Ah, the '90s: a golden age for the comic book industry, with sales flourishing and companies profiting. With the sudden rise of the comic book, everyone was looking to get a piece of the action, which meant new companies, new heroes, and, most importantly, new teams. With big names publisher and Mom-and-Pop companies looking to hop on the money train, the race was on to get readers, and readers were looking for the next big team in comics. This led to a sudden influx of a new teams in the '90s, each filled to the brim with new characters. While some of these '90s-spawned teams managed to find success (looking at you, Young Justice), not every '90s super team was quite as lucky. In fact, many of these teams quickly fell off the radar, forgotten to all but the most hardcore of '90s nerds.

These failed '90s super teams came from all over; big publishers made failed attempts at launching flagship teams, and smaller publishers looking to get their foot in the door tried, and failed, to create teams that could compete with the big guys. Regardless of origins, this was a decade that saw plenty of super teams crash and burn. Put down that polybagged Death Of Superman, crack a Surge, and prepare for a look back at into the nerdiest depths of your '90s nostalgia!

20 THE LEYMEN

There have been plenty of teams to grace comic books with cool, interesting names. The Leymen are not among them. No, this oft forgotten '90s team has such a generic, totally forgettable name that the comic the team starred in didn't even bear it on the first cover. In fact, DC purposefully gave the comic a "tough" sounding name to hide the fact that the comic actually followed the resoundingly boringly named Leymen.

While you might think The Leymen is the name of that band composed of Dads that always plays covers at that bar down the street, The Leymen are actually a team of mystical heroes assembled by the wizard-king Maltis. Debuting in 1994 in the deceptively named Primal Force, the team featured a roster composed of heroes such as Black Condor, Jack O'Lantern, and Red Tornado. Across 14 issues, the team battled various magical threats and protected the Earth from insidious mystical forces. The Leymen would eventually match the name of their series by adopting the name Primal Force, but the damage was already done: this was a team so boring that they were destined to be forgotten before the '90s were over.

19 HYPERKIND

Thanks to a sudden renewed interest in comics among the general public, the comic industry experienced a boom, leading to record sales and fierce competition among publishers. So fierce was this competition that comic companies resorted to all manner of gimmickry to grab the attention of fans. As a result, the '90s saw plenty of big name comic companies turning to celebrities to lend their names to comics, in hopes that the endorsementwould translate into big bucks. Such was the case when Marvel enlisted famed horror writer and director Clive Barker in 1993 to oversee a new line of comics dubbed the Razorline, headlined by the super team known as Hyperkind.

Set in an alternate reality in which superheroes did not exist, Razorline was composed of four titles concerning mystically-powered heroes and anti-heroes, all dreamed up by Barker. The most high profile title was Hyperkind, which followed a ragtag team composed of five heroes, each mystically imbued with powers representing aspects of human consciousness. Unfortunately, even Barker's involvement wasn't enough to spur sales and the various titles composing the Razorline experienced lackluster numbers and general apathy from comic fans. As a result, Hyperkind, along with the rest of Razorline, would be canned after a couple issues, leading to this obscure '90s superteam disappearing into the ether.

18 TANGENT UNIVERSE DOOM PATROL

In the '90s, comic events were the name of the game. Every comic company under the sun was fighting tooth and nail to retain readers, and this meant trotting out big, world changing events every so often to keep fan interest. While the '90s saw plenty of comic events that would go on to become bonafide classics, the decade also saw some weirder events that tend to get forgotten. Such was the case with DC's inventive and out-there Tangent Universe, launched as an event in 1997.

Spearheaded by writer Dan Jurgens, the Tangent Universe sought to create brand new heroes and villains using established DC names. In the Tangent Universe, The Atom was envisioned as a Superman-caliber hero, The Flash became a light-manipulating woman, and Nightwing became a clandestine organization of secret agents. DC's writers ran wild with the concept, cranking out weird new interpretations of DC characters, such as the Doom Patrol. The Doom Patrol were reimagined as time-traveling science heroes who have traveled back in time to warn the humanity of Earth's impending destruction, leading to the skeptical media mockingly dubbing the team the "Doom Patrol," before writing them off as kooks. Composed of leader Doctor Diedre Dey (mockingly nicknamed "Doomsdey"), her daughter Firehawk, socialite Star Sapphire, and the android Rampage, the team would fight to prevent a cataclysmic future. As the Tangent Universe wasn't a runaway success, the Doom Patrol remains forgotten to all but the most hardcore of '90s comic fans.

