DC has a ton of teams that all do different things, but one of the most versatile teams, in both their roster and overall use, is the Suicide Squad. The Squad has gone on tons of missions over the years and has incredibly frequent roster changes. That makes for a lot of wild ‘heroes’ that the DCU can adapt when it eventually revisits the antihero team.
The initial idea for the Suicide Squad was to be a team with disposable members. Sent off on top secret missions by the government where they could very well die. This means characters would come and go as they were either released from the Suicide Squad or killed in action. While nowadays the team has a pretty hard-set roster, back then, it wasn’t unusual to see some truly bizarre characters on the team – characters who could be incredibly fun on-screen.
10
Big Sir Was Suicide Squad’s Dimwitted Muscle, Then He Exploded
Suicide Squad #1 (2001) by Keith Giffen, Paco Medina, Joe Sanchez, Bill Oakley, and John Kalisz
One of the few times a heroic character was actually drafted onto the Suicide Squad. Big Sir was originally a member of the Flash’s rogues, but only due to manipulation. He was a dim-witted, superstrong man who was manipulated into fighting Flash, and would eventually be recruited into the Suicide Squad where he was sent on a mission to an island of flesh-eating ants. Surprisingly, it was not the flesh-eating ants that killed him, but a metahuman child who exploded him from the inside out, as seen in Suicide Squad #1 by Giffen and Medina.
9
Crowbar Joined The Suicide Squad… And Then Was Obliterated By Vibe
Justice League of America’s Vibe #5 by Sterling Gates, Pete Woods, Sean Parsons, Brad Anderson, and Taylor Esposito
One of the forgotten villains of the Justice League is Malcolm Tandy, also known as Crowbar. He is a man who had a crowbar that was able to channel energy, though he mostly used it to either project energy blasts at people or simply beat them. He joined the Suicide Squad in Justice League of America’s Vibe #5 by Gates and Woods, which is the very same issue where he was killed. During a fight with Vibe, Crowbar challenged the powerful hero, making it clear that his weapon could negate whatever Vibe threw at him. Unfortunately, Vibe was a little too confident in his titular crowbar, and paid the price.
Vibe would be an especially fun hero for the DCU Suicide Squad, because he’s far more powerful than he seems. Crowbar’s crowbar gives him a major advantage over most heroes’ powers, but when it lets him down, it really lets him down.
8
Branch Was In Way Over His Head, Which Ultraman Proved
Suicide Squad #6 (2021) by Robbie Thompson, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Dexter Soy, Alex Sinclair, and Wes Abbott
Control over plants is usually an amazing ability, but unfortunately Branch didn’t have control over plants. He could hear plants talk, and he had control over the plant material his body was made up of, but that was it. He was essentially a significantly weaker version of Poison Ivy. Branch was always out of his depth, and this was proved in Suicide Squad #6 by Thompson and Pansica where Ultraman tore Branch apart and then annihilated his remains with heat vision.
Branch was the classic hero who seemed like he should be a god-tier addition to the team, but was ultimately just there to keep a far more serious threat busy. The evil equivalent of Superman, Ultraman is immensely powerful, and seeing him cut through Suicide Squad’s also-rans truly drove home his threat.
7
Double Down Was Suicide Squad’s Bizarre Magic User
Superman Secret Files and Origins (2004) by Geoff Johns, Jeremy Johns, Jim Fern, Lary Stucker, K.L. Fletcher, and Sno-Cone
Double Down is another Flash rogue who uses magic to commit crimes. His backstory is a bizarre one where, after losing at a game of cards, he killed his opponent and was then immediately cursed by a deck of cards that bonded to his skin. This granted him the ability to remove parts of his skin like magical playing cards that he could fire at people. This ability was so potent that even Superman was weak to it. He later showed up as a member of the Suicide Squad attempting to kill Amanda Waller in Superman Secret Files and Origins (2004). Despite being beaten up by Superman, he survived his time on the team. Double Down’s power may tread the line between silly and body horror, but it’s an incredibly cinematic look that even Kryptonians have cause to fear.
6
Fifteen Minutes Man Promises He’ll Finish Any Mission In Fifteen Minutes
‘Cease and Decease’ from Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary Special by Rafael Scavone, Rafael Albuquerque, Marcelo Maiolo, and Josh Reed
One of the most important parts of being a superhero or supervillain is having a gimmick. Characters like Batman wouldn’t be nearly as popular without the branding power. Fifteen Minutes Man took this idea to heart when he had a custom suit made for his time on the Suicide Squad. This suit had a counter that would count down from fifteen minutes, and he promised he’d complete any mission before the bell rang. Unfortunately for Fifteen Minutes Man, Amanda Waller saw him as a one-time asset, and his suit was actually a bomb, and after fifteen minutes he exploded, as seen in Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary Special by Rafael Scavone and Rafael Albuquerque. While he did help finish the mission, he wasn’t on the Suicide Squad with Harley Quinn for long, for obvious reasons.
