The Suicide Squad Comics That Inspired James Gunn’s Movie Collected in New DC Omnibus

Task Force X may be expendable, but John Ostrander‘s Suicide Squad comics are indispensable. Decades after a version of the Col. Rick Flag-led government team debuted during DC’s Silver Age in 1959, Ostrander reinvented the Suicide Squad for the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths era. Spinning out of Legends #3 — plotted by Ostrander, written by Len Wein (Swamp Thing), and penciled by John Byrne (Superman: The Man of Steel) — 1987’s Suicide Squad comic run redefined the motley crew of incarcerated supervillains deemed disposable by ruthless program director Amanda Waller.

DC Comics will collect the first 18 issues of Ostrander and Luke McDonnell’s Suicide Squad, plus the complete six-issue miniseries Legends and related issues — including “The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad” in Secret Origins #14 and the Ostrander-penned Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special — in the Suicide Squad by John Ostrander Omnibus (releasing May 20th, 2025). The 1008-page collection retails for $125 and is available for pre-order here on Amazon.

The newly-formed Suicide Squad under Flag’s command — rogues Captain Boomerang, Enchantress, Bronze Tiger, and the assassin Deadshot — were dispatched to eliminate Brimstone, an agent of Darkseid’s, on a mission that came with the first casualty (the monstrous man-brute Blockbuster). Suicide Squad #1, titled “Trial by Blood,” mined the cells of the super-powered prison of Belle Reve for the new Task Force X, adding Karin Grace, Plastique, and the ill-fated  Mindboggler to the ever-changing ranks of Task Force X.

Ostrander’s 66-issue run on Suicide Squad would go on to add marquee characters — former Batgirl Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Oracle, Batman villain Poison Ivy, and the former Justice Leaguer Vixen — alongside lesser-known anti-heroes and costumed criminals alike, including Green Arrow and Black Canary enemy Count Vertigo, Doctor Light, Ravan, The Thinker, Outlaw, Nightshade, Punch and Jewelee, Javelin, and Shade, the Changing Man.

The comic run influenced the David Ayer-directed Suicide Squad and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. In a 2021 interview with ComicBook, Gunn credited Ostrander’s Suicide Squad for inspiring “the tone and the premise” of his R-rated, death-filled DC movie.

“I do think of [The Suicide Squad] as being a sequel to John Ostranderstories from the late ’80s,” Gunn said. “It’s a bunch of Z-grade superheroes whoare thought of as disposable by the US government and put out on asuicidal missions, Black Ops operations around the world, and reallyjust sticking to that central premise and keeping that there is what wasimportant to me.”

Discover the definitive and explosive introduction to the modern version of the Suicide Squad by comics legend John Ostrander.

Whennew threats emerge deemed too dangerous for the United States military,Batman, and even Superman, who is called in to answer the call of duty?Seems like a job for Task Force X, also known as the Suicide Squad. Ledby the no-nonsense federal agent Amanda Waller, this band of notorioussuper-criminals are faced with a dilemma: accept these highly dangerousmissions and stare death in the face to earn their freedom or rotforever in prison. Comics legend John Ostrander defines the SuicideSquad for the modern age in this brutal tale of war and redemption.

Collects: SuicideSquad #1-18; Checkmate #1, #8; Manhunter #1; Justice LeagueInternational #13; Secret Origins #14, #28; Who’s Who #14; DetectiveComics #582; The Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special #1; Who’s Who:The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #3-8, #11-12, #15-18,#20-23, #25; The New Teen Titans #31; The Fury of Firestorm #62-64;Firestorm: The Nuclear Man Annual #5; Who’s Who Update 1987 #1, #3-5;Legends #1-6; Millennium #4; Who’s Who Update 1988 #1-4.