Squadron Supreme
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The Squadron Supreme is a team of comic book superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. It is best known for being a thinly disguised version of DC Comics' Justice League of America, and for the 12-issue miniseries that made this group famous.
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Early History
While writing the Marvel comic book The Avengers, writer Roy Thomas—a longtime fan of DC Comics' Justice Society of America—paid homage to those characters by having The Avengers face a group of villains loosely based on their predecessors, the Justice League of America. Thus, in The Avengers #70 (November 1969) the Avengers faced the Squadron Sinister, four villains based on Superman, Batman, The Flash and Green Lantern.
Two years later, reportedly through an unofficial collaboration between the writers of the two comics, both The Avengers and Justice League of America featured stories in which their heroes encountered heroic versions of the other company's characters. So, in Justice League of America #87 (February 1971), those heroes encountered characters based on Thor, the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Yellowjacket. Meanwhile, The Avengers #85–86 (March–April 1971), featured the first appearance of the Squadron Supreme, a group of heroes in a parallel universe. This Squadron included heroic versions of the four members from the Squadron Sinister, plus several other characters.
The Squadron appeared occasionally in Marvel titles during the 1970s, most notably in The Avengers #141–144 & 147–149 (November 1975–July 1976; #145–146 were fill-in issues) in which the Squadron and their United States were being dominated by the Serpent Crown. Members of the Squadron Sinister also occasionally appeared in the main Marvel Universe, but rarely as a group.
Early Squadron Members
- Hyperion, based on Superman
- Nighthawk, based on Batman
- The Whizzer, based on The Flash
- Doctor Spectrum, based on Green Lantern
- Power Princess, based on Wonder Woman
- Amphibian, based on Aquaman
- Golden Archer, based on Green Arrow (originally named Hawkeye, later named Black Archer)
- Lady Lark, based on Black Canary (later named Skylark)
- Tom Thumb, very loosely based on The Atom
- Blue Eagle, based on Hawkman (originally named American Eagle, later named Cap'n Hawk)
- Arcanna, based on Zatanna
- Nuke, based on Firestorm
There were also allusions to a character named Skymax the Skrullian Spymaster, but he did not appear until a 1990s special. He was based on the Martian Manhunter and belonged to the Squadron universe's race of Skrulls.
The Utopia Project
The Squadron's next major appearance was in The Defenders #112-115 (October 1982-January 1983), in which the Squadron and their world were under the mental domination of the Overmind, a telepathic alien. The Defenders travelled to their world and helped free them. However, the defeat of the Overmind left the planet in a shambles, as the government and economy collapsed.
Author Mark Gruenwald built on this situation in a lengthy storyline comprised of Squadron Supreme #1-12 (September 1985-August 1986) and Captain America vol 1. #314 (February 1986), illustrated by Bob Hall, John Buscema, Paul Neary and Paul Ryan. In this series, the Squadron decides that they have the knowledge, wisdom and power to make the world a better place, and decide to implement a project to turn their world into a Utopia. Nighthawk resigns in protest, believing that the Squadron should serve and not rule.
This series explores the Squadron's efforts to improve their world, and the opposition they get from unexpected quarters, with some significant losses and a major conflict at the end. Along the way a number of reformed villains join the Squadron, and a number of other heroes who joined Nighthawk infiltrate the Squadron. The series has since been collected as a paperback. This series was well-promoted and fairly popular, and the fact that Marvel Comics was publishing a series which was at best a thinly-veiled shadow of the Justice League was occasionally commented on, although no legal action occurred.
The series has been considered a precursor to Watchmen and Kingdom Come in its portrayal of superheroes and the implications of their power. It is widely held to have been Gruenwald's magnum opus: after his sudden death in 1997, he was cremated, and his ashes were blended with the ink used to print the first collected edition of the series (subsequent printings of the collected edition have been ash-free).
Following this series, Gruenwald wrote the graphic novel, Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe, a Crisis-analog in which the Squadron, reeling from the climax of their Utopia Program, must contend with a huge creature which seems bent on destroying the universe.
Institute of Evil Members in the Squadron
The Institute of Evil was the Squadron's version of the Secret Society of Super-Villains.
- Ape-X (possibly based on Gorilla Grodd)
- Lamprey (possibly based on Parasite)
- Shape (possibly based on Byth)
- Dr. Decibel (possibly based on Dr. Polaris and Sonar)
- Quagmire (possibly loosely based on Goldface)
- Foxfire (possibly loosely based on Star Sapphire)
Nighthawk's Redeemers in the Squadron
Nighthawk's Redeemers may have been loosely based upon Batman and the Outsiders
- Redstone (possibly based on Geo-Force)
- Moonglow (possibly based on Looker)
- Inertia (possibly based on Halo)
- Haywire (possibly based on Black Lightning)
- Thermite (possibly based on Metamorpho)
Exile
In the 1990s, the Squadron Supreme became trapped in the main Marvel Universe, where they had a number of adventures, including with Gruenwald's cosmic adventurer Quasar. The Squadron eventually encountered the Avengers once more, in The Avengers vol. 3 #5-6 (1998) and Annual 1998, in which the Avengers were able to find a way to return the Squadron to their home world.
This was followed by a special (1998) in which the remaining original Squadron members discovered that their world had become dominated by large, domineering corporations and reunited to return things to normal. The implied series following this story never materialized, however.
Squadron Supreme's Impact
The Squadron Supreme concept is well-respected among many comic fans, although the actual work itself has been criticized for being underdeveloped and has not held up well over time. However, many of the themes and characterizations have had a significant impact upon the DC Comics universe. It is ironic that the satirical nature of the work has actually led to changes in the characterizations and interactions of many iconic DC heroes. Most prominently, Superman and Batman have been altered. Previously, their relationship had been a sugar-coated affair that was reminscent of the campy cartoon series The Superfriends, in which they were hand-holding buddies who smiled and laughed together. Now, they are representative of two very polarized perspectives of heroes: two life philosophies, two views on crime and punishment, and two views of human nature. The current DCU series Superman/Batman explores their conflict-ridden relationship.
Supreme Power
In August 2003, Marvel published the first issue of Supreme Power, a series which rebooted the Squadron Supreme, spending several issues on their origins and with a more realistic bent. The series is written by science fiction and television writer J. Michael Straczynski with art by Gary Frank.