Freedom Fighters (comics)
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Freedom Fighters is the name of a minor DC Comics comic book superhero team made up of characters acquired from the defunct company, Quality Comics, and the short-lived comic book series of the same name featuring those characters. The team first appeared in a Justice League of America/JSA team-up, which ran in Justice League of America numbers 107 & 108 October and December (1973), written by Len Wein and drawn by Dick Dillin. Their own ongoing series premiered with Freedom Fighters #1 in April (1976), written by Gerry Conway and Martin Pasko, and drawn by Rik Estrada.
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[edit] History
The earliest version of the Freedom Fighters was assembled on December 7, 1941. This group, however, failed in its attempt to stop the devastation at Pearl Harbor. Neon and Magno were killed. This version of the group was a retcon and their deaths were depicted in the pages of Roy Thomas's two books chronicling that era: All-Star Squadron and the Young All-Stars.
The DC version of the characters were said to reside on the parallel world of "Earth-X," where World War II never ended.
In addition to the core members of the "second team" which were the members seen in the seventies comic book, other Quality heroes joined later: Red Bee, Miss America, Manhunter (Dan Richards), Plastic Man, and Max Mercury (Quicksilver).
Since the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Freedom Fighters have been based on the main DC Universe earth, and were all members of the All-Star Squadron.
Years after the war, a third version of the team surfaced in the 1980's, with the rise of a new age of heroes. The Justice Society, Blackhawks and Freedom Fighters were captured by the alien Appellax creatures and placed in Internment Camps. They were freed by the new Justice League of America.
Then the Freedom Fighters regrouped for a brief time but soon called it quits again when Firebrand was killed in battle with the Silver Ghost.
A fourth, more modern version of the team appeared as an auxiliary of the new Justice Society of America. The Human Bomb, Black Condor and Phantom Lady were killed by the Secret Society of Super Villains in Infinite Crisis #1. Damage was critically injured, Iron Munro was not there for some reason, and the Ray was captured by the Psycho-Pirate, and connected to Alexander Luthor's dimension-altering tower.
[edit] Current team
A new team of heroes debuted in the limited series Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Blüdhaven, and later featured as Freedom Fighters members in the miniseries Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, which premiered in July 2006. This team consists of new incarnations of Phantom Lady, Ray, Human Bomb, Doll Man, Bigfoot, Destroyer and Face. It is part of S.H.A.D.E., a secret American government agency chartered under the USA PATRIOT Act, led by Father Time. The new team conducts assassinations and other illegal acts against criminal and terrorist organizations. As issue #1 of Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters begins, the team is tasked to capture the revived Uncle Sam, who is in the process of forming his own (as yet unrevealed) Freedom Fighters team. According to Justin Gray's July 2006 interview with The Kingdom his team's members will include: Uncle Sam, Doll Man, Phantom Lady, The Ray, Firebrand, Human Bomb, the Black Condor and Miss America.</ref>
This version of the team is based on notes by Grant Morrison. Uncle Sam is portrayed as an almost Christ-like figure, returning from the dead, with the new Firebrand filling a John the Baptist role.
In Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #3, a team created by Father Time attacked the Freedom Fighters but not before being stopped by the new Black Condor. The story is ongoing.
[edit] Membership
See List of Freedom Fighters members
[edit] Other versions
- The original Freedom Fighters appeared in Justice League Unlimited #17. A rogue US Government agency sends them against the Justice League. The roll call was Uncle Sam, Doll Man, Human Bomb, Phantom Lady, The Ray, and Black Condor.
- In the Wildstorm miniseries The Authority: Revolution, the initial protagonists are a group called the Sons of Liberty, a superpatriot group of the 40s and 50s. They consist of Paul Revere (super-strength and 'broadcast empath'), Minute-Maid (super-strength), Johnny Rocketman (supersonic flight), and the Human Hand-Grenade (with the power to shrink, explode, and re-constitute his own body). The group is a pastiche of the Freedom Fighters.
- In the DC Comics universe the Sons of Liberty were a paramilitary group that funded Agent Liberty.
[edit] Other media
- Ray Terrill made background appearances in Justice League Unlimited.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Resources
- Freedom Fighters bio and timeline
- Index to the FF's 1970's adventures
- Cosmic Teams - Freedom Fighters
- DC-Kingdom.com: Justin Gray describes the current team
