Squadron Supreme
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Squadron Supreme | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
The Squadron Supreme is a fictional superhero team originally from the Earth-712 Marvel Universe (and after a reboot Earth-31916) [1] and first appear in Avengers vol. 1, #85 - 86. The Squadron Supreme was created by Roy Thomas (writer) and John Buscema (artist) are based on characters from the DC Comics Universe.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Fictional character biography
Note: This article is about the superhero team Squadron Supreme, NOT the supervillain team the Squadron Sinister. [3] The cosmic entity the Grandmaster created the Squadron Sinister based on the already existing Squadron Supreme. The Avengers simply met the "copies" first. [4]
The Squadron Supreme are first encountered by four members of the team the Avengers (being Vision; Quicksilver; Scarlet Witch and Goliath) when the latter pass through the Earth-712 universe on their way home from a previous adventure. After a brief battle, the teams join forces to defeat a common foe, after which the Avengers return to the Earth-616 universe. [5] The Squadron re-appeared sometime later when the Avengers crossed into the Earth-712 to deal with the threat of the Serpent Crown. While the teams battle once again, it is later revealed that the Squadron Supreme have been mind-controlled by the Serpent Crown, which the Avengers drop into the ocean in the Earth-616 universe.[6]
Several years later the superhero team the Defenders encounter the Squadron Supreme in the Earth-712 universe. The Squadron Supreme and most of their world are mentally enslaved by the composite entity the Overmind, but are eventually freed and aid the Defenders in defeating the Overmind. [7] Unfortunately, the defeat of the Overmind leaves the planet in a post-apocalyptic state.
The Squadron Supreme then decide that they have the knowledge and power to recreate the world and create a Utopia. Nighthawk, however, resigns in protest, believing that the Squadron should serve and not rule. Over the course of a year, the Squadron implement a series of sweeping changes, including revealing their secret identities; instituting a program of Behavior Modifications (B-Mod) in prisons; enforcing a strict gun control policy, and develop medical technology to resurrect the dead. Despite some success in restoring stability to the United States, there are serious setbacks for the team.
The Golden Archer abuses the behaviour modification technology by forcing a fellow member to love him, resulting in his removal from the team. Fellow member Amphibian resigns in protest over the misuse of behaviour modification while Nuke inadvertently kills his own parents (via radiation) and after a rampage dies battling Doctor Spectrum. Nighthawk attempts in vain to solict the aid of the Avengers, and is eventually forced to confront his old team mates with a new team. A brutal battle ensues in which several members of both teams are killed, including Nighthawk. A horrified Hyperion ends the battle when he realises that Nighthawk was in fact right. [8] [9] [10]
Soon after these events, the remnants of the Squadron Supreme reunite to battle the supervillain the Nth Man, a living space-warp who was banished from the Earth-616 universe. Although the Nth Man is eventually stopped, several members of the team are killed in the battle, with the remainder banished to the Earth-616 universe. [11]
[edit] Exile and return
The remnants of the Squadron - Hyperion; Dr. Spectrum; Whizzer; Power Princess; Lady Lark (now known as Skylark); Moonglow; Haywire and Shape - have several encounters with the cosmic hero Quasar [12] and eventually come to reside at the Project Pegasus base under the supervision of a Dr. Andrew Kappelhoff. Kappelhoff is later revealed to be the supervillain the Corruptor, who at the request of his own employer - mastermind Imus Champion - manipulates the Squadron into battling the Avengers once more. The two super teams, however, manage to unite and defeat both the Corruptor and Imus Champion. A device found in Champion's collection of technology is also able to return the Squadron to their own universe. [13]
The Squadron return to the Earth-712 universe to discover that their world is now dominated by corporations that are using the Squadron's own Utopia technologies. The Squadron manage to reinstate democracy, but later come into conflict with a new government when the superhero team the Exiles - travelling from the Earth-616 universe - reveal that the government had rigged the election with a worldwide vote fraud. The Squadron Supreme and the Exiles depose the new goverment, and again attempt to allow society to progress without superhuman involvement. [14]
The team is then rebooted and re-written in a more realistic style, with storylines focusing initially on revised origins, first encounters and then the eventual formation of a new Squadron Supreme. [15]
[edit] References
- ^ This numbering is confirmed by the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Alternate Worlds 2005
- ^ The Justice League of America - see "Interview with Roy Thomas and Jerry Bails", The Justice League Companion (2003) pp.72 - 73
- ^ The Avengers first meet and battle the Squadron Sinister in Avengers vol. 1, #70
- ^ Revealed in Squadron Supreme #8 (of 12) (1986). What also adds to the confusion for readers is the fact that the covers of Avengers vol. 1, #85 and 141 promote the Squadron Sinister, when in fact it is the Squadron Supreme that appear on both occasions.
- ^ Avengers vol. 1, #85 - 86
- ^ Avengers vol. 1, #141 - 144 + 147 - 149
- ^ Defenders vol. 1, #112 -115
- ^ Squadron Supreme #1 - 12 (September 1985 - August 1986) + Captain America vol. 1, #314
- ^ This limited series is regarded as a precursor to the series Watchmen and Kingdom Come, which also deal with the misuse of power by super beings.
- ^ The series was written by Mark Gruenwald, and after his sudden death in 1997, he was cremated and his ashes were blended with ink used to print the first collected edition of the series
- ^ Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe (1989)
- ^ Quasar #13-17, 28-29, 50-56
- ^ Avengers vol. 3, #5 - 6 + Avengers Annual 1998
- ^ Exiles #77 - 78
- ^ The reboot occurred in Supreme Power #1 - 18 (2003 - 2005), by J. Michael Straczynski (writing) and Gary Frank (art). This was followed by an ongoing series called Squadron Supreme (debuted in March 2006)
