News of a new Suicide Squad comic reboot is always going to stir up excitement among fans, but the news that writer Tom Taylor had been tapped for the latest relaunch – and would be joined by his Injustice partner artist Bruno Redondo – sent the anticipation to a new level.
Sure, there are plenty of givens in a Squad book these days, and it’s been confirmed that staples Harley Quinn and Deadshot will still be serving their sentences in the latest incarnation of the team. But the key difference this time is that Taylor, fresh off his DCeased zombie apocalypse, is promising that no member of the existing Squad will truly be untouchable. With the official synopsis for the new #1 promising “absolute carnage,” we got the chance to ask Taylor how much of that hype was meant as fun, as opposed to fact. Make no mistake: DC’s new Suicide Squad is going to be a bloody affair. So nasty, in fact, the team members and readers will be wishing they still had Amanda Waller around for help.
I have many questions, but I have to ask first and foremost: how quickly did you decide you were going to open this book in your native Australia? Do readers need to be familiar with Fremantle to get the most out of this first issue?
The full roster of new Suicide Squad members has been revealed, and you’ve given a few details about almost all of them along the way. When you came to this book, and gave yourself the task of creating this many new characters, what was the fuel for that fire? What was the goal for you and Bruno?
No! I’m not even sure of the reason I made it Fremantle. I just… to tell you the truth, many years ago I was a professional juggler. I would eat fire and juggle knives on the street. And I once street performed my way across Australia as a juggler, and I ended in Fremantle. Street performing in Fremantle. So that was probably the last time, my last street performing gig over there. I’ve wanted to revisit.
Who are the Revolutionaries? They might seem similar to the Suicide Squad, but they represent something different in this story, and the DC Universe.
It was really that we wanted this book to live up to its name. The book is called the Suicide Squad, and we didn’t want to populate it with all these characters that were in multi-million dollar movie so everyone knows they’re not going to die. We wanted readers to fear for them, which I think is the whole point of this book. You’re supposed to fear for these characters and wonder if they’re going to make it through. These are supposed to be suicide missions, so if everyone lives through that mission, then the next one, then the next one, you’re not living up to the title. One of the first things we actually did was we put together a lot of different characters. We went back in time and resurrected a lot of characters that people hadn’t used in many years, that sort of thing. And everyone we said they were like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course you can have them!’ And then two weeks would go past and they would say, ‘So it turns out someone is using them in this really big part of this story, what a coincidence!’ And that just kept happening until I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to create ten new characters for you.’ But we also we wanted a far more diverse cast, as well. So creating the Revolutionaries who are representative of a lot of different people, and come from all over the globe was really important as well.
The moment they come to a head with the Suicide Squad it struck me that Task Force X had become ’the man.’ We’re used to seeing them as more on the rebel, renegade side. Was that why you wanted a force like the Revolutionaries to challenge that?
Yeah, definitely. The Revolutionaries are a group of freedom fighters who have come together from all over the world. They’ve found each other and are fighting the good fight in their own way. Their own way is not particularly nice. The isn’t a Superman character who is sitting there smiling, telling people, ‘Oh gosh, put your guns down, let’s not fight.’ They kind of take care of business. So they do what they feel needs to be done, but they are genuinely trying to make, in their minds, a better world. Whether that’s right or not. Some people call them freedom fighters, some people call them terrorists, which often happens throughout the world. But they believe they are doing right.
When you’re putting this story together, and especially because you’re creating new characters, do you write the characters with their powers, and then the story in which they use them? Or is it a case of writing the kind of action you would want, then creating characters to make that possible?
That’s right. In this instance in the first issue especially, the Suicide Squad are the establishment. They’re working for the US government, they’re a black ops group doing what they shouldn’t be allowed to do, but still doing exactly what they’re told. And we will see how long that lasts with these guys by their side.
I know a lot readers also want to know about Lok, the one-eared man in black who is as much of a stranger to readers as he is to Task Force X. What can you say about him and his difference in management style than what fans are used to?
It’s a little bit from column A, a little bit from column B. I think the first thing I did was I just sat down and I came up with a lot of characters. There were characters that never made it in to the book, and we decided on the strongest ones, or I did. I looked at them and went, ‘Well I can use that.’ For instance, Deadly Six’s powers. I was like, ‘Oh man, that’s a cool idea. Why hasn’t anyone done that before?’ [laughs]. ‘I guess I’ll work out how that works later on.’ Obviously having a speedster who can only go in short bursts and then has to have a rest, have a nap, or play Xbox, to me that was amusing. Obviously we wanted a flyer, I wanted a teleporter, there are a few things that I chose for their powers and a few things I chose just thinking this complements this, and we were already sort of creating.
The first issue has been openly teased to kill plenty of characters in the first issue, which is going to leave readers wondering what the plan is going forward. Obviously not in terms of what is going to happen, or plot twists, or anything like that. But your version of a Suicide Squad series - how is it different, what does it prioritize, what can readers expect month to month?
Amanda Waller is one of the hardest people in the world of comics, you know? Lok is worse. Lok is a sadist. He is just nasty. The Suicide Squad has never been a happy place, but at least it was the devil they knew. Not so with Lok. He comes in the first scene, and he electrocutes Deadshot with a cattle prod for talking back to him. And Harley Quinn says, ‘You must be compensating for something, and clearly it’s short and lacks electricity.’ Lok is just a bad, bad, bad piece of work. And that adds to the danger level for this entire squad as well. The parameters have kind of shifted. They’ve always known: if we do our jobs, we get to be free. If we do what they tell us, if we go on these missions, it will take years off of our sentence. With Lok, one of the first things he does is Magpie basically says she doesn’t want to go onto this sort of mission. You know, ‘I’m kind of out of my element.’ And Lok says, ‘Well, we’ll add time onto your sentence.’ That’s never been the deal. But Lok changes the deal. He brings an extra level of threat.
If this is how the book starts, how much more have your editors allowed you guys to do in the coming issues? Is ANYONE safe?
We’re going to see something very different. My entire pitch for Suicide Squad was quite different. Everybody is going to feel like they know how this works, they’re going to read it and go, ‘This feels like Suicide Squad.’ But there’s going to be a very, very big shift about halfway through our first year where the parameters change completely. It’s always been about how much we can push these characters before they start pushing back, and what that looks like. Who they take with them, who joins them in the resistance, effectively. There’s a lot of internal politics and a lot of infighting… and then there is an explosion, and we see what comes of that. You’ll start seeing seeds of, ‘Hang on, something else is going on here’ in about Issue #3.
Suicide Squad #1 is out in physical and digital comic book stores now!
A few people are safe, but we will never tell you who. Simply because myself and Andrea Shea the Assistant Editor have had little words off to the side. A few quiet moments of, ‘Aw man, please don’t kill this character, they’re really cool!’ ’ Okay, okay, I’ll try to keep them alive. No promises but I’m going to try. So there are a few characters who we think will survive to the end. But honestly, there’s a possibility none of them will. But we will see. The old adage of don’t get attached applies way more to this series, as you probably know. You’ve read issue #1.
