Freedom Fighters (2018) is a 12-issue maxi-series published by DC Comics, a new version of the classic franchise.
On Earth X, the Nazis won World War II and wiped out all metahuman resistance in America after a twenty-year occupation, including the original Freedom Fighters. Decades later, a new iteration of the Freedom Fighters is emerging, but in order to succeed, they'll have to track down Uncle Sam, who disappeared after the fall of the old team.
Freedom Fighters (2018) contains examples of:
- Affirmative Action Girl: In this version of events, Doll Girl is the widow and successor to Doll Man.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: In this iteration of the team, Black Condor is a black man, while the latest Human Bomb is Asian-American.
- Inverted with Phantom Lady. Her predecessor was a Romani woman, but the current version, Sophia Becker, is a daughter of one of the American collaborators.
- Alternate History: This series takes place on Earth X, where the Nazis won World War II and captured the US. In this version it took them two decades to crush the metahuman resistance.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: As in previous iterations, Uncle Sam is the personification of the American spirit. The personifications of the other nations come back in the finale to liberate their respective countries.
- The Atoner: Sophia Becker, the current Phantom Lady, is the daughter of an American collaborator who helped the Nazis create the laws that underline their occupation of the United States. She became a Freedom Fighter to atone for her family's actions.
- Big Bad: Adolf Hitler II, as his father’s successor as Fuhrer. His son Adolf III takes over for the final two issues after killing his father.
- Captain Patriotic: Uncle Sam is America's living personification.
- Elite Mooks: The Plasstic Men State Sec soldiers are uniformly psychotic, vast in number, and good at giving heroes trouble with their Rubber Man powers.
- Les Collaborateurs: The modern Phantom Lady is the daughter of Americans who helped write the laws for the Nazi occupation.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Uncle Sam wrecks Cyborg Overman in the last issue.
- Crusading Widow: Doll Girl used to be a pacifist like her husband, the modern Doll Man. After his death at the hands of the Nazis, she swore off pacifism and dedicated her life to killing Nazis.
- Fat Bastard: Addie is grossly overweight and a complete sadist.
- Funetik Aksent: The PlaSStic Men all speak with exaggerated German accents.
- Historical Domain Character: In this version of Freedom Fighters, legendary black athlete Jesse Owens was a prominent member of the American resistance.
- Humongous Mecha: Among the Reich's modern weapons are the Iron Police, massive robotic police units.
- Killed Offscreen: The first issue mentions that the versions of The Ray and Phantom Lady seen in Mastermen got killed off sometime after the events of that story.
- Patriotic Fervor: This is the source of Uncle Sam's powers. It's also a weakness; emerging in an America that has been ruled by the Nazis since 1963, he is much weaker than he used to be.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: The series ends with a PlaSSticated Marcus Robbins ruthlessly tearing Addie Hitler apart while he begs for mercy.
- Pragmatic Villainy: In contrast to his notorious father and his own vile son, Adolf Hitler II prefers to focus on keeping the Third Reich functional, even if it means using "undesirables" for labor rather than just exterminating them. He's also very careful about deploying Overman to quell unrest because their Overman is actually a weaker cyborg; the real Overman went rogue and they don't know where he is.
- Public Execution: The original Freedom Fighters were all executed in the 1960s.
- Rushmore Refacement: In the 2018 miniseries, the Nazi occupiers have carved the faces of their leaders over the original Mount Rushmore presidential sculptures. The new Freedom Fighters blow up this new Mount Rushmore on live TV as a propaganda blow to the Reich.
- Self-Made Orphan: Addie murders his father in order to become the new Fuhrer and thus gain access to the Cyborg Overman.
- Shout-Out: Issue #6 opens with a dark parody of the opening of All-Star Superman."Doomed planet. Desperate scientists. Last hope. Genocidal tyrant."
- Sissy Villain: Addie, a full-grown man, still calls his father "Daddy" and keeps David Mathis chained up up almost naked in his torture dungeon. He also implies that he has proclivities that probably would have gotten him executed years ago if he weren't the son of the current Fuhrer and Hitler's grandson.
- Stupid Evil: Having spent the bulk of his life being the spoiled-brat Torture Technician for his "Daddy", Addie Hitler has no idea how to actually lead a government or an army, and thus, the minute he gains actual command, he pisses away the Third Reich's most valuable weapons on trying to kill the relatively few Freedom Fighters who have breached his bunker, rather than reserving those weapons to put down the revolts that are breaking out across America.
- Stupid Jetpack Hitler: The Nazis have a whole lot of weird science on their side, including the PlaSStic Men and giant robots. And Cyborg Overman.
- Torture Technician: Addie Hitler, Adolf's grandson, makes a name for himself as the Reich's best torturer.He does his work with an eager Slasher Smile and many sharp instruments.
- Vampire Vords: The PlaSStic Men all replace their w's with v's.
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Uncle Sam's costume has a stars-and-stripes motif.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: In this universe, Adolf Hitler had a son, Adolf II, who desperately tried to earn his father's affection up until the Fuhrer’s death by a heart attack.
