The Justice League is one of the most prominent teams of superheroes in comic book history, in 1960 created as a modern-day Justice Society of America, where the top heroes of DC Comics teamed up to battle a threat that was bigger than any individual hero. The rest is history, with the team still running strong 60 years later.
However, through those 60 years, there have been some highs and lows. Not every version of the Justice League, or its various offshoots, enjoyed the same success. While everyone knows the Trinity that stands at the head of the table in Justice League history, anyone and everyone have had a membership at one time or another, and here are the five best and five worst lineups in history.
10 WORST: NEW 52 JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL
When DC introduced the New 52, fans saw some good things, but many complained about a lot of bad things. One of the things that fans seemed to hate the most was the New 52 version of Justice League International. This is likely because the original team was a beloved fan-favorite.
Yeah, there were some fan-favorite members like Booster Gold and Guy Gardner. However, members drifted in and out of the books, no one got their footing, and no one was given much in the way of storyline to make this team matter. Some members never appeared more than once.
9 BEST: JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK
Justice League Dark gave the mystical members of the DC Universe a chance to team up in a significant way. While it is hit and miss, the actual lineup is fantastic. Long-time fan favorite John Constantine is there, along with the cult-favorite Deadman, the always reliable Zatanna, and more.
Add in appearances from mystical heroes like Madame Xanadu, Shade the Changing Man, and even Swamp Thing at one point, and it was clear this comic was made for a specific fanbase and delivered it in spades. Justice League Dark even got a DCAU movie.
8 WORST: JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE
It seemed like a home run. Justice League Task Force was a team that was almost like Marvel's Secret Avengers years later — a black ops team that went in and took on missions that the more famous members of the Justice League had to avoid. Martian Manhunter was the perfect leader for this team.
However, there was a problem, and it arose due to the creative teams. Creator David Michelinie only wrote three issues. Mark Waid came on and wrote eight issues, and Christopher Priest took over until its cancelation. With members like Gypsy, Despero, Rey, and Triumph, the team was never a fan favorite.
7 BEST: ONE YEAR LATER JUSTICE LEAGUE
Brad Meltzer and Ed Benes took over Justice League of America following the events of Infinite Crisis, which was considered the One Year Later relaunch of the books. After Infinite Crisis, the books jumped ahead a year, and JLA got a considerable upgrade with some of the Big Seven and other favorites.
Honestly, this might be the best reboot of the Justice League as far as critics and fans are concerned. Black Canary was the new leader, and Red Arrow moved from sidekick status to a main event level hero.
6 WORST: POST ZERO HOUR JLA
The post-Zero Hour DC was not kind to the Justice League. On top of the shaky Justice League Task Force, the regular Justice Leauge of America also left a lot to be desired. The biggest problem was taking the League and turning it into three individual teams.
The biggest names for this team were Wonder Woman, Flash, and Hawkman. If they joined up with some hot young names, it might have worked, but they joined up with names like Obsidian, Metamprpho, Nuklon, Crimson Fox, and Fire (Ice was dead at this time).
5 BEST: JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL
Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis struck gold with their Justice League International series that came out after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths and Legends. The team moved their headquarters to the United Nations-sponsored embassies and took their fight all over the planet.
However, forget fighting villains all over the planet. The lure of Justice League International was looking at the characters in their downtime, and with names like Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Guy Gardner, and more, this was a team that delivered some of DC's funniest stories.
4 WORST: JUSTICE LEAGUE DETROIT
The biggest joke for many fans when it comes to the Justice Leauge lineups arrived with the comic title, Justice League Detroit. It didn't help that the team had only one big name in the lineup, and it was team leader Aquaman, at a time where he was still slightly a joke.
Yes, some other members are big names now, heroes like Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, and Elongated Man, but members like Gypsy, Steel, Vixen, and Vibe, when he was still a joke, dragged this team down to one of the worst lineups in Justice League history.
3 BEST: JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED
Justice League Unlimited pulls the Justice League out of the comics and onto the TV screens. This lineup is the animated cartoon version of the Justice League and might be one of the most beloved lineups in Justice League history. At the top, there is Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
However, it is everyone else that helps this rise as one of the best in history. Wally West's Flash is a treasure. Hawkgirl proves in this series to be better than Hawkman ever was. Plus, there is an entire generation that considers John Stewart to be the best Green Lantern, and it is all thanks to this cartoon.
2 WORST: EXTREME JUSTICE
Possibly, the most hated Justice League lineup in history is Extreme Justice. This version of the Justice League came in the '90s when DC and Marvel were trying to go more extreme and edgy to compete with Image Comics books.
This team was the Justice League, and that is something that never should have tried the edgy stories. Possibly the reason this failed so spectacularly was that the characters made edgy were guys like Booster Gold and Blue Beetle — two characters that are the polar opposite of edgy.
1 BEST: JLA - THE BIG SEVEN
The reason it is so hard for many Justice League lineups to get traction with fans is that there are seven members that many people only see as the real Justice League of America — the Big Seven. Those heroes are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter.
These heroes were the lineup that originated the team, and when a new iteration showed up without at least three of the Big Seven, it never played out well. Changing heroes didn't hurt, as Wally West and Kyle Raynor still worked well, but it was these seven heroes that consist of the best Justice League lineup ever.