10 Worst Justice League Members

The Justice League is the most illustrious team of superheroes in the entire world. They are the living embodiments of heroism and the pursuit of truth, justice, and a better tomorrow. The Justice League has been the home to some of the greatest and most important superheroes of all time, including but not limited to the Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman. In the DC Universe, the heroes on the Justice League are the best of the best. Except for when they aren’t. See, the League first debuted in The Brave and the Bold volume 1 #28, way back in early 1960, and it’s undergone plenty of iterations since. Not always for the better.

There have been dozens of different relaunches and rebrandings of the Justice League over its sixty-five year career. There were city-based divisions, specialized sub-teams under the wider umbrella, and possibly as many secret bases as there have been different members. Throughout all of those multitudes of variations, the Justice League has played host to the vast majority of superheroes within DC at one point or another. Unfortunately, while they’ve certainly had the best, with how wide they cast their net they are also sure to land some disappointments every now and again. In that vein, let’s take a look at ten Justice League members who never deserved their place on the team.

10) Doctor Multiverse

Doctor Multiverse earns tenth place on this list because her abilities and backstory are inherently very interesting, but all of her bottomless potential is being wasted. Doctor Multiverse first appeared Justice League Incarnate #1, a new addition to the Justice League Incarnate team dedicated to protecting the multiverse from the oncoming threat of the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths event. Her abilities, as her name suggests, all coincide with the multiverse in some way. One example is her Multivision, which allows her to see every version of a person across the multiverse. While this sounds really cool and there’s a ton of story potential with this concept, in practice she was far more of an underexplained plot device. If something needed to happen she could make it happen, no struggle or build up required. Doctor Multiverse is really cool, but so wasted that it’s painful to watch.

9) Captain Cold

Although he is traditionally a Flash rogue, leader of the Rogues in fact, Leonard Snark joined the Justice League in the aftermath of the “Injustice League” arc of Justice League volume two, officially joining in issue #33. While he is a great character, Captain Cold is a bad fit for the Justice League. Simply put, he offers nothing of value that someone else doesn’t offer better. The League already has better ice-themed heroes, and heck, it has better ice-themed villains turned heroes with someone like Killer Frost. He doesn’t even offer a good villain-hero dynamic because the Flash and him are generally on much better terms than duos like Superman and Lex Luthor. If he was the only ice hero or the only reformed villain he would be interesting, but because he’s neither, Leonard just doesn’t have a niche to call his own. His League seat is wasted on that.

8) Super-Chief

Super-Chief is yet another Leaguer with a lot of potential that was bogged down by an unfortunate fate. Jon Standing Bear wielded the magical Manitou Stone, which granted him enhanced strength, speed and agility. He premiered in 52 #22, the series immediately following Infinite Crisis which detailed the year that Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman all temporarily retired to reevaluate everything they had been through. The series elevated a lot of C-list and B-list heroes to a higher status, especially when Firestorm reformed the Justice League of America to combat the ever growing tide of threats, with Super-Chief as a new and prominent member. Unfortunately, he was killed just two issues later, never letting him rise to the heights many other leads of 52 did.

7) Triumph

Even though almost no one has ever heard of him, Triumph was actually a founding member of the first ever incarnation of the Justice League. At least, that’s what his origin told us when he debuted in Justice League America #91, which released in 1994. You see, soon after he helped found the League, Triumph entered a dimensional limbo in order to save the Earth, which had the adverse side effect of wiping everyone’s memories of him, even after his return. While the idea of a hero being wiped from living memory is interesting, just look at the Sentry, with Triumph it was executed horribly, such to the point that fans and staff members at DC alike positively loathed the man. Not only was he a whiney dick who acted like he deserved the spotlight, he was literally always right about everything he said, no matter what it was. This drove people absolutely insane, and at the soonest possible opportunity DC’s writers had him disgraced and killed. Look up the statements DC staff made about this guy sometime, they’re hilarious.

6) Crimson Fox

First debuting in Justice League Europe #6, Crimson Fox is actually two different people who share the identity. Twin sisters Vivian and Constance D’Aramis shared the Crimson Fox identity after somehow developing superpowers from their Parisian perfume company, Revson. In order to ensure they could become a full-time hero and live a normal life when they wanted, the two went so far as to fake Constance’s death. From there, one sister would live as Crimson Fox and one would live as Vivian D’Aramis, and they would switch back whenever one needed a break from either life. This is a hilarious, crazy, and awesome set up for superhero shenanigans, but unfortunately it is all ruined by their incredibly poorly-aged superpowers. The sisters possessed super strength, speed, and the ability to emit pheromones that caused extreme sexual desire in men. As you can guess, one of those powers is very problematic. Gosh, everything else about them is so fun, but that one part just sours the whole soup.

