Suicide Squad recruits Jason Todd to help hunt down the Joker in new R-rated comic

Suicide Squad: Get Joker! #1
(Image credit: Alex Maleev/Matt Hollingsworth (DC))

Brain Azzarello is returning to the Joker - and using Red Hood and the Suicide Squad to hunt the villain - in a new 'Prestige Plus' format limited series titled Suicide Squad: Get Joker! with artist Alex Maleev. Colorist Matt Hollingsworth joins them on this 'Adults only' release as part of DC's Black Label.

Taking a page (and some of its title) from the cult-favorite 1971 crime film Get Carter, Suicide Squad: Get Joker! follows the Red Hood (Jason Todd) as he's recruited into the Suicide Squad to track down (and kill) the Joker.

Here's an unlettered preview of the first issue:

"When Task Force X’s Amanda Waller sets her sights on Batman’s greatest foe, she enlists the Dark Knight’s former partner Jason Todd to track down the Clown Prince of Crime and put an end to his mad reign of terror!" reads DC's description of Suicide Squad: Get Joker!.

(Image credit: Alex Maleev/Matt Hollingsworth (DC))

Remember, Todd and Joker share a past, as it was the villain who fatally bludgeoned the one-time Robin with a crowbar in the seminal 1988 storyline 'Death in the Family.' Todd stayed dead for 16 years, only to return in Batman's 'Hush' storyline. Since then he's slowly fallen back in with the Bat-family.

Although seemingly Red Hood/Joker-centric, Suicide Squad: Get Joker! Will also feature Amanda Waller, Harley Quinn, Firefly, and unnamed other Task Force X members.

This will be the first time Azzarello and Maleev have teamed up, as Maleev has worked almost exclusively with long-time friend/writer Brian Michael Bendis for the past two decades.

Maleev has drawn the main cover to Suicide Squad: Get Joker! #1, with a variant by Jorge Fornes.

Suicide Squad: Get Joker! #1 (of 3) goes on sale on August 3.

Make sure you've read all the best Joker 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)