The Many Deaths of The Suicide Squad

DC fans of the ’80s fondly remember John Ostrander’s time as writer of Suicide Squad. With his wife and writing partner the late Kim Yale, Ostrander presented one of the greatest long form villain comics of all time. The book’s body count was always high and there was a feeling that death could come to any character at any moment. The title turned once D-List villains like the Bronze Tiger, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Plastique, and Count Vertigo into serious players. As fans discovered more about them, they also feared losing them as Ostrander established that nobody was safe from a swift and sudden death.

That trend continued in future incarnations of the Suicide Squad. Now, with the big screen debut of the team, it’s time to take a look at the members of the Squad that lost their lives doing Amanda Waller’s bidding.

There are a LOT of them. How the hell is this going to work as a movie?

Blockbuster (Mark Desmond)

First Appearance: Detective Comics #345 (1965)

Death: Legends #3 (1987)

Writers: John Ostrander and Len Wein; Penciler: John Byrne

During the Squad’s inaugural mission, as detailed in DC’s second major crossover, Legends, Blockbuster became the first casualty of The Suicide Squad. Blockbuster was DC’s closest thing to the Hulk and was a semi-regular Batman foe. He wasn’t a major villain, but he also wasn’t small change, so it came as a pretty big surprise when Blockbuster was killed by Darkseid’s fire demon, Brimstone.

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Blockbuster’s brother became a major player in the pages of Nightwing after the first Blockbuster’s violent demise, but the original Blockbuster will always be part of history as the first victim of Amanda Waller’s meat grinder.

Mindboggler

First Appearance: Firestorm Vol. 2 #29 (1984)

Death: Suicide Squad #2 (1987)

Writer: John Ostrander; Penciler: Luke McDonnell

Let’s just say Firestorm villains did not fare well in the pages of Suicide Squad. Mindboggler was Leah Wasserman, a member of the group of killers known as the Assassination Bureau. After being defeated by Firestorm, she took Amanda Waller’s offer to go on the Squad’s first mission in return for having her sentence shaved down. Her death was one of the most important in Squad history as it established that any character could die at any moment. Ostrander wrote Mindboggler like she was going to be a major player in the Squad: a tough as nails punk rock chick with the power to cast illusions who stood out amongst the Squad’s original line-up.

In the first issue of the title, she used her illusion powers to humiliate one Captain Boomerang. In the second issue, during a climactic struggle with the very politically incorrectly named team of super terrorists, the Jihad, Captain Boomerang could have saved Mindboggler from the villainous Rustam. Boomerang did nothing to pay Mindboggler back for the disrespect and caused her death. This established that Ostrander was not afraid to kill his characters and that Boomerang, the once clownish Flash villain, was a grade A dick.

Karin Grace

First Appearance: Brave and the Bold #25 (1959)

Death: Suicide Squad #9 (1988)

Writer: John Ostrander; Penciler: Luke McDonnell

Karin Grace was part of the original Suicide Squad that first appeared in a few try outs in the pages of the Brave and the Bold. With such a pedigree, one would think that a classic Silver Age character would have been safe. Not so much.

During the Millennium crossover, the Squad was sent to take on a group of Manhunters. Karin was once the lover of Mark Shaw who, at the time was the Squad member known as the Privateer, but once was known as the Manhunter. Shaw reveals he has no memory of ever having known Grace. The original female Squadie realizes that her Shaw was a Manhunter android. Disgusted that she was buggering a robot, Grace set off a bomb killing her former lover and a regiment of Manhunters.

Grace’s death warned readers that not even legacy characters were safe in the pages of the Suicide Squad.

Slipknot

First Appearance: Firestorm Vol. 2 #28 (1984)

Maimed: Suicide Squad #9 (1988)

Writer: John Ostrander; Penciler: Luke McDonnell

During the same mission that took the life of Karin Grace, the Firestorm villain Slipknot was maimed by a Manhunter robot. The dude’s only ability was his prowess in tying nooses and knots so after he lost his arm to the Manhunters, Slipknot became next to useless. The poor shmuck can’t even make balloon animals, how is this mort supposed to tie a knot with one arm? This effectively ended Slipknot’s villainous career, the second victim of the “Firestorm Suicide Squad” curse.

