Red Hood and Bane have a new dynamic in Task Force Z #1 preview

Task Force Z #1 preview
Task Force Z #1 preview (Image credit: DC)

Suicide Squad has always been a dark concept, but what if you add the idea of zombified villains to the mix? 

DC's upcoming new series Task Force Z does that, with former Robin Jason Todd (who has some experience coming back from the dead) putting back on his Red Hood moniker to recruit a group of dead villains for a mission - with the dangling hope they could be fully resurrected if they complete the job.

Task Force Z is written by Matthew Rosenberg, with art from penciller Eddy Burrows, inker Eber Ferreira, and colorist Adriano Lucas. Check out this preview of Task Force Z #1:

"Task Force Z rises from the simple question 'what if we made the Suicide Squad even more fucked up?'" Rosenberg writes in his newsletter. "Red Hood is in charge of a team of recently deceased villains as they work for a chance of getting their lives back, literally."

Red Hood's team includes the reanimated dead villains and heroes that died in Infinite Frontier #0 as a result of the Joker's A-Day attack on Gotham City. His initial line-up is Bane, Man-Bat, Mr. Bloom, the Arkham Knight, and a new character called Sundowner.

"But more bodies will be added along the way, I promise," Rosenberg adds. One of those "more bodies" appears to be the recently-killed Deadshot, at least according to the description of Task Force Z #3.

The writer makes it a point to note that Task Force Z is in continuity with DC's main superhero books, particularly tying into the recent Red Hood serial in Batman: Urban Legends.

Task Force Z is being built up with a backup story in Detective Comics #1041, #1042, and #1043 by Rosenberg with artists Darick Robertson and Diego Rodriguez.

Task Force Z series artist Eddy Barrows has drawn the primary cover to Task Force Z #1, with variant covers coming from Tyler Kirkham, Ben Oliver, Rodolfo Migliari, Dan Mora, Kyle Hotz (two versions), Lucio Parrillo (three versions), and Phillip Tan (a Things from Another World exclusive). Check them out here:

Task Force Z #1 goes on sale on October 26.

Make sure you've read all of the best Suicide Squad stories of all time.

Chris Arrant

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)