The Suicide Squad is a branch of the U.S. Government whose function is to perform missions that are too dangerous for normal operatives. Its origins date back to World War II, when the Squad was composed of misfit and mildly psychopathic soldiers. Under the command of Rick Flag Sr., the Squad completed many deadly operations during World War II and afterwards.

Known as Task Force X during the 1950's and '60s, the Suicide Squad became an espionage rather than a military unit. Rick Flag Jr. was its commander, and it accomplished a great deal until a disastrous incident in the Himalayas cost two members of the Squad their lives.

The Squad was revived during Darkseid's assault on Earth's legends by Amanda Waller, who had a new concept for the team. Incarcerated villains would be offered clemency in exchange for their services on top secret missions. The hastily-assembled group was dispatched to destroy the monstrous behemoth Brimstone and succeeded in destroying it, despite the death of Blockbuster.

Operating out of Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary in Terrebonne Parrish, Louisiana, the Squad had some success and some failure, until they were exposed by crooked politician Derek Tolliver. Amanda Waller managed to salvage the Squad by unleashing them against the Dominator's alien alliance, but the secrecy of the Squad was ruined. During the shake up of all of America's secret agencies during the so-called Janus Directive, the Squad was made an independent agency and Task Force X was dissolved. Waller remains as commander of the Suicide Squad.

History

During World War II team of unruly and disrespectful soldiers was assembled to fight America's dirty fights. The original team spent much of their tour of duty on Dinosaur Island. These soldiers - considered expendable - were nicknamed the Suicide Squadron. Later in the war, another team was assembled and headed by Capt. Richard Montgomery Flag. In his first mission, Flag was the only survivor. After that he enjoyed increasing success and decreasing mortality. After the war, he married Sharon Race. In 1951, with the disappearance of the JSA and other super-heroes, President Truman again called on Flag when he created Task Force X. X would be comprised of two units: the military unit "Argent" (led by "Control") would deal with civilian matters—masked villains and the like. General J.E.B. Stuart would lead the military side to deal with national and international crises. Though Argent's recorded activity ceased after 1960, Stuart's Suicide Squad continued on. Eventually, Flag sacrificed himself in stopping the former Blackhawks' nemesis, the War Wheel.

Flag was replaced in the Squad by his now-grown son, Richard Rogers Flag. Young Rick headed a new, public team which included his girlfriend, Karin Grace, Dr. Hugh Evans and Jess Bright. In one tragic mission in Cambodia, Evans died and Bright was lost for years. (Secret Origins v.2 #14) Bright was found by the Chinese who nursed him back to health. He then passed onto the Russians who transformed him into the bionic monster called Koshchei the Deathless. With his expertise in engineering, Bright assisted in the creation of the Rocket Red Brigade and lent a hand to the nation of Qurac in assembling their metahuman team, the Jihad. Grace also secretly bore Flag's son and placed him with an adoptive family. (Suicide Squad #50) Later, Rick was sent to infiltrate the Forgotten Heroes as a spy for the government. After the "death" of the Forgotten Heroes' leader, the Immortal Man (Crisis #??), the team disbanded and Flag worked covertly for the U.S. government.

During the affair known as "Legends," Amanda Waller organized a new Suicide Squad, which employed super-villians as canon-fodder. Waller was a congressional aide who had lost her husband and two children to violence. She researched the Suicide Squad's past and proposed its resurrection to the president. Following their success against Brimstone (Legends #3), Task Force X was reactivated. This new Squad was kept in line by Rick Flag and the Bronze Tiger. Their longer-standing members included Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Nightshade and Vixen.

Karin Grace was eventually revealed as an agent of the Manhunters. After surviving the earlier Squad's final mission, she became involved with the Manhunter Mark Shaw. When the Manhunters deployed their plan to take over the Earth, Grace learned of their evil nature and sacrificed herself in destroying their base. (S.S. #9) Eventually, the pre-existing organization, Checkmate, was also brought under Waller's wing in Task Force X.

Later, following a fiasco in New Orleans which left many civilians dead, Waller was charged with crimes and plea-bargained for a sentence of manslaughter. She willingly went to prison for a year before she was again approached by Sarge Steel to head another covert operation. The formerly disbanded Squad was reformed as an independent operation. This team had no government ties (and thus no government liability if things went wrong) and operatives were paid $1 million per mission. (#39-40) Koshchei eventually returned, seeking revenge on his former teammates by kidnapping Grace and Flag's son. This battle reunited many former members and Bright perished in his own explosion. (#50)

Waller also eventually disbanded this team. The concept of the Suicide Squad continued to appeal to those in the U.S. government however, and several one-time Squads were assembled (Superboy, Adv. of Superman). The last incanration, Project: Suicide Squad, was initiated by Lex Luthor (Adventures of Superman #593, 8.01). Their core membership included Deadshot, Killer Frost II and Major Disaster. They were led by none other than World War II legend, Frank Rock and his comrade, Bulldozer... or were they? In their final battle against a new Jihad, Havana (Waller's daughter) and Modem were killed, but Rustam II was also killed in return. After this, "Rock" disappeared, leaving behind only a face mask. "Bulldozer" stood up out of his wheelchair and walked away saying "It was nice to feel young again."

First apperance (original): Brave & the Bold #25 (1959)
First apperance (modern): Legends #1 (1986)

Series:
Suicide Squad v.1, 66 issues (1987-92)
Suicide Squad v.2, 12 issues (2001-02)

Featured apperances: Adventures of Superman #593-594; Brave & the Bold #25-27, 37-39; Captain Atom #30; Chase #2-3; Checkmate! #15-18; Doom Patrol & Suicide Squad #1; Firestorm #64-65, 86, Annual #5; Justice League International v.1 #13, 27; Legends #1-3; Manhunter #14; Secret Origins v.2 #14; Superboy v. 3 #13-15; Superman v.2 #182; War of the Gods #3

Visit DC Cosmic Teams for more excellent background information on other DC comics groups.

Belle Reve Prison
Core Members
Mission Specialists
Ground Crew

The Unofficial Suicide Squad Homepage can give you some more background on the team.