YMMV / Squadron Supreme

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Thomas "Tom Thumb" Thompson is widely recognized as a heroic inventive genius and all-around Nice Guy, despite his introverted nature and tendency to be overlooked by the public at large, and even his teammates to a degree. And his struggle with and subsequent succumbing to cancer is obviously designed to paint him in a sympathetic light. But a closer purview of his handling of the Lady Lark brainwashing situation puts his character in an entirely different light. Squadron Supreme #5 made it pretty clear that Thumb knew, or at least strongly suspected, that Wyatt McDonald (Golden Archer) had used the Behavior Modification machine on McDonald's ex-lover, and DIDN'T SAY A WORD to either the Archer, Squadron chairperson Hyperion, or any other Squadron member, even after Lark started exhibiting strange, obsessive behavior. Why on Earth would Thumb willingly conceal what amounts to betrayal and Mind Rape of a colleague, especially one who was depicted as being more kind and respectful to him than the rest of his teammates? When in Squadron Supreme #6, the truth finally comes out through the efforts of James Dore (Blue Eagle), Thumb only offers the lame excuse that he "didn't want to betray anyone" for...betraying Lady Lark!' It could well be that Thompson, who for most of his life had suffered what he perceived as disrespect and disregard from the world at large, was loath to lose any of this newfound fame and general appreciation for his genius, as might have happened had this Behavior Modification scandal become known to the general public. Note Thumb's reaction (in Squadron Supreme #8) when his colleague The Whizzer (Stanley Stewart) reveals that two minor supercriminals used "force field belts" (another of Thumb's innovations) to rob a bank; Thumb tells Whizzer to "keep quiet" about the incident, suggesting that the diminutive inventor is more concerned about avoiding public embarrassment than criminal activity, such as armed robbery, or RAPE.
    • Alternatively, we are meant to sympathize with Tom, but also see him as pathetic- his greatest wish is for the team to accept him fully as one of their own, but due to his size and non-combatant nature, he is constantly being brushed aside or dismissed by the people he considers his friends. Though his moral compass is strong, as shown when he discusses his and Nuke's situation, his need to be included is even stronger. His refusal to 'betray' the Archer and his reaction to discovering the force field belts is meant be read as a major character failing and a betrayal of his own beliefs- and simultaneously an illustration about just how deep his inferiority complex runs. He is willing to do things he would never consider doing just to make sure his team takes him seriously. This is also his stated motivation for never telling the rest of the team about his cancer, since they would treat him even more differently. His whole storyline is the tragedy of a fall and, by the end, something close to- but not quite- redemption. Of course, the real tragedy of the whole thing is that not only was the team he idolized so much totally unaware of his struggles, but also that they truly did value him every bit as much as the rest, they just did a poor job of showing it.
  • Nighthawk; Doomed Moral Victor, or unflinching Principles Zealot incapable of seeing his way is not only no better than the Squadron's, but actively making things worse? Or good man traumatized and blinded by guilt and grief over what was done to him he's failing to consider the consequences of his own actions (immediately jumping to "my best friend is wrong - I must KILL HIM!")
• Angst? What Angst?:
  • Power Princess suffers Rape by Fraud at the hands of the 712 Hyperion, and really doesn't seem terribly bothered by the whole deal. Not to mention the murder of her husband of some forty-odd years, committed in the course of said fraud. Granted, the imposture is revealed only towards the end of issue #8, and there is of course a month between issues, during which Zarda presumably had time to process the situation and react, but the next issue sees her internally ruminate about how she only fell for the fake Hyperion because she thought he was the original Hyperion, whom she'd long secretly carried a torch for.
  • On a side note, peripherally similar, Power Princess doesn't seem extremely disturbed by the Mind Control rape Lady Lark endured due to Golden Archer secretly using the Squadron's Behavior Modification device on her. This may be due to her Utopian upbringing, and their views on physical sex as a society.
  • Nuke's little brother seems... surprisingly calm about his brother going insane and dying, shortly after his parents have died from a prolonged battle with cancer inadvertently caused by his brother. In fact, he seems to take the whole thing far better than his brother did (though it might help that he's never seen or heard from again after Nuke's death).
• Complete Monster: See here.
• First Installment Wins: The 12-issues limited series was the first series with the Squadron Supreme as lead characters. But it was not the only one, Death of a Universe and New World Order were released years later, but not so acclaimed as the original. Possibly because both were one-off specials and didn't have the pages or the panels to equal the character development and twists of the maxi-series.
• Fridge Horror: The modified villains are incapable of disobeying an order given to them by members of the Squadron. When Foxfire and Doctor Spectrum begin having a physical relationship, this would mean Foxfire cannot say no to Spectrum if they wanted to have sex but she didn't which would make Spectrum a rapist. Much like the case with Golden Archer and Lady Lark, this increases the horrific implications behind usage of the behavior modification machine.
