5 DC Superhero Teams Everyone Has Forgotten About

DC Comics has plenty of superhero teams in its comic book line, but it is often hard to think about any of them once getting past the Justice League and Teen Titans. While those are the best of the best in DC, there have been a lot of teams over the years that have achieved success, and in some cases notoriety. Teams like the Legion of Super-Heroes will always hold a special place in the hearts of sci-fi comic book fans who love futuristic DC stories. The Justice League International will always be a fan-favorite for readers who love oddball teams, as that remains one of the best group of misfits ever put together.

However, there are many teams no one talks about anymore, and some fans might not even know they exist. Here are five of DC’s best forgotten teams in comic book history.

5) The Conglomerate

While Justice Society International was a hugely popular team for DC Comics, there was another team that attempted to compete with them for popularity. At least, they tried to compete within the DC Universe. Maxwell Lord ran JLI at the time, so Claire Montgomery started the Conglomerate to compete with them. Claire is Max’s ex-wife.

The first lineup of the team had some powerhouses in the lineup, including Booster Gold, Echo, and Gypsy. The other members included Maxi-Man, Praxis, Reverb, and Vapor. Booster had just quit the JLI because he felt he was always disrespected, and he believed the Conglomerate could help improve his image. Claire created another team of mostly B-tier characters and a third was even worse. In all, the Conglomerate was only around for 17 total issues, and never in their own series.

4) The Outsiders

The original Outsiders was a fantastic team for readers who picked up the comics in the 1980s. Debuting in The Brave and the Bold #200, Batman formed the Outsiders out of the need to rescue Lucius Fox when the Justice League refused to help on a rescue mission. This initial team was called Batman and the Outsiders, and it included Black Lightning, Katana, Halo, Metamorpho, and Geo-Force.

The team remained popular as an anti-Justice League, almost a ground-level group that helped people in need rather than deal with world-threatening events. It was a perfect team for Batman to lead. The team returned in the New 52, and while hardcore DC Comics fans have a love for the group of outsiders, they have never been treated with the respect of other DC heavy hitters. Their most recent series only had 17 issues and ended in 2020.

3) Defiance

Project Defiance is a team that was also known as the Dark Titans. They appeared in Deathstroke’s solo comic book in 2017 as a team that the reformed former villain put together to help turn them into what he hoped to be better heroes than the Teen Titans. The lineup included his own kids, Jericho and Rose, the young Terra (from Judas Contract), the third Power Girl (Tanya Spears), and Kid Flash (Wallace West).

Trying to prove he was rehabilitated, Deathstoke had the team take on government-sponsored missions. However, it was Deathstroke himself who caused the team’s breakdown, as neither Kid Flash nor Power Girl trusted him. It also didn’t help that there was family trauma, and Deathstroke’s own kids had problems with him. Defiance lasted a total of 11 issues and was gone in less than a year.

2) The Terrifics

The Terrifics need to get a lot more love than it does. With Mister Terrific in the DCU, and as a massive new fan favorite, maybe the team will get another go. The lineup is terrific, and the fact that they have been mostly missing for over five years now, other than an appearance in Flash in 2023, is tragic.

Mister Terrific formed this team, which is why they are named after him. The goal was to stop the opening of a portal to the Dark Multiverse, and Terrofic called on Metamorpho, Plastic-Man, and Phantom Girl to work as the main team. The team did have a 30-issue run that ended in 2020, and one has to hope that James Gunn might find a place for them in the DCU.

1) Shadowpact

Everyone knows who Justice League Dark is, but not as many people are familiar with another team of supernatural DC heroes called Shadowpact. The team made their first appearance in Day of Vengeance #1 in 2005 during the Infinite Crisis event, so they could attempt to stop an out-of-control Spectre. The team included Blue Devil, Detective Chimp, Enchantress, Nightmaster, Nightshade, and Ragman.

According to the wizard Shazam, the name Shadowpact is always used by mystics who fight for lost causes and are always destined to fail. This DC team had a 25-issue series that ended in 2008, but they remain mostly an obscure anomaly in the DC Universe.

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