Black Ops Team in The Comic Books:
They do the dirty work. They remain in the shadows. They are forever cursed to remain anonymous. They are the special black ops division of superheroes. The comic book is filled with several such teams that get into the mud and do unsanctioned and unofficial missions in the name of the greater good. Most of the missions are illegal and infringe upon the freedom of people and the sovereignty of nations. But they are necessary to keep the peace and harmony intact. You may be surprised but even moral stalwarts like Captain America and Batman have been part of such Black Ops teams in the past. Sometimes, they have even led such missions to protect ‘national interests’. It is time we learn about these teams and how amongst them is a cut above the rest.
1. Team X
There were not many super-powered folks running around in the comic books in the 1960s. So the United States government had to rely on the mutants to fill up those ranks. The Central Intelligence Agency had their version of the Avengers called Team X. The only difference between Team X and the Avengers was that unlike the former, Team X dipped their hands in dirt and mud on a daily basis. Consisting of mutant heavyweights like Wolverine Sabretooth, the Blob, Silver fox, Wild Cat, Maverick, Vole, the Major and Kestrel, Team X was a force to be reckoned with and had been given age suppression injections to prolong their lifespan. They were sent on various missions around the globe and each time, they came back victorious.
2. Secret Avengers
The aftermath of the Dark Reign saga, post which Norman Osborn was brought down, the Dark Avengers were disbanded but a new strike force was created to fill that gap. They were called the Secret Avengers and it was led by none other than Captain America. Given the fact that Captain America always talks about liberty and freedom, it was astonishing to see him lead a team of secret government stooges. The Secret Avengers had very powerful warriors in their ranks like Nova, Moon Knight, Sharon Carter, and Ant-Man. Amongst the many missions they undertook, their greatest achievement was traveling to Mars and destroying the mind-controlling Serpent Crown.
3. Suicide Squad
Otherwise known as Taskforce X, the Suicide Squad is known to execute near-impossible missions with flawless efficiency. They operate out of the Belle Reeve Penitentiary prison facility and have a very simple criterion for joining – a convict can work in the suicide squad for a shorter sentence provided he or she is willing to put a bomb inside their spinal cord. The moment Amanda Waller sees that the convict is not working along with the team she will detonate that bomb and kill the runt of the litter then and there. A lot of supervillains like Captain Boomerang, Mister 104 and Blockbuster have died while under orders from Waller and executing the mission. Their successful missions include ex-filtrating a captive writer from the heart of Russia and prevent an extremist organization called LOA from creating a zombie horde.
4. Project Rising Spirit
The organization known as Project Rising Spirit came into existence in the pages of Valiant Comics. They were a privately funded agency with deep ties to the United States Armed Forces. The core of their business was experimenting on deadly technology and using them to create weapons out of them, which they sold to the army, navy and air force for a hefty price. Another segment of their business was human experimentation. They would place bionic and neural enhancements on several people and turn them into harbingers – people with superhuman abilities. One of their most famous experiments was Bloodshot, their attempt at creating the perfect soldier using nano-technology.
5. Project Cadmus
The very purpose of the creation of Project Cadmus was to ensure there was always a fail-safe if the Justice League decides to rebel. Project Cadmus used advanced cloning technology and genetic experimentation to create powerful super soldiers that were then trained from birth in the art of combat. The people who backed and supported Project Cadmus were none other than Amanda Waller and Lex Luthor. Project Cadmus was a short-lived experiment but it paved the way for several other storylines. Batman Beyond, the Batman of the future, is actually a Bruce Wayne clone created through the cloning technology first developed and used by Project Cadmus
6. The Fraternity
In this Top Cow Comic book publication, the world no longer has superheroes. All of them have been killed by a group of Super-Villains who have finally won the war against the good guys. To keep the rest of the world satiated, they have brainwashed everyone into thinking that Superheroes are nothing but fairy tales and fictional characters that could never be real. The world now belongs to the Villains. The five greatest villains each own a fifth of the world, enforced by their personal army called the Fraternities. In case you still have not figured it out, the James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie movie “Wanted” was based on this comic book arc.
7. X-Force
When Cable started the X-Force, his objective was to gather a team of like-minded superheroes of mutant-kind that will do whatever it takes to protect their kind from upcoming threats. But everything would be done under his jurisdiction and nobody was allowed to cross the line. After Cable fled to the future with Hope Summers, Cyclops brought the team under his leadership. Wolverine, War Path, X-23, Wolfsbane, Arch angel, Deadpool, and Fantomex all became a part of the new iteration of the X-Force. This new team would even commit torture and murder to get the job done. This is where the X-Force became truly deadly.
8. Dark Avengers
The Dark Avengers was a government-sanctioned team that replaced the Avengers following the loss of trust on the Avengers after Norman Osborn took office as the new President of the United States of America. Norman was himself a part of the Dark Avengers as the Iron Patriot. There were other members as well like the White Queen and Loki. The Dark Avengers soon became Osborn’s secret military wing and conducted several covert missions in his name. The Dark Avengers also took upon the responsibilities of Shield, which had been disbanded by Norman Osborn after he assumed office. The team was eventually betrayed by one of their own. Skaar, son of the Hulk, betrayed the team and sided with the Avengers, who finally got the upper hand in the fight and took the Dark Avengers down for good.
9. Checkmate
Checkmate was the equivalent of the CIA in DC Comics. All members in Checkmate were dived into roles and given a title according to chess pieces. Rooks performed all the black ops missions while pawns did all the low level fieldwork. Knights were special agents that would only do high profile missions. Bishops acted as advisors to the King and Queen. The White King and Queen were Green Lantern and Amanda Waller while the Black King and Queen were Taleb Beni Khalid and Sasha Bordeaux respectively. Maxwell Lord has also become the Black King on one occasion and had tried to use his position to kill all meta-humans in the world.
10. Illuminati
The Illuminati was born out of necessity. After the Kree-Skrull war took its toll on Planet Earth, Iron Man realized that it could have been easily avoided if the other superheroes had a common platform to share information. the Hulk into outer space. Another was waging and successfully winning a secret battle with the Skrulls. To ensure nothing of that sort ever happens again, Iron Man, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, Professor Charles Xavier, Black Panther and Namor came together to form the Illuminati. Each member represented a facet of the world – Namor and Back Panther stood for Atlantis and Wakanda. Strange, Black Bolt and Xavier represented magic, Inhumans and mutant kind. They have saved the world several times in the past and every time, they have acted covertly. One of their many achievements was exiling