17 FREEX

The X-Men were red hot in the '90s, and every comic company and their sister was eager to jump on the "pretty teenagers with mutant powers" money train. Problem is, as Marvel had put its stamp on the term "mutant," comic companies were forced to seek out other labels for their genetically-altered co-eds. While some of the X-Men-inspired teams to spring up in the '90s would find success, there were plenty of X-Men wannabes that weren't quite as lucky. Case in point, Malibu Comic's ridiculously titled Freex.

Hitting comic shelves in 1993, Freex was Malibu's attempt to steal Marvel's X-thunder. To separate the team from their clear inspirations, the so-called Freex were not mutants, but rather children injected with "wetware," a high-tech combination of mutated DNA and nanotechnology. Thanks to this gene cocktail, the children were granted weird superpowers that caused the team to be hated by the public. With a team composed of members such as the super-strong, super-grey Boomboy, the tentacle-covered Sweetface, and the concussive-sweat producing Pressure, the Freex were a vast departure from the muscle-bound heroes that made up Malibu's popular Ultraforce team. The problem was, as the market was already choked with X-esque teams, Freex floundered, leading to book getting axed after only 18 issues. Even fans trolling the racks in '93 may have forgotten about this obscure team, so you have to be a serious '90s fan to remember this failed group.

16 NEW MEN

Malibu Comics were far from the only company to try to cash in on the runaway success of Marvel's X-line. Over at the red hot Image Comics, the X-Men inspired teams of Cyberforce and WildC.A.T.S. were experiencing strong fan interest, leading to issues selling out, netting the company tons of cash. Ever eager to find new ways to exploit a fad, Rob Liefeld decided to create his own interpretation of the X-team. After what we would imagine amounted to a solid 10 seconds on brainstorming, this new team was dubbed the New Men.

Spinning out of Image Comic's popular imprint wide crossover event Extreme Predjudice, the New Men were quickly given a title of their own, chronicling the adventures of a team of ragtag heroes imbued with the "Nu-Gene." The Nu-Gene, the story went, would mutate the individual it appeared in, granting the individual fantastic powers. As if this wasn't an obvious enough parallel to the X-Men, the New Men featured a team leader that was psychic, an animalistic loner member with prominent claws, a serious member with wings, and a gruff time traveling gun-wielding member that traveled to the past to warn the team of a coming threat. The similarities to the X-Men were so blatant that the New Men were eventually retooled, attempting to distance the team from it's rip-off roots. Despite the redesign, New Men was canceled after just 21 issues, ensuring this team would remain a forgotten '90s super team.

15 BRIGADE

You couldn't throw a rock in a '90s comic shop without hitting a comic starring a new super team. New teams of super-powered, muscle-bound heroes were popping up seemingly every day, and most of them seemed to come from the mega popular Image Comics. In the '90s, Image was a bonafide powerhouse, regularly churning out best selling comics, and one of the company's most bankable talents was none other than that lover of pouches and misunderstander of human anatomy, Rob Liefeld. Liefeld's Youngblood proved to be one of Image's most popular teams, leading to a glut of spin-offs, including Brigade.

Debuting in 1992, Brigade followed the titular team, led by disgraced Youngblood cast-out Battlestone, as they embarked in suitably '90s adventures. With an original roster composed of Battlestone, Kayo, Boone, and Lethal, the team would disband after a disastrous mission, leading to millionaire brothers Seahawk and Coldsnap joining the group to fund the team's adventures. Despite Brigade's relative obscurity these days, the team received four separate runs, which would see its roster ballooning to over 20-strong, with high-profile Image heroes such as Supreme, Glory, and Shadowhawk joining up. Despite this impressive pedigree, only the most devoted Liefeld fans are liable to remember this team.

14 SCARE TACTICS

The '90s were weird. Swing music was popular again for like 15 minutes, everyone was wearing flannel, and, most importantly, there came a mini-renaissance of interest in classic movie monsters. Universal's cadre of classic monsters were reissued on VHS, horror hosts such as Elvira and Joe Bob Briggs found success on TV with late night movie showings, and shlock-horror auteur Ed Wood even got a big budget movie biography. This renewed horror interest soon made its way to comics, with comic companies cranking out plenty of new horror titles to satiate fan demand. DC soon got into the '90s horror market with the so-called "Weirdoverse," which introduced readers to the monstrous team known as Scare Tactics.

