Even as "Suicide Squad" -- one of the most anticipated films of the summer -- arrives in theaters, DC Comics has launched a new series starring the "worst heroes ever" as part its Rebirth initiative.

That's an awfully bright spotlight on a team that typically operates in the shadows, all while trying not to kill each other.

The Squad's history goes back further than this weekend, of course -- even further back than the late 1980s, which saw the introduction of the concept that Warner Bros. hopes movie-goers will come to love.

In honor of the Suicide Squad's rich history, here's a look back at the different incarnations of Task Force X.

Suicide Squadron and Task Force X

The origin of the Suicide Squad dates back to 1959, to "The Brave and the Bold" #25. Although it's best remembered as a Batman team-up series, the comic began as an anthology featuring such characters as the Silent Knight and Viking Prince. With Issue 25, the title exchanged swords and axes for guns and airplanes with the debut of the Suicide Squad.

Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru, the team also known as Task Force X consisted of four characters -- Colonel Rick Flag Jr., medic Karin Grace, astronomer Hugh Evans and physicist Jess Bright -- who traveled around in a "flying laboratory" and fought monsters like the "Red Wave Beast" and "The Creature of Ghost Lake." They followed on the heels of another, similar group of adventurers, the Challengers of the Unknown, which may be why the original Task Force X never really caught on.

The Suicide Squad appeared in only four issues of "The Brave and the Bold," disappearing just in time for the Justice League of America to debut in the 28th issue. They returned in Issue 37 for another brief run, this time facing dinosaurs and alien robots. In the mid-1960s, in the pages of "Star-Spangled War Stories," Kanigher and Andru told the story of the Suicide Squadron, a World War II-era team whose ranks included Rick Flag's father. Their run was also fairly short-lived, and it would be a couple of decades before the name reappeared in DC's line.

A Legend Reborn

Following the 1985-86 crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths," DC Comics not only experienced a reboot but also a renaissance of sorts, as new creative teams rejuvenated old concepts. With the reconstruction of the big three under way -- Superman by John Byrne, Batman by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, Wonder Woman by George Perez -- 1987 brought another crossover, "Legends."

The team of John Ostrander, Len Wein, John Byrne and Karl Kesel pitted Earth's superheroes against Darkseid and Glorious Godfrey, who attempted to turn the populace against them. Perhaps more notable than the miniseries itself were series that launched out of it: the popular take on "Justice League" by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire; Wally West's first solo "Flash" title by Mike Baron, Jackson Guice and Larry Mahlstedt; and, of course, Ostrander and Luke McDonnell's "Suicide Squad."

Although the Suicide Squad's appearance in "Legends" was somewhat brief, it also set the tone for the coming ongoing series, by killing off one of its members. The miniseries also introduced a character pivotal to the Squad, and eventually the DC Universe -- Amanda Waller, aka The Wall, who ran the new, shadowy Task Force X. She'd take center stage in "Suicide Squad," offering an inkling of hope to the super-powered criminals in Belle Reve Penitentiary in Louisiana: Go on a few suicide missions for the U.S. government, and we'll reduce your sentence. But turn on us during one of those missions, and we'll blow your arm off with the bomb we just attached to your wrist (in later series, the "wrist bomb" became an injectable explosive meant to blow off a villain's head; Waller doesn't play around).

Villains with nothing to lose were more than willing to play along. Waller recruited Rick Flag Jr. to lead the team, connecting this new Squad to the previous one. Karin Grace, his ex, worked for the program as well, providing a bit more tension in an already-intense situation. Nemesis, a master of disguise rescued by Flag and Waller, backed up Flag. Nightshade, a Charlton character freshly drafted into the DC, and Bronze Tiger, a martial artist from "Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter," of all places, rounded out the core of the "heroes" who policed the team. Then you had the villains themselves, from mainstays like Deadshot and Captain Boomerang to Plastique, Mindboggler, the Duchess (really Lashina from the Female Furies) and even the Penguin -- characters who popped up for only a mission or two, or maybe more -- if they survived that long.

Trial By Fire

It was the late 1980s, with the Iran-Contra affair still fresh in memories and the Cold War in its final days, so the concept hit at the right time, politically. A lot was changing in comics as well, with more adult-oriented titles really starting to gain momentum. It wasn't just the era of the post-"Crisis" DC Universe, but also the era of "Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight Returns" and a swarm of independent comics that brought in a new wave of creators to the industry. One of those was Ostrander, who came to DC after writing "Grimjack" for First Comics (he'd also start writing the horror anthology "Wasteland" for DC, which debuted in 1987 not long after "Suicide Squad," and would revive DC's "Manhunter"). He was joined by his wife Kim Yale as co-writer at the end of "Suicide Squad's" second year, and together they created some of the greatest stories featuring some pretty despicable characters.

There were certainly comics that starred villains before "Suicide Squad," but most of those didn't last long. Several factors combined to make this book one of the best of its era. Primarily, it took C- and even D-list characters and made readers care about them. Not that they were necessarily sympathetic; Captain Boomerang, always a favorite, was an ass (he lets a teammate die in the first arc because she made fun of him earlier), and the homicidal and psychotic qualities of the other characters remained throughout the run, even as the creative team showed more of their backstories and what made them tick. That's what's always made the comic work: Unlike something like "Thunderbolts," where a group of nasty bad guys tried to evolve into something better, the characters in "Suicide Squad" weren't seeking redemption. They were pretty broken, and they weren't really looking to be fixed.

