When I was a kid, I mostly read Silver and Bronze Age comic books. The Modern Age of comics did not begin until 1985. Silver Age comics feature more lighthearted good-versus-evil stories. Bronze Age comics began to mirror real-life issues more. However, superheroes became grittier and darker in the Modern Age. It’s why we have superheroes who kill, antiheroes, and even black ops superhero teams now.
In fact, some superhero comic books are like violent 1980s and 1990s action films. Some of these comics, especially the team books, are full of covert kill squads and morally grey characters. They kill or pull off psy op missions that fulfill an agenda, not for the sake of the greater good or superheroics for its own sake.
Here are eight black ops superhero teams that you never want to learn are on your trail.
1. The Elite
The Elite is a superhero vigilante squad that made its debut in Superman #775 back in 2001. This team is a black ops superhero squad on their own to deal with the “scum” of the Earth. The Elite would kill soldiers and topple regimes on a whim and to make examples to others. Superman looked like a Silver Age relic next to the Elite.
He pretends to kill the Elite to show the world that traditional superheroes inspire hope. Superman believes that antiheroes and black ops superhero teams will inspire hope today and terror in the long run.
2. Uncanny X-Force
The first version of X-Force made its debut in New Mutants #100 in 1991. X-Force was originally a more proactive and aggressive version of New Mutants. Led by Cable, X-Force would seek out and stop threats instead of responding. Later versions of X-Force, especially uncanny X-Force, were essentially black ops superhero death squads.
Usually consisting of members like Wolverine, Psylocke, Warpath, Deadpool, Fantomex, and others, X-Force would proactively identify mutant threats and eliminate them.
3. Suicide Squad
The original Suicide Squad made its debut in The Brave and the Bold #25 in 1959. They were a Dirty Dozen-type military outfit, led by Rick Flagg, Sr., that dealt with ominous threats. The Suicide Squad that we are all familiar with did not make its debut until Legends #3 in 1987.
Led by Amanda Waller and Rick Flag, Jr., the Suicide Squad, also known as Task Force X, are supervillains and prisoners with powers in prison. They get time off their sentences by going on suicide missions. The Suicide Squad members have small bombs in their necks or skulls that will detonate if they disobey orders.
4. Secret Avengers
Secret Avengers #1 came out in 2010 after the events of Dark Reign and Siege. Harry Osborn was out as S.H.I.E.L.D. director, which he renamed H.A.M.M.E.R. The Superhero Registration Act was repealed. The traditional Avengers were back in business. However, Steve Rogers decides that a covert, black ops superhero team would be necessary in a post-Dark Reign world.
The Secret Avengers would progressively identify and aggressively battle looming threats instead of waiting and reacting. Additionally, the Secret Avengers were not against killing if it meant fulfilling their mission.
Secret Avengers by Ed Brubaker: The Complete Collection is a 302-page paperback. It collects the first 12 issues of the series. Get it on Amazon now for $69.
5. The Corpse (Green Lantern)
The Corpse is probably the deadliest, most elite, and virtually unknown black ops superhero team on this list. The Green Lanterns are the honor guard, space police. Alpha Lanterns are like internal affairs. However, most Lanterns have never even heard of the secretive Corpses division of Lanterns.
They are the wetworks, or kill squad, division of the Green Lantern Corps. Even the name “corpse” is a play on “corps. The Corpse members go on kill missions, the kind a Green Lantern could never go on. Instead of using power rings, they swallow small black discs that make them living power rings for a few days. Guy Gardner was a member of the Corpse for a few days.
However, since he was unable to kill his target, his memory of his Corpse mission was erased. The Corpse is an incredible black ops superhero team concept that was only used in three issues, Green Lantern Corps #7 through 9 from 2007. They may still exist, but DC has not used them again for over 18 years.
6. Project Rising Spirit
Project Rising Spirit was a secretive military contractor that would conduct unethical experiments to create soldiers and mercenaries with superpowers. The organization’s goal was to create living weapons they could control to conduct black ops and kill missions on their terms. The most popular subject of Project Rising Spirit’s experiments was Bloodshot, the mercenary who had his blood replaced with trillions of nanites.
7. Illuminati
The Illuminati is probably the most controversial black ops superhero team on this list. The Illuminati don’t necessarily fight battles; they meet in secret and make decisions that affect the world. Namor, Black Bolt, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Prof. X, and Dr. Strange make up the group.
Also, the Illuminati took it upon themselves to take an Infinity Stone each to hide for safekeeping. Reed Richards had unsuccessfully tried to destroy them. The Illuminati would decide on their own that the Hulk was too dangerous to exist on Earth and banish him to deep space.
8. Sisters of Perpetual Darkness
The Sisters of Perpetual Darkness, also known as “nunjas,” are a clandestine assassin sect in Valiant Comics. They worship serial killers as saints and take vows of Chastity, Lethality, and Stealth. They are a combination of nun and ninja with no moral code. The Sisters made their first appearance in Archer and Armstrong #2 in 2012.
Black Ops Superhero Teams
The gritty, darker superhero trope is here to stay. Modern audiences don’t go for the superhero who saves cats out of trees and never curses anymore. However, it is important to remember that this is one genre of superhero. The traditional superhero archetype, the do-gooder, like Spider-Man, Superman, or Batman, the type who doesn’t kill, is not dead yet.
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