5
Film Freak Absolutely Loves Films… And Crime
Suicide Squad #1 (2021) by Robbe Thompson, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Marcelo Maiolo, and Wes Abbott
Film Freak is exactly what his name implies: the man was a freak for films, peppering his criminal acts with big-screen quotes. He organized all of his crimes around movie themes, and for some reason, was eventually recreated into the Suicide Squad. During a mission to recruit William Cobb into the Suicide Squad, he was caught in the A-Day attack on Arkham Asylum. This resulted in the death of the majority of inmates in Arkham, and the assassin Talon tossed Film Freak into the Joker gas that had been released, where he died almost instantly, as seen in Suicide Squad #1 (2021) by Robbe Thompson and Eduardo Pansica. Comics have never been able to do Film Freak justice, however there’s a lot of potential for the villain in the medium he loves so much.
4
Mister 103 Had to Change His Name Again and Again
Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special #1 by John Ostrander, Paul Kupperberg, Erik Larsen, Bob Lewis, Carl Gafford, and Steve Haynie
An enemy of the Doom Patrol, Mr. 103 was a robber who could transform his body into any element on the periodic table. However, the villain struggled to keep up with new discoveries, becoming first Mr. 104 and then Atomic Man as more elements were discovered – few of them actually useful to his endeavors. Though drafted to the Suicide Squad, Mr. 103 was decidedly just cannon fodder for Amanda Waller, and died fighting the Rocket Red Brigade, along with several other members. Some imaginative use of his abilities could make him a compelling villain, and his elemental powers would easily lend themselves to an explosive ending.
3
Zebra Man Is a More Powerful Magneto
Suicide Squad #1 (2019) by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott
Marvel’s Magneto has absurd power over magnetism, but if he ever met Zebra-Man, he might have a challenger to his title. Zebra Man was a bizarre character who was forced onto the Suicide Squad and has a whole host of abilities, as seen in Suicide Squad #1 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. He has full control over the magnetic spectrum as well as the ability to create forcefields. This made him the personal bodyguard to the new director of the Suicide Squad, Lok. Many members died in this iteration of the team, but thanks to Zebra Man’s powers, he was able to survive his experience with the Suicide Squad and keep the majority of his allies alive.
2
Baby Boom Was The Suicide Squad’s Demolitions Expert
Suicide Squad Annual #1 (2018) by Cullen Bunn, Ronan Cliquet, Jason Wright, and Pat Brosseau
One of the more destructive metahumans in Suicide Squad history is Baby Boom. A woman who was perpetually stuck as a child, she could also explode things with her mind. This destructive power naturally made her very useful for the Suicide Squad. But unfortunately, ghosts can’t be exploded. During her first and only mission, Baby Boom ended up being torn apart by spirits, as seen in Suicide Squad Annual #1 by Bunn and Cliquet. The majority of this version of the Squad died on their first outing, which is why this is far from the best version of the Suicide Squad team.
1
The Suicide Squad’s Most Powerful Member Was Grant Morrison (aka the Writer)
Suicide Squad #58 by John Ostrander, Kim Yale, Geof Isherwood, Robert Campanella, Tom McCraw, and Todd Klein
The weirdest and – surprisingly – most powerful member of the Suicide Squad is none other than iconic writer Grant Morrison. Grant Morrison is a fan favorite writer for comic books and has had a major hand in shaping characters like Batman and the Doom Patrol over the years. One of Morrison’s most celebrated comic runs is Animal Man, in which they appeared in a fourth-wall breaking twist. However, having appeared once, they now officially existed in DC canon, and later writers took advantage of this fact.
Grant Morrison was unfortunately killed in Suicide Squad #58 by John Ostrander and Kim Yale. After being written into the comic, they had the power to change reality around themselves through their writing, but as they were now part of the comic, they were beholden to the writer of the comic as well. Unfortunately, a moment of writer’s block leads to them being eaten alive.
As a franchise, Suicide Squad is characterized by a combination of blood-soaked horror and dark humor. Characters like Baby Boom, Zebra Man and the Writer wouldn’t work elsewhere in the DC Universe, but as members of Task Force X, they just fit. When the Suicide Squad eventually returns in the new DCU, hopefully fans can meet these weird and wild members – and also witness their incredibly unfortunate (but very funny) deaths.