Mr. 104

First Appearance: Doom Patrol #98 (1965)

Death: Doom Patrol/Suicide Squad Special (1988)

Writers: John Ostrander and Paul Kupperberg; Penciler: Erik Larsen 

Mr. 104 was one of the original Doom Patrol’s villains, a former scientist who had the power to turn into any combination of the then known 104 elements. Clearly, the dude needed a publicist, because that has to be one of the worst names in villain history, but whatever he called himself, he was pretty powerful.

Mr. 104 was recruited by Amanda Waller to join with the current incarnation of the Doom Patrol on a mission to Russia. By the end of the mission, the Doom Patrol would be down one villain as Mr. 104 was blown to pieces by a squadron of Rocket Reds.

He did return much later to take on Beast Boy, but his career as a member of the Squad was short-lived. Maybe if he was Mr. 105…

Psi

First Appearance: Supergirl Vol. 2 #1(1982)

Death: Doom Patrol/Suicide Squad Special (1988)

Writers: John Ostrander and Paul Kupperberg; Penciler: Erik Larsen 

Psi was a very powerful and very tragic woman. She had a great deal of psychic powers and was raised by an insane scientist who felt the world was in constant danger from a being named Decay. Psi psychically fed off these delusions and grew convinced that the Decay was real and embodied in Supergirl. Psi and Supergirl clashed many times, the troubled girl growing increasingly unstable as the scientist’s fear became deeply ingrained in her psyche, replacing Psi’s own identity.

On a Doom Patrol mission in Russia, Psi was shot by a Rocket Red. Later, as she died, she was freed from the scientist’s hold and found herself once again…a relatively peaceful death for a Squad member as these things go.

Thinker

First Appearance: All-Flash #12 (1943)

Death: Doom Patrol/Suicide Squad Special (1988)

Writers: John Ostrander and Paul Kupperberg; Penciler: Erik Larsen 

The Thinker had been around forty-five years before the former Golden Age Flash villain appeared in Suicide Squad. Would Ostrander dare kill a villain with that kind of legacy? Hell to the yes! The Thinker’s powers were fueled by his helmet which fell into the hands of Squad leader Rick Flag.

While the Thinker was battling to get it back, he was betrayed and killed by his teammate the Weasel, thus proving no villain, no matter how classic, was safe. As for the Thinker’s murderer…

Weasel

First Appearance: Firestorm Vol. 2 #38 (1985)

Death: Doom Patrol/Suicide Squad Special (1988) 

Writers: John Ostrander and Paul Kupperberg; Penciler: Erik Larsen 

OK, seriously…Star Trek Red Shirts laugh at Firestorm villains. Spinal Tap drummers mock Firestorm rogues. But yes, in the mass killing spree that was the Doom Patrol/Suicide Squad Special, Firestorm villain the Weasel was killed by Rick Flag as the Squad’s leader was controlled by the Thinker’s helmet.

Weasel was once a colleague of one half of Firestorm, Professor Martin Stein. The villain was transformed into a, well, a were-weasel. During the battle with Rick Flag, Weasel betrayed the Thinker who used his dying thought to order his helmet to kill the bestial villain. Not many tears were shed upon Weasel’s death, but one assumes that Firestorm went on a lengthy vacation now that he barely had any villains left.

Shrike II

First Appearance: Justice League of America #235 (1985)

Death: Suicide Squad #25 (1989)

Writer: John Ostrander; Penciler: Grant Miehm

The second character to use the name Shrike was an escaped mental patient who ran with the Cadre, a team of villains that did pretty well against the Justice League. Shrike was childlike and easily manipulated. In fact, on her first mission with The Squad, she reveals that she was sexually abused by a priest and his wife, an incident that broke her mind and set her down her path of villainy.

Ostrander gave the villain purpose and depth…and then riddled her with bullets as she tried to rescue a nun held as a political prisoner by the hostile Ogaden military, Shrikes last words were “I’m a comin’ Jesus.”

Rick Flag Jr.

First Appearance: Brave and the Bold #25 (1959)

Sort-of Death: Suicide Squad #26 (1989)

Writer: John Ostrander; Penciler: Grant Miehm 

What?!? Rick Flag Jr. was the main character in the title. Ostrander and company didn’t really have the gonads to kill off the book’s central protagonist, a character that served as the last connection to the original Squad did they?

