games so far. It sees a new line-up of DC's anarchic Task Force X assembled by Amanda Waller to take on a real mission impossible: assassinate the corrupted Justice League! Set in the universe of Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham games this is a tough and edgy take on DC's heroes and villains.
As it turns out, however, Kill The Justice League is not Waller's first run in with Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark and Deadshot. A new four-issue comic, Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum, launches next week from DC and acts as a prequel to the game. Written by John Layman and drawn by Jesús Hervás, with coloring by David Baron, the new comic sees Waller visit Arkham Asylum with one thing on her mind: find strongest, smartest, and most brutal killers in order to join her new Suicide Squad.
We've got an exclusive interview with Layman and Hervás below about the new book and the game, but first, check out this gallery of covers for the first issue featuring work (from left to right) by Dan Panosian, Ariel Olivetti, Kyle Hotz, Steve Beach, and David Nakayama.
Newsarama: How would you sum up the story of Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum in a few sentences?
John Layman: Amanda Waller is looking to create a team of (expendable) superheroes to counter metahuman threats. She has an idea that kills a few birds with one stone: get rid of a bunch of dangerous bad guys while finding out who the MOST dangerous bad guys are, and manipulating them into working for her.
The comic acts as a prequel to the upcoming game. Was there a list of elements that needed to be included in the comic to get it in line with the game?
Layman: Yeah. The book ends right where the game begins, so we had to get to that place, while following continuity set up in the previous Arkham games. There were some challenges to it, one big one in particular, but I can't really get into it without giving away too much. Suffice to say, I saw it as a fun challenge, and I think it worked out pretty well.
Jesús Hervás: We had a very solid base that we had to respect. Luckily the conceptual work of the video games (both from Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and the previous Arkhamverse games from Rocksteady Studios) is great, so it was a big plus to be able to start from that material to develop our own ideas in the series.
The book is brutal! Jesús, is it fun to draw scenes like King Shark biting a guy's head off, or the big Batman fight in issue one?
Hervás: Sure! bloodsplatter is one of the most enjoyable things to draw! From the first moment our goal was to make a fun book above all else, so we have many of those scenes with gore and cool fights. This was very fun to draw and I hope the pages show that feeling.
Harley Quinn features heavily. She's grown into more of a hero/anti-hero in some other comics, so how was it going back to the full on maniacal Harley?
Layman: Yeah. I think Rated-R Harley is fun Harley. All the leads were fun to write, but Harley was my favorite. And not to toot my own horn, but I write a damn good Harley. DC should give me more Harley work.
Hervás: Harley is a wonderful character in any interpretation of her, but I think both John and I really enjoyed having this Harley doling out sledgehammer blows in the most joyful way.
Amanda Waller is really in the spotlight at DC at the moment. John, what's your take on this character? Who is she to you?
Layman: She's interesting, because in many ways she is more ruthless than the so-called bad guys, but she's working for the good guys. That's sorta Suicide Squad in a nutshell: devils working on the side of the angels.
Jesús, how has it been working with colorist David Baron? What qualities does he bring to your art?
Hervás: I think David's work here is great, he always knows how to give each page what it needs and he achieved that prison story tone for the series that I wanted.
Layman: I'm just gonna add here the David Baron is one of my best friends in the world, so I lobbied to get him on the book. Fortunately, it didn't take much prodding, because Baron is also a fantastic colorist. He and Jesús are an ideal match. The book looks fantastic.
Have either of you played the Kill the Justice League game yet?
Layman: Nope! I have extensive notes and documents on what's GONNA happen, but I haven't played it yet. Can't wait to tear into it. Any excuse to write less comics, make less money and miss more deadlines!
Hervás: We had access to a lot of material to make the series but I haven't played it yet. Obviously I'm looking forward to it.
Are there any Easter Eggs for the game in the comic?
Layman: I'm not sure about specific Easter Eggs, but there are a couple questions raised in the book that gets answered in the game, and scenes that have more resonance to game players if they've read the comic.
Hervás: As I said, we had access to a lot of game material during the process so it wouldn't hurt for readers to keep an eye on the details just in case.
Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum #1 (of 4) is published by DC on February 6.
Discover the history of Task Force X with our guide to the best Suicide Squad stories of all time.
