Top 10 Favorite DC Comics Superhero Teams

Well since I teased it last time only makes sense to go thru my 10 favorite DC comics superhero teams. Before anyone comments, Birds of Prey will not be listed. I still have never read that series. Like last time I am discussing the teams I loved to read. Most of the teams have had different versions over the last twenty years (several in some cases) but I stopped regularly reading comics awhile ago. And this is only hero teams by the way.






#10.THE METAL MEN/THE DOOM PATROL

Tied because I liked both of these series the same way…through other appearances not in their main book.  Truth is I know the Metal Men from their crossovers with Superman, Batman, and others. But they are pretty cool team. Five robots made of different metals but each containing very different personalities. It’s kind of fun watching these characters play of each other. Gold could stretch his form almost infinitely, Iron was super strong. Lead could block harmful radiation by morphing into thick shields, Mercury could melt and pass through small spaces before reforming, while Platinum and Tin could stretch, flatten or spin into fine filaments. These are silver age characters that stuck around, and I totally get why. The Doom Patrol I learned about from other series. Especially The New Teen Titans where Beast Boy was a member,  Mento was a villain, and Robotman helped out. I kind of liked the New Doom Patrol better, and when the new series came around in the 90’s I gave it a shot. But didn’t last. This was a dysfunctional group which was a nice change of pace, but not enough to keep me reading. Though Negative Man was kind of cool, and I loved The Chief who was sort of DC’s version of Professor X.







#9.Justice Society of America

The granddaddy of all superhero teams. So why the heck is it so high on here? I guess it’s because it took me a long time to appreciate this group. When I started comics the JSA was being phased out. In fact after Crisis the whole group had disappeared and been effectively removed from reality. The team was stuck in a limbo and…eh, long story. But as time went on I began to learn about this group. I read their origin in “Secret Origins” and some of thier older adventures, especially their team ups with the JLA. I admire this team and what they started. And what about the awesome JSA series which ran later in the 90’s after the heroes had been restored? Never read it.
And some may be asking what I thought of the All-Star Squadron. Yeah, I never got that. Weren’t they the same team, just with a few different members? Ah well.

#8.LEGION OF SUPERHEROES

I have always had a love/hate relationship with this group. I have read their stuff including the very good “The Great Darkness Saga” and of course various crossovers with other heroes, especially Superman. And I think I was reading their series briefly at one point. But I just never “loved” this group. I don’t know why, they had a killer line up including Phantom Lady, Brainiac 5, Ultra Man, and Saturn Girl (I’d be here all day listing everyone) and there was nothing wrong with the book. There was just always something that kept me from being a real fan, and I’m still not for the most part. Maybe because the series was removed from the other titles (set in the 30th century), or maybe the roster was to damn big. I don’t know but I find it amazing that this series was tied in with Superboy when it first came around. That just strikes me as, silly.

Fans of the 90’s may wonder what I thought of a little spin off titles called LEGION ’90 (or whatever year it was). Yeah never could get into that one.

#7.INFINITY INC

This one may be more unknown, and it took me awhile to get on board with this group. One reason is you need to be familiar with the JSA to really get who these people were. They were children of the JSA (Jade and Obsidian were Green Lantern’s kids for instance). This was a unique group because these heroes were employed by their leader, Star Spangled Kid. Hence the “inc” in the name. This group changed a lot after the Crisis event and when I started reading the series was on its way out. But the characters stuck around, especially Jade and Obsidian. Not much to say, it was a good team and I was sorry it took so long for me to start reading.







#6.SUCIDE SQUAD

Hey I heard a movie with this name was coming out. Seriously though, this was a good idea that really worked. Actually this team has been around for ages but it was the 80’s revival that caught my attention. The idea was simple, take criminals and get them to the jobs no one else wanted to do. If they did it and survived, they were free. It didn’t quite work that way but that was the idea. This was a government funded team that was also supposed to be top secret. Of course it didn’t stay that way for long. A lot of cool characters came in and out of this series, especially Amanda Waller who was really awesome. I admit I didn’t read the book closely, but when I did it was good.

Some may remember another government group called “Checkmate” that was around that time. Yeah never read that ever.