Yes, in Suicide Squad #26 Rick Flag got Game of Thrones-ed as on a mission to take out the villainous Jihad, he detonated an experimental nuclear weapon. Flag had many connections to other characters, like a budding romance with Nightshade, a grudging respect for Deadshot, a blossoming friendship with Bronze Tiger, and a loathing of Captain Boomerang, but all these connections were severed as Flag was atomized by a nuclear blast. All of a sudden, the Squad was left without their leader who had grown increasingly unstable after witnessing so many of his team killed in action.

It would be revealed much later that Flag had been teleported away from the blast to the lost land of Skartaris, the Warlord’s stomping grounds, but his death in issue #26 effectively served to remove the central character from the Squad and was a moment that sent shockwaves through the entire series.

Briscoe

First Appearance: Suicide Squad #1 (1984)

Death: Suicide Squad #34 (1989)

Writers: John Ostrander and Kim Yale; Penciler: John K. Snyder III 

Briscoe was the Squad’s personal pilot, an elite air combatant and top grade mechanic, Briscoe lived for his ride, a helicopter he named Sheba, after his deceased daughter. He lived and slept in Sheba and fit right in to the disturbing collection of rogues he ferried around. On a mission to Apokolips to help his fellow teammates the once Female Fury Lashina (also known as the Duchess), Briscoe and Sheba were destroyed by Parademons.

At least he had the distinction of being torn to pieces and atomized by monsters created by Jack Kirby.

Dr. Light

First Appearance: Justice League of America #12 (1962)

Apparent Death: Suicide Squad #36 (1989)

Writers: John Ostrander and Kim Yale; Penciler: John K. Snyder III 

Dr. Arthur Light, long time foe of many DC heroes, was kind of a joke before his appearance in the Suicide Squad. Ostrander portrayed him as a cowardly, moustache twirling scumbag, but a scumbag with deadly powers. When he joined the Squad, Dr. Light was haunted by the ghost of his former partner Jacob Finlay. Finlay watched as Light committed cowardly act after cowardly act, ultimately murdering Sparkler, the youngest member of the Force of July, a team of government sponsored heroes that went up against the Squad.

While on the mission to Apokolips, Finlay convinced Light to put his cowardly ways behind him and attack a squad of Parademons. Light’s ghost would hang around the Squad for awhile and was eventually resurrected. In later years, Ostrander’s portrayal of Light informed future Dr. Light stories, including Brad Meltzer and Rags Morales’ Identity Crisis, where the villain’s depravity led to the violent attack on Sue Dibny and served as the catalyst for the book’s events, proving that Suicide Squad was one darn influential comic.

Ravan

First Appearance: Suicide Squad #1 (1987)

Death: Suicide Squad #47 (1990)

Writers: John Ostrander and Kim Yale; Penciler: Geof Isherwood

Ravan was a modern day worshipper of the Indian death goddess Kali and he joined the group of super-terrorists, the Jihad who, as already mentioned, the Squad defeated in one of their first missions. During the battle, Bronze Tiger broke Ravan’s back. Ravan swore revenge, and was given an exo-skeleton to help his vengeful quest. Tiger defeated him again and Ravan was imprisoned. Amanda Waller offered the assassin a place on the Squad, and Ravan accepted, figuring he would best serve his goddess by agreeing to kill with the Squad.

Ravan served as a pseudo-stand in for Rick Flag after Flag’s death, acting as a military strategist and a great tactical killer. During his last mission, Ravan almost defeated the super terrorist Kobra, but was poisoned and died during the battle. Even a worshipper of death could not find the fortitude to survive the Suicide Squad for long.

Enforcer

First Appearance: Firestorm Vol. 2 #14 (1983)

Death: Suicide Squad #58 (1991)

Writers: John Ostrander and Kim Yale; Penciler: Geof Isherwood

Hey look, a Firestorm villain! uh-oh. During the War of the Gods, Mica Love, aka, the Enforcer was killed by one of Circe’s minions. The battle with Circe was one of the biggest bloodlettings in Suicide Squad history, and with this book, that’s saying something. Enforcer had an advanced suit of combat armor and was impaled on a wooden spear.

