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Batman Writer Tom King Reveals Batman Has His Own Suicide Squad

"We're doing Batman and the Suicide Squad."

Batman has been dealing with two new superheroes in Gotham, becoming a mentor to them in the process. However, Batman's next task will be to recruit a team of former villains,--his own Suicide Squad--to deal with a new threat, this fall.

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During an interview at San Diego Comic-Con, Batman writer Tom King revealed a little bit about what's ahead for the Dark Knight in November's issue #9 after the crossover story "Night of the Monster Men."

"The first arc [in issue #9] is 'I Am Gotham.' It's a trilogy of arcs," King told GameSpot. "The second, which is sort of Empire Strikes Back, is called 'I Am Suicide.' John Ostrander's Suicide Squad--I think--is the best superhero comic ever written, in mainstream comics."

Ostrander's legendary run on Suicide Squad began in 1987 and ran 66 issues, ending in 1992. It's widely considered to be the best series based around the team.

"When I first got Batman, that's what I wanted to do. We're doing Batman and the Suicide Squad. Batman walks into Arkham Asylum and picks out a team of villains to accomplish an impossible task. That's what the second arc is."

King is passionate about working on this new volume of the Dark Knight. He has already made numerous nods to important moments in the character's life: "Can you tell I'm eager to write Batman? I've done a Gordon on the roof scene. I did a clock at 10:48 scene. I did a Matches Malone scene."

King's excitement for writing reaches into his other work at Vertigo and Marvel as well. "I love this story, and I love how fun it is, but when I write Vision, when I write Sheriff [of Bablyon], when I write Omega Men, I'm just as excited. To me, the person who buys Omega Men for $3 deserves exactly the same commitment as the person who buys Batman. Every issue I write I want to put that amount of passion into it."

Batman chooses his own Suicide Squad in November with issue #9.

78 Comments

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blackair9

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I hope this is a road to a new Outsiders book.

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Ivana_Strigidae

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I'm not crazy about it. The comic might end up being good but I don't feel like it fits Batman's character. Batman always seemed like the kind of guy who wanted to do everything himself and rarely (if ever) trusted anyone else to not mess it up.

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Jonny_Anonymous

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@jonny_anonymous said:
@entropy_aegis said:
@jonny_anonymous said:

The Outsiders already exist, not sure why people keep bringing them up.

Lemire version? I dont see DC sticking to that, not when they can milk the actual version by lumping Batman with them.

I loathe to see anything Lemire added to Green Arrow being scraped.

LOL, Lemire made a mistake by calling them Outsiders, it just pits his work against a more powerful and profitable legacy and then he left DC almost immediately..

Yeah he likely should have used another name.

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entropy_aegis

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Edited By entropy_aegis

@entropy_aegis said:
@jonny_anonymous said:

The Outsiders already exist, not sure why people keep bringing them up.

Lemire version? I dont see DC sticking to that, not when they can milk the actual version by lumping Batman with them.

I loathe to see anything Lemire added to Green Arrow being scraped.

LOL, Lemire made a mistake by calling them Outsiders, it just pits his work against a more powerful and profitable legacy and then he left DC almost immediately..

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Jonny_Anonymous

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@jonny_anonymous said:

The Outsiders already exist, not sure why people keep bringing them up.

Lemire version? I dont see DC sticking to that, not when they can milk the actual version by lumping Batman with them.

I loathe to see anything Lemire added to Green Arrow being scraped.

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entropy_aegis

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The Outsiders already exist, not sure why people keep bringing them up.

Lemire version? I dont see DC sticking to that, not when they can milk the actual version by lumping Batman with them.

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Jonny_Anonymous

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The Outsiders already exist, not sure why people keep bringing them up.

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wbr17

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So, Batman will start to put bombs on criminal's heads and threat to kill them if they don't help him while promise them that he will release them from Arkham if they cooperate?

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entropy_aegis

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Batman gets every piece of the cake doesn't he? You can give him his own Suicide Squad but you can't re-introduce Miss Martian back into continuity post-Flashpoint? Come on DC.

What does one have to do with the other? Batman is simply making a new team that will consist of his rogues, it's not Suicide Squad, it's just following the format. It can be done with any character with a rogues gallery, the Batman writer was just smart enough to beat everyone else to the punch.

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Mfundroid

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Batman gets every piece of the cake doesn't he? You can give him his own Suicide Squad but you can't re-introduce Miss Martian back into continuity post-Flashpoint? Come on DC.

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Lelanka

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I'm curious about this but it doesn't sound exactly what would Batman do. ?

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FireKnight12

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This looks like movie synergy and putting batman in everything sells

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bukdiah

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I'm reading Ostrander's SS run right now and even though it's a bit dated, I'm liking it so far. It can also be pretty damn funny. The characters, even the minor ones, have some depth and time spent on them. Although, I still dunno wtf the deal is with June Moon/Enchantress lol

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algorhythm511

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I would think redoing the Outsiders would make more sense.

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cosmicallyaware1

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This really does have potential to be good outside of the bureaucracy and fan-favedome.

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mohhsen

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Det_BatSuperman

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Edited By Det_BatSuperman

I like Batman I like suicide squad case closed looks good

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chrisburgess99

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John Ostrander's run was one of the best written titles during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was a villain Dirty Dozen and during the run the readership did not know who would die at any given story arc. For Batman to make his own villain based Squad there will need to be some lesser known criminals to be killed off for it to be truly Ostranderesque. It was one of the best written titles through its entirety in my opinion.

