Top 10 Heroes in Hats - #7 - Uncle Sam

Now I don't know how many of you realize it but one of the best things to
come out of DC and the Infinite Drama was a new version of the Freedom Fighters,
led once again by Uncle Sam. This new version of the Freedom Fighters are
updated versions of the old Golden Age team only this time there are other
updated versions of GA characters added like the Red Bee, Firebrand and Miss
America.

They beat ass and here's what you need to know.

I copied this stuff from wikipedia to save time.

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.

I know this doesn't sound like ass beating but it had to happen and
everyone has to start somewhere.

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).

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.

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.

Current team

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.

It is worth noting that this Black Condor is essentially a flying, head busting version of almost any character played by actor Danny Trejo. He does not fuck around. He is not the weak little float around the skiy version of the Black Condor previously seen in DC Comics.

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 #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.

OK, feel free to call bullshit here. I know I did. It read more like the writer really wanted to keep Father Time available as a back ground DC guy but it was a swerve worthy of Vince Russo.

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.