Without super powers to support them against fantastic foes, DC's "uncanny teams" had to rely on their wits, their uniformly dauntless courage, some mid-century high tech and each other.
Being miniaturized or propelled into other times or dimensions were not uncommon experiences for them, certainly no cause for panic. In the idiom of the era, they were cool cats.
Such uncanny teams included the Challengers of the Unknown, the Sea Devils, Cave Carson’s intrepid band of spelunkers, Rip Hunter’s temporal explorers and — borrowed from Quality Comics — the World War II military fliers the Blackhawks, re-enlisted into the fight against extraterrestrial enemies and super villains.
And in Brave and the Bold 25 (Aug.-Sept. 1959), writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru introduced us to the Suicide Squad, a/k/a Task Force X, a team headed by pilot and military intelligence officer Col. Rick Flag (clearly a hero from the “Mike Hammer,” “John Shaft” and “Peter Gunn” School of Coincidental Naming).
The team included physicist Jess Bright, astronomer Hugh Evans and military nurse Karin Grace, “all the last living members of their respective crews, all willing to die to save the world and uplift their lost friends’ legacies,” as C. David noted. “They’re basically a crew powered by pure survivor’s guilt.”
They proved to be just the kind of plucky people you might hear say, “Never thought we’d be trying to save a whale from a flying dinosaur!”
Bob Doncaster wrote:
ReplyDeleteKarin Grace strikes me as another coincidental name especially for a nurse.
Jeff Fields wrote:
ReplyDeleteThe Silver Age stories of the Squad actually have held up very well. And Darwyn Cooke used them in New Frontier to great effect.
Jeff Fields wrote:
ReplyDeleteDurban Hagen I always credit New Frontier as the book that renewed my love of comics which was waning at the time. His art was magnificent and perfect for a retro story. But the best part was how well he "got" the characters and distilled it into the story. He arguably gave many of the non-powered "adventure" characters the full realization they deserved. How I wish he had followed up with a Challengers series...
Paul Zuckerman wrote:
ReplyDeleteI missed the first B&B trilogy, but I remember the Squad from their return engagement in 1961. I liked the series but frankly didn't remember much about it when I reread it some time later. Unlike some of the other teams, this one seemed to be mainly Rick and Karin--the other two guys were real cyphers. I couldn't even tell you what they did! This was Kanigher in his throw everything at you mode--and all full-length adventures. So, basically, you were in for a rollicking story that may have made no sense but you were so overwhelmed by the everything but the kitchen sink approach that it didn't matter. At the time, the A&E artwork didn't bother me, but it hasn't aged well for me as I got older.
I am pretty sure that the Squad influenced more than one team that I created at the time for my own stories.
Main thing I remember was that a kid on my camp bus stole my copy of one of the issues and then denied it. Never did get it back. Oh well. The team was reimagined as the Dirty Dozen in the 1980s, with Rick back leading the team, with members periodically being killed off. A far cry from Kanigher's original.
David Burnell Davis wrote:
ReplyDeleteYeah! This is just what I like--this is some of the best of the Silver Age to me. Another great example, I think, is the Combined Miniature Defense Force(CMDF) from 1968's Fantastic Voyage, Saturday mornings on ABC. More recently, Scooby-Doo! Team-Up #30 featured the Challengers of the Unknown joining forces with Mystery Incorporated, with appearances by the Sea Devils, Cave Carson, the Secret Six and Rip Hunter. What a blast!🌞😁
Gully Foyled wrote:
ReplyDeleteBoth words derive from the old English "ken" meaning "to know." (If we still pronounced those now-silent initial K's the connection would seem obvious.)
If someone is canny, they're knowledgable.
If something is uncanny it's unknown or unknowable.
Mark Engblom wrote:
ReplyDeleteI've always been curious how the word "suicide" was not only approved by the CCA, but was part of the comic book's title! Considering this was part of the same pop cultural landscape that had issues even with saying the word "pregnant" on TV, a "Suicide Squad" comic book in 1959 seems pretty remarkable.
They left themselves an "out," too. They could always have used the title "Task Force X" and dropped "Suicide Squad," if anybody objected too strenously. That would have given DC the first "X men."
ReplyDeleteMatthew Grossman wrote:
ReplyDeleteI find it amusing that, for a while, anyway, DC decided that wits, courage, and mid-century high tech just didn’t swing and turned the Blackhawks into full-blown, sub-Saturday morning cartoon level superheroes.
ReplyDeleteMisha Vanamonde wrote:
Haven’t had a sip of coffee yet so read this as “Suicide Squid: crime-fighting Cuttle Fish.'
I replied:
I'd read that.
Vincent Mariani wrote:
ReplyDeleteI never warmed up to Suicide Squad. They were interlopers in Brave & Bold, among the original that featured Viking Prince, the JLA, and Hawkman's monumental revival. Also, they seemed to be a knockoff of the Challengers, which had been one of the brightest spots of the early Silver Age. Kanigher, Andru, and Esposito provided no match for all of that material, only a quirkier style.
Vincent Mariani wrote:
ReplyDeleteEventually all the "team of adventurers" comics morphed into the same thing.
Challengers, Blackhawks, Sea Devils and Rip Hunter's crew were basically using variations on the same scripts. I forget if Cave Carson survived very long, but that was the same deal. 🙂