The Justice League is DC’s premier superhero team. Originally founded as the Justice League of America, and often going back to using that name, the Justice League has stood tall against all manner of threats that seek to do harm both to their world and their universe, and even the multiverse itself. There have been dozens of variations and incarnations of the team, its members constantly rotating, but there has almost always been a Justice League since their introduction. Beyond just changing some members, however, sometimes the entire team itself is changed. Either as a rebrand or an offshoot, there have been plenty of teams that have used the Justice League name in some capacity, but also developed a distinct identity of their own. These aren’t the normal League, but entirely different teams that grew out of the idea of them. So with that, let’s take a look at ten of the worst and best alternate Justice League teams.
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10) Justice League Detroit
Although this team only went by the Justice League of America, they will forever be remembered as Justice League Detroit, and one of the worst versions of the League. They first appeared in Justice League of America volume one Annual #2, founded after Aquaman disbanded the original League and reformed it with only members that could participate full time. Alongside veteran members like Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, and Zatana, Aquaman recruited a new generation of younger heroes to fight together, basing themselves in Detroit, for which the team earned their nickname. This team was specifically designed without the usual A-list cast of heroes, meant to free up its writers to tell more personal, character driven stories without needing to worry about impacting a big character’s comic. The new heroes introduced were meant to appeal to a younger crowd and were markedly more diverse than the original team. However, the lack of beloved characters and the new characters mostly being racial stereotypes, which the well-meaning authors have since voiced their regret over, definitely left this team languishing. It only lasted a few years before it was disbanded.
9) Extreme Justice
Similar to the above entry, this team only referred to themselves as the one and only Justice League. However, they were not in fact the one and only Justice League at that time, as this was one of three distinct splinter-teams across three different series; Justice League Europe, Justice League Task Force, and Extreme Justice. Don’t worry, you’ll be seeing the other two teams later on in this list. The Extreme Justice team was led by Captain Atom, who broke away from the United Nations to lead a proactive team of heroes to stop crises before they happened. This team premiered in 1995, deep into the grundy, edge-fest that comics were in the 1990s, and they were the living embodiment of that hyperviolent, dark style. I’m sure you could tell all that from the name alone, though. This comic was beyond edgy and way too serious, and frankly I’m surprised this lasted past the turn of the millennium, though it didn’t last much longer than that. Any comic book that turns Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, DC’s greatest comedy duo, into an edge-fest deserves ninth place at best.
8) Justice League Task Force
As promised, this incarnation of the League first appeared in Justice League Task Force #1. Spearheaded by Martian Manhunter, this team was designed to handle covert missions and was directly overseen by United Nations representative Hannibal Martin. Originally they had a rotating cast populated with heroes best suited for each mission, the roster would eventually solidify with lesser known heroes and former villains that were effectively being trained to join the Justice League proper. Some of these characters included Gypsy, the Ray, Mystek, L-Ron, and Triumph. It was an interesting idea for a team, but ultimately it failed to find real purchase, and was eventually disbanded for want of a niche. That, and its team contained one of the single most hated characters of all time in Triumph, despised by fans and editorial alike, so that probably didn’t help.
7) Justice League Europe
The final member of the unfortunate League split-off trilogy, this team first appeared in Justice League International #24 as a European-based cell of that team. Chairmanned by Captain Atom, this team consisted of members such as the Flash, Animal Man, Crimson Fox, Green Lantern, Metamorpho, Power Girl, and Wonder Woman (for all of two issues, one being a Teen Titans annual). There was nothing wrong with this team, but they were spun out of the fan-favorite series Justice League International, and were frankly just a watered down version of that beloved team. They had the same tongue-in-cheek style and had good stories, but ultimately always lived in the shadow of their much funnier, more bombastic International counterparts.
6) Justice League Elite
This was a very strange and yet very interesting idea for a Justice League team. This team first appeared in JLA #100, brought together by Vera Black, sister of notorious Superman-villain Manchester Black. This black-ops squad was put together to handle threats in the shadows that the Justice League couldn’t be seen dealing with, and was composed of both former villains (such as members of the Elite) and publicly beloved heroes like Flash and Green Arrow in different costumes meant to hide their involvement. Their secret identities had secret identities, and that’s just great. This team’s solo series only lasted for twelve issues, which goes to show that nobody really wants a “proactive” Justice League that does shadowy, near immoral missions, but it did have some pretty cool twists. One of those being that founding member Kasumi was actually Batgirl Cassandra Cain, planted by Batman to keep an eye on the team and stop them from going too far. It’s honestly way better than it gets credit for.
