The Arkham Games’ Most Underrated Villain Officially Meets His Match

WARNING: Potential Spoilers for Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum #4!Mad Hatter finds his ultimate match in an unexpected Suicide Squad member, revealing a dark truth about the certain type of person it takes to break Tetch’s infamous mind control. This encounter also explains why fans haven’t seen Mad Hatter in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and why the rogue won’t be appearing in any of the downloadable content.

John Layman and Jesús Hervás’s Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum #4 witnesses Captain Boomerang forming an unlikely alliance with Mad Hatter, Hypnotic, Spellbinder, and Crazy Quilt amid Waller’s orchestrated Arkham Asylum riot. This riot sees all the inmates released yet contained within the Asylum, resulting in bloodshed between each other and the guards.

In an effort to survive the riot, Mad Hatter and his cerebrally-inclined companions enlist Boomerang’s combat skills to help them make it out of the riot alive in exchange for money. However, Tetch and Harkness soon find themselves pitted against each other, thanks to Waller’s meddling.

Shortly after forming their alliance, Harkness, Tetch, Hypnotic, Spellbinder, Crazy Quilt, and the new addition of Condiment King find themselves sealed in a room together. This is Waller’s doing, who soon makes this known to the group of villains by appearing on a screen in the room. She then vaguely insinuates that only one of them will be leaving the room alive, and it is up to them to decide their own “fate.” Hence, without outright saying it, Waller announces that they will fight each other to the death to determine who is the strongest among them.

This sparks an all-out brawl between the six villains. Ultimately, Captain Boomerang emerges as the victor among them. However, all is not as it seems, as Mad Hatter employs mind control to craft an illusion, tricking Harkness into believing he’s the last one standing, while Tetch readies to deliver the fatal blow. Despite this expert mind control, Harkness sees beyond the illusion and hurls a boomerang into Tetch’s head, shattering the mind control. As Mad Hatter nears his end, he asks how Boomerang broke through the illusion, and Harkness reveals Tetch’s critical error in his illusion.

Mad Hatter had woven an illusion where Harkness had reached a ripe old age and was recounting the events of the Arkham Asylum riot in an interview in the year 2064. Stunned by Captain Boomerang’s ability to shatter his “perfect” illusion, Tetch asks, “How did you know, Boomerang?” Harkness retorts that breaking the illusion was easy because the fabricated reality could never happen due to one simple fact, “Ain’t no way I live ‘til the year 2064.” Thus, Captain Boomerang’s grim perspective on his future is what made this Suicide Squad member the Mad Hatter’s ultimate match.

Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum #4 is available now from DC Comics!