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Lvenger

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I see The Outsiders' joke has already been made.

I seem to remember Batman having a team of Anti-heroes/ fringe heroes to take do the thing the JL couldnt....now who were they again.......

oh yeah

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Seriously why couldn't King have done an Outsiders team arc instead of a Suicide Squad pastiche instead? It would have been much more unique and interesting than a cover of a comic that already has a series and will be receiving a popularity boost in August from its movie. The Outsiders would be rebuilding the DCU and it's a Bat related book.

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TDK_1997

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I have high hopes for this second arc. I love how it sounds and so far everything from King has been great.


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justice teen

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Well I wont be reading this.

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mrkareemruiz

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Guardiandevil83

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@black_arrow: Exactly. I feel Batman is learning that his duel ego's need not be mutually exclusive.

He can be both at the same time. And if Batman can be Bruce Wayne while in costume. And still relay that same commanding presence as Bruce Wayne, rather than come off as a arrogant coward as Batman...

Then why can't Killer Croc be Waylon Jones? A man who was kicked by society since birth.

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NightFang3

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@casper4690: But fans actually care about the Joker and the Snyder run has been one of the best selling Batman books because he used the A-list villains so well. And that normal criminals would just be forgotten.

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jsphsmth

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I miss the Outsiders, more so when I think about how Lemire abused that name in GA, but I do not see why people are thinking a team of villains is a launching pad for a new Outsiders book.

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save.me.now

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@wildvine said:

Sure sure. How about we have Batman start carrying a gun and just killing criminals? Or maybe just have him become a mercenary. I mean, if we're gonna veer wildly away from the character lets go all out.

Didn't Batman just work with a team of villains during "Endgame" to stop the joker?

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apokos7

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Edited By apokos7

@mohhsen: That's Gotham Girl, a new character created by Tom King and David Finch.

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mohhsen

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is that Olive?

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Oldgamer789

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Like Batman and Outsiders.

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deactivated-5d3f071d30d9f

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casper4690

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Edited By casper4690

@entropy_aegis: definitely not boring ..in fact , far more compelling instead of using A list villains and reusing them over and over, like Snyder did with joker.

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lxlGiftedlxl

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Is any Batman series being put out right now that just focuses on Batman vs. regular crime? Yknow, gangsters, thieves, murderers, maybe some corrupt city officials? I feel like we've barely had any of that since the New 52 started.

That stuff is boring now, Catwoman was dealing with all that during the Valentine run, Batman is beyond gangsters and thieves now, though Snyder's upcoming book has an element of that but even then it's not really what you're looking for.

Its not that boring. It would be nice to see every now and then.

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The Mighty Monarch

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I seem to remember Batman having a team of Anti-heroes/ fringe heroes to take do the thing the JL couldnt....now who were they again.......

oh yeah

No Caption Provided

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entropy_aegis

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Is any Batman series being put out right now that just focuses on Batman vs. regular crime? Yknow, gangsters, thieves, murderers, maybe some corrupt city officials? I feel like we've barely had any of that since the New 52 started.

That stuff is boring now, Catwoman was dealing with all that during the Valentine run, Batman is beyond gangsters and thieves now, though Snyder's upcoming book has an element of that but even then it's not really what you're looking for.

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entropy_aegis

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Sounds awesome, Bane will be the main villain right Tom? RIGHT? wonder who these unlucky SOBs' will be.

I'm definitely getting the impression that King is leading to Outsiders.

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StMichalofWilson

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Sound pretty hardcore. I'm interested.

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Black_Arrow

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Edited By Black_Arrow

Makes sense that Ostrander's run on Suicide Squad is one of King's favorites. King's style isn't very different from that style of writing.

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deactivated-5a04a566e9ae3

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TheKinfing

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@vitalius: The members of the trinity compose the JL....

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deactivated-5e09a6b06793e

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@sprior93 said:

"John Ostrander's Suicide Squad--I think--is the best superhero comic ever written, in mainstream comics."

pfffffffft hahaha

Better than anything DC is putting out now.

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BlueEcho

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Ostrander's was best. Such good characterization, and the dialogue was sometimes very witty

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Black_Arrow

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Edited By Black_Arrow

@guardiandevil83 said:

@wildvine: Well, while I respect you're opinion, I'm a bit more interested in seeing where this goes.

Remember Alfred did mention in Snyder's final issue that Bruce is ddiffrent.

Completely. Physically, mentally, etc.

Maybe his time as a regular person opened up his mind. Maybe he no longer see's his enemies (with exceptions) as lost causes, now, he finally see's the darker shades of grey.

He see's that some of them can learn to use their abilities in a more preductive manner and find redemption.

This factor was always present in Batman but It would be cool if his time as a Normal guy would reinforce this belief and take action on it. The same reason why he invited Clay Face to his new team, so that he could get redemtion.

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DD208

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Now that there are supposed to be three Jokers, he will recruit one of them and then we can watch a Joker actually die, for real, dead, won't come back, body found, autopsied, ID'd, cremated, and then flushed. Why not, there will still be two left.

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dngn4774

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I'd rather this just be a new origin for the Outsiders. Then slowly, we can begin to phase the original line up back in. So far, King's run on batman has been sluggish.

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lagozzino

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Is any Batman series being put out right now that just focuses on Batman vs. regular crime? Yknow, gangsters, thieves, murderers, maybe some corrupt city officials? I feel like we've barely had any of that since the New 52 started.

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castlemania

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Mr.King should focus on writing a solo batman story, don't branch out...yet

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SoA

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Ugh.

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