Suicide Squad - Publication History

Publication History

The original Suicide Squad featured in The Brave and the Bold consisted of Rick Flag, Jr., his girlfriend Karin Grace, Dr. Hugh Evans, and Jess Bright. This team was created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru. Later continuity established that the team's earliest incarnation was expressly formed to fight monstrous menaces as a replacement for the Justice Society of America, whose members had mostly retired in the wake of unjust accusations during the McCarthy Era.

The Suicide Squad was revived in the Legends mini-series, with writer John Ostrander at the helm. The renewed concept involved the government employing a group of supervillains to perform missions that were almost certainly suicide runs, a concept popular enough for an ongoing series titled simply Suicide Squad. The Squad was often paired together with DC's other government agency, Checkmate -- culminating in the Janus Directive crossover.

The team's concept self-consciously emulated the World War II film The Dirty Dozen and the television series Mission: Impossible. In addition, the Squad's existence was top-secret, creating much tension within the group, and leading the Squad to be targeted (unsuccessfully) by the likes of Lois Lane and Batman (the latter was forced to back off from his investigation when Squad leader Amanda Waller threatened to use her considerable government resources to expose Batman's secret identity). While some of the Squad members, such as Bronze Tiger, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang were permanent fixtures, the balance of membership comprised a rotating cast of often very minor-league villains. These villains would agree to take on Suicide Squad missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences; thus, the Squad served as a partial explanation for what sometimes appeared to be a revolving-door justice system in the DC Universe.

While the Squad succeeded on most of their missions, failure occasionally resulted (most notably the capture of Nemesis by Russian forces after a botched mission in Russia), as well as the death of one or more members. The use of minor characters added to the jeopardy, as it was not clear whether any given character would survive a mission. Writer John Ostrander did not shy away from killing off some of the Squad's principal characters, most notably Rick Flag, Jr. -- who was eliminated at the end of the book's second year. At the time, the series was also notable for examining the lives, motivations, and psychological makeup of its characters with one issue per year featuring the group's psychologist interviewing various team members.

Suicide Squad (vol. 1) lasted 66 issues, with one Annual and one special (Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special #1). After the series' cancellation in 1992, the team went on to make several guest appearances in titles like Superboy (this Squad incorporated many of Superboy's enemies, as well as Superboy himself), Hawk & Dove, Chase, and Adventures of Superman.

Suicide Squad (vol. 2) was published in 2001, written by Keith Giffen, with art by Paco Medina. Though the series' first issue featured a Squad composed entirely of Giffen's Injustice League members, the roster was promptly slaughtered, save for Major Disaster and Multi-Man (whose powers make him unkillable). This prompted Squad leader Sgt. Rock to recruit new members—most of whom died during the missions they undertook.

Suicide Squad (vol. 3): Raise the Flag was a limited, eight-issue mini-series published in 2007. It featured the return of writer John Ostrander, with art by Javier Pina. The story focused on the return of Rick Flag, Jr., and the formation of a new Squad for the purpose of attacking a corporation responsible for the development of a deadly bio-weapon. Along the way, the group had to deal with the treachery of involuntary Squad member General Wade Eiling, and—true to the series' form—several fourth-string villains died in the line of duty.