Suicide Squad 0?

Speaking of Golden Age prequels to modern franchises, there's the time the original Human Torch invented the Suicide Squad!

Sadly, the "Suicide Squad" never appears in this story, and this is the last pre-war issue of Marvel Mystery Comics that's on Marvel Unlimited, so I'm not sure if they ever actually showed up, here (or in an issue of the Torch's own book). Anyone know?

Anyway, of interest are the villain's name. Our lead "fifth columnist" is called...

Pinhead!!

What, is he a Dick Tracy villain??

And his chief henchman?

Mr. Wickedkop?

Wickedkop?!?

WICKEDKOP!?!?!?!??!?!

The odd thing is, he's not a cop of any kind. Go figure.

The Torch shuts down their plans, but at least Pinhead goes out in a blaze of glory...

...literally!!

From Marvel Mystery Comics #16 (1941)

What The F#$%^--Count Vertigo

I've been working my way through the original run of Suicide Squad the past couple of weeks, and that's brought to mind a serious question I've always meant to ask:


Count Vertigo??

Let me get this straight: You've got a dude named Count Werner Vertigo. And he just happens to have a hereditary inner ear defect that effects his balance. And his name is Vertigo. And he develops the power to cause vertigo in others.

And his name is Vertigo.

Guess he never saw that one coming, huh? Him and Lou Gehrig.

So, what creative genius foisted this upon us? I oughtta---

Oh, wait, it was Bob Haney. That explains everything, doesn't it?

Friday Night Fights--Dark Knight Style!!

Uh-oh:


Batman, it looks like Deadshot has the drop on you. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO??


That's right--


SUCKA PUNCH!!

Bahlactus!! Ah-ah! Savior of the Universe!!

Batman's humiliation of Deadshot courtesy of Suicide Squad #10.

Final Crisis Preview--William Hell

Welcome to another edition of Final Crisis Preview, wherein I tell DC what great characters from the past should be returned to the DC Universe in the pending uber-series, Final Crisis.


It's a little quirky, this time:

William Hell. Yeah, he wasn't really a vigilante hero, but a white supremacist posing as a hero. But we can retcon that out.

Why should DC bring him into the New, New, New DC Universe? I dunno, I just like the costume and the name, I guess. William Hell. Cool.

One note for future William Hell scripters: if you're gonna take on a costumed identity of William Hell, it's really not a good idea to keep your civilian name of W. James Heller. I'm just sayin'.

William Hell's one and only appearance (as far as I can tell) was in Suicide Squad #4.