With a connecting theme of the occult, the Weirdoverse looked to shine a light on the dark and mysterious corners of the DC universe. From this new line came Scare Tactics, one part Josie and the Pussycats and one part Universal Monsters. This band of teenage monsters traveled the country, fighting supernatural threats and solving mysteries along the way. With a rockabilly werewolf on guitar, a kind-hearted sludge monster on drums, a snake-man manning the bass, and a human-hating vampire on vocals, Scare Tactics was certainly a vast departure from DC's standard superteams. Unfortunately, Scare Tactics, along with the rest of the Weirdoverse line, failed to catch on, and this monstrous rock 'n roll team would soon fade into obscurity, never to be seen again.

13 90s TEEN TITANS

With a Teen Titans Go! movie preparing to hit the silver screen and a live action Titans series on the fast-track to TV, fans of the teen team are gearing up for lots of Teen Titans. But while the Titans might be one of DC's most beloved teams these days, there was a time in the '90s when the Titans' star had faded, with fan interest low and sales even lower. Thus, DC made the decision to buck tradition and shake the Titans roster up. Gone were Cyborg, Starfire and the gang; as far as DC was concerned, this was a new Teen Titans for a new generation.

Debuting in 1996, Teen Titans followed a revamped team composed of new heroes Risk, Argent, Prysm, and Joto, with a de-aged teenage version of The Atom taking lead. While initial sales of the comic were promising, the renewed fan interest eventually waned, forcing writer Dan Jurgens to bring in established heroes to punch up the roster. The bow-wielding Arsenal would take on a mentor role for the team, and Captain Marvel Jr. would join the Titans later, but only after the fan-requested Robin was denied Titans membership by DC's Batman editors. Unfortunately, bringing in established faces did little to bolster sagging sales, and Teen Titans would be canceled after 24 issues. With the Teen Titans red hot, it's crazy to think that an iteration of this beloved super team remains so obscure to all but the most hardcore '90s nerds.

12 KNIGHTS OF PENDRAGON

If ever there was a redheaded stepchild of the Marvel family, it would be Marvel UK. Before Marvel become the worldwide juggernaut it is today, the House Of Ideas decided to have both a main western arm and an adjacent UK branch. While Marvel would churn out popular comics starring their beloved characters, Marvel UK would take these comics and repackage them into weekly digests for the UK market. Eventually, Marvel UK would move away from simply republishing Marvel comics and would take a crack at creating comics of their own, leading to the largely forgotten Knights Of Pendragon.

Following the adventures of a team of heroes imbued with powers from the mystical Green Knight, using their powers to protect the UK from all manner of threats. The Knights Of Pendragon were said to be the latest incarnation of the Knights Of The Round Table, and each member of the team corresponded to one of the legendary knights. Knight Of Pendragon wore its British influences on its sleeve, with many of the team's adventures concerning British folklore and legends. Knights Of Pendragon proved to be one of Marvel UK's more popular titles, but the comic would never reach American shores, ensuring the team would remain obscure in the colonies. Eventually, Marvel UK's financial instability proved to be its downfall, and Marvel's UK arm was closed, putting an end to the Knights Of Pendragon.

11 YOUNG HEROES

Before superhero comics ruled the comic medium with an iron fist, one of the most popular style of comics on the market was the romance comic. Bringing tawdry stories of young love to comic books, romance comics were huge in the '50s, regularly outselling the likes of Batman and Captain America. As time went on, romance comics fell out of favor, and comic companies shifted their focus to superheroes. While there have been several modern attempts to revitalized the long-dormant romance comic genre, one of the weirder forays into romance comics comes from DC Comics and its '90s comic, Young Heroes In Love.

Combining the action of superheroes with the drama of Dawson's Creek, Young Heroes In Love followed a new team of teen heroes appropriately named the Young Heroes. Pitched as a sort of "garage band" approach to superheroics, Young Heroes In Love followed heroes such as Off-Ramp, Thunderhead, and Hard Drive as they fought, fell in love, fell out of love, and generally slept around. Unfortunately, despite a strong advertising push from DC, Young Heroes In Love experienced lackluster sales, leading to the title being axed after only 18 issues. As the Young Heroes were one of the few creator-owned teams in the DCU, the team has not been seen since the comic's writers, Dan Raspler and Dev Madan, departed the company.

