More documents liberated under the Freedom of Information Act...
Files 001-003
Subject: Chronos
Profile: Classic Atom villain
Powers: Time-based gimmicks and gadgets.
Mission: To supply a time-stopping device to help the Squad reveal white supremacist "hero" William Hell as a villain and discredit him.
Chance of survival going in: High. It's not that DC wouldn't think of taking out the Atom's greatest villain (as far rogues' galleries go, the Atom's is pretty terrible), but since Chronos was only supplying a device and not participating in the operation on site, there was never in harm's way.
Retirement: RELEASED. (Suicide Squad #4)
Final report: Chronos would go on to become a more important part of the DCU thanks to the Atom's return from his Savage vacation. He has since built up his criminal record again.
Subject: Multiplex
Profile: Classic Firestorm villain
Powers: Human fission.
Mission: To bring in Firestorm (alive) after the hero became an outlaw, threatening the world's nuclear powers if they didn't disarm.
Chance of survival going in: Good. As Firestorm's first villain, and thematically linked to him (fission to Firestorm's fusion), there wasn't much chance of John Ostrander doing away with him.
Retirement: RELEASED. The Parasite gets him, but he apparently survives the encounter. (Firestorm Annual #5)
Final report: Multiplex would one day work with the Squad again, this time on a more permanent basis.
Subject: Killer Frost II
Profile: Hot Firestorm villain
Powers: Creating intense cold by absorbing surrounding heat.
Mission: To bring in Firestorm (alive) after the hero became an outlaw, threatening the world's nuclear powers if they didn't disarm.
Chance of survival going in: High. Not only did Killer Frost tangle with Firestorm on multiple occasions, but every hero needs a sexy villainous with a deadly kiss. Just ask Batman. Her personal ties to Martin Stein meant she was unlikely to cop it outside of a story specifically about this.
Retirement: RELEASED. Though also a victim of the Parasite, she apparently walked away from that fight. (Firestorm Annual #5)
Final report: Killer Frost is still at large, most recently seen as a member of Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains and as a participant in a metahuman fighting tournament taken down by Wonder Woman and Black Canary.
Subject: Parasite
Profile: Classic Superman villain
Powers: Draining energy and powers to temporarily increase own power.
Mission: To bring in Firestorm (alive) after the hero became an outlaw, threatening the world's nuclear powers if they didn't disarm.
Chance of survival going in: High. As one of few Superman villains who can match him physically, it's unlikely he was Ostrander's to kill. In fact, as soon as he's released (over Flag's and Waller's objections), he becomes the real threat, and the Squad is repurposed to stop him.
Retirement: ESCAPED/RECAPTURED. Firestorm eventually stops him and he is presumably taken back into custody. (Firestorm Annual #5)
Final report: Parasite has been in and out of jail many times since then, a dangerous villain that is difficult to keep behind bars. He is currently at large.
Files 001-003
Subject: Chronos
Profile: Classic Atom villainPowers: Time-based gimmicks and gadgets.
Mission: To supply a time-stopping device to help the Squad reveal white supremacist "hero" William Hell as a villain and discredit him.
Chance of survival going in: High. It's not that DC wouldn't think of taking out the Atom's greatest villain (as far rogues' galleries go, the Atom's is pretty terrible), but since Chronos was only supplying a device and not participating in the operation on site, there was never in harm's way.
Retirement: RELEASED. (Suicide Squad #4)
Final report: Chronos would go on to become a more important part of the DCU thanks to the Atom's return from his Savage vacation. He has since built up his criminal record again.Subject: Multiplex
Profile: Classic Firestorm villainPowers: Human fission.
Mission: To bring in Firestorm (alive) after the hero became an outlaw, threatening the world's nuclear powers if they didn't disarm.
Chance of survival going in: Good. As Firestorm's first villain, and thematically linked to him (fission to Firestorm's fusion), there wasn't much chance of John Ostrander doing away with him.
Retirement: RELEASED. The Parasite gets him, but he apparently survives the encounter. (Firestorm Annual #5)
Final report: Multiplex would one day work with the Squad again, this time on a more permanent basis.Subject: Killer Frost II
Profile: Hot Firestorm villainPowers: Creating intense cold by absorbing surrounding heat.