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5) Maxima

Speaking of really cool characters who are unfortunately defined by sexism, Maxima takes our number five slot. Maxima is an alien known as an Almeracian, whose naturally-borne superpowers rival those of Superman’s. In fact, Maxima herself took notice of how similar her and the Man of Steel’s power levels were, and most of her initial appearances followed her attempts to convince the Last Son of Krypton to give her an heir. She had a total character heel turn after a confrontation with Braniac, and joined the League in Justice League America #61. Unfortunately, her new lease on life was revealed to be yet another convoluted plot to trick Superman into mating with her, which of course didn’t happen. Later, she joined the Extreme Justice team because she developed feelings for Captain Atom. Maxima is a very powerful character with super awesome powers, but is always regulated to wanting to bang a guy. Oh joy.

4) Mystek

Mystek originated as a C-tier villain for C-tier hero the Ray. Her real name was Jennifer Seong Barclay, although for some unknown reason she pretended to be a man with her armored costume. I guess Mulaning it is a great way to protect your secret identity. Either way, her superpowers allowed her to manipulate energy at a subatomic level, firing insane energy blasts whose upper threshold is quite possibly limitless given the nature of her powers. She is recruited by Martian Manhunter to join his team in Justice League Task Force #26, but her tenor was short-lived. On a mission to space in issue #32, Mystek’s intense claustrophobia forced her to blast her way out of their ship, leaving her to suffocate in outer space almost instantly. This is honestly one of the most embarrassing deaths in all of comics, and the fact that nobody ever talks about it says exactly what it needs to about Mystek.

3) Lobo

Don’t get me wrong, I love Lobo. The Main Man is one of DC’s best characters, because who wouldn’t love the motorcycle-riding space pirate raised by space dolphins? However, all the things that make Lobo such a fantastic character also make him an absolutely horrible member of the Justice League. Lobo is a merciless, stone-cold killer who is always debating between slaughtering someone who annoys him or dragging them across the universe in chains for a quick payday. He is literally a bounty hunter who has tried to hunt and or kill several of DC’s best heroes and almost succeeded! All of that being true makes Batman of all people recruiting Lobo in Justice League of America: Rebirth #1 all the more baffling. Seriously, were there no better options? The fact that he eventually turned on his team really should not have been a shock to anyone.

2) Snapper Carr

You know the founders of the original Justice League. They’re some of the greatest superheroes of all time, and every single one of them is a paragon of heroism. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, the Flash and Snapper Carr. I’m being serious. Unlike Triumph, Snapper Carr was actually present in The Brave and the Bold #28. When Starro nearly took over the world, Snapper, a normal teenager, was the only person in his town to not be controlled by Starro. He was spreading limes in his yard and was coated in lime juice, which was fatal to Starro. After the League used this method to defeat the world-killer they added Snapper as honorary League member and their mascot. He joined the Justice League on plenty of their early adventures, but unfortunately he got jealous with always sitting on the sidelines while they had all the fun. In an attempt to get back at them, he let John Dough (secretly the Joker in disguise) into their secret base, which nearly got them all killed. After that, Snapper retired from the team, which is probably for the best given that he wasn’t actually a superhero.

1) Maxwell Lord

The Justice League has hosted plenty of horrible people. From Lobo, to Maxima, to Lex Luthor, the League has never shied away from giving supervillains a chance at redemption in their ranks. However, Maxwell Lord is the man who fooled them all, and almost killed everyone. Maxwell Lord first appeared in Justice League #1, pulling strings behind the scenes to set the stage for the rise of the Justice League after its dismantlement during Crisis on Infinite Earths. For a long, long time Lord was a trusted ally of the League. He was a shrewd, and often cruel businessman, but behind that he had a heart of gold and a deep desire to improve the world. That’s why his heel turn in Countdown to Infinite Crisis hurt everyone so deeply. Lord used Batman’s Brother Eye satellite to command an army of OMAC robots to wipe out every metahuman on the planet. His actions revealed that Lord had never been on their side, only pretending to work with the heroes so he could gather data on how best to take them down. Lord fooled everyone for years, and his betrayal shook the DC Universe and comic book community to their core. There can never be a betrayal like Lord again, and never a worse member to ever have on the League. 

So there we have the top ten worst members the Justice League ever allowed in their ranks. So far, at least. There’s always the chance they’ll add someone like Amanda Waller in the future or something. But until a horrible day like that comes, this list stands. Disagree or think someone else deserves a spot up here? Let us know in the comments below!