10 SHADOW CABINET

In the '90s, new comic companies were popping up left and right, with every Tom, Dick and Harry eager to plant their flag on the flourishing comic market. While many of these new companies would quickly fold (remember Defiant Comics?), some of them managed to get their foot in the door, finding hardcore fans along the way. One such '90s comic success story was Milestone Media, a company that sought to give voice to African-American comic talent, all while bringing African-American characters to the fore. While Milestone heroes such as Static Shock and Icon would find success, not every Milestone title managed to make a splash. Case in point: the Shadow Cabinet.

Arriving on comic shelves in 1994, Shadow Cabinet introduced readers to the titular team, a covert-ops collection of superheroes that pledged to protect the world by snuffing out potential threats before they can grow to threaten humanity. As this was the '90s, and dark was in, the team managed to shoehorn the word "Shadow" into just about everything; the Shadow Cabinet operated out of their base, the Shadowspire, which could only be introduced via their teleporter, dubbed the Shadowslide. Despite featuring a stacked roster of B and C-grade Milestone heroes, this '90s super team was never quite as popular as Milestone's other characters, leading to Shadow Cabinet being canned after just 17 issues.

9 H.A.R.D. CORPS

Speaking of '90s comic companies that were once wildly popular and then crashed and burned before the end of the decade, it's Valiant Comics! During the early '90s, Valiant was billed as the next big player in comics, entering the market with several high-profile titles and an avalanche of advertising. While Valiant characters such as Ninjak and Shadowman found success, not every Valiant title was quiet as lucky. In fact, some of Valiant's titles landed with a thud, leading to the characters being forgotten to all but the most devoted Valiant fans. Which brings us to the eye-rollingly named H.A.R.D. Corps.

Spinning out of Valiant's Harbinger in 1992, H.A.R.D. Corps (or Harbinger Active Resistance Division Corps, if you're not into the whole brevity thing) followed the exploits of a corporate strike team led by Harbinger baddie Toyo Harada. The team was composed of humans from various walks of life that had been assembled by Harada and given experimental brain implants, granting the team members super human abilities. With members such as Gunslinger, Maniac, and Shakespeare, the H.A.R.D. Corps were tasked with helping Harada to gain control over the super powered teens known as Harbingers. Despite running for nearly three years, H.A.R.D. Corps is not the most remembered Valiant team. As a result, you'd have to be a hardcore '90s nerd to remember these guys.

8 EXTREME JUSTICE

DC has had plenty of missteps over the years. For every Superman, there has been a Mad Dog. For every Batman, a Bloodwynd. No comic company has a spotless record. But when it comes to DC mistakes, they don't get bigger, or more ridiculously '90s, than Extreme Justice. Yes, this is a team so laughably grim and gritty, so truly over-the-top x-treme, that even fans in a decade known for its grim and gritty, over-the-top x-treme comics thought the title was dumb.

Spinning out of the Justice League in 1994, Extreme Justice did exactly what it promised on the tin: it took the Justice League, and made them extreme. Characters such as Captain Atom and Booster Gold were conscripted into this mess of a comic, drawn with ludicrously '90s proportions, and sent out to fight grim and gritty villains. Built upon the concept of an action-oriented Justice League team that answered to no one, the team grew to include members such as Firestorm, Plastique, and the Wonder Twins. Unfortunately, Extreme Justice was competing with both Justice League of America and Justice League Task Force, and it turned out fans just weren't interested in a third Justice League team, no matter how x-treme the team was, and Extreme Justice was canceled after 19 issues. Widely mocked for its forced edginess and extreme ways, Extreme Justice remains somewhat obscure these days, which might be for the best.

7 BLOODSTRIKE

You'd be hard-pressed to find a superhero team name more quintessentially '90s than "Bloodstrike." After all, this is a team name that features everything the grim-and-gritty '90s were maligned for: it prominently features the word "blood," it features a "tough" verb that implied x-treme violence, and, when the words combined, they make for one nonsense team name. Never mind the fact that "Bloodstrike" makes zero sense, Image Comics seemed certain the team was poised for big things.

