The Justice League is DC’s premier superhero team. It’s made up of DC’s best and brightest heroes, the elites who stand as paragons of truth, justice, and helping others, no matter what. Although they often shift rosters, they are almost always staffed by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and several of DC’s other best heroes. They’ve saved the world more times than anyone can count, fought beings at the end of everything, and brought everyone back from the brink, and are looked upon as the gold standard for heroism. However, they are far from DC’s only team, and just because they’re always in the spotlight doesn’t mean they’ve never been outshone. Sometimes, they’re even shown up by the people who were once their sidekicks, the Teen Titans.
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The Teen Titans and Titans are a team that was formed from the first generation of sidekicks, each one having their own mentor who has been a prominent Justice League figure at one point or another. Over the years, not only have the Teen Titans shown they’re just as good a team as the League, but sometimes they’ve made the case that they’re even better. Today, we’re looking at five times the Teen Titans totally upstaged the Justice League.
5) Teen Titans Origin
The Teen Titans actually proved they could handle the Justice League way back when they first formed. First told in Teen Titans (1966) #53 and modernized in Teen Titans: Year One, the Justice League is mind-controlled by an entity named the Antithesis, who had the Justice League commit crimes to absorb their negative emotions and cross over into our dimension. After being individually knocked aside by their mentors, the sidekicks that would become the Teen Titans joined forces to bring down the League. Even though this was their first time working together as a team, they managed to take down the far stronger and more experienced heroes in the League, saving the day, and decided to stick together afterwards. The Teen Titans have literally been saving the League’s butt since day one, and that’s great.
4) JLA/Titans
This book, also called “The Technis Imperative,” takes place after former-Teen Titan Cyborg lost his humanity and merged with the universe-traveling machine known as Technis, which wanted to absorb all the knowledge of everything. After traveling the stars, the dredges of Cyborg’s humanity made him excruciatingly lonely, and he returned to Earth, intent on capturing every past or present member of the Teen Titans to hold in stasis, because he saw them as his family. His efforts threatened to destroy the world, and while the JLA wanted to bring him down, the Titans formed from the fully-grown Teen Titans and battled the League, saying they could still save Cyborg. The team managed to appeal to and restore their friends’ humanity, saving everyone without any lives lost, something even the League couldn’t do here. This best showcases that every member of the Titans sees each other as something more than coworkers, they all care for each other as deeply as family, and that is one of their biggest strengths.
3) The Coming of Trigon
The first story arc of New Teen Titans (1980) focused on the then-mysterious Raven, who warned everyone of the eventual arrival of the unstoppable demon Trigon. Issue #4 saw Zatanna instruct the Justice League of America to stop several wizards from performing a ritual, which Raven told the Teen Titans was essential to stop Trigon. The two teams came to blows over it, with Raven manipulating the Titans to make them fight. The League eventually overpowered them and revealed the truth, but by that point, the wizards had been stopped, and Trigon was freed. In later issues, when the monster was actually unleashed upon the world, it was the Teen Titans who stopped him when nobody else could. They might not have shown they have more outright power here, but they showed that they’re always trying to do the right thing, and when it comes to taking a last stand against evil, there’s no one better to call, because even if they’re hopelessly outmatched, they’re going to stand proud and win.
2) Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths
Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths was an event all about legacy, and it started with the Justice League being killed. The death of the world’s greatest heroes left a major vacuum, but Nightwing and the Titans stepped up to the plate when they were needed most. He rallied every hero together under his leadership, and with the Titans at the head, they charged against the armies of the Great Darkness. It was ultimately the Titans and Nightwing who would win the day, even after the League came back, with Nightwing accepting the darkness in everyone and letting the Great Darkness heal from Pariah’s influence. This showed the resilience the Titans have, and how they’re just as effective as protectors as the League, if not more so. They’ve learned everything the League can do, and showed that they can even do it better.
1) Absolute Power
While the previous entry showed how the Titans can step up when the Justice League is gone, this one is all about how they unite the heroic world even while the League is standing right there. Absolute Power saw Amanda Waller steal most of the superheroes’ powers and put them on the run, with whoever escaped gathering at the Fortress of Solitude. While the still-disbanded Justice League squabbled about what to do and who should be in charge, the Titans immediately took control. Nightwing gave an impassioned speech on why they would win this, and the rest of the Titans split the remaining heroes into strike teams to take down Waller and rescue everyone. It showed that they’ve truly come into their own as a team, and unlike the League, aren’t going to be fighting each other. They trust and love each other more deeply than the Justice League does on average, and so when the chips are down, they know exactly who to rely on for what, and then immediately get things done. This is the perfect showcase of the Titans’ strength and what makes them such an amazing team.
So there we have five times the former or acting Teen Titans showed up the Justice League. While the team might have been originally constructed out of sidekicks, they’ve more than proven that they are heroes in their own right, and their teamwork and dedication to each other is second to none. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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