The Suicide Squad is a covert black-ops
government strike team under Task Force X. The team is partially made up of imprisoned super-villains who agree to serve as expendable agents on life-threatening top-secret missions for the United States
Government. In return, after sufficient service, the prisoners are granted full pardons for their crimes.
The
Government does not officially acknowledge the existence of the Suicide Squad, and claims their missions as
random supervillain attacks. In addition, there are other non-prisoner members such as Nemesis and Nightshade who participate in the team as part of individual arrangements. The Suicide Squad operate out of Belle Reve prison in Louisiana.
To prevent members escaping in the field, the prisoners are shackled with explosive bracelets programmed to detonate a certain distance from the field leader, who also wears a remote control that can detonate or disengage the bracelets as desired. Typically the field leader
will be either Rick Flag or Bronze Tiger.
The group is largely run by
Amanda Waller, although at times someone else
will act as a cover for her, like when the existence of the Suicide Squad became public. The Suicide Squad has also occasionally left Task Force X and Governmental Control to work freelance.
The Suicide Squad is a team of imprisoned super-villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S.
Government in exchange for commuted sentences. They are formally known as Task Force X. The team's actions are highly classified, and the government is able to deny any involvement by claiming that they are not responsible for the damages of a
random super-villain attack. Their commander is
Amanda Waller, who runs the organization out of Belle Reve prison. The Suicide Squad was created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru, first appearing in Brave and the Bold #25. (1959)