The Squadron Sinister is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. The Squadron Sinister first appeared in the final panel of '' The Avengers'' #69 (October 1969), created by Roy Thomas and

Sal Buscema Sal Buscema (; ; born Silvio Buscema, January 26, 1936) is an American comics artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he enjoyed a ten-year run as artist of '' The Incredible Hulk'' and an eight-year run as artist of ''The Spectacular Spider-M ...

. The team is a pastiche of DC's

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...

Publication history

The first version of the Squadron Sinister is formed by the Elder of the Universe known as the Grandmaster as pawns to battle the champions of the time-traveling

Kang the Conqueror Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is most frequently depicted as an opponent of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. A time-traveling entity, sev ...

, the superhero team the Avengers. The Grandmaster creates four villains—

Doctor Spectrum Doctor Spectrum is the name of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. There have been five versions of the character to date—three supervillains from the mainstream Marvel Universe belonging t ...

, Hyperion,

Nighthawk The nighthawk is a nocturnal bird of the subfamily Chordeilinae, within the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, native to the western hemisphere. The term "nighthawk", first recorded in the King James Bible of 1611, was originally a local name in ...

, and the Whizzer—to face heroes Iron Man,

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...

, Captain America and Goliath (Clint Barton). In interviews, Thomas and

Jerry Bails Jerry Gwin Bails (June 26, 1933 – November 23, 2006) was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom," he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primar ...

have stated that the Squadron was based on the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

superhero team the

Justice League of America The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceive ...

, evoking the DC characters

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

, Superman, Batman and the Flash.

Fictional character biography

Grandmaster's Squadron Sinister

The limited series ''

Squadron Supreme The Squadron Supreme is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, of which there are several notable alternate versions. The original team was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, derived from the previous ...

'', written by

Mark Gruenwald Mark Eugene Gruenwald (; June 18, 1953 – August 12, 1996) was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler known for his long association with Marvel Comics. Biography Early career Gruenwald got his start in comics fa ...

, explains that the Grandmaster creates the Squadron Sinister modeling them on the already-existing Squadron Supreme of the

Earth-712 The Squadron Supreme is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, of which there are several notable alternate versions. The original team was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, derived from the prev ...

universe.''Squadron Supreme'' #8 (May 1986) The similarities also caused confusion in Marvel's production department, as the covers of ''The Avengers'' #85 (February 1971) and #141 (November 1975) "cover-blurbed" appearances by the Squadron Sinister, when in fact it was the Squadron Supreme that appeared in both issues. The Avengers eventually defeat the Squadron and the Grandmaster abandoned them as a result. The Squadron reappear in the title ''The

Defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: *Defense (military) *Defense (sports) **Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...

'', reunited by the alien Nebulon. The villains receive greater power in exchange for Earth, and create a giant laser cannon in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

to melt the

polar ice caps A polar ice cap or polar cap is a high-latitude region of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite that is covered in ice. There are no requirements with respect to size or composition for a body of ice to be termed a polar ice cap, nor a ...

, thereby covering the entirety of Earth's surface in water. The superhero team the

are alerted to the scheme by Nighthawk and defeat the villains and Nebulon, with Nighthawk reforming and joining the Defenders the following issue. After this defeat the three remaining members of the Squadron Sinister are teleported off-world by Nebulon, returning with an energy-draining weapon. The villains plan to threaten Earth again, but are defeated once more by the Defenders and the Avenger

Yellowjacket Yellowjacket or yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory social wasps of the genus, genera ''Vespula'' and ''Dolichovespula''. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries. Most of ...

. During another brief encounter with several members of the Avengers, who seek a way to separate Doctor Spectrum's Power Prism from fellow Avenger the

Wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

, the characters are revealed to have disbanded. While Nighthawk becomes an ongoing character featuring regularly in the Marvel Universe, two of the other members of the Squadron make isolated appearances. Hyperion appears in the title ''Thor'', battling the hero once again, and features in '' Marvel Two-in-One'' in an encounter with the

Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuse ...

. Hyperion also travels to the Earth-712 universe and, after impersonating the Squadron Supreme's Hyperion for a time, dies in a heated battle with his counterpart. The title ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bimonthly per ...

'' showcases the Whizzer's return, where he returns to crime with a new costume and the alias the Speed Demon.

Resurrected Squadron Sinister

The Grandmaster reappears and reforms the Squadron Sinister: an apparently resurrected Hyperion; a new Dr. Spectrum (Alice Nugent, a former lab assistant of Hank Pym), Nighthawk and the Speed Demon, who have both had bad experiences with superhero team the New Thunderbolts. Courtesy of a phenomenon known as the Wellspring of Power – an interdimensional source of superhuman abilities – the Grandmaster increases the Squadron Sinister's powers and they battle the New Thunderbolts. Thunderbolts team leader

Baron Zemo Baron Zemo () is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Heinrich Zemo and his son Helmut Zemo have both been depicted as a major adversary of Captain America and the Avengers, as well as t ...

defeats the Grandmaster and, in the ensuing chaos, the Squadron Sinister scatter and escape.

Other versions

''The Last Defenders''

The limited series ''The Last Defenders'' briefly features warped versions of Hyperion, Doctor Spectrum and the Whizzer. The trio are created by long-time Defenders foe Yandroth when confronted by Nighthawk. Together with a futuristic version of the Defenders, Nighthawk defeats the doppelgängers, who subsequently disappear.

''Secret Wars'' (2015)

During the ''

Secret Wars ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'' for short, is a twelve-issue American comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter, with ...

'' storyline, alternate versions of the Squadron Sinister characters reside in Battleworld's Utopolis domain. Led by their Hyperion, they have been annexing various domains of

Battleworld Battleworld is a fictional patchwork planet appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The first Battleworld debuted in the ''Secret Wars'' crossover where it was created by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck. The ...

in order to grow their territory. They started by destroying the Squadron Supreme of the Supremia Province where they left their Nighthawk alive to be the Supremia Province's puppet ruler for Hyperion. Then they made the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

-themed domain of Europix part of their domain upon it surrendering after the Squadron Sinister saved Europix from the

Frightful Four The Frightful Four are a group of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They serve as the antithesis to the Fantastic Four. Publication history The Frightful Four first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' ...

of Wittland. However, due to manipulations on the part of

, Whizzer is executed by Hyperion for treason, and Doctor Spectrum flees when framed for the murder of one of the Thor Corps. When Warrior Woman is blackmailed into leaving Utoplolis, Nighthawk is revealed to possess Spectrum's power prism. Nighthawk then makes his move, poisoning Hyperion with argonite before fighting him on even footing with the Prism. Hyperion eventually succumbs to argonite poisoning, allowing Nighthawk to finish Hyperion off. Nighthawk is arrested by the Thors and, with testimony from Warrior Woman, sentenced to exile. He presumably meets his fate against a horde of

Ultron Ultron () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, and initially made his debut as an unnamed character in '' The Avengers'' #54 (July ...

drones, leaving Warrior Woman the sole remaining member of the team.''Squadron Sinister'' #4

Members

(Alice Nugent) * Hyperion (Zhib-Ran) *

(Kyle Richmond) * Whizzer (James Sanders)

Former members

(Billy Roberts) *

(Kinji Obatu) * Hyperion construct

References

External links

Squadron Sinister
at the Marvel Universe * * {{Thunderbolts 1969 comics debuts Characters created by Roy Thomas Characters created by Sal Buscema Comics characters introduced in 1969 Marvel Comics supervillain teams Squadron Supreme