Squadron Supreme: Difference between revisions

* [[Big Damn Villains]]: The final showdown between the Squadron and Nighthawk's team is arguably this.

* [[Brainwashed]]: Courtesy of Tom Thumb's behavior modification machine, and the centerpiece of the Squadron's utopia program. The fact that it's the ''heroes'' doing the brainwashing is a major cause of conflict in the series.

* [[Cannot Spit It Out]]: Occurs several times in the series, whether voluntarily by one of the characters or due to higher-priority instructions during brainwashing.

* [[Captain Ersatz]]: Aside from the blatant use of Ersatz Justice Leaguers, the series introduced much milder variants in Nighthawk's enemies - Remnant, Pinball, and Mink, who roughly correspond to Joker, Penguin, and Catwoman (although Mink is by far the most obvious), and the Shape, who is sort of like a good version of Clayface, himself a bumbling [[Minion with an F In Evil|henchman]] (later, he would take up a Plastic Man type of role, despite coming out years before Plas joined the JLA).

** Nighthawk's new recruits, who join the Squadron as infiltrators, are Ersatz versions of the Outsiders.

* [[Couldn't Find a Pen]]: Taken literally -- the first edition printing of the ''[[Squadron Supreme]]'' trade paperback included the cremated ashes of writer [[Mark Gruenwald]] mixed in the ink, a request made in his will.

* [[Creator Provincialism]]: Although the story begins with the entire planet on the brink of collapse, the entire series takes place in the United States. This is especially jarring given that much of it focuses on how the Squadron's efforts are impacting the rights of individuals, yet the laws and traditions of different countries are never addressed.

* [[Deal with the Devil]]: When Tom Thumb visits the Scarlet Centurion for the Panacea Potion, the Centurion agrees to give it -- if Tom will poison Hyperion in return. Tom even calls it "a deal with the Devil".

* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: Happens to {{spoiler|Nuke. When he learns his radiation powers have given terminal cancer to his parents, he begs Tom Thumb to find a cure. Tom's failure to do so causes Nuke to blame him for their deaths.}}

* [[Freak-Out]]: {{spoiler|Nuke, after his parents die from radiation poisoning. He blames Tom Thumb for failing to find a cancer cure, runs away from the team, and lashes out at Doctor Spectrum when he tries to talk him down.}}

* [[Gadgeteer Genius]]: Tom Thumb and Master Menace.

** Arcana as well, {{spoiler|with her pregnancy-concealing illusion dropping when she goes into labor.}}

* [[Gosh Dang It to Heck]]: The Comics Code was still in full effect. Squadron members routinely use [[Narm]]-fully mild language in dramatic situations - "Son of a fish" is probably the most hilarious.

** Really? I vote [[Complete Monster]].

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: The fact that the Squadron are [[Captain Ersatz|Captain Ersatzes]] of the [[Justice League]] was eventually lampshaded in JLA/Avengers when Hawkeye; upon meeting the actually League, notices the parallels and repeatedly refers to the JLA as "Squadron Supreme-lite".

* [[Logic Bomb]]: Former supercriminals are made to work for the Squadron with the directive implanted into their brains that they are to not betray any member of the Squadron. One such person witnesses a member covertly acting against the rest of the Squadron. Her mind is locked into a loop, as revealing the information would mean betraying one member of the Squadron, while keeping it secret means betraying the rest.

* [[Love Makes You Evil]]: Golden Archer, after his marriage proposal to Lady Lark gets rejected. He {{spoiler|brainwashes her into loving him}} as a result.