Ahh the superhero team – where would comics be without them? No Avengers, no Birds of Prey, no Watchmen, no Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (my favorite)! From the beginning superheroes, anti-heroes, and villains have joined forces to create some epic comic stories. And you can come and read them here at the Library of Congress in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room.
One of the earliest teams, the Justice Society of America, appeared in All Star, no. 3 (Winter 1940). While Doctor Fate and the Spectre (two of the original members) might not be as well-known now as some of their other team members (Flash and Green Lantern), the Justice Society of America has included major characters such as Wonder Woman and Black Canary over the years as well.
The Silver Age of comics introduced some of the most popular teams of today – the aforementioned Avengers – as well as the X-Men, the Justice League, Doom Patrol, and the Guardians of the Galaxy (to name a few).
And then there are the Team-Ups. Remember when Superman, Batman, and Robin teamed up in 1941 in World’s Best Comics (later World’s Finest Comics)? There was also that time when the Justice Society of America met the Justice League in August 1963. There were even entire series, like Marvel Team Up and Marvel Team Up Annual, devoted to team-ups. In this case usually Spiderman and someone else.
There are so many others from Watchmen, Teen Titans, and Suicide Squad to Alpha Flight and Powerman and Iron Fist. And there were teams and team-ups that were downright curious – like the Forgotten Heroes in Action Comics, no. 545 (July 1983) or when Spiderman joined Ren & Stimpy. Who’s your favorite team/team-up? Tell us in the comments!