Squadron Supreme

The following history applies only to the Squadron Supreme of the mainstream Marvel Universe. The team from the Supreme Power series exists in the Marvel "Ultimate" universe.
The Original Squadron Supreme

Years ago, Marvel shamelessly unveiled their very own JLofA rip-off group: the Squadron Sinister. These four villains were foes of the Avengers. Later, they took it one step further and created the Earth-S of the Marvel Universe, where lived the good Squadron Supreme. The group grew in number over the years, appearing in various issues of Avengers and Defenders before finally getting their own groundbreaking 12-issue mini-series in the 1980s (now available in trade paperback). Eleven new members joined during the mini-series. Unlike the core Squadron, these were original characters.

Recently, the JLA's popularity sparked a "reboot" of the Squadron Supreme. The book, called Supreme Power, starred Hyperion and was published under Marvel's "Max" imprint. These new stories definitely do not take place in the main Marvel Universe, nor do they have any connection to the former Squadron Supreme. Many of the original characters have been revamped and reintroduced. The book then spun into three mini-series, Doctor Spectrum, Hyperion and Nighthawk. In this universe, these characters are often at odds with each other. Nighthawk, Power Princess and Amphibian have "bad sides" to them, and others like Arcana and Nuke have been teamed against Hyperion. No team was actually formed until Hyperion #2.

During the SS limited series, they took on eleven new recruits. Six of them were forcibly reformed criminals brainwashed into working with the SS: Ape-X, Dr. Decibel, Foxfire, Lamprey, Quagmire and Shape (Ape-X was rendered brain-dead while Decibel and Quagmire seemingly died in action; Quagmire actually survived and is active as a villain on mainstream Marvel Earth). The brainwashing was undone and Lamprey betrayed the SS, dying in battle with Dr. Spectrum. Shape and Foxfire remained loyal to the SS, and Foxfire died in action alongside them. The SS's other new recruits were novice super-heroes: Haywire, Inertia, Moonglow, Redstone and Thermite. All five joined the SS as infiltrators on behalf of the subversive Redeemers, but when the Redeemers successfully coerced the SS into abandoning their positions as world rulers, the surviving rookies remained with the SS. One of the five, Thermite, was accidentally killed during the Redeemers' battle with the SS.

So, following Squadron Supreme #12, the roster stood as follows: Hyperion, Power Princess, Doctor Spectrum, Whizzer II, Arcanna, Shape, Haywire, Inertia, Moonglow and Redstone. Skrull had long since resigned. Amphibian and Nighthawk resigned in protest of the SS's becoming world rulers to steer the Earth back to stability after its temporary conquest by the Overmind, and Nighthawk led his Redeemers group in persuading the Squadron to abdicate. Nighthawk died in that battle, as did fellow ex-SS member Black Archer, who joined the Redeemers after the SS expelled him for abusing their mind-control technology by forcing Lady Lark to love him. Lady Lark resigned in protest of his expulsion, still brainwashed into blindly adoring him, but she didn't join the Redeemers (nor did Amphibian). Nuke went mad after realizing he had given his parents cancer, and died battling Dr. Spectrum. Tom Thumb died of cancer himself while trying to find a cure for it. Ape-X was incapacitated, Doctor Decibel died while suffocating when Quagmire's power engulfed the hospital. Quagmire was lost and presumed dead, and Blue Eagle, Lamprey, Foxfire and Thermite died during the SS/Redeemers battle.

Most of those killed in SS #12 were placed in Hybernaculum chambers. These chambers were invented by Tom Thumb, and basically served the same purpose as cryogenic preservation. There were 7 chambers: Tom Thumb, Pinball, Thermite, Foxfire, Blue Eagle and Golden Archer were shown. The other one may have contained Nighthawk, since Lamprey's body was mostly unrecoverable.