Enforcer kinda sucked.

Karma

First appearance: Doom Patrol Vol 2 #4 (1988)

Death: Suicide Squad #58 (1991)

Writers: John Ostrander and Kim Yale; Penciler: Geof Isherwood 

Karma was a member of the third incarnation of the Doom Patrol and was put out to pasture when Grant Morrison took over the book…which becomes ironic in a moment. Besides having a ridiculously big mohawk, Karma had the ability to cast a bad luck field around his person effectively making him invulnerable because any one who took a shot at him missed their mark due to bad fortune.

Well, almost everybody. In the battle with Circe, Karma was overwhelmed by opponents, overtaxing his luck field, and was riddled with bullets.

The Writer

First appearance: Animal Man #25 (1990)

Death: Suicide Squad #58 (1991)

Writers: John Ostrander and Kim Yale; Penciler: Geof Isherwood 

This gets pretty meta, so brace yourself. At the end of Grant Morrison’s run on Animal Man, the Scottish writer put himself into the series through his avatar, the Writer, as the cause of all of Animal Man’s dramas, joys, and tragedies. After the death of his family, Animal Man begs the Writer to bring his beloved wife and kids back, and in a beautiful moment, the Writer, the fictional manifestation of Grant Morrison, complies.

The only issue was, at least according to Ostrander, that now Grant Morrison was a part of the DC Universe. Well, not for long. During the mission to defeat Circe, the Writer used his ability to manifest anything through his magic word processor to take on Circe and her minions. The Writer was able to easily hold Circe’s forces at bay by coming up with clever defenses to kill the bestial hordes. Until, the Writer became a victim of the one thing that could bring down any writer, writer’s block. Without a clever escape to type into the word processor, the Writer was killed by one of Circe’s creatures.

He wouldn’t be the last writer brought down by writer’s block…as a majority of the comics in the ’90s will attest to.

The Atom (Adam Cray)

First Appearance: Suicide Squad #44 (1990)

Death: Suicide Squad #61 (1992)

Writers: John Ostrander and Kim Yale; Penciler: Geof Isherwood

When Adam Cray first appeared in the Squad, both fans and the Squad assumed that the diminutive ass kicker was in fact Ray Palmer, the Silver Age Atom. Amanda Waller and the Squad used this version of the Atom as their secret weapon, but there was also an intense edge of drama to this new Atom’s inclusion. Everyone thought it was Palmer, and with the constant body count in the book, fans feared that Ostrander and Yale would kill one of the most iconic members of the Justice League. Would they dare kill the Atom?

The answer is, partially. Turns out, Adam Cray was the son of a murdered senator who was recruited by Ray Palmer to stand in for him as Palmer tracked down a team of shrinkable assassins known as the Micro Squad. A member of the Micro Squad, Blacksnake, impaled Adam Cray during a Squad mission. Ray Palmer avenged his death and revealed the ruse to the Squad and the Justice League. The death was pretty timely for Waller’s team, as Cray recently discovered that it was none other than Deadshot who murdered Cray’s father. Cray swore revenge but was ever able to cash in his receipt.

Sidearm

First Appearance: Superboy Vol. 4 #1 (1994)

Death: Superboy #14 (1995)

Writer: Karl Kesel; Penciler: Tom Grummett 

Sidearm was part of a Suicide Squad team led by federal agent Sam Makoa, a team that also had a manipulated Superboy on its roster. Sidearm was never the smartest of Superboy’s foes and when he tried to betray his new team, he was killed by King Shark. There were many deaths in the Suicide Squad’s rich history but Sidearm was the first killed by an anthropomorphic shark, so he has that going for him.

Oddly, he wouldn’t be the last.

Big Sir

First Appearance: Flash #338 (1984)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol 2 #1 (2001)

Writer: Keith Giffen; Penciler: Paco Medina

Big Sir, real name Dufus P. Ratchet, was a member in good standing of (snicker) the Justice League Antarctica and a lesser known member of Flash’s famous rogues’ gallery. He possessed great strength, great tracking skills and very limited intelligence. When the famous Sgt. Rock and his former Easy Company compatriot Bulldozer put together a new Squad, Big Sir was a founding member.

