This is "Nothing is Better," a feature spotlighting classic older comic books. This time around, we look at how the finale of John Ostrander's run on Suicide Squad with co-writer Kim Yale, and how the ending was beautifully devoid of death.

Suicide Squad was an excellent comic book series that I've written about a number of times over the years (and I'll write about more in the future, naturally). Created by John Ostrander (with the help of editor Robert Greenberger), the concept of the series was that the United States government created a covert operations team consisting mostly of super villains, with the villains being offered reductions on their sentences in exchange for going on these dangerous missions. Amanda Waller was in charge of the program, known as Task Force X, with a number of government employees working under Waller on the project, and some non-villains were on the team to direct the missions (Field leaders Rick Flag, Jr., and Bronze TIger, and superheroes Nightshade and Vixen being the four most notable heroic members of the team over its run).

With a name like "Suicide Squad," Ostrander made a point to kill off at least one member of the team on almost every mission. After all, without the legit possibility of characters dying, the whole "suicide" angle of the team wouldn't really be much of a hook. While generally the deaths would be minor characters (like whatever low-level villain joined the Squad for that particular mission might as well be wearing a red Starfleet uniform), there were some more memorable deaths over the years in the series, including Rick Flag Jr. (leading to Bronze Tiger taking over as the field leader for the rest of the run). That is what made the final mission so beautiful in its LACK of death, right down to the last page.

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What was the Squad's final mission?

The original Suicide Squad series led by Amanda Waller came to an end with Suicide Squad #66 ("And Be a Villain," a nice Shakespearean reference, by John Ostrander, Kim Yale, Geof Isherwood and Robert Campanella. Ostrander's late wife, Kim Yale, became the very important co-writer on the series a couple of years in. It was Yale who famously conceived the idea of using the Suicide Squad to turn Barbara Gordon into Oracle), with Amanda Waller leading her full force (which, by this point, had become a private organization that contracted out to governments) to help a woman, Maria Guzman, overthrow Guedhe, the tyrannical super powered leader of her island nation who had overthrown the earlier tyrannical leader and become even more tyrannical (ain't that always the way?).

The problem is that the CIA was backing this government, and they put together their own Suicide Squad to defend Guedhe from Waller. The CIA Task Force X had top of the line villains like Deadline, Shrapnel and Bolt working for them. As the Squad traveled through the jungle to kill Guedhe, he used his powers to torment them with their greatest fears. In the case of Waller, it was all the past members of the Suicide Squad that died under her leadership...

Amanda Waller is haunted by the dead former members of the Suicide Squad

Again, the CIA-sponsored team of villains was very powerful, so the Squad was looking to be in terrible shape when Waller and Maria were able to reach Guedhe. Waller then revealed that she had a superpower, the ability to kill anyone that she touched. Guedhe didn't take her seriously, so Waller proved it by killing Maria (who we learned was the wife of Guedhe, whose real name was Edwardo Guzman). This allowed Guedhe to accept her ability, and allowed her to kill him..

Amanda Waller reveals the ability to kill anyone she touches

This, of course, was a con by Waller. She used a toxin that feigned death to convince Guzman that Maria was dead, as Waller had theorized that his powers were keeping him alive, and that his powers would let him die if he BELIEVED he could die. She guessed right, and, of course, the metaphor of everything she touches dying was so powerful.

Once revived, Waller filled Maria in, and they went to go check to see which members of the Squad were still alive...

Waller tricked Guedhe into letting her kill him

Remarkably, ALL of them survived the mission! Sure, it was close for some of them, but no one died, a rarity for the Squad. However, Waller was so sick of all the death that she decides to shut the Squad down. She also didn't like seeing what she had inspired with the CIA Squad. Instead, she became the new leader of the island nation (that did not last long, of course).

And yes, I know, someone DID die in the episode, but it was a mercy killing, which is a whole different thing than the typical standard of death in Suicide Squad. That leads us to the final moments of the issue.

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What choice did Count Vertigo make at the end of the series?

Count Vertigo was an old Green Arrow villain who worked with the Squad for a while, and had some excellent moments, especially during the Squad's battle on Apokolips. When Waller temporarily disbanded the Squad in Suicide Squad #39, Waller allowed Vertigo (and the other members of the team) to go free, after she murdered a villain that she was kept from going after due to government bureaucracy.

After she was feed from prison after a year, she reformed the Squad as a freelance operation (with the help of, of all people, Batman!). Vertigo was then used by rebels of his former country to try to overthrow the government. They kept him under their sway through drugs. Poison Ivy then used her own drugs to put him in her own control in Suicide Squad #43 (by Ostrander, Yale and Isherwood)....

Poison Ivy puts Court Vertigo under her control

At the end of the story arc, when the Squad successfully completed their first mission as a freelance operation, Waller told Poison Ivy to return Vertigo to his own control. However, she decided to go rogue, and try to take over the country herself using Vertigo. Waller explained to her that that was a dumb idea, since the country was not a particularly prosperous one. Ivy relented, but she kept Vertigo in her thrall...

Vertigo remains under Poison Ivy's control

In any event, eventually, Poison Ivy was forced to surrender control of Vertigo because Waller needed him at his full strength to help save everyone from a missile attack. Once that fight was over, Ivy skipped town to avoid his wrath. Once all the drugs were cleared from his system, he found himself at a crossroads and decided that he might prefer dying. He asked his teammate, Deadshot, in Suicide Squad #51 (by Ostrander, Yale, Luke McDonnell and Isherwood) if he would kill him, and Deadshot simply told him to let him know when he wanted it done.

Count Vertigo asks Deadshot to kill him

This becomes a recurring subplot over the final year or so on the series, with Deadshot often checking in with Vertigo to see whether he wants him to kill him now or what. Deadshot feels he needs some clarity, since he might be relying on Vertigo in missions, and he needs to know if his death wish will affect Deadshot, as well, which he explains in Suicide Squad #59 (by Ostrander, Yale, Isherwood and Campanella)...

Deadshot pushes Count Vertigo to give him an answer on the whole death thing

This brings us to the final issue. After everything else has been sorted out, with Waller deciding to become the leader of the nation, Vertigo and Deadshot head off to a remote part of the island to finally determine whether Vertigo wanted to die. He tried to debate the issue with Deadshot, explaining how his religion views suicide as a sin, and this is only barely an evasion of that, but is it ENOUGH? Deadshot doesn't care, he just wants to know if he's shooting him or not.

After a long pause, the answer is...no.

Count Vertigo chooses not to die

What a beautiful ending. Ostrander then notes in the letter column that they nearly chose to end it with Vertigo saying yes and Deadshot killing him, but they settled on this ending, and I think it's really a beautiful concept. Suicide Squad ending with a man choosing to avoid suicide? Very poignant. Really, I would have used "suicide" in the headline instead of "death," but I know that's a tricky word for a lot of people, so I went with "death" instead.

Happy belated birthday, John Ostrander! Okay, folks, this is a feature that is a BIT less conducive to suggestions (as it really is about stuff that speaks to me, ya know?), but hey, feel free to still send suggestions for future installments, to brianc@cbr.com! Maybe you and I have the same take on things, and I'll use your idea!