Warning: contains spoilers for Task Force Z #5!
New team Task Force Z is starting to fall apart in more ways than one, and Red Hood can't keep them together. While getting his team members to follow his commands has always been a struggle, Red Hood has always been able to keep them relatively in line. However, new developments threaten the very existence of his team going forward.
Task Force Z is a team led by Red Hood made up almost entirely of pseudo-zombified supervillains. The undead criminals (Man-Bat, Deadshot, Arkham Knight, Mr. Bloom, Sundowner, and Bane) have varying degrees of cogency, but are effective weapons under Red Hood’s command. The one living villain on the team, Mr. Bloom, is kept in line through the dampening of his powers, but his motivations for being on the team are mysterious. However, both the living and dead parts of Task Force Z seem to be coming undone in the latest issue.
In Task Force Z #5, written by Matthew Rosenberg with art by Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Matt Santorelli, and Jack Herbert, one of the team’s scientists reveals that the Lazarus Resin which is being used to revive the zombified team members is starting to be rejected by the host bodies due to overexposure. This is causing them to start literally falling apart. This is seen most clearly in Bane, whose recently reconstructed head is now distended and a shocking shade of fleshy red. In addition to visible physical effects, Amelia mentions that this is also causing their programming to wear off, making them potentially even less likely to follow orders in the future. Red Hood’s dead teammates aren’t the only ones who seem like they will have issues following orders, however. This issue also features Mr. Bloom seemingly leaving the team to join forces with Geri Powers, the head of Powers International, in a scheme to harness the Lazarus Resin for themselves. And to aid them in their endeavor, Mr. Bloom has brought along a head of his own - that of Man-bat, aka Dr. Kirk Langstrom.
Whether Man-bat's head will cooperate with Bloom and Powers or not, the fact remains that he represents yet another Task Force Z member that is now out of Red Hood’s control. After a massive brawl between Red Hood’s Task Force Z and Amanda Waller’s version of the team, the only “surviving” members of Task Force Z able to do anything are a decaying Bane, Two-Face, and a newly zombified Mr. Freeze. Deadshot is newly returned to "life" and while Sundowner and Arkham Knight may not be dead, their conditions are unknown after they fell in the battle. Given that Two-Face is the leader of Task Force Z behind the scenes, it seems unlikely that he will readily take Red Hood’s orders, and since Mr. Freeze is new to the team (and something of an unofficial nemesis to Red Hood) it is uncertain how well he will operate as part of a team. In addition, he may still hold a grudge for being killed by Task Force Z in a previous issue.
Mr. Freeze joining the team does open at least one potential option to keep Task Force Z running in the future. Even if the original members deteriorate or defect, as long as they keep killing villains, they can then zombify those villains and add them to the team. No matter what shape the team may take in the future though, Red Hood’s original Task Force Z is currently falling apart both literally and figuratively, with Jason Todd's life hanging in the balance.