Sadly, the gentle and not very bright giant was killed on the new team’s first mission by a genetically engineered explosive device in the shape of a child. When the simple and kind hearted Big Sir picks up the child, it explodes, killing the simple brute. Sad, really.

Clock King

First Appearance: World’s Finest #111 (1960)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol 2 #1 (2001)

Writer: Keith Giffen; Penciler: Paco Medina 

No one knows why the great Sgt. Rock would choose a dude with a clock for a head to attack an island from giant monsters, but he did, and the Clock King, once a Green Arrow foe with the gaudiest costume in comic history was killed on the same island as Big Sir. The Cluemaster, the villainous father of the Spoiler was also seemingly killed on the same mission, a situation that fueled many a Robin story in the years to come. Cluemaster actually survived but his near death was the most famous event that came out of the second incarnation of the Squad.

Clock King wasn’t so lucky, although the modern version of ‘ol watch face is pretty darn awesome and recently appeared on TV’s Arrow.

Bolt

First Appearance: Blue Devil #6 (1984)

Death: Suicide Squad #3 Vol. 2 (2002)

Writer: Keith Giffen; Penciler: Paco Medina 

Bolt was sent to the same island Big Sir and the Clock King and was killed with a new version of the Squad. This mission didn’t go very well either, as Bolt, one time Blue Devil villain, fell down a deep hole, breaking both his legs and was eaten alive by killer mutant ants. Somehow, Bolt turns up alive again in Identity Crisis only to be killed one more time in the pages of Terror Titans by his own son.

Not many villains can say they were a victim of patricide and killer ants.

Eliza

First Appearance and Death: Suicide Squad #3 Vol. 2 (2002)

Writer: Keith Giffen; Penciler: Paco Medina

Eliza had the power to talk with animals. She tried to talk with killer ants, it didn’t go well.

Larvanaut

First and Last Appearance: Suicide Squad #3 Vol. 2 (2002)

Writer: Keith Giffen; Penciler: Paco Medina

Larvanaut had a lizard like appearance and used his tail as a weapon. Killer ants, etc…

Boy, this book was a meat grinder for new characters…

Putty

Only Appearance (see a pattern here?): Suicide Squad #3 Vol. 2 (2002)

Writer: Keith Giffen; Penciler: Paco Medina 

Putty was a super strong big bald dude that held his own on ant island for awhile. He was lucky enough to team with Killer Frost who used her ice to protect Putty from the killer ants. Sadly, Putty was claustrophobic and busted the ice exposing himself to the ants. It really was a brand new day for the Squad, as the only villain to survive the island was Killer Frost, a Firestorm villain.

Oh, the irony.

Modem

First Appearance: Suicide Squad Vol. 2 #2 (2001)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 2 #11 (2002)

Writer: Keith Giffen; Penciler: Paco Medina

Modem, real name Wesley Sloan, was Rock’s resident computer hacker and quite a good one. He might have excelled on another team, but he was killed by a rival hacker who was evidently not using dial-up.

Havana

First appearance: Suicide Squad Vol. 2 #2 (2001)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 2 #12 (2002)

Writer: Keith Giffen; Penciler: Paco Medina

Havana was Rock’s second in command, a beautiful and capable combatant and strategist. She was killed by the old Squad foe and former member of Jihad, Rustam, who in turn was killed by Deadshot.

Punch

First appearance: Secret Origins Vol. 2 #28 (1988)

Death: Checkmate Vo.l 2 #6 (2006)

Writers: Greg Rucka, Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir; Penciler: Cliff Richards 

Punch and Jewelee were thrill seeking jewel thieves who survived the first incarnation of the Squad. The pair were garishly dressed Bonnie and Clyde type crooks who lived for each other and the chaos they caused. During the One Year Later event they were part of a new Squad put together by Mirror Master to discredit Amanda Waller.

Along with a powerful group of crooks, they traveled to Myanmar where Punch was gunned down in front of his horrified wife due to a betrayal by the Tattooed Man who was turned to glass by the Mirror Master. A vengeful Jewelee shattered the glass. Tragically, Punch, who survived a number of Waller’s missions, pressed his luck one time too many.