The other factor that set this team apart was that at any moment, any of them could be killed. Nowadays comic fans are fairly jaded about comic book deaths, but at that time, it wasn't quite as commonplace. Bucky Barnes and Gwen Stacy were still dead, rather than starring in ongoing series, and you probably didn't pick up the latest issue of "Justice League" expecting someone to die. No, "Suicide Squad's" environment was more like that of "The Walking Dead;" these characters weren't on the level of Superman and Batman, or even The Joker and Lex Luthor. They were, as mentioned before, C-listers, specifically chosen because the creative team could do whatever it wanted with them -- like kill them off or make readers care about them. Or both. From the audience's perspective, the sense that "anything can happen here" added to the dramatic tension of the book, and freed the creators to tell the kinds of stories they wanted to tell. Heck, they killed the team's leader, Rick Flag, at the end of their second year. Wait, spoilers!

Ostrander and Yale also weren't afraid to play in the larger DC sandbox. Continuity, here, was an advantage, versus something that held them back. No doubt the concept of the book helped: All of these villains came from somewhere else, from someone else's book, and DC's other comics no doubt could supply a steady stream of fodder to fill the cells of Belle Reve. And even non-villains, like Vixen, Speedy and Barbara Gordon, who made her debut as Oracle in the series, got in on the fun. After "Crisis," DC leaned in hard on crossovers, and the Suicide Squad was typically front and center -- or more likely, standing in the back laughing at the heroes and maybe tripping them as they walked by. Continuity, really, was a vibrant piece of the cloth they were creating. The Suicide Squad themselves may have been on the fringes, but the comic itself really exploited the richness that continuity and setting can bring.

Things changed a bit with Issue 40. After being in jail for a year, Amanda Waller is freed, and works out a deal in which the Squad could go freelance, selling themselves to the highest bidder. The Squad itself didn't change as much in terms of its lineup, with the exception of the "War of the Gods" crossover issue, which saw an influx of characters join their ranks. That included "The Writer," who was actually Grant Morrison, whom you might remember joined the DC Universe when he wrote himself into "Animal Man." Spoiler alert: He doesn't make it out alive.

The End of the Beginning

Ostrander and Yale continued on the book until it conclusion with Issue 66, in what was probably one of the greatest endings ever - one that provided a potent character moment for, surprisingly, the suicidal Count Vertigo. The Squad continued to make appearances in such series as "Superboy," "Hawk & Dove" and the well-regarded "Chase."

In 2001, Keith Giffen and Paco Medina kicked off a new "Suicide Squad" series, this time featuring World War II hero Sgt. Rock as the team leader. It lasted just 12 issues, and ended on an odd note that suggested Sgt. Rock wasn't really Sgt. Rock. Ostrander also returned in 2007 for a miniseries that, among other things, explained how Rick Flag Jr. could still be alive after dying in the original volume.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the influence the Ostrander/Yale run had on other writers and comics. Although DC's "Secret Six" had a different name and premise, the tone and focus made it a cousin of sorts (it probably helped that Deadshot's character arc in "Suicide Squad" continued into the series). Writer Gail Simone has paid tribute to Ostrander's work, and even teamed up with him on an issue of "Secret Six."

"His impact is enormous," Simone said. "An entire wave of writers, including myself, Greg Rucka, Christos Gage and Geoff Johns, learned how to write morally twisty characters at least partially from John long before any of us had ever met him. "

The New 52 and Beyond

When DC Comics rebooted its entire line in 2011 in the aftermath of "Flashpoint," the publisher introduced several new takes on old concepts - including the Suicide Squad. Written by Adam Glass with art by Federico Dallocchio and Ransom Getty, the new series introduced a younger Amanda Waller as, once again, the head of a government-sanctioned secret project that used villains to further America's interests.

The team included team mainstay Deadshot and saw the addition of Harley Quinn to the ranks for some much-needed psychotic levity. Ales Kot took over from Glass, and was followed by Sean Ryan, who went on to write "New Suicide Squad" when it was rebooted in 2014. Ryan's first arc added Joker's Daughter, Deathstroke and Black Manta to the mix, alongside Deadshot and Harley Quinn. The new additions made for an interesting dynamic, and ratcheted up the tension.

And with Rebirth comes another reboot for the title, this time by Rob Williams and DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee, featuring a team that's closer to the one featured in the Warner Bros. film. The Rebirth one-shot, unsurprisingly, went on sale this week, with the first issue set to debut Aug. 17.

"I just love the premise of the 'Suicide Squad' book," Lee told CBR. "It's about characters who have reached a dead end in their lives, and they're given one last chance for hope and redemption. Even though they're forced into it and threatened with death, there's some humanity in all of it. You see that, and you kind of root for them, even though they're some of the world's worst supervillains. I just like that layering of different themes, and I think it's a very pertinent one that we deal with in society in general -- what do you have to pay for your sins? And once you pay for those sins, are you a good person again?"

Bringing things full circle, Ostrander will also return to the "Suicide Squad" this month, as he's writing "Suicide Squad: War Crimes Special."