#5.Justice League International
 

There were many versions of the JLA during the 80’s and 90;s, some better than others (Justice League Detoit? WTF?). I decided that this was so different that it shouldn’t even be considered the same as the JLA (which is on here don’t worry). So why did I like this version? It was funny. This series hooked me in when I first saw the ad and I was a huge fan of it’s lighter approach. It was also my introduction to many characters like Mr.Miracle and Booster Gold. The people acted like real people, and it was a real change of pace. For a little awhile. After two years it got a little to silly especially when it spun off Justice League Europe which was more sitcom than comic book.  It’s no surprise that the book was revamped to be a little more serious by putting Superman and Green Lantern in command of both teams. But when Superman died and GL went crazy the book didn’t last. And the final version with Wonder Woman as leader was just god awful. But for awhile there it was a something quite different which was awesome.

#4.GREEN LANTERN CORPS

Some may call this cheating, but I am not talking about the whole group of ring wielders out there. Back in 1987 the creators trimmed the roster (VERY long story) and seven GL’s were assigned to Earth. Of course Hal Jordan among them. It had its problem and didn’t last very long before the series was cancelled. But there was some good in here and I liked what it was trying to do. The characters included the always awesome Kilowog, John Stewart, Katma Tui and Arisia. Guy Gardner was around before he spun off into the Justice League book.






3.THE OUTSIDERS

This group has been rebooted several times, but I am talking about the very first team. They started as Batman and The Outsiders before becoming a team in their own right. It’s something that could have easily failed. But they managed to make this a very popular group on par with the Teen Titans. For a little while anyway. When they split with Batman the popularity kind of waned. Thye tried to rectify that by bringing Batman back into the book, but it was to little to late. But the team worked because the personalities of the characters worked. Halo was innocent, Katana was motherly, Metapmorpho and Black Lightning had their own demons. Geo-Force was learning how to be a superhero not to mention prince of a nation. Looker was  a really fin character, I always though they were trying to do their version of Starfire from The Titans. But Starfire was an alien so could get away with a lot more. And of course trying to keep that under control was Batman, who isn’t the easiest team player. In fact he started this time after he abruptly quite the JLA.







#2.TEEN TITANS

I wasn’t sure where to put this one, but in the end there was no other place to put it. The reason I wasn’t sure is because it took me awhile to really like this team. I started reading when things in their comic were kind of weird, so it was hard for me to get into it. Then I read a little something called ‘The Janus Contract”. Wow! Much like Linkara with the Technis Imperitive, this story was amazingly well written, concerning the evil traitor named Terra. And it made me care about these characters. Eventually I became a fan (until Titans Hunt killed it but I digress). Nightwing, Wonder Girl, Changeling, Cyborg, Raven, Starfire…and the best part was that these were real people with real problems. Unlike JLI which made everyone a joke, this book was took these characters seriously and it’s why it endures to this day. The New Teen Titans is a rare case of the first issue claiming something amazing is beginning and being right. I know they tried over and over to restart the group and get it back to its glory days, but the magic of those years just can’t be copied.

By the way yes I have read the team-up between Batman and the Outsider and the New Teen Titans. It’s one of my favorite team-up’s ever.






#1.Justice League of America

I mean, who else? My first exposure to superheroes was The Superfriends which was basically a watered down version (or Silver Age version if you want) of this awesome team. I mean, The World’s Greatest Superheroes! What more could you want? The World’s Mightiest Heroes are just a pale imitation of this awesomeness. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash….it goes on and one. The JLA was such an amazing idea. In fact the first time I saw the team in comics was once again in the pages of Who’s Who. Seeing all these awesome heroes in one group, wow! Even if I didn’t know everyone on the team yet, it was still exciting!  I love the old back issues of this series, and wish more were available in trades today. I know the JLA has been revived in comics and I have seen some of those issues, but the original will always be my first love. If I were to recommend a single comic it would have to be JLA #200, which is one of the best anniversary issues of any comic ever.






So let’s see…I’ve done favorite superheroes, favorite superhero teams, favorite rogue’s galleries, and favorite supporting characters. I guess there’s only one category left for me to do. Next time, my top ten favorite DC Comic Super Villains. I think this time I may surprise you with my #1 choice.