So, for your viewing pleasure, here are The Comic Whisperer’s 10 International/Non-U.S. SuperTeams I Bet You Didn’t Know About. These are in no particular order.
10.) Alpha Flight OK, you probably knew about this one. I threw this in as a gimme’. This team came well before Justice League United as the first Canadian SuperTeam. In the 3 decades that they have been around they have had 4 series that were their own. Many of you will know them as somewhat of an offshoot from the X-Men brand. Considered more the Canadian Avengers, this group of mutants has had many changes, and deaths, over the years with one spinoff - Omega Flight which was short lived.
9.) The Great Ten Who? Premiering in 2006, this was DC’s premier Chinese SuperTeam. The thing that made this great was that it had 10 all-new characters that were based on Chinese Mythology. They made appearances in Checkmate (one of my favorite titles...seriously) and had a 9 issue series all their own. We can assume each one wasn’t based on a single character....do the math. The concept, though completely original and unique, was canned after a brief stint. The most famous of all these was August General in Iron who made a cameo with Justice League International.
8.) International Club of Heroes Let’s add some confusion to the mix. International Club of Heroes started as Batmen of All Nations in 1955 in Detective Comics #215 years later renaming itself International Club of Heroes. Batman Incorporated helped to bring these characters into the New 52 but neglected to talk about it’s long lineage. After Batman Incorporated ended, so did the memories of those heroes.
7.) The Global Guardians I do have these comics. Making their first official appearance as The Global Guardians in DC Comics Presents #82, this team was somewhat of a spinoff from the Super Friends. The team didn’t have a very long run as the United Nations shut them down when the Justice League International was formed in 1987. They made another appearance as mindless drones of the Queen Bee at one point and then were murdered “off panel” in Justice League: Cry for Justice in 2009. They never made the New 52.
6.) Justice League International OK, OK, you’ve heard of this one too. This, however, is one of the oddest teams in comicdom. Made up of the B and C list superheroes, this international group has shed it’s A-Listers to the Justice League...um...National? The regular Justice League. Justice League U.S. You know who I mean. The New 52 title didn’t fair too well as it was cancelled after 12 issues and an Annual. The only solace to this team? One of my favorite characters, Mr. Miracle is on the team. He too is not on the “popular” list.
5.) People’s Defense Force If you know this team give yourself a 5 gold stars. The People’s Defense Force were the Chinese response to the Avengers. They replaced the China Force. They appeared in Mighty Avengers and were decimated by the Unspoken after their first appearance.
4.) Excalibur Some of you may not have put this team on the list, but it is international. It consisted of 2 Brits, 2 Americans and a German elf (gosh, who could that be?). Many put this as an X-Men spinoff as some of the incarnations have had Dazzler and Juggernaut (who, for your information, is NOT a mutant). Previously known as Captain Britain and the MI-13 this book was really just the lovechild of Alan Davis (who was from Britain) and Chris Claremont (who loves the U.K.).
3.) The Winter Guard One of my personal favorites, this Russian team has been defending the motherland since 1988. This is from the creator Kurt Busiek (also the creator of a new passion of mine Astro City) and Sean Chen. The team is actually some of Marvel’s soviet characters who have been made villains trying to sabotage the American Dream and everyone in it while being heroes in Russia. It was a common theme back then as can be seen by the Winter Olympics where hockey took center stage with the Americans beating the invincible Russian team. You can see that story in the movie Miracle.
2.) Big Hero 6 It’s no coincidence that the Ben 10 co-creators created Big Hero 6. They must have had something for numbers in the name. Steven T. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau created this team during their time working on Alpha Flight. It’s an intriguing backstory that involves Japanese authorities working with businesses to build a strong super team. I particularly loved the character names such as GoGo Tomago, Honey Lemon and Wasabi-No-Ginger. If you find the name familiar it probably is...it’s the name of the Disney/Marvel movie of the same name. Prior to the movie they had some mini-series which few paid attention to.
1.) International Ultramarine Corps Ummmm, who? They lived in a Grant Morrison created burg of Superbia (not to be confused with the BOOM! series of a similar name). It was above the ruins of Montevideo. They were virtually invisible to the comic reading community appearing from a storyline during Morrison’s JLA run. They went completely off the grid until Morrison brought them back during the JLA Classified run only to be smoked by mind-controlled gorillas. I’m not sure what kind of super team can be crushed by mind-controlled gorillas. Either they were some incredible simians or the International Ultramarine Corps were not drawing enough readership. Either way don’t bother collecting comics with the IUC in it. What does Ultramarine mean anyway?
And there you have it. How many did you recognize? Be honest. I knew...ummm...all 10...yea...and I have every edition where each made their appearance...and....they’re all signed by the writers and artists....and they’re all mint...bagged and boarded. Honestly, I knew 7 of them. The others were a mystery. If I didn’t have Google I would have never found pictures of some of these groups.
So, there seems to be a huge chasm in the International SuperTeam Community and a niche market for writers and artists trying to make an impression.
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