Warning: The following contains spoilers for Suicide Squad: Get Joker #1, on sale now from DC.
Since her first appearance in John Ostrander, Len Wein and John Byrne’s 1986 Legends #1, Amanda Waller has ruled over dozens of iterations of the Suicide Squad with an iron fist. Her skills as a cold, calculating master strategist have saved the world on more than one occasion while making her a long list of enemies throughout the DC Universe.
She is the only consistent member of Task Force X and her teams depend on her. But, the Joker and his goons brought her illustrious career to a violent end in Suicide Squad: Get Joker #1 by Brian Azzarello, Alex Maleev and Matt Hollingsworth.
Before Waller, the Suicide Squad was made up of heroes and soldiers and lead by Rick Flag Jr. This version of the team, which first appeared in 1959’s The Brave and the Bold #25 by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, embarked on several very dangerous missions, but they lacked the antihero edge that modern audiences associate with Task Force X. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, John Ostrander and John Byrne brought the top-secret team back, this time with Waller at the helm. In many ways, she is responsible for the Suicide Squad that fans know and love today. Her controversial choice to use supervillains and her brutal tactics were initially met with resistance from Rick Flag and other government officials, but it was hard to argue with the results.
After the Suicide Squad’s first failed attempt at killing the Joker, Jason Todd called Amanda Waller to confront her about withholding important information about their mission. But before Waller had an opportunity to respond, the Joker and his henchmen kicked down her door, dressed as the violent thugs from A Clockwork Orange. They proceeded to beat her to death while a helpless Jason listened in dismay.
Waller’s death puts Task Force X in uncharted territory and grave danger. For one thing, the Joker now has access to the detonators for the explosive devices embedded at the base of each Suicide Squad member’s skull. He even uses it to kill Firefly at the end of Suicide Squad: Get Joker #1.
But even if Jason Todd, Harley Quinn and the others can manage to survive the Joker’s sadistic attacks, there is no one to lead them. Waller was notorious for keeping her teams in the dark so that she could take a hands-on approach to managing each mission. Her death leaves the team utterly rudderless.
For years, Amanda Waller’s presence has been the only thing anyone can take for granted about the Suicide Squad. With her gone, the future of the current team and the entire organization is in grave danger. The fact that the Joker was even able to find her is an illustration of just how much of a threat he is. Even at her most ruthless, Waller has managed to prevent her organization from descending into sheer chaos, but in the wake of her death, that chaos threatens to consume Task Force X.
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