Blackguard

First Appearance: Booster Gold #1(1986)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 3 #7 (2008)

Writer: John Ostrander; Pencilers: Javier Pina and Jesús Saíz

After Keith Giffen’s short lived Squad led by Sgt. Rock, Ostrander returned to the title in a 2008 mini-series. It took the writer a bit to make with the bloodletting, but in issue #7, he got serious with multiple deaths and the mass carnage fans came to expect. Blackguard was a common criminal gifted with immense strength and the ability to create an energy mace and shield by the evil organization, the 1000.

Late in the third Squad series, the character of the General betrayed the team. The General’s first move was to pop off Blackguard’s head like a flip top. Not many villains can say they were solely a Booster Gold villain, and now, there was one less.

Windfall

First Appearance: Batman and the Outsiders #9 (1984)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 3 #7 (2008)

Writer: John Ostrander; Pencilers: Javier Pina and Jesús Saíz

Windfall was once a member of the Masters of Disaster and fought the Outsiders a number of times. Windfall was always a bit more altruistic than her teammates and even saved the Outsider Halo from certain death creating a rift between herself and her fellow Masters. Windfall did not make many appearances until she popped up in the Squad where it was revealed that after she returned to college, she was raped at a frat party. Windfall uses her powers to kill her assailants and was arrested.

She joined the Squad to shave time off her sentence but sadly, when the Squad was betrayed, Windfall was killed by the monstrous Chemo who was controlled by Chris Carmichael, a technical genius loyal to the General. Windfall was reduced to a skeleton by Chemo’s chemical spew.

Well, that was certainly a dark character path. Jeez!

Cliff Carmichael

First Appearance: Firestorm #1 (1978)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 3 #7 (2008)

Writer: John Ostrander; Pencilers: Javier Pina and Jesús Saíz

Chris Carmichael was Ronnie Raymond’s (aka Firestorm…see where this is going?) arch rival in High School. The two loathed each other and Carmichael even tried to sabotage Raymond’s football helmet before a game by cutting the strap. Carmichael’s own cousin ended up wearing the helmet and was paralyzed as a result. Carmichael blamed Raymond and became one of Firestorm’s most persistent adversaries.

Carmichael ended up using the Thinker’s helmet and became the second villain to use that identity. He also became the second Thinker to die as a member of the Squad. When the General betrayed the Squad, Carmichael took control of the monstrous Chemo from a remote location. Before that, Carmichael shot Amanda Waller’s right hand man, King Faraday. Carmichael, always arrogant, underestimated Faraday’s toughness and was shot by the bleeding King, ending Chemo’s rampage.

Carmichael was a genius, but he never checked the data on Firestorm villain survival rate in the Suicide Squad? What a derp.

Twister

First Appearance: New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #26

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 3 #8 (2008)

Writer: John Ostrander; Pencilers: Javier Pina and Robin Riggs 

Twister was once a member of the Church of Blood. She believed that Brother Blood loved her and allowed him to perform an experiment on her that gave her illusion casting powers but also horribly disfigured her. Upon joined the Squad, Twister became fast friends with the long standing Squad loyalist, the beautiful and deadly Plastique. After the General’s betrayal, Twister was killed by White Dragon.

Marauder

First Appearance: Aquaman Vol. 6 #23 (2004)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 3 #8 (2008)

Writer: John Ostrander; Pencilers: Javier Pina, Robin Riggs 

The Marauder was an armored villain who mostly battled Aquaman. He was recruited by Waller to join the Squad but betrayed the team and joined with the General. The General sent the armored menace to take out Deadshot who was temporarily blinded. Deadshot was saved by the son of Captain Boomerang who destroyed Marauder’s armor with an explosive Boomerang.

This moment contrasted Boomerang’s Senior’s actions in the Squad’s first very storyline. The senior Boomerang left his teammate Mindboggler die, but Junior’s selfless actions saved Deadshot, and left Aquaman with one less villain.

