When DC relaunched their DC Universe Infinite service last month, they promised exclusive content for subscribers. Today brought the first DCUI-exclusive comic, titled Let Them Live!: Unpublished Tales from the DC Vault, featuring a “lost” Suicide Squad story by Jim Zub, Tradd Moore, Felipe Sobreiro and Nate Piekos.
The story will be the first of several released by DC under this title, which seems like a way for them to clean out their files and share comics that were commissioned but never published. In fact, each issue will feature a framing sequence by Elliott Kalan, Mike Norton and Marissa Louise starring Ambush Bug — who has taken a job as a night janitor at the DC offices, where he finds the unreleased comics and provides commentary.
Future issues will include:
- Let Them Live! #2 — a Nightwing story by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Jorge Corona, Mat Lopes and Carlos M. Mangual — debuting Feb. 16 with a frame story by Elliott Kalan, Mike Norton and Marissa Louise. Let them Live! #3 — a Batman story by Scott Bryan Wilson, John Paul Leon, Dave Stewart and Deron Bennet — debuting 3/2 with a frame story by Elliott Kalan, Mike Norton and Marissa Louise.
- Let them Live! #3 — a Batman story by Scott Bryan Wilson, John Paul Leon, Dave Stewart and Deron Bennet — debuting March 2 with a frame story by Elliott Kalan, Mike Norton and Marissa Louise.
Zub said he originally wrote the story back in 2011, but it wasn’t produced at the time, instead going into DC’s “vault” of unpublished stories. Former DC editor Brian Cunningham discovered the script in 2016 and asked Zub to add Harley Quinn to the story. This was around the time the Suicide Squad movie was getting ready to premiere in theaters.
“I went back through the script at that point, adding Harley Quinn into the mix,” Zub said. “Her antics helped create even more contrast between the breakneck violence and dark humor I wanted the story to have.”
Cunningham said he never did anything with the script at that point, but later former DC editor Andy Khouri hired Tradd Moore to draw it. Sobreiro also shared the comic’s original cover:
Zub said this is his first DC Comics release in seven years — he last work with the publisher on a Legends of the Dark Knight story, as well as an Amanda Waller one-shot. “I hope there’s more to come in the months ahead,” he said.