Task Force X was originally created during World War II as a means to neutralize metahuman and supernatural threats to the United States. The missions they undertook were deemed so dangerous and its members were so outlandish that the group earned the nickname Suicide Squad.

In the 1980s, the program was reactivated by director Amanda Waller, but with a twist: the team's roster would comprise incarcerated super-villains who could reduce their prison sentences with each covert operation they volunteered for if they survived. 

Collects the initial arc of John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell's classic run, including the team's debut in LEGENDS #1-6, their origin in SECRET ORIGINS #14, plus SUICIDE SQUAD #1-10, DETECTIVE COMICS #582, THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #62-64, FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MAN ANNUAL #5, and pages from MILLENNIUM #4, published from November 1986 to February 1988.