Red Hood Just Proved Why Suicide Squad is a Failure in The Comics

Warning: spoilers for Suicide Squad: Get Joker! #1 are ahead. 

The Suicide Squad in DC Comics is unique because no one wants to be associated with any of its members or their objectives, Red Hood included. Comprised of supervillains hand-picked out of Belle Reve by Amanda Waller, the group is also known by its codename, Task Force X, which is intended to cover the United States government’s tracks if their mission should fail. Waller sees value in sending incarcerated villains on top secret missions, because it saves the US government the effort of trying to look heroic on the world stage. With so many villains causing chaos around the world, it does not look suspicious if a group of bad guys work together to achieve a goal. And if they are caught, then Waller and the rest of the US government would have no trouble denying any association with the villains in the first place. It’s a win-win scenario for both Waller and the Suicide Squad team if they manage to come back from their mission at all.

However, it appears that Waller’s dream of running a covert operation has finally come to an end. The first issue of Suicide Squad: Get Joker! showed Waller visiting the Bat-Family’s own Red Hood in prison, inviting him to lead Task Force X (written by Brian Azzarello, art by Alex Maleev, colors by Matt Hollingsworth, letters by Jared K. Fletcher). As soon as she reveals the codename, Jason Todd recognizes the group as “The Suicide Squad,” prompting Waller to say, “You’ve heard of it? Then somebody needs to be fired.”

While it seems that Red Hood was unaware of the specifics for how the Suicide Squad functions, with shorter prison sentences for its members if they are able to complete their missions, his awareness of the group’s name is indicative of a failing on Waller’s part. This is not the first time that the Suicide Squad’s secrecy has been blown, and it points to a troubling pattern for how word spreads about the group in the DC Universe. With the group’s name being so catchy, as well as descriptive of the contract between its members and Waller, it is no wonder that it is finally becoming a liability for the US government.

Had the Suicide Squad not been given such a cool name by Waller, it is possible that she would have been able to carry out her covert missions with the team without people like Red Hood catching on. After all, with so many members of the team rotating out (or getting killed on the job), there has never been a direct need for the team to operate under one established name. The Suicide Squad’s name lends itself to its reputation, which Waller has finally realized is a major liability.

Additionally, the ongoing nature of Task Force X has been a problem for Waller in the past, as the group was traced back to the US government by the Atlanteans in Action Comics #1033 (written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, art by Daniel Sampere, colors by Adriano Lucas, letters by Dave Sharpe). Though the Suicide Squad is immensely useful to Waller, it also puts the United States at risk for an international crisis. As such, if Waller used the Suicide Squad’s model of recruiting criminals for impossible missions as a tactic, as opposed to an ongoing operation with an official codename, she might have avoided an international scandal altogether.

The premise of the Suicide Squad is a genius idea on behalf of Amanda Waller. And while the team has always been high risk and high reward, the risks are dangerously close to outweighing the benefits at this present moment. With the fate of the team, and of Waller herself, in major flux right now as the end of Suicide Squad: Get Joker #1 shows, neither Red Hood nor the Suicide Squad know what their best move is going forwards.

About The Author

Jules Chin Greene
(246 Articles Published)

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Jules Chin Greene is an editor, filmmaker, and animator based in Los Angeles. She has a B.A. in English and Cinema Studies from Oberlin College, where she was awarded Excellence in Critical Writing for her thesis on Indigeneity and Anti-Imperialism in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In her free time, she enjoys roller-skating and horror movies. You can find her on Twitter at @JulesChinGreene.

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