The 10 Most Influential Teams In Comics History
If there’s one thing better than a superhero, it’s a bunch of superheroes. This is the glory of the superhero team; they combine the best heroes into one cohesive unit. It’s a recipe for entertainment, as bringing together disparate heroes has not only been a great source of action-packed stories, but has also brought camaraderie and drama into the mix that readers don’t always get from books. of unique superheroes.
Beyond the team of superheroes, there are also the teams of villains who challenge them as well, both an indelible part of comic book history. At Marvel and DC, these groups have played a huge role in influencing the course of superhero comics.
ten The Crime Syndicate Of America Was The First Evil Lookalike Team
Introduced in Justice League of America (Vol.1) #29, the Crime Syndicate of America hails from Earth-Three, the world where evil has won. Ultraman, the Owl, Superwoman, Johnny Quick, and Power Ring were their Earth’s Justice League. They were as powerful as their Earth-One counterparts and posed a serious threat to the League whenever they showed up.
The Crime Syndicate represents the first time a team of evil look-alikes have appeared in the comics, but it wouldn’t be the last. The Syndicate would return in multiple guises, and Marvel and DC teams would eventually face multiversal evil versions of themselves in the years that followed.
9 World’s Injustice Society was the first major super villain team
Superhero teams need people to fight with, which can be difficult when a group is made up of the most powerful superheroes around. The first major supervillain team, and the one that would be the most influential in years to come, was the Injustice Society of The World. Originally made up of the Justice Society’s greatest foes – the Wizard, the Gambler, Per Degaton, Brain Wave, and Vandal Savage – they started a trend.
In the years to come, supervillain teams like the Frightful Four, Injustice League, Masters of Evil, and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants emerged. All of these teams followed the example of the Injustice Society, and the team itself would return in new forms to battle their heroic foes as well over the years.
8 The New Mutants were the first of many secondary mutant teams
The rise in popularity of the X-Men in the late ’70s and early ’80s was meteoric, and fans couldn’t get enough of the mutants. This prompted Marvel to release new mutants, a graphic novel featuring a new team of teenage mutants learning to use their powers from Charles Xavier. Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Mirage and Karma hit a deal, and the rest is history.
The popularity of the New Mutants eventually led to X-Factor, Excalibur, and the myriad mutant teams that followed. The group itself would transform into X-Force before the original team reunited. They were also Marvel’s first teenage superhero team, leading to many more in the future.
7 The Teen Titans were the greatest sidekick team of all time
The teenage superteam, usually made up of sidekicks, was created in the Golden Age. Yet they never got their own comic, usually only getting a back-up story in a larger book. It wasn’t until the start of the Teen Titans’ Silver Age that a team of sidekicks would get their own book. Combining heroes like Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Speedy, Aqualad and many more, the Teen Titans have spawned a legend.
It would go on to become DC’s most important teen team and one of the best-selling teams of the 80s. They enjoyed greater multimedia success than any other teen team and carved out an undeniable niche for themselves and other such teams.
6 The Legion of Super-Heroes was the first big teen super team
What separates the Legion of Super-Heroes from their Golden Age ancestors and makes them so influential are two things – neither of them are sidekicks and Superboy, teenage Clark Kent, was a member. They were the first all-original group of teenage superheroes and would forge their own legacy.
The Legion of Super-Heroes is one of the greatest teams in comic book history, boasting more active members than any other. They’ve been a huge influence on every teenage superteam that’s come after them, even if their continuity has gotten a little wobbly due to DC’s tendency to reboot its history.
5 The Avengers brought Captain America back to comics, among other things
The Avengers are known as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, with a roster including Marvel’s first superheroes. As far as that goes, the Avengers aren’t a very original idea, as comic companies have been rounding up their greatest heroes for years. They were, however, a factor in Marvel’s success in the Silver Age and had some famous firsts that would change comic books for years to come.
For starters, the team reintroduced Captain America to the Marvel Universe, a move that would return the publisher to its most inspirational hero. After that, it would be the first team to feature reformed villains, as Cap recruited Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver to the team. In recent years, they’ve become one of the country’s biggest pop culture juggernauts.
4 The Fantastic Four Kickstarted Marvel’s Silver Age
Before Stan Lee and Jack Kirby The Fantastic Four #1, Marvel published western, monster, and romance comics. This comic represented a sea change at the publisher and introduced the titular team to the world. The top cover called the book “The World’s Greatest Comic Book Magazine,” and it would live up to that appellation throughout the Silver Age.
The Fantastic Four showed off Lee and Kirby’s approach to superheroes, combining grounded, fallible heroes with jaw-dropping sci-fi madness. Over the years, fans have had incredible Fantastic Four stories. The team may not be as popular as it once was, but it changed the way readers viewed superhero teams in the years since.
3 The X-Men rose from the ashes to become comics’ greatest team
The X-Men saga is full of ups and downs. While modern fans know it as the first mutant team with some of comics’ best characters, when the X-Men debuted they were definitely the dark sheep of the Marvel Family. The book was reduced to a comic book reprint for years until Giant Size X-Men #1 – by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum – came on and made the team great again.
Writer Chris Claremont would join x-men as a writer with issue 94; the book would soon be renamed Weird X-Men and become the best-selling book in the country. Since then, the X-Men have stayed on top almost continuously, leaving a mark on pop culture that no other Marvel franchise has made until the MCU and producing the greatest lineup of related books in the history of the comic.
2 The success of the Justice League is indirectly responsible for Marvel Comics
The Justice League, much like the Avengers, isn’t exactly a new concept, but that doesn’t negate their influence. The Justice League was the greatest superhero team of the early Silver Age. Its success is what prompted Marvel publisher Martin Goodman to recruit Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to bring the company back into the superhero game.
Beyond that, the Justice League was the first major super-team to cross paths with their Golden Age ancestors and engage in the multiversal shenanigans that Silver Age DC is known for. The Justice League has provided readers with incredible stories over the years and is one of the greatest superhero teams of all time.
1 The Justice Society of America has set the course for every super team that has followed it
DC was the most popular publisher of the Silver Age. Then known as National Comics, they united their greatest heroes – Green Lantern, Flash, Wildcat, Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Sandman and Black Canary – into one group, and the Justice Society of America was born. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman would later join the team, and the rest is history.
The JSA codified the approach that every comic book publisher would follow to create a superhero team. They are an integral part of every team’s DNA and survive to this day, combining the mightiest heroes to battle the greatest threats.
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