Planet DC JSA And Batman

Here are the last two of the 8 Planet DC Annuals of 2000, focusing on heroes you know meeting heroes from foreign lands...

...this time around, the new heroes are Nemesis and the Boggart, who meet with the JSA and Batman.

JSA Annual #1 (October, 2000)

First up is Nemesis (Soseh Mykros) in a story by David Goyer, Uriel Caton and Wade von Grawbadger, as she fights the clones of Sportsmaster (an old JSA foe) as a way to battle the Council.  Soseh was the daughter of Dr. Anatol Mykros (who worked with the Council, which were thought to be defeated by Batman and the Mark Shaw Manhunter long ago.  Mykros experimented and had two daughters, Soseh and Ellina, both of whom had incredible regeneration abilities, as well as Eidetic Kinesthesia (the ability to duplicate any fighting style she encountered).  Meant to lead the Sportsmaster clones, Soseh felt what her father was doing was wrong, and opposed him, drawing her into battle with her sister.  While Soseh defeated Ellina and got away, she was injured and floated away in the Aegean Sea...

...where, in the second story in the annual (by Geoff Johns, Buzz and Jim Royal, as Buzz did the cover as well), Soseh ended up on Themyscira, home of the amazons, where, at the time, Hippolyta was acting as Wonder Woman, and training newer JSA members Black Canary, Star-Spangled Kid and Hawkgirl.  There, she related her tale and, having encountered the Sportsmaster clones before, the JSA decided to help, going to the back to the secret facility in Greece where the Council was cloning Sportsmaster, and destroyed it, with Soseh killing her sister along the way (a setback for the Council, who was allied with JSA foe, the Ultra-Humanite as well).  Nemesis continued fighting the Council with the help of the JSA, but ended up allying with Black Adam, where she was killed by Eclipso (all in the next few years of JSA books).

Batman Annual #24 (October, 2000)

The last of the new heroes from the Planet DC was the Boggart, as detailed in this story by John Ostrander, Jim Aparo and Sal Buscema (with a cover by Michael Kaluta).  On a rare vacation to England, Alfred Pennyworth ran into the beast...leaving him comatose, inviting a visit by Bruce Wayne (and Batman) to investigate.  Going to the place Alfred last was, Elsbeth Fields (call her Gran Puddin) was set to give Bruce her granddaughter, Rosemary....until Bruce was chased from the house by the Boggart.  Having Rosemary calm the Boggart, Gran Puddin explained that her son Harry, and new bride, Diana, had Rosemary with help from Lord Malvern, who, now claimed Rosemary.  

Bruce went to confront Geoffrey, Lord Malvern, who directly shooed Bruce from his mansion and made light of claims of the beast.  Going back as Batman, Bruce encountered security guard Grayle, as Rosemary and the Boggart went to the mansion as well.  When the girl and her imaginary friend got in, they found other children who also had imaginary friends, and found that Lord Malvern was experimenting to give children telekinetic powers....which manifested as imaginary friends.  Grayle, as a security guard representing other interests, tried the formula on himself, manifesting the beast.  Lord Malvern had a cure for the formula, but needed Batman to distract Grayle, and the Boggart to distract the beast, wherein Malvern gave Grayle the cure, and the beast disappeared.  Realizing Malvern was not malevolent, Gran Puddin gave her blessing for Rosemary to be trained at the mansion (with the Boggart reluctantly agreeing).

In the second story, also by Ostrander, Aparo and Buscema, Rosemary (and the Boggart, the manifestation of her powers) met Roland Royce, who was to study the Boggart (but the Boggart would have none of that).  The Boggart manifested badly, and, after being admonished by Rosemary, disappeared for a while.  Rosemary learned why Malvern was so intend on protecting children, having lost his son, William, who was the first recipient of the experiment, and killed himself because he couldn't handle the power.  With the help of the Boggart, Malvern and the spirit of his son reconciled.  Sadly, Rosemary and the Boggart never reappeared.

Suicide Squad Support

Fact.  The Suicide Squad wouldn't exist without Amanda Waller.

She brought Task Force X back from the (mostly) dead by sheer force of will, to accomplish what she wanted to get done.

Amanda also recruited a few specific people, Nightshade and Nemesis, that would help the covert nature of the team, and were heroes, which would also help deal with the criminal element that was a part of the team.

Here's the facts on these three Suicide Squad members.
 

Amanda Waller

Amanda Waller was introduced in Legends #1 (November, 1986 by Len Wein, John Ostrander, John Byrne and Karl Kesel), already fighting with Rick Flag, as she started her push to have him recruit villains to be a part of Task Force X, with him as leader.  Amanda really didn't want Rick around, she wanted Bronze Tiger to be the field leader, as she felt Rick's previous failures with the team made him a liability.  Amanda had the nickname of "the Wall" and she hit Rick (and almost everyone around her) like running into one.  You did things Waller's way, or else.  But, how did she get so tough?