Debuting in 1993, Bloodstrike was an ultra-violent, no-nonsense team composed of government operatives that had died in battle but were revived by military scientists in a project dubbed Project: Born Again. As if the name wasn't silly enough, the team featured a four-armed combat specialist named "Fourplay," a gun-toting Cable wannabe named Cabbot Stone, and a bloodthirsty vampire in a knock-off Wolverine mask. Despite strong initial sales, Bloodstrike soon fell prey to the dreaded '90s Image Comics curse, as the series advertised issues 23 and 24, which were ultimately never released. Unlike other teams on this list, Bloodstrike didn't drop off the face of the Earth, making sporadic appearances over the years, and even gaining a new series in 2018. Despite Bloodstrike's longevity, you would be forgiven for forgetting all about this steaming pile of '90s goofiness.

6 BLOODPOOL

Oy, Bloodpool. If "Bloodstrike" was crowned "King of ridiculous '90s super team names," Bloodpool would definitely take second place, and it would have been a very close race. Seriously, "Bloodpool"? Deadpool managed to overcome his silly-sounding name and find success, but even the most hardcore fans have a line-in-the-sand for "just too ridiculous," and Bloodpool soars past that line like it's trying to take gold in the long jump. What we're getting at here is that Bloodpool is ridiculous, and it might be for the best that this '90s team has been largely forgotten.

Bloodpool debuted in 1996 and was presented as the junior team of Image Comics' Youngblood; a cadre of super-powered teams conscripted by the government. With names such as "Wylder" and "Psilence," the members of Bloodpool were as forgettable as they were silly. Even with the team's connection to the mega-popular Yongblood, fans were apathetic, and Bloodpool would end after just four issues, with the final issue seeing the members fired and sent packing. Considering Liefeld's popularity and Image Comic's impressive sales, to have a team from Liefeld bearing the Image name be axed so quickly is almost impressive. But it was a fitting ending for a truly forgettable '90s super team.

5 FORCE WORKS

Let us paint you a mental picture: Imagine you are Marvel, and you've just had the realization that the West Coast Avengers are incredibly lame. What's a company to do? You may have answered "retool the team, take the comic in a new direction, and win back fans," but this is far too logical for '90s comics. No, Marvel instead opted to put the West Coast Avengers out to pasture, take 80% of the roster of the team, shove them into a new team, and make it a new breed of tough-as-nails, take-no-prisoners superhero-ing. Thus, Force Works was born.

Debuting in 1994, Force Works was the closest Marvel ever came to a team similar to Wildstorm's once wildly popular The Authority, just way less cool. Like The Authority, Force Works weren't happy to simply stop disasters; instead, they took a proactive stance, looking to avert disasters altogether. Team founder Iron Man was looking to avoid the bureaucracy of the Avengers, and as a result, the billionaire opted to recruit heroes that weren't apart of the system, enlisting familiar faces such as Spider-Woman, U.S. Agent, and War Machine. In a shocking twist, Marvel fans didn't flock to a team primarily composed of West Coast Avengers cast-offs, and Force Works was canceled after 22 issues. While Force Works has become something of a cult favorite among the Marvel devoted, this team remains largely forgotten to all but the staunchest supporters.

4 JLX

Remember when you were a kid, and you would take all of your superhero action figures and make them fight together? Superman would battle evil side-by-side with Spider-Man, while He-Man and Goku handled the rest. Well, Amalgam Comics was kinda like that, just cranked up to 11. Spawned from a crossover between venerable rivals Marvel and DC, Amalgam Comics was a collaboration between the two comic giants, taking characters from both companies and mashing them together to create new characters. Spider-Man and Superboy combined to form Spider-Boy, Batman and Wolverine made Dark Claw, and so on. One of the most ridiculous teams to come from this oddball event was the JLX.

Standing for, you guessed it, Justice League X-Men, the JLX combined these two beloved teams to form a brand new super unit. When the similarly-named Judgement League Avengers kidnapped prominent mutant Aqua-Mariner for a crime he didn't commit, the psychic martian J'onn J'onzz, going by the name Mister X, assembled a team to free the wrongfully held anti-hero. With a roster composed of mash-up characters such as Nightcreeper (combining Nightcrawler and The Creeper), Angelhawk (Hawkman and Angel), and Mercury (Impulse and Quicksilver), the team would come together, free Aqua-Mariner, and take to the shadows, vowing to protect a world that fears them. Like the rest of the Amalgam Universe, the JLX disappeared once the event ended, and this obscure team hasn't been seen since.

