When seeking inspiration for Task Force Z, writer Matthew Rosenberg looked to DC's history of horror comics.
Ahead of his latest series, Rosenberg was featured in the DC Nation Spotlight on Task Force Z. It was there that the writer divulged some of the details before the creative process for the undead Suicide Squad's new book, including some of its influences. "In terms of comics, iZombie and DCeased are both books that I love and revisited for this," he explained. He also highlighted that the creative team wanted to put its own spin on zombies, saying, "We're trying to stay true to the genre, but also do something incredibly unique."
Outside of comics, Rosenberg drew inspiration from the world of film, citing the creators of Night of the Living Dead and City of the Living Dead as influences on his work. "I've always been a huge fan of zombie movies!" he noted. "Obviously, filmmakers like George A. Romero and Lucio Fulci were extremely influential. However, I also love when a movie can totally upend everything we know about the genre."
In Task Force Z, written by Rosenberg and drawn by Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreira, Red Hood leads a team of undead supervillains on a mission to defend Gotham City. The story picks up a number of plot threads from Suicide Squad, which in recent issues has seen Amanda Waller discover the Lazarus Resin, a special material that brings people back to life. Now, she has the power to command DC's villains to save the Earth or die trying -- and then try again.
Rosenberg's comic influences highlight the writer's versatility, as they represent opposite ends of DC's undead offerings. Published between 2010-2012, iZombie was a quirky slice-of-life horror title written by Chris Roberson and drawn by Mike Allred that centered on a zombie gravedigger named Gwen Dylan who lives in a world of monsters. With some slight alterations, it was adapted into a TV show that ran for five seasons on The CW. Meanwhile, DCeased was a six-issue miniseries by Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine that launched in 2019, though it proved popular enough to secure multiple spinoff comics and sequels in the years since. The timeline of DCeased offers a different take on zombies in that the source of the undead is a mutation in Darkseid's Anti-Life Equation.
Outside of his DC work, Rosenberg is exploring an entirely different post-apocalyptic landscape alongside artist Tyler Boss in What's The Furthest Place From Here? from Image Comics.
Source: DC