Mission: To bring in Firestorm (alive) after the hero became an outlaw, threatening the world's nuclear powers if they didn't disarm.
Chance of survival going in: High. Not only did Killer Frost tangle with Firestorm on multiple occasions, but every hero needs a sexy villainous with a deadly kiss. Just ask Batman. Her personal ties to Martin Stein meant she was unlikely to cop it outside of a story specifically about this.
Retirement: RELEASED. Though also a victim of the Parasite, she apparently walked away from that fight. (Firestorm Annual #5)
Final report: Killer Frost is still at large, most recently seen as a member of Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains and as a participant in a metahuman fighting tournament taken down by Wonder Woman and Black Canary.Subject: Parasite
Profile: Classic Superman villainPowers: Draining energy and powers to temporarily increase own power.
Mission: To bring in Firestorm (alive) after the hero became an outlaw, threatening the world's nuclear powers if they didn't disarm.
Chance of survival going in: High. As one of few Superman villains who can match him physically, it's unlikely he was Ostrander's to kill. In fact, as soon as he's released (over Flag's and Waller's objections), he becomes the real threat, and the Squad is repurposed to stop him.
Retirement: ESCAPED/RECAPTURED. Firestorm eventually stops him and he is presumably taken back into custody. (Firestorm Annual #5)
Final report: Parasite has been in and out of jail many times since then, a dangerous villain that is difficult to keep behind bars. He is currently at large.
i like all the Who's Who clip art you use in these Task Force X retirement Files posts. the SS issue that featured Chronos was one of the best comic book stories i had ever read even though that costume of his was a real eye sore. i never minded Killer Frost in that dress but i do like her more punk rock girl look these days much more. same goes for Multiplex, that caped costume was too elaborate given what his power is. the TRON like duploids we see now are way cooler.
ReplyDeleteSuicide Squad #4 was my first issue ever and I was hooked. No surprise for this Mission: Impossible fan from way back.
ReplyDeleteMultiplex is the only guy who has been killed several times in the same mision! His Suicide Squad's Kenny!
ReplyDeleteRoger
I'm not entirely sure that the Killer Frost seen recently isn't Killer Frost I, resurrected from an even earlier death and leaving the death of Killer Frost II in the Squad intact. This is complicated, mind, by II being crazy in ways that make acquiring a delusion that she's I entirely plausible, though...
ReplyDeleteI really don't think the Parasite killed anyone in this appearance, he just painfully took their powers and zonked them out.
ReplyDeleteFrost was no more killed than Firehawk who got zapped in the next panel with the same special effect.
And Killer Frost I was recently a Black Lantern (among the JLA's special morgue units), so it looks like never rose from the dead.
ReplyDeleteI think that there's some kind of specific dialog that Parasite's obligated to use when he actually kills someone [when written by Ostrander], about still being hungry after having absorbed their powers and going on to the life energy. Which I think was used when he took Multiplex in that story, although possibly not anyone else. Certainly not Firehawk. (Of course, he's the one who eventually did show up again. But not for a fairly long time afterwards, and probably due to lazy writing in the new Firestorm book. Long enough afterwards that you could always attribute it to Underworld Unleashed, I guess...)
ReplyDeleteFirst off, great write-up! Second, is it worth mentioning that Killer Frost returned to the Squad on a regular basis in the Giffen series? While I'm sure I'm in the minority, I really liked that series.
ReplyDeleteThe Irredeemable Shag
http://firestormfan.com
Never read that one. But I will!
ReplyDeleteA Fwoosh customiser just made Chronos.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteHi - thanks for the compliment, Siskoid. And thanks to Craig for sharing my custom on here.
ReplyDeleteI love this blog! I'm def bookmarking it - these characters are exactly the kind I look to when trying to pick my next custom project. Great write-up.
Finally, someone capable of making 365 Superman action figures! ;-)
ReplyDeleteOooh, commenting on the same post as the "Irredeemable Shag" *gasp* I love B2tBs!
ReplyDeleteSiskoid, if I may be so bold, you kinda forgot a semi-member who was shown in this arc. It was the friggin Wild Huntsman and I could never ever get it out of my head what would have happened had he joined. I dream of a drinking buddy friendship with Stalnoivolk.
Sorry, I'm a total Squad nerd!
A semi member is not a member, and so, ommission!
ReplyDelete