3 A-NEXT

Marvel's Ultimate Universe was one of Marvel's most popular lines, and its popularity continues to be felt to this day, as characters from the destroyed alternate universe continue to creep into Marvel's main continuity. But long before Miles Morales was even a glimmer in the eye of fans, Marvel was trying another alternate universe out. Dubbed Marvel Comics 2 (or MC2 for short), this new universe would follow the children of popular Marvel heroes, paving the way for new adventures and new characters. While Spider-Girl was unquestionably the most popular MC2 character, the line also spawned its own version of the Avengers, dubbed A-Next.

Debuting in 1998, A-Next saw a new generation of heroes assembling under the Avengers name. Composed of J2 (son of the Juggernaut,) Stinger (daughter of Ant-Man), and Thunderstrike (son of, well, Thunderstrike), a new hero named Mainframe, with adult versions of Jubilee, Speedball, and Jolt rounding out the team, A-Next would become the MC2's de facto super team, taking on threats ranging from Loki to a villainous incarnation of the Defenders. Over time, A-Next's roster would swell to include new members such as American Dream, Bluestreak, and Sabreclaw, but new members were not enough to save A-Next, as the title's sagging sales caused the comic to be canceled after only 12 issues. While Spider-Girl remains a cult favorite among Marvel fans, you'd be hard-pressed to find many who remember this obscure '90s team.

2 SUPERBOY AND THE RAVERS

Oh, Superboy. How the mighty have fallen. When Kon-El debuted in 1993 in the wake of Superman's historic death, the young, brash hero instantly became a major player in the DCU, and the character would become a fan favorite throughout the '90s. As the decade progressed, Superboy would become a member of Young Justice, and, later still, would become a key member of the Teen Titans. But before Conner went on to join these popular teams, the superpowered teen would have a stint as the leader of a much more obscure, much less beloved team: The Ravers.

Launching in 1996, Superboy and the Ravers saw Kon-El leading a group of superhuman teens laughably dubbed the Ravers. The team was presented as a group of fun-seeking, devil-may-care heroes, as interested in partying as they were in fighting evil. With Superboy leading, the team was rounded out with members Aura, Sparx, Kaliber, Hero Cruz, Half-Life, Kindred Marx, and DJ. Superboy and the Ravers took its cues from teen soap operas, presenting readers with stories following the dramatic lives of its members, as members fell in and out of love and member Aura grappled with a drinking problem, all while rounding out the story with plenty of super-powered fights. Unfortunately, Superboy and the Ravers' particular brand of storytelling failed to make an impact with readers, and the title would be canceled after 18 issues.

1 MIDNIGHT SONS

The year is 1992, and dark and gritty is in. Spawn ruled the comic industry with an iron fist, new grim-and-gritty heroes were popping up seemingly every day, and fan demand for dark, violent anti-heroes was through the roof. Marvel, eager to cash in on current industry trends, began to brainstorm how the House of Ideas might hop on the lucrative scowling demonic anti-hero money train. The answer to this burning question would come courtesy of writer Howard Mackie, who introduced Marvel's readers to the Big M's newest, darkest, anti-hero-est team around: the Midnight Sons.

Debuting in Ghost Rider volume 3 #28, the Midnight Sons was a loose collective of some of Marvel's most prominent supernatural heroes. With an initial stacked line-up including Blade, Ghost Rider and Morbius the Living Vampire, the team would continue to grow, adding characters such as Werewolf By Night, Hellstorm, and Dr. Strange. The team immediately received a strong push from Marvel, getting an ongoing title, along with a "family" branding to denote all comics associated with the Midnight Sons, and regular crossovers with some of Marvel's most prominent characters.  Over time, interest in the group would pitter out, and Midnight Sons, along with associated titles such as Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins, and Blade, would be canceled, and the Midnight Sons were put out to pasture. At one point, the Midnight Sons were one of Marvel's most promoted teams, but by the end of the decade, only the most hardcore '90s nerd would remember this team.