Rick Flag: The Human Amongst Metahumans

Who is Rick Flag?

Rick Flag, also known as Richard Flag Jr. in the New Earth universe, is a government agent and soldier who was working for Task Force X, or Suicide Squad. He was the leader of the first squad, and he was chosen by Amanda Waller to lead the second squad that consisted of supervillains. Also, his full name is actually Richard Rogers Flag. Richard Montgomery Flag is the name of his father.

Rick Flag’s Appearance

Rick Flag is 6’1” and weighs 198 lbs (86 kilograms). He has brown hair and blue eyes. Usually, he is pictured as a buffy man wearing a yellow t-shirt (sometimes sleeveless) and a black pair of pants.

Rick Flag’s History

The original story of Rick Flag mentioned him as a pilot in World War II. It is also said that his entire squadron sacrificed themselves in order to destroy the enemy’s aircraft carrier. However, it was later revealed that this wasn’t Rick Flag Jr.’s doing, but his father, Richard Montgomery Flag. His son, Richard Rogers Flag (Jr.), was born after the war, so it was impossible for him to attempt that squadron sacrifice. Unfortunately for Junior, his mother passed away due to a car accident and his father sacrificed himself to save a city. Junior ended up orphaned, but he was later adopted by his friend’s father, Jeb Stuart. When he was old enough, he enlisted in the military. He also attended flight school to become a pilot. As if this wasn’t enough, he also applied to become an astronaut, and that’s when he met Karin Grace, and they both fell in love after bonding for a little while. When Jeb Stuart revived Task Force X, he invited Rick and Karin to join. However, there are also some theories that said that Rick was actually never Rick Flag. His real name was Anthony Miller, and he was claimed to be brainwashed by Wade Eiling. Which one is correct? We will probably never know…

The first Task Force X included Rick, Karin, astrophysicist Hugh Evans, and nuclear physicist Jess Bright. Rick’s task in their first recorded mission is to pilot an experimental rocket to the sun. Someway somehow, the team was shrunk temporarily by cosmic rays. Rick used this “being small” opportunity to blow up the enemy's nuclear weapons base. The team got into a hiatus afterwards, but General Brent put them up together again. They got into some missions together once more. One of the missions involved Karin getting kidnapped and the other team members getting manipulated to eliminate each other. Fortunately, Rick survived this manipulation and managed to save them all. Finally, their last mission was a temple investigation in Cambodia, but during their mission, they were attacked by Yeti. Here, Karin admitted that he had feelings for Rick, leaving Hugh and Jess who had feelings for Karin brokenhearted. However, they decided to cover Rick and Karin’s escape and face their death there, after telling the couple that they were quitting the team.

The second Task Force X was revived by Amanda Waller, and she appointed Rick Flag Jr. to be the team leader. He was actually not fond of the idea, but he decided not to mention his personal judgment. They started recruiting the members of their team: Bronze Tiger, Deadshot, Blockbuster, Captain Boomerang, and Enchantress. Their goal was to destroy the monster Brimstone located in Mount Rushmore. They did it, but there were some conflicts within the team. Fortunately enough, they were still professional enough to do another mission against the terrorist group Jihad in Qurac. Rick wanted to destroy this terrorist group, so he snuck into their stronghold and personally battled the leader, Rustam. However, while fighting, there was also a ticking time bomb in the stronghold. Unfortunately, this bomb exploded before Rick came out.

Apparently, it was not the end of Rick’s life. Before the bomb exploded and eliminated both Rick and Rustam, the terrorist leader managed to teleport himself and Rick to another planet, Skataris. They finished their battle with Rick turning up as the winner. He took possession of Rustam’s weapon, and then went back to Earth. A few years later, Amanda Waller managed to track Rick down. He was still a part of Task Force X, but after everything that happened, also after the claim made by Wade Eiling about Rick being brainwashed, Rick was offered the choice to leave. The man refused though, saying that the squad needs “a Rick Flag”.

Rick Flag’s Powers and Abilities

Being a human, Rick Flag doesn’t have superpowers like most metahumans we know. However, that doesn’t mean Rick isn’t powerful.

Rick Flag’s Abilities

He excels in military protocol, aviation, firearms, advanced hand-to-hand combat, investigation, surveillance, tracking, and of course: leadership. He wouldn’t be leading the team twice if not for his amazing leadership skills.

Rick Flag’s Weapons

He has used a few weapons, namely: Beretta M9, Automatic Rifle, Semi-Automatic Rifle, and Psi-Scimitar. The last weapon is an energy-based melee weapon that he obtained from Rustam, his late adversary.

How much do you know about Rick Flag? What is your opinion about him? Share with us in the comments to earn a Limited Edition Comic Book Pack for your collection!