Villain teams have been around for years since the Injustice Society tangled with the Justice Society way back in the Golden Age. In modern times, villains began to get more popular, though, and DC saw an opportunity; taking a bunch of B and C-list villains, they formed a new team, the Suicide Squad. The Squad was different than other villain teams, though, in exchange for going on dangerous missions, their sentences were commuted. Fans ate it up and the concept would wane and wax over the years.
Marvel tried their hand at the villain team going good with the Thunderbolts. The Thunderbolts all started as a scheme by Baron Zemo to take advantage of a power vacuum after the "death" of the heroes fighting Onslaught but would morph into a team more akin to the Squad over years. Let's take a look at these two teams of villains and see which one is best.
10 Suicide Squad: Another Brick In The Wall
The Suicide Squad's government minder was Amanda Waller, a woman who would go down as one of the toughest characters in all of the DC Universe. Fans loved her almost from the start- she was a no-nonsense operator, at home in the shadowy world of black ops and had the toughness and cunning to deal with both murderous villains and heroes.
Amanda Waller was a huge part of the Suicide Squad mythos and one of the most entertaining characters. She was involved with every incarnation of the team over the years, cajoling and bullying them into doing the right thing... or what she thought was the right thing.
9 Thunderbolts: New Masters
The Thunderbolts took members from Zemo's old team, the Masters of Evil, and repurposed them. Zemo, Goliath, Fixer, Screaming Mimi, Beetle, and Moonstone became Citizen V, Atlas, Thinker, Songbird, Mach-1, and Meteorite, new heroes out to fill the void left by the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.
In public, the group played the heroes but in private, Zemo and Thinker were readying their plans the whole time for conquest, getting ready to strike.
8 Suicide Squad: Getting Made
One of the things that Suicide Squad succeeded at was taking villains that weren't exactly popular and making them into characters that people want to read about. Deadshot had been around for years but he really got a chance to shine on Suicide Squad, showing readers what he could do besides getting beat on by Batman.
It also took Captain Boomerang and made him into something other than a third rate Flash villain, made Count Vertigo important, re-introduced readers to Bronze Tiger, and, of course, the awesomeness of Amanda Waller.
7 Thunderbolts: Bigger Villains
While the first generation of Thunderbolts only had one A-list villain, Baron Zemo, later rosters of the team would have more with the post-Civil War group containing Norman Osborn in the Amanda Waller role, Bullseye, and Venom, along with Moonstone and others. A later group would even include Juggernaut.
While the Suicide Squad had a few A-listers on its roster, the Thunderbolts have edged them out over the years, with bigger villains and a bigger place in the Marvel Universe- while the Suicide Squad has always been more of an underground type of group, the Thunderbolts were always a visible part of the Marvel Universe- even if they did have some secrets.
6 Suicide Squad: Revving Up The Harley
One of the biggest additions to the Suicide Squad in recent years was Harley Quinn. Harley has become a breakout star in the DC Universe and making her a part of the New 52 reboot of the Suicide Squad put some eyes on the team that might not have otherwise been drawn to the team. It's safe to say that a big part of the team's success was the addition of Harley Quinn.
Harley was also perfect for the team, as her madcap brand of ultra-violence fit in very well with the missions the group was sent on. She also added some much-needed levity and attitude to the group, so much so that it's basically her group now.
5 Thunderbolts: If You Can't Beat The Avengers, Be The Avengers
Norman Osborn's version of the Thunderbolts would pull off a coup that no other villain team ever had. Thinking quickly, Osborn was able to kill the Skrull Queen on the live TV during Secret Invasion, putting him in place to take over the Superhero Initiative. He was able to take his group of Thunderbolts and repackage them as the Avengers.
Although the team was no longer called the Thunderbolts, what Osborn did was very much in the spirit of the original team- taking villains and recasting them as heroes and using them for whatever foul purposes Osborn could come up with. Zemo would be proud.
4 Suicide Squad: The Dirty Doing Dirt
Amanda Waller knew exactly what she wanted the Suicide Squad- they weren't meant to be a team taking on the biggest threats of the DC Universe. They were meant to take care of the missions that the superheroes never would, the dirty and bloody affairs that people like Superman or Batman would never even consider taking on.
The Suicide Squad was meant to take on the dirtiest, bloodiest missions, the ones where not everyone always got out alive. There's a reason they're called the Suicide Squad after all.
3 Thunderbolts: Becoming Heroes
The first roster of the Thunderbolts had a problem- Meteorite, Mach-1, Songbird, and Atlas started to like being heroes. It was nice to win and get public admiration. They would take a new member who knew nothing about their identities, Jolt, and things would only get worse as Zemo realized his team was enjoying their new roles enough to not go through his plan.
He revealed their identities to the world and once the Avengers and FF came back, took mental control of them and used them to attack the group. The remaining Thunderbolts would stay heroes and Hawkeye would join up with the group, becoming their new leader.
2 Suicide Squad: Setting The Trend
The Suicide Squad set a trend. It was one of the first time that a team of villains ever got their own book. It was actually a pretty big chance at the time. However, fans loved the book and while it wouldn't last forever, it blazed new ground. Without the example it set, there's a good chance Marvel never would have taken a chance with the Thunderbolts.
Beyond that, it's telling that later Thunderbolt teams were basically the Suicide Squad- teams of villains that worked for the government in exchange for clemency for their crimes. The Suicide Squad set a trend for every villain team that got their own book that came after them.
1 Thunderbolts: That First Issue, Though
It's hard to describe how big the first issue of Thunderbolts was upon its debut. The group was first introduced in an issue of Incredible Hulk and no one suspected the truth behind the group; they just seemed like a run of the mill new group of heroes. It was honestly kind of mystifying why they were getting their own book.
The first issue kept up that whole vibe. It was good (with creators like Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, it was hard for it not to be)... and then that reveal hit and the whole thing hit the next level. The Thunderbolts felt fresh like something readers hadn't seen before and the book was a highlight of mid to late-90s Marvel.