Squadron Supreme: Encyclopedia II - Squadron Supreme - Early history

Squadron Supreme - Early history

While writing the Marvel comic book The Avengers, writer Roy Thomas—a longtime fan of DC Comics' Justice Society of America—paid homage to those characters by having The Avengers face a group of villains loosely based on the JSA's successors, the Justice League of America. Thus, in The Avengers #70 (November 1969) the Avengers faced the Squadron Sinister, four villains based on Superman, Batman, The Flash and Green Lantern.

Two years later, reportedly through an unofficial collaboration between the writers of the two comics, both The Avengers and Justice League of America featured stories in which their heroes encountered heroic versions of the other company's characters. So, in Justice League of America #87 (February 1971), those heroes encountered the Champions of Angor, comprising characters based on Thor, the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Yellowjacket. Meanwhile, The Avengers #85–86 (March–April 1971), featured the first appearance of the Squadron Supreme, a group of heroes in a parallel universe. This Squadron included heroic versions of the four members from the Squadron Sinister, plus several other characters.

There were very close analogues to many of the primary DC superheroes, but since they were given different names and costumes (yet astonishingly similar backstories) Marvel Comics could maintain plausible deniability. This was one of the industry's biggest in-jokes. However, the writers of the storylines containing the Squadron Supreme did not take the characters as a joke, and they treated these characters with great respect; they effectively allowed Marvel writers to write JLA stories.

The Squadron appeared occasionally in Marvel titles during the 1970s, most notably in The Avengers #141–144 & 147–149 (November 1975–July 1976; #145–146 were fill-in issues) in which the Squadron and their United States were being dominated by the Serpent Crown. Members of the Squadron Sinister also occasionally appeared in the main Marvel Universe, but rarely as a group.

Squadron Supreme - Early Squadron members

• Hyperion, based on Superman
• Nighthawk, based on Batman
• The Whizzer, based on The Flash
• Doctor Spectrum, based on Green Lantern
• Power Princess, based on Wonder Woman
• Amphibian, based on Aquaman
• Golden Archer, based on Green Arrow (originally named Hawkeye, later named Black Archer)
• Lady Lark, based on Black Canary (later named Skylark)
• Tom Thumb, loosely based on The Atom
• Blue Eagle, based on Hawkman (originally named American Eagle, later named Cap'n Hawk)
• Arcanna, based on Zatanna
• Nuke, based on Firestorm

There were also allusions to a character named Skymax the Skrullian Skymaster, but he did not appear until a 1990s special. He was based on the Martian Manhunter, and belonged to the Squadron universe's race of Skrulls.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Early history", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki