The superhero team has been around nearly as long as the superhero. Not long after DC’s biggest heroes appeared, fans started wondering what it would be like to see them team up. And it didn’t take long for companies to answer the question, delivering amazing super-teams like the Justice League, Teen Titans, and more.
But who were the very first super-teams? When did they make their first appearances, and who were the team members? The super-teams who appeared in the first few decades of DC Comics were all massive successes, but the teams who experienced that breakout fame might not be the ones people are aware of today.
10 Justice Society of America Is Where DC Heroes Got Their Start
1940
The Justice Society of America team was created by Gardner Fox, Everett. E. Hibbard, and Sheldon Mayer within the pages of All Star Comics #3. The founding members of the team were Atom, Sandman, the Spectre, the Golden Age Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Green Lantern, and Hourman.
Bringing all these heroes together was a big deal at the time, but interestingly there were some major characters missing from the roster. Both Batman and Superman weren't official members of the team thanks to a rule in place by the creators: only characters without their own comic were allowed to join. Since Batman and Superman already had their own books, they could only be "honorary" members.
9 The Seven Soldiers Of Victory Featured Many Of DC's B-Tier Heroes
1941
The super-team idea worked well enough that DC decided to make another. In 1941, DC introduced the Seven Soldiers of Victory within the pages of Mort Weisinger and Mort Meskin's Leading Comics #1. Of course, all the major heroes had already appeared in the pages of Justice Society.
This time around, DC took a bunch of heroes from their anthology comics: Green Arrow & Speedy, Crimson Avenger, Shining Knight, the Vigilante, and the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, and made their own super-team. This team stuck together for around a year, but ultimately DC switched to a different format for Leading Comics after 14 issues. The group wouldn't appear again until the early 70s where they made a cameo in Justice League of America.
8 Marvel Family Was The First Team Of Family Heroes
1942
Back when Fawcett Comics still had Captain Marvel regularly outselling Superman, they expanded their universe a bit by introducing the Marvel Family. The characters were created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayve, and introduced in Captain Marvel Adventures #18.
Where at one point it was just Captain Marvel standing against the forces of evil, the Mighty Marvel Family added Billy's sister Mary and his best friend Freddy Freeman. And just for a bit of comedy, they added the Lieutenant Marvels not long after, a collection of boys who all had the name Billy and could transform if they said the magic word at the same time.
7 The Boy Commandos Were A Gang Of Young Fighters During The War
1942
At one point, DC had the creators of Captain America working for them. But with no specific ideas in mind, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby went with what they knew best: a gang of kids with guns, fighting Nazis. They made their first appearance in Detective Comics #64 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in June 1942.
A collection of kids from across the Allied nations, the Boy Commandos were a group of orphans who fought on the front lines. Unfortunately, characters like these had less of a shelf life than a timeless character like Captain America. Despite that, Boy Commandos was one of the three best-selling comics DC had at the time that eventually lost relevance.
6 Batmen of All Nations Brought The Ideal Of Batman Across The Globe
1955
Newer comic book fans might think Grant Morrison created the Batmen of All Nations, possibly as a precursor to their Batman Incorporated idea. But they actually got the idea from Detective Comics #215 by Edmond Hamilton, Sheldon Moldoff, and Charles Paris. The idea was that by the 50s, the Batman idea had gone global, and many new heroes wanted to style themselves after the Caped Crusader.
Batman not only approved of the idea but chose to train them, spending time with five different heroes to make them better. Later, they were invited to join the Club of Heroes by philanthropist John Mayhew, who would eventually become the villain in Morrison's storyline several decades later.
5 Challengers of the Unknown Explored The Strange Corners Of DC Comics
1957
Within the pages of Showcase #6 by Jack Kirby and Dave Wood, a new superhero team made their debut. The Challengers of the Unknown were a group of acquaintances who just narrowly survived a plane crash. Deciding that this meant they were living on "borrowed time," the four of them decided to take on as many challengers as possible.
This was DC doing a pulp adventure story in the midst of superheroes coming back after years of being irrelevant. The Challengers lasted from Showcase until they got their own title in 1958, which ran for over 70 issues. Of course, the team looks oddly familiar to another "fantastic" super-team that Kirby helped make in Marvel's bullpen.
4 Legion of Super-Heroes Were The Team Of Tomorrow
1958
The Legion of Super-Heroes were introduced in Adventure Comics #247 by Otto Binder and Al Plastino. They were originally meant to just be a group of time travelers who went back in time to visit their hero Superboy, but they obtained popularity almost immediately.
They went from visiting Superboy to making him an official member of their group. The Legion of Super-Heroes grew in popularity for years, as writers like Jim Shooter and Paul Levitz took the characters to greater heights. Because they could grow and change in ways other heroes couldn't, the readers continued to follow them as they aged. In the 70s, the Legion starred in one of the most popular books published by DC Comics.
3 Justice League Of America Gathered DC's Biggest Heroes
1960
DC's premiere super-team was introduced in Brave and the Bold #28 by Gardner Fox. This new team was specifically meant to feature characters who had their own books, but could operate together for major adventures. The starting line-up featured Martian Manhunter, the Silver Age Flash and Green Lantern, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman.
It didn't take long for the team to go from being featured in an anthology book to having their own comic. DC Comics fans loved having all of their favorite heroes work together to fight an enemy too big for any one of them. The Justice League is by far DC's most endearing super-team, having been around for 60 years now.
2 The Legion Of Super-Pets Were A Mainstay Throughout The Silver Age
1962
The Legion of Super-Pets are exactly the kind of concept that makes the most sense during the wild Silver Age era. Created by Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan, the Legion of Super-Pets were introduced in Adventure Comics #293.
The team originally featured only a bunch of Kryptonian pets, including Krypto, Streaky, Beppo the Super-Monkey, and Comet the Super-Horse. The team formed to help the Legion of Super-Heroes, and would make periodic appearances throughout the 60s. Unfortunately, they were retconned out of existence with Crisis on Infinite Earths.
1 The Doom Patrol Was Strange In The Best Ways
1963
The Doom Patrol feel like a team that was truly ahead of their time. Originally introduced in My Greatest Adventure #80 by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney, and Bruno Premiani, they were just a team of misfits as superheroes. They had Niles Caulder, Robotman, Elasti-Girl, and Negative Man in their original roster, and the book immediately took off in terms of popularity.
In a way, they felt like a precursor to the X-Men and many other heroes who would later use their abilities for good even though they weren't beloved by the people they saved. The team stuck around until their comic was canceled, where Drake decided to kill off the entire team. Fortunately, the team has newfound success on the Doom Patrol TV series.