One of the chief criticisms of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was how seemingly nonsensical the plan behind it was. There seemed little rhyme or reason to the idea that a quartet of supervillains, most of them without powers, could kill the Justice League. The tie-in comic prequel, Kill Arkham Asylum, also does little to justify the concept. However, the final issue does explain where Amanda Waller got the idea.
Written by John Layman, with art by Jesus Hervas, Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum #5 focuses on King Shark. The muscle of the team from the game, King Shark is oddly philosophical, yet naïve in the ways of the surface world. It is this dichotomy that leads to an odd conversation with Waller and, indirectly, the setup of the new Arkham Asylum.
King Shark Inspired Suicide Squad Death Battle
While supervising King Shark’s torture in Belle Reve Penitentiary, Amanda Waller overhears King Shark speaking of his belief that he is destined for better things. This is based on the shark’s status as an apex predator, which has not changed for millions of years. While the guards care little for this “lesson in evolutionary science,” Waller becomes thoughtful and discusses the idea of survival of the fittest with the captive King Shark.
This conversation apparently gives Amanda Waller the idea for the Suicide Squad. More, it inspires her to renovate the Arkham Asylum of this world into a supermax prison. Housing the worst of the worst supervillains and staffed entirely with crooked guards, the new Arkham Asylum was a powder keg. This was by design, however, as Waller intended to arrange a riot and to recruit the survivors for her Task Force X. The apparent insanity of the Justice League was a convenient excuse to light the fuse.
While this story does explain the setup of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, it does not justify it. Even if the survivors of Kill Arkham Asylum were the best equipped to survive, there is some difference between escaping a prison riot and battling the likes of Superman and Green Lantern. The cruel irony is that of all the disreputable characters in this comic, Amanda Waller was the most deserving of incarceration in Arkham Asylum.
Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum #5 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
