It’s an old joke, but it bears repeating—you don’t join a team nicknamed “The Suicide Squad” and expect good insurance policies. Of course, most of the Squad’s “recruits” over the years didn’t have a choice in the matter. Whether you’re talking covert government operatives like Bronze Tiger, Vixen and Nightshade, or imprisoned super-villains working to get their life sentences shaved down a few decades such as Deadshot and Captain Boomerang, everyone knows the odds of each mission and the high likelihood that death will be waiting for them as soon as they get off the plane.

True to its title, the Suicide Squad (known officially as Task Force X) has racked up quite a painful body count over the years, and rarely the same way twice. Whether it’s been from disobeying the orders of Amanda Waller or from unwinnable scenarios resulting in things like getting crushed by extraterrestrial demons, the late members of the Squad have hardly ever gone out clean. To give just a taste of what we mean, here are five memorable ways that members of the Suicide Squad have been taken out in the past.
 

Betrayal!

In the 1988 crossover special between the Suicide Squad and the Doom Patrol, Field Leader Col. Rick Flag is tasked by Amanda Waller under orders of the President himself to rescue the superhero Hawk from Sandinista custody after he’s captured in Nicaragua. To protect the secrecy of the Squad’s existence while carrying out a potentially public rescue mission, Flag goes into the operation with several new members, one of whom is the Thinker, a Flash villain who utilizes an elaborate helmet to enhance his intelligence.

The Thinker has been brought on to calculate the Squad’s way out of deadly situations, but unfortunately, he does not foresee the lengths to which the psychotic Weasel will go to satisfy his bloodlust. In the confusion upon encountering the Doom Patrol, Weasel takes the opportunity to slash Thinker’s throat, killing him instantly. However, later in the issue, the slain Thinker would have the last laugh with his…
 

…Revenge From Beyond the Grave!

With the Thinker down for good, Flag takes up his mechanical helmet to help further their mission to find Hawk. Unbeknownst to him, however, the Thinker’s mental powers have left their mark on the device, and Flag starts to grow more violent and cruel.

In his efforts to restrain the Squad, Flag begins to inflict unnecessary pain on them, hindering their efforts. As the mission nears its end, the helmet completely takes over Flag’s body, blasting a bolt of energy on the commands of its late owner to destroy Weasel. This sudden act of murder is the last straw for Flag and he finally discards the helmet, realizing too late that the device is acting upon the wishes of a man from beyond the grave!
 

Playing the Hero

In Suicide Squad #36, the team travels to Apokolips, where they’re soon completely outnumbered by Darkseid’s forces. Dr. Light, haunted by the literal ghost of the man whose costume and abilities he usurped and left to die, suddenly gets the urge to do something foolishly heroic, as the ghost hypes him up to battle a swarm of Parademons. Light flies up into the air, inexplicably declaring his attack. (No one ever said super-villains are a particularly smart lot.) This makes him an easy target and he’s quickly turned into Swiss cheese by Parademon gunfire.

Light would go on to meet his ghost in Hell, realizing far too late he was duped into dying as revenge by the previous Dr. Light, and that he’ll always be a fool.
 

Writing Yourself Into a Corner

There’s a backstory to this next entry. In the pages of Grant Morrison’s Animal Man, a fourth wall-breaking Buddy Baker comes face to face with the Writer—the seemingly all-powerful being who had been bedeviling his existence and putting Animal Man through hell. After conversing with the victim of his written whims, the Writer decides to reverse all of Animal Man’s misfortune, scripting things differently to result in a happier outcome. But as for the Writer himself, his fate wouldn’t be nearly so joyous.

We later see him again in Suicide Squad #58, where the Writer is present for an assault on the Wonder Woman villain Circe. He explains that by writing himself into the canon, he’s now a part of the canon and cannot exit the DC Universe until he writes himself out. As the battle commences, everything that occurs in the action is reflected in the Writer’s script. But as the fighting intensifies, the Writer experiences a bout of writer’s block, unable to think of the next event as he puts himself in danger. Before he can think of a way to survive, he’s mauled by a Beast-creature transformed by Circe through magic. Talk about running into a deadline!
 

Going Out with a (Very Big) Bang!

For years, Rick Flag was Amanda Waller’s chief field operative, leading the collective of hardened criminals into every deadly mission. When the secret of the Squad’s existence is threatened by a U.S. Senator, Flag presumes that the only way to ensure the team’s continued efficacy is to eliminate the Senator. But when the villain Deadshot does the job for him, Flag’s faith in his work is shaken. Opting to leave the Suicide Squad, he decides to carry out one final mission off the books.

Having learned of a mission carried out by his father Rick Sr. to destroy Nazi nuclear weapon prototypes, Flag seeks to destroy the terrorist stronghold in which the nuclear material is still being held. When confronted by the villain Rustam, Flag battles on just long enough for the explosives surrounding the nuclear bomb to go off, blowing him and everyone at the base up in an atomic explosion.

This remains one of the series’ most shocking exits, as Flag was one of the unambiguously heroic figures on the team. Just goes to show that no matter what side of the line you come from, surviving a stint on the Suicide Squad is never guaranteed.
 

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is available this week on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Catch up on the latest Suicide Squad comic book adventures on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.

Donovan Morgan Grant writes about comics, graphic novels and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Twitter at @donoDMG1.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Donovan Morgan Grant and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.