- "You take the mission and your sentence gets changed to time served. Provided, of course, that you survive and you keep your trap shut afterwards."
- ―Plastique
| "Trial by Blood" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Suicide Squad | |
| Title: | "Trial by Blood" |
| Volume: | 1 |
| Number: | 1 |
| Cover price: | .75 |
| Cover date: | May, 1987 |
| Publisher: | DC Comics |
| Credits | |
| Chief: | Jenette Kahn |
| Ex. Ed: | Dick Giordano |
| Writers: | John Ostrander |
| Pencilers: | Luke McDonnell |
| Inkers: | Karl Kesel |
| Cover artists: | Howard Chaykin |
| Cover inker: | Howard Chaykin |
| Cover letterer: | Todd Klein |
| Colorists: | Carl Gafford |
| Letterers: | Todd Klein |
| Editors: | Robert Greenberger |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | Suicide Squad #2 |
"Trial by Blood" is the first issue of the first Suicide Squad ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The story was written by John Ostrander with artwork by Luke McDonnell and inks by Karl Kesel. It was colored by Carl Gafford and lettered by Todd Klein. The story was edited by Robert Greenberger. This issue shipped with a May, 1987 cover date and carries a cover price of .75 cents per copy.
"Trial by Blood"[]
Featured characters
- Bronze Tiger, Ben Turner
- Captain Boomerang, George Harkness
- Deadshot, Floyd Lawton
- Enchantress, June Moone
- Mindboggler, Leah Wasserman
- Plastique, Bette Sans Souci
- Rick Flag
Supporting characters
Villains
Minor characters
- Batman, Bruce Wayne (As an hallucination only)
- Flash, Barry Allen (As an hallucination only)
- Jerry (Behind the scenes only)
- Parasite, Rudy Jones (Cameo appearance only)
- Superman, Kal-El (As an hallucination only)
Organizations
Races & Animals
- Altered humans
- Humans
- Kryptonians (As an hallucination only)
- Rats
Locations
- Canada (Referenced only)
- Gotham City (Referenced only)
- Illinois
- Jotunheim Base
Items
- Boomerangs
- Knife
- Psi-schimtar
- Rifles
- Spear
- Teddy bear
Vehicles
- Aircraft
- Air Force One
- Helicopter
- Sheba
- Suicide Squad flying lab
Powers
Miscellaneous
Notes & Trivia[]
- The Suicide Squad was first conceived by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru and first appeared as the cover feature to The Brave and the Bold, Volume #25 in September, 1959. The modern iteration of the team was created by writer John Ostrander and debuted in issue #2 of the Legends mini-series. They then spun out into their own Suicide Squad ongoing series in 1987.
- This issue carries the approval stamp of the Comics Code Authority.
- This issue shipped to retailers on February 3rd, 1987.
- This issue is reprinted in the Suicide Squad: Trial by Fire trade paperback collection, first published in 2011, and re-issued in 2015 and 2021.
- Amanda Waller, Rick Flag, and Karin Grace all appeared last in Secret Origins, Volume 2 #14.
- Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and Enchantress all appeared last in Legends #6.
- This is the first appearance of Briscoe, Flo Crawley, John Economos, Marnie Herrs, and Simon LaGrieve. They all serve as support staff to Task Force X. John Economos is the warden of Belle Reve Prison.
- Mindboggler and Plastique join the Suicide Squad with this issue.
- The Jihad member known as Chimera, who is the team's teleporter, is actually Eve Eden, aka Nightshade, working undercover. She is already a member of the Suicide Squad at this time.
- The terrorist known as Mushtaq is actually Tom Tresser, aka Nemesis. He is already a member of the Suicide Squad and is working undercover.
- One of the flights mentioned at the airport is Alpha Flight 123 from Calgary. Alpha Flight is a Canadian super-hero team featured in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Alpha Flight #123 will not be published for another six years.
- Jerry is one of the civilians at the airport. He is killed by one of the members of the Jihad, though it is unclear how or which one.
- This issue makes reference to when Superman crushed Qurac's resources. This took place in Adventures of Superman #428.
- Captain Boomerang has an hallucination of being tormented by distorted versions of Batman, the Flash, and Superman.
- The Parasite is unconscious throughout this issue, and thus is considered only a cameo appearance.
- The Yeager Field that is shown in this issue is a fictional location, approximately two minutes away by plane from Belle Reve. It is not to be confused with real world locations Yeager Airport in West Virginia or the city of Yeager, Oklahoma.
- Reference is made to Hugh Evans and Jess Bright in this issue. They were members of the original Suicide Squad.
- The Jotunheim Base, as seen in this issue, also appears in the 2021 feature film The Suicide Squad. In the film however, Jotunheim is located in Corto Maltese, not Qurac.