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Freedom Fighters
Publisher DC Comics First appearance Justice League of America #107 (Oct 1973) Created by Len Wein (writer) Dick Dillin (artist) Base(s) of operations Mobile (Currently "The Heartland")
Roster See: List of Freedom Fighters members

Freedom Fighters is the name of a DC Comics comic book superhero team made up of characters acquired from the defunct company Quality Comics. The team first appeared in a Justice League of America/Justice Society of America team-up, which ran in Justice League of America #'s 107 and 108 (October and December 1973), written by Len Wein and drawn by Dick Dillin. Their own ongoing series premiered with Freedom Fighters #1 (April 1976), written by Gerry Conway and Martin Pasko, and drawn by Rik Estrada.

Contents 1 Fictional team history 1.1 Current team 2 Further Adventures 3 Other versions 4 Other media 5 Allusions in pop culture 6 See also 7 References 8 Resources 9 External links

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 the Unknown 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 Nazi Germany eventually won a prolonged World War II due to a Japanese Empire invasion of California and successful Nazi nuclear weapon development (which implies that the successful Allied attack on Peenemunde never happened in this world).

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, Plastic Man, and 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 1980s, 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.

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 the Phantom Lady, the Ray (Stan Silver), the 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 Freedom Fighters team; Sam subsequently recuits the S.H.A.D.E. members to his cause, openly disapproving of their use of deadly force (although they continue to kill people even under Uncle Sam's guidance). ^[1]

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. Father Time is shown as aiding in Senator Frank Knight's being secretly murdered in the midst of his successful campaign for the Presidency of the U.S. and replaced by a sentient robot double, Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard, who proceeds with an agenda to implant RFID chips in every U.S. citizen by law and control them to bring chaos to the world through war.

In Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #3, a team created by Father Time called First Strike attacked the Freedom Fighters but not before being stopped by the new Black Condor.

In #4, Condor manages to weaken First Strike long enough for the Freedom Fighters to fight back. Human Bomb kills one First Strike's members, Propaganda, and the team heads back to S.H.A.D.E. headquarters.

In #5, The Freedom Fighters defeat First Strike, but are taken out by a young woman claiming to be Miss America. While they are being tortured, S.H.A.D.E. headquarters is attacked by a new Red Bee and an old woman claiming to be the real Miss America.

In #6, the Freedom Fighters defeat the new Miss America with the original's help, forcing Father Time to retreat. As he begins "molting" into a new body, he gives the order to "activate the traitor." This turns out to be the Ray, who attacks and kills the new Invisible Hood and calls down giant reinforcements.

In #7, The Freedom Fighters face off against the Cosmigods as Uncle Sam calls them. In the midst of the battle the traitorous Ray is confronted by the returning Ray Terrill. As predicted Gonzo turns on the newly rejuvenated Father Time, who proceeds to give Uncle Sam the evidence of to prove Gonzo's true identity. Sam presents the evidence to the world, and seemingly the final battle between First Strike and the Freedom Fighters begins.

In #8, The Freedom Fighters engage in battle against Gonzo's metahuman taskforce at the Washington Monument, and quickly gain support from the civilians. The public eye are now seeing them as real heroes, which was later revealed to be part of Father Time's plan all along. He tricked Gonzo into believing that S.H.A.D.E was against Uncle Sam, while in truth he was preparing the Freedom Fighters to help combat a major threat in the future. Father Time captures Gonzo and turns him into an 'Orphan Box' in the shape of a pair of spectacles. He plan to use it against Gonzo's creator, the Shadow Demons. All of the metahuman taskforce members disappear into the timestream along with Father Time shortly thereafter. A week later, the new President appoints the Freedom Fighters the new directors of S.H.A.D.E.

In Countdown #38, the Freedom Fighters are seen trying to stop a unplanned nuclear missile launch, initiated by the Calculator.

In the new Freedom Fighters miniseries (September 2007),[1] Red Bee is captured by an alien insect swarm and transformed into a human/insect hybrid. At the same time, S.H.A.D.E. has planned to make the Freedom Fighters into media darlings to help increase faith in the government following the Amazonian incident. Uncle Sam, Firebrand, Doll Man and Human Bomb refuse to go along with the plan, and return to the Heartland. For a time, the remaining Freedom Fighters become celebrities. Red Bee later collapses in her apartment, and a swarm of insects suddenly rise out of her body.

• In the final issue of 52, a new Multiverse is revealed, consisting of 52 realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-10". This Earth resembles the pre-Crisis Earth-X - it features Nazi counterparts to the Justice League and an alternate version of Freedom Fighters. Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-X, making these new characters unrelated to previous versions.^[2]
• 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.
• In Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Superwoman/Batwoman #1, Earth-11 was revealed to be an Earth home to gender-reversed versions of the heroes of New Earth. Among them were the Freedom Fighters, consisting of female versions of Ray, Human Bomb, Black Condor, and, strangely, Etrigan, as well as a male version of Phantom Lady named Phantom Man. They are led by Columbia, a female version of Uncle Sam.

• Ray Terrill made background appearances in Justice League Unlimited.

In "The Education of Jaime Sommers" episode of Bionic Woman, Tom Gilchrist (played by Jordan Bridges) notes "One of my favorite comic books was The Freedom Fighters. There was a character called The Human Bomb" -- and pulls back his tuxedo jacket to reveal explosives strapped to his body.

• The Crusaders

• Freedom Fighters bio and timeline
• Index to the FF's 1970s adventures
• Cosmic Teams - Freedom Fighters
• DC-Kingdom.com: Justin Gray describes the current team

• Toonopedia Freedom Fighters Page
• Comic Book Urban Legends - Freedom Fighters

v • d • e Justice Society of America
Creators	Gardner Fox • Sheldon Mayer
Characters	List of Justice Society members
Related teams	All-Star Squadron • Freedom Fighters • Infinity, Inc. • Justice League • Seven Soldiers of Victory • Young All-Stars • Young Allies
Ongoing series	Justice Society of America (vol. 3) • JSA Classified
Previous series	All Star Comics  • America vs. The Justice Society  • Justice Society of America (vol. 1 & 2) • JSA
Other media	Cartoons: Justice League Unlimited