Amanda started life as Amanda Blake, living in a bad neighborhood in Chicago, falling in love and marrying Joseph Waller, and having children with him.  Then, the streets of Chicago hit back, claiming the lives of Joe, Jr. and then Damita, pushing Joseph over the edge, to die in a shoot out with the man suspected of raping and killing Damita.  Amanda met Simon LaGrieve, who helped her carry on.  Amanda's kids all got college degrees, then Amanda got one herself.  Amanda went to work for Marvin Collins, helping him to get elected to Congress.  While doing research in Washington, DC, Amanda found the files on Task Force X, and thought of a way that old group could help people in the here and now (most of Amanda's pre-Squad history can be found in Secret Origins #14 of May, 1987, by John Ostrander, Luke McDonnell and Dave Hunt).

Amanda Waller's history is tied to that of the Suicide Squad, but she also had influence on many other heroes, like Captain Atom, Superman, the Justice League, and even headed Checkmate (whose later series has been collected, but only the issues with the Janus Directive from the original series...DC needs a a collection of the issues of the original Checkmate! now!  At least the first 14 issues in one volume plus Action Comics #598...please!).

Amanda found interesting people with problems to contribute to her cause....and Nightshade was one of the earliest.....

Nightshade

Eve Eden premiered in Captain Atom #82 (September, 1966 by David Kaler, Steve Ditko and Rocco Mastroserio) as a supporting character in Captain Atom's life.  Eve was the Senator Wayne Eden and Magda Eden, with Magda revealing to her young daughter that she was from the land of the Nightshades, which had been taken over by the evil Incubus.  Magda also showed Eve and her brother, Larry, how to turn into shadow form and cross dimensions, taking them back home, where they captured Larry, with Eve and her mom escaping, though Magda died from her wounds. 

Eve began to train, putting on a black wig to hide her blond hair, and prepared to go back to the Nightshade dimension to rescue her brother Larry (and these early adventures, along with battles helping Captain Atom with the Ghost and Punch and Jewelee, and solo battles against Jewelee and the Image, took place in Captain Atom #82, #85 and #86, and her origins and solo battles were in her own back-up feature in Captain Atom #87 to #89 from August to December of 1967 (with art by Jim Aparo).

Thing is, that was Eve's pre-Crisis history.  As revealed in Secret Origins #28 (July, 1988 by Robert Greenberger, Rob Liefeld and Bob Lewis), Eve had never met Captain Atom or the Ghost prior to joining the Suicide Squad, instead having been partnered with King Faraday, though most of the rest of her history was intact.  Nightshade still wanted to get ready to go back to the Nightshade dimension, and did during the run of the Suicide Squad....much to her own and the Enchantress' dismay....as Eve took additional power from the Enchantress (and changed her costume as well).  Eve did continue on with the Squad until its end, later joining up with a couple of other groups (and she even met Captain Atom as well, early on.....).  But, she also fell for the man who helped her infiltrate the Jihad during Suicide Squad #1 (May, 1987).

Nemesis

Tom Tresser got his start in Brave and the Bold #166 (September, 1980 by Cary Burkett and Dan Spiegle), and was the son of Chet Tresser, and American agent, and after Chet died, Tom and his brother, Craig wanted to join the agency to help their country.  Tom proved to be better at invention, and Craig the better agent, so that's where the two ended up, until, while on assignment, the crime lords of the Council caught Craig, brainwashed him, had him kill agent Ben Marshall, and agents then killed Craig.  That began Tom's war against the Council, and it's six main members, as well as it's "head".  That war unfolded over the course of Brave and the Bold #166 to Brave and the Bold #193 (December, 1982), with Tom ending the Council (also a series that cries out for a collection in tradepaperback!).

Though Tom was thought dead by Batman at the end of his Brave and the Bold adventures, he did indeed survive, though severely wounded.  Found by agents of the U.S. government, they took care of his rehabilitation, planning to use his skills of infiltration, mask making and non-lethal freeze bullets.  For a time, Tom worked with the Suicide Squad, falling for Nightshade, but his moral code and own stubborn attitude would not let him work alongside Amanda Waller and her "do anything and sacrifice anyone for her cause".

There were other members recruited for the Suicide Squad, like Firestorm foes Mindboggler, Parasite, Slipknot, Killer Frost, Multiplex and Plastique, and many others like Penguin, Chronos, the Thinker, Captain Cold, Count Vertigo, Dr. Light, Poison Ivy, and heroes as well, like Black Orchid, Speedy, Shade the Changing Man, Manhunter, Katana and Vixen, and so many more, all a part of the team, and all there to do as Amanda Waller wanted....or else!

Still for 66 issues and Annual and a few crossovers, guest appearances and mini-series, the Suicide Squad kept the world safe from the menaces too dangerous for any heroes to face, and occasionally, they made the ultimate sacrifice as well.

In the end, fighting for everyone, and laying down your life for others, might have been the best end people like this could have hoped for.