The superhero age began on July 15, 1961 when President Kennedy introduced Stephen Kennedy (no relation) as Challenger, a hero to meet the challenge of the new frontier. More heroes followed like Silver Archer, Professor Plasma, The Bat, and Lady Luck. In 1966, these four and Challenger formed SuperSquad America. The team grew to include, at various times: Gauntlet, Morning Glory, Brainstorm, Dancing Queen, Swift Justice, and Finesse (Silver Archer's wife). They fought many enemies: would-be world conquerors like DeathGrip and the EMiR, supervillain teams like the Deceivers and SinSquad International, super-powered crooks like the Black Tiger and Jack 'n' Apes, mystics such as the Sorceress, organizations like SHADE (Supreme Hierarchy for the Absolute Domination of Earth) and EGO (Elite Global Oligarchy) and even political enemies like the Soviet Union's great hero Champion and his team, the People's Protectorate. The Squad continued to fight crime for a decade until the Bicentennial Incident of July 4, 1976. Super-powered terrorists called The American Way seized the White House and held President Ford, his wife, and 72 others hostage. A rescue attempt by SuperSquad America saved President Ford and his wife, but resulted in the deaths of 7 hostages, 3 terrorists, and Dancing Queen and Lady Luck. After the incident, Challenger disbanded the Squad. He never talked, privately or publicly, about his reasons for the move.
In the next twenty years, many individual heroes and a few teams appeared, but none achieved the stature of the original Squad. In the mid-1990s, OASIS (Office of American Scientific Investigative Studies) and EAGLES (Elite American Group for Law Enforcement and Security) teamed up for Project Victory, an attempt to create a superhero team that would recapture the days of SuperSquad America. Unfortunately, after a successful test created Rick Davies the Resilient Rubber-Man, EUREKA (European Underground Research Establishment for Knowledge Advancement) attacked, killed the project leader, stole the process, and kidnapped the remaining subjects and brainwashed them into being the supervillain team Victory. In 1997, with the failure of Project Victory behind them, EAGLES took another approach: creating a new SuperSquad America.
There was only one choice for leader: David Kennedy, son of the original Challenger. Rick Davies, who was to lead the Project Victory team, would be his deputy. In consultation with EAGLES, David and Rick chose the rest of the team: Silver Bow, daughter of original Squad members Silver Archer and Finesse and a superb archer herself; Crimson Fist, a powerful energy manipulator; Dynamo, a cyberkinetic; Whiz Kid, a teen speedster with a 200 IQ; Forethought, a precognitive telepath; Friction Lass, a flirtatious young woman who could manipulate the forces of friction and air resistance. Dianne Armstrong, Whiz Kid's mother, became the team's administrative assistant.
After Dynamo became the Template in 2000, Anita Dupuis (formerly Madame Morph of Victory) joined the team as Swift Kick. In 2001, Friction Lass quit and Swift Kick took pregnancy leave, so Diva and Nightingale replaced them. In 2003, when Crimson Fist took his own life and Forethought took a leave of absence after losing her powers, Swift Kick returned to full-time duty and Challenger and Rick Davies stepped down as leader and deputy, in favor of Silver Bow and Diva. In spring of 2004, the new improved Forethought returned and Whiz Kid changed his name to the more adult Fast Track. When Crimson Fist returned from the dead, Swift Kick returned to reserve duty.
In late 2005, Rick Davies decided that it was time for a change and he and Swift Kick left the Squad to help found the Remarkable Wrong-Righters based in Malibu, a replacement for Team Disney, which was disbanded when Disney decided to get out of the superhero business. They were replaced by Impact (formerly the Russian supervillain Red Fury) and the Mysterious Mr. Z (the alien Zyzzaxx). After Dianne Armstrong Kennedy's murder in September 2006, David Kennedy retired as Challenger and Fast Track disappeared. To date, neither has been replaced.
Over the past ten years, the new SuperSquad America has proven itself worthy of its famous name time and time again. Like the original Squad, they have faced a variety of foes from individual villains like DeathGrip (who resurfaced after years of inactivity), Dr. DNA, BrainChild, and Tachyon to villain teams like Victory, Villainy International, and the Beddy-Bye Brigade and organizations like EUREKA and DREAD (Dedicated Revolutionaries Ensuring American Domination). Many of these foes now reside in Adamson Federal Penitentiary (aka The Fortress), an ultra-maximum security prison on a man-made island about 30 miles off the tip of Long Island.
But SuperSquad America is not the world's only superteam. Besides the Wrong-Righters, there is the Samaritan Society in Chicago, Vanguard in San Francisco, the Teen Machine in Florida, the Peacekeepers in Canada, and Her Majesty's Own in Great Britain, to name just a few. There are also many solo heroes around the world, some operating with the blessing of their country's government and others working underground. In fact, some countries, such as China, have made the use of superpowers without government authorization a crime.