WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Suicide Squad: King Shark #1, available now from DC Comics.
The Suicide Squad has, historically, been comprised of a random assortment of supervillains. Criminals from all over the DC Universe have been part of Task Force X at one time or another. In Suicide Squad: King Shark #1, by Tim Seeley, Scott Kolins, John Kalisz and Wes Abbott, Nightwing’s old flame, Defacer, just joined the Suicide Squad as King Shark’s sidekick.
At the beginning of this issue, Shawn Tsang, aka the Defacer, arrives in Belle Reve penitentiary. Almost immediately, Defacer gets into conflict with her fellow prisoner, Hot Take. Out of this conflict, however, Shawn makes a new friend in King Shark. Nanaue gives Shawn some helpful advice about controlling her rage, after seeing her fight with Hot Take.
Moreover, when Hot Take attacks Defacer, King Shark stands up for Shawn by eating Hot Take alive. Due to this surprising new bond, Amanda Waller tasks Defacer with joining King Shark on a visit to his homeland in Waipid Bay. Since King Shark cares about Shawn, if he doesn’t return to Belle Reve, Waller will activate the explosive device in the back of Defacer’s neck.
This is a pretty big change for the Defacer, who first appeared in 2017’s Nightwing #10, by Seeley, Marcus To, Chris Sotomayor and Carlos M. Mangual. Shawn started her career as the Defacer when she was a teenager, as the Pigeon’s sidekick. These “art terrorists” went around destroying Gotham City monuments, before they were caught by Batman and Robin.
Years later, Dick Grayson met Shawn again when he relocated to Bludhaven, working for her at the Haven Community Center. On the side, Defacer also led a support group for former criminals, called the Run-Offs. Defacer and the Run-Offs worked alongside Nightwing on several occasions.
During this time, Dick and Shawn also became romantically involved, essentially making Defacer the Catwoman to Nightwing’s Batman. Defacer became a big part of Nightwing’s life, helping him against villains such as Professor Pyg and Doctor Hurt. Of course, just like Batman and Catwoman, Nightwing and Defacer ultimately couldn’t maintain their relationship. Dick and Shawn were just a little too different, leading to their break-up and Defacer’s return to crime.
It was this criminal career that landed Defacer in Belle Reve at the beginning of Suicide Squad: King Shark #1. Shawn was caught defacing a statue of Nightwing in Bludhaven, by Dick Grayson himself. Defacer did this because she was pretty upset that Nightwing had ignored her for the past few months.
Of course, what Shawn didn’t realize, is that Nightwing suffered amnesia in recent months, when he was going by the name “Ric Grayson.” Naturally, then, Nightwing wouldn’t be able to remember Shawn, let alone reach out to her. It’s very unfortunate that this was the crime that sent Defacer to Belle Reve, considering it was all one big misunderstanding.
It was Shawn’s temper that contributed to her frustrations with Dick Grayson, so it does make sense that this same temper would get her sent to prison. It also makes sense that Defacer is part of the Suicide Squad now.
Shawn always wanted to be a better person, whether it was through serving the community or helping other ex-criminals. Even though Defacer couldn’t stay away from crime, at least now, she has a chance to make up for her mistakes in service of a greater mission.
Making friends with King Shark and helping him in his homeland is a great task, marking progress for Defacer. Even though Shawn is primarily motivated by the threat to her own life, helping King Shark is a good start to Defacer’s redemption.
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