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5) Justice League of China
First appearing in New Super-Man #2, the Justice League of China is China’s attempt to create their own version of the Justice League with technologically enhanced analogues to the most prominent heroes from the original League. This might sound like the characters would just be copy and pastes of their counterparts, but the members of the Justice League of China are actually all both incredible characters and excellent subversions of what people expect from the original versions. The team originally only consisted of Super-Man, Bat-Man, and Wonder-Woman, but they were eventually joined up by the Flash (Avery Ho), Dragonson, and Robinbot. In universe, the team is still in operation today, although their only series so far ended in 2018. Personally, I’d love to see them make a comeback.
4) Justice League Unlimited
The Justice League Unlimited is the incarnation of the Justice League that decided to expand to not just a handful or rotating roster of heroes, but to include every hero who was willing to join. Just about every single hero that operates on Earth has a membership card, each joining in to help protect their world like never before. They first formed this iteration of the League in the DC All-In special, and did the heroes ever go all in. This team is the living embodiment of the League’s willingness to work together to make the world a better place, taking in every hero to bring peace to everywhere, all at once. The only reason this version of the League is not higher on the list is because they haven’t even been around for a full year at this point, so we have to still wait and see what kind of impact and legacy they leave behind when they go. According to Booster Gold, the JLI coming together symbolized the ultimate age of heroes, at least before Darkseid mucked everything up, so we’ll have to see if this team lives up to that hype.
3) Justice League Odyssey
This team first appeared in Justice League: No Justice #4, although it was unnamed at the time. This was a small team, originally only consisting of Cyborg, Starfire, Azrael, and Green Lantern Jessica Cruz as they ventured to the mysterious Ghost Sector of space, called there by the still-weakened Darkseid. The story that follows is without a doubt one of the greatest the League has ever told, even without most of their iconic cast around. It’s a space-based, action-packed mystery that has Jessica recruiting people like Orion, Blackfire, and Dex-Starr to stop the rejuvenated Darkseid and her former teammates turned New Gods. It’s absolutely spectacular, and any team that adds Dex-Starr is instantly a top tier one, in my book.
2) Justice League International
This cult-classic incarnation of the team technically first appeared in History of the DC Universe #2, but it was actually founded in Legends #6, which was the first time the Justice League was established since Justice League Detroit disbanded. This was the first League in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, but because writer Keith Giffen and editor Andy Helfer didn’t know what heroes they would be allowed to use given a lot of them were being entirely reworked for the new universe, they decided to pitch the idea of it being a character-driven, light-heated, tongue in cheek style book that immediately caught on with fans. This was the first incarnation of the League that specifically operated across the entire world, and introduced legendary pieces of DC history such as; the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold friendship, Martian Manhunter’s obsession with Chocos, the Captain/Shazam acting childlike because Billy was a kid, and the unforgettable moment when Batman knocked out Guy Gardner with one punch. And of course, it gave us one of the most iconic Justice League covers of all time. This run was the definition of magnificent, but it surprisingly was just beat out of the top spot.
1) Justice League Dark
Originally appearing in Justice League Dark volume one #1, this offshoot of the main Justice League team specifically focuses on dealing with mystical and magical threats to the world. While volume one was great and did the great service of fully bringing previously Vertigo-locked characters like John Constantine and Swamp Thing back to the forefront of the main DC Universe, the team really started to shine in volume two, when Wonder Woman took over and reassembled them. Diana led the team of Zatana, Swamp Thing, Detective Chimp, and Man-Bat, and this team was perfect. They bounced off of each other with an incredible dynamic and battled magical beasts and dark gods with the power of love and hope. This run introduced one of the strongest and most terrifying villains of all in the Upside-Down Man, and is strictly speaking everything a Justice League should be. They are hopeful, determined, and heroic to the very end.
So there we have ten of the absolute best Justice League teams, sans the regular Justice League itself. Which splinter-team is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