  • Related to the above, it should be noted that, on a number of occasions, various individuals have stated that the former Instituters were merely programmed to be loyal to the Squadron (as in not betray or try to destroy them), and to obey any direct order a Squadron member gives them. So unless Doctor Spectrum (or any other Squadron member who had a mind to do such a thing) requested physical gratification from a former Instituter in the form of a firm order (not a request, not an innuendo), there's no case for that here. When Foxfire is deprogrammed, she did not fly into a rage, stating "I'm gonna get that bastard Joe Ledger for taking advantage of me!" or anything of that sort, so that was obviously not the case. But the situation is very different when it comes to Golden Archer and Lady Lark. Archer specifically programmed Lark to "love him with all her heart and soul" to the exclusion of all else, and this unrestrained devotion undoubtedly extended to the bedroom, where Archer naturally responded by taking all kinds of sexual liberties that Lark would otherwise wholeheartedly object to.
• Harsher in Hindsight: As Ralph Maccio notes in the collected edition, there's an unpleasant eeriness to Nighthawk being killed by Foxfire stopping his heart, given Mark Gruenwald would himself die from a heart condition some years later.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • When recounting his choice of name, Whizzer mentions his first idea was "Boomer", only to be talked into his current alias by his wife. A few decades later and he'd have walked into entirely different jokes about his name.
  • When Master Menace, the Lex Luthor expy takes off his helmet, his resemblance to Alan Moore is uncanny. Given the book's themes run very similar to Watchmen, it's rather ironic.
  • Superman Substitute Hyperion and Wonder Woman Wannabe Power Princess becoming a couple, long before the real Superman and Wonder Woman would hook up in Kingdom Come, New 52 and Justice League Action.
• Hype Backlash: The tendency for its fans to uphold it as Marvel's equivalent to Watchmen can spark this attitude. Though Squadron Supreme does touch on some of the same themes as Watchmen, it lacks a lot of the elements that make the latter book so acclaimed and is much more clearly a product of mid-1980s Marvel in terms of its writing and storytelling. While it did come first, it was only by a year, and the two books were in many ways trying to ride a similar wave of an aging and now-introspective audience that wanted more thoughtful fare, making it rather unlikely that Moore was copying this book.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Golden Archer brainwashing his girlfriend, which earns him a few well deserved What the Hell, Hero? remarks from his teammates though not as many as we'd hope.
  • The Squadron Sinister's Hyperion murders Power Princess's husband to win her affection, and tricks her into believing he's her world's version of Hyperion, entering into a relationship with her and committing rape-by-fraud.
• Older Than They Think:
  • Some of the themes of Watchmen such as the morality of Knight Templar measures to ensure world peace were played with by Squadron Supreme before Watchmen.
  • A Superman Substitute and his cohorts becoming tyrants while the Batman expy forms his own Super Team to serve as a resistance group dedicated to ending their rule has been explored in DC media such as Kingdom Come and Injustice. The 1985 miniseries was the first comic to explore this concept.
• The Scrappy: You'd be hard pressed to find anyone willing to admit they like Golden Archer after he brainwashes Lady Lark into being completely head over heels in love with him. Even if the narrative makes it clear that doing so was a bad thing and pretty much him turning Lark into an unwilling sex slave, the fact the Squadron didn't unanimously vote to have him kicked out can come across as incredibly infuriating. Any sympathy Archer might've had is further lessened when he subtly tries to shift blame stating he wouldn't have done what he did if the Squadron hadn't invented the Behavior Modification devices in the first place.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: At the end of the first limited series, we're clearly supposed to side with Nighthawk in that the Squadron Supreme has gone too far in trying to build a utopia. And while it's true that some of their actions were clearly wrong, a lot of them can actually be seen as far more benevolent than how Nighthawk's side views them. For example, while the personality modification used to rehabilitate criminals can be seen as brainwashing, it's also made clear that criminals were given a free choice whether they want to go through the process or not, and many of the criminals who chose the modification to view it as a positive change. Also, one of the other things the Squadron does is get rid of all guns and nukes and halt their production, which to many readers would be a good policy. But at the end of the miniseries, the Squadron promises to return everything to way it was, which apparently means bringing guns back too. For readers who are not libertarian nor pro-firearms, this is hardly a happy ending.
  • However, Nighthawk still has a valid point in that even at its best, their Utopia can only function with good intentioned people are in charge of it and they have no way of knowing if their policies and technology will not be abused when they are gone. Indeed the individual members desired to make further uses of the modification technology other than just on convicted criminals; Archer abused it himself and Eagle wanted to modify their newest recruits into being loyal to them. Keep in mind while they were Nighthawk’s moles, they were still Superheroes who didn’t seem too suspicious apart from showing up wanting membership. Eagle wanted to modify loyalty out of recruits who as far as they knew; only wanted to join the Squadron just to be sure.
• The Woobie: Ape freakin' X. Just...DAMN. She loses the whole lower half of her body somehow, and so must face the prospect of living in the world as a legless genius gorilla. Then her trainer is killed, somehow causing her to fall into a life of crime. She is much later captured by her longtime adversaries the Squadron Supreme, and brainwashed into becoming a loyal servant, building weapons and devices for the very people she fought to destroy. Then X falls in love with Tom Thumb, who doesn't even acknowledge her adoration, let alone reciprocate it, and he dies while she is helpless to avert it. Finally, when X discovers that one of the new Squadron recruits is a traitor, she falls victim to a Logic Bomb as a result of her brainwashing, rendering her unable to speak or communicate in any way, but still cognizant of her surroundings. Power Princess' "poor thing!" doesn't cover it by half.