White Dragon

First Appearance: Suicide Squad #4 (1987)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 3 #8 (2008)

Writer: John Ostrander; Pencilers: Javier Pina, Robin Riggs

The White Dragon was originally known as William Hell and fought the Squad very early in the first series. Later, Hell adopted the name White Dragon and fought Hawkman. The villain was a proud member of the Aryan nation and an all around utter scumbag. He joined the villainous Fourth Reich and went up against the JSA where he again had his Nazi ass again kicked by Hawkman. He joined the team and was among the General’s crew that betrayed Waller’s. He was brutally killed by Plastique after he killed Twister.

Yasemin Soze

First Appearance: Birds of Prey #87 (2005)

Death: Suicide Squad #67 (2010)

Writers: Gail Simone and John Ostrander; Penciler: Jim Calafiore

During the Blackest Night event, the Suicide Squad returned for one more issue and it just wouldn’t have been a proper issue of the Squad if there wasn’t a body count. In this special issue, a reunited Squad went up against Deadshot’s new team, the Secret Six. Yasemin Soze, one time crime lord and enemy of the Birds of Prey, became the Squad’s new shooter to replace Deadshot. Yasemin met Deadshot, sight to sight, on the battlefield; it didn’t go well for the Turkish beauty who became just another victim.

Savant

First appearance: Birds of Prey #56 (August, 2003)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. #1 (2011)

Writer: Adam Glass; Penciler: Federico Dallocchio 

The rebooted New 52 version of the Squad featured mainstay Deadshot, new recruit Harley Quinn, a returning King Shark, a skinny Amanda Waller, and a bunch of new characters including Savant. Savant was a pretty major villain in the pre-New 52 Birds of Prey series. His first appearance in the rebooted DCU was as a recruit for the Squad. As a test, each new Squad member had to undergo a rigorous interrogation, unbeknownst to them, administered by Amanda Waller. Savant broke under the interrogation was apparently killed revealing forbidden secrets.

Savant turned out to be alive a few issues later and was tasked with bringing in Harley Quinn. He was last seen stepping on a landmine that had yet to detonate. His status is up in the air, but it’s safe to say that Savant will not be a major villain in the post-new 52.

Voltaic

First appearance: Suicide Squad Vol. 4 #1 (2011)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 4 #2 and #4 (2011)

Voltaic was the only Squad member to die twice. He was a new character with electrical powers that was killed on the new Squad’s first mission by Deadshot who was under orders from skinny Waller. He mysteriously returned without explanation and was stabbed through the chest fighting the Red Orchid. He does not die there but later, is beaten to death by new Squad recruit the Unknown Soldier. Doctors tried to revive the electrical Voltaic with some sort of immortality serum but his body explodes. Oh, New 52…

Yo Yo

First Appearance: Suicide Squad Vol. 4 #3 (2012)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 4 #5 (2012)

Writer: Adam Glass; Penciler: Federico Dallocchio  

Yo Yo had elasticity based powers and was one of the new characters recruited by Weight Watchers Waller. In one of his first missions, he was devoured by King Shark but survived only to be spit up later. He was the brother of the villainous Red Orchid and sacrificed his life by wrapping up his evil sibling so Deadshot could take her out with an explosive device. A noble end for a man that was almost sentient shark poo.

Lime

First Appearance: Green Arrow Vol .5 #1(2011)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 4 #7 (2012)

Writer: Adam Glass; Pencilers: Clayton Henry and Ig Guara

Gifted with light based powers, Lime and her twin sister Light were defeated by Green Arrow and recruited by Pilates Amanda Waller into the Squad. In their first mission, Waller sent the twins to return an escaped Harley Quinn to the Squad. When captured by police, Lime began to spill the beans on the team, causing Waller to remotely detonate Lime’s head in front of Light. That’s cold.

Light

First Appearance: Green Arrow Vol. 5 #1 (2011)

Death: Suicide Squad Vol. 4 #9 July (2012)

Writer: Adam Glass; Penciler: Fernando Dagnino 

After the death of Lime, Light swore to kill Low Carb Waller. During a mission to retrieve Mitch Shelly, the Resurrection Man, Deadshot used Light as a shield to block an energy blast. He told the smoldering, dying Light that if anyone was to kill Waller, it would be him.

Disclaimer: Many Firestorm villains were harmed during the writing of this article.

This article originally ran in 2014. It’s possible other Suicide Squad z-listers have died since then, but there’s only so much New 52 we can subject ourselves to.