Suicide Squad Retirement Files 032-035

With Suicide Squad #40, the team is reborn and Waller sets up all new rules. No longer attached to Task Force X or the U.S. government, the Squad now can take on any contract provided the interested party can spare a million dollars. Waller is still allowed to spring convicts from jail and give them pardons, as per the original arrangement (so one might suppose missions must pass some kind of litmus test, i.e. protect the United States' interests), but there is no government oversight. The Squad is off the books, with Amanda Waller as the sole authority. There is also a shift to more Mission: Impossible-style missions from this point on, with the Squad usually dressed in civvies. As you might guess, Squad files are a lot harder to come by than they used to. WikiLeaks can't help us here... I had to go to erstwhile Squad member, Oracle. That's gonna cost me.

Access to previous Task Force X files

Subject: RavanProfile: International terrorist (recruited)
Powers: Paralyzed thuggee with implant-assisted martial arts.
Mission: Prevent Kobra from destroying Jerusalem sacred sites.
Chance of survival going in: Fair. Since the character was created for the series, Ostrander could easily write him off, especially in a story line that involved his nemesis, Kobra. However, while not necessarily a fan favorite, Ravan still had a lot of potential, especially in regards to his relationship with Bronze Tiger.
Retirement: DECEASED. Ravan was killed in singular combat with Kobra, poisoned by Kobra's staff. (Suicide Squad #47)
Final report: Though Suicide Squad volume 2 would have us believe Ravan was only incapacitated (he appears on a monitor as an active member of Rustam's new Jihad), Ravan's death was confirmed by his appearances both as one of Koshchei's zombies in #50, as a Black Lantern in Blackest Night.

Subject: Doctor Light I (again)
Profile: Classic Atom villain turned lame Teen Titans villain
Powers: Light manipulation.
Mission: Get back into the Squad. FAILED
Chance of survival going in: Fair. Bringing back a character from the dead, you'd hardly expect the writers to kill him off again within the same issue. Except we ARE talking about Dr. Light and it would be funny if he did. In fact, he does, but he is returned to life a second time for the devils to laugh at him.
Retirement: SUMMARILY DISMISSED. He asks to be reinstated, but Waller will have none of it. (Suicide Squad #52)
Final report: As mentioned in File 025, Dr. Light would go on to more or less throw off his laughable reputation by making a deal with another devil, Neron, and then be retconned as an infamous rapist. I wonder if Ostrander would have written this little comedy if he had known.

Subject: Stalnoivolk
Profile: Superhuman Russian agent
Powers: Super-strong and tough.
Mission: Destroy stolen Soviet weapons cache in Cambodia before a Yakuza clan can get its hands on it.
Chance of survival going in: Fair. As an Ostrander creation, Stalnoivolk is considered expendable because his creator can do away with him. The fall of the Soviet Union also made Soviet characters somewhat irrelevant. His chances lay in the not inaccurate presumption that he was one of Ostrander's favorites.
Retirement: RELEASED. Stalnoivolk's deal with Waller was that he could follow his own path once the mission was over. His stated goal was to go back to Moscow. (Suicide Squad #57)
Final report: Last seen fighting the Russian vampire Schrek (I kid you not), the "Steel Wolf" was never seen again, save for a flashback sequence in the the Raise the Flag mini-series years later. Difficult to place, that flashback showed him working once again with Zastrow's Red Shadows against that version of the Suicide Squad.

Subject: Vixen
Profile: Former Justice League member
Powers: Animal powers granted by sacred totem.
Mission: Prevent Kobra from destroying Jerusalem sacred sites.
Chance of survival going in: Good. Affiliation with Justice League Detroit is not necessarily conducive to survival (see Vibe and Steel I), however Vixen was one of the new JLAers at the time who already had a track record. A strong black female heroine, rare in comics, the DCU would have been weakened by her loss.
Retirement: QUIT. After failing to renew a relationship with the Bronze Tiger and having been wounded on her last mission, Vixen chose to leave the Squad at the end of her convalescence. (Suicide Squad #58)
Final report: Vixen has not been often out of work since she left the Squad, whether with the Birds of Prey, Checkmate, Justice League Task Force, the Ultramarine Corps, and until recently with the Justice League of America.

Next week, War of the Gods hits (and much of the Squad falls)!