Super-Team Family
Super-Team Family is a comic book anthology series published by DC Comics from 1975 to 1978 that lasted for 15 issues. It included a mix of original and reprinted stories.
| Super-Team Family | |
|---|---|
 Cover of Super-Team Family #1 (October–November 1975), art by Dick Giordano. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | Bimonthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | October–November 1975 – March–April 1978 |
| No. of issues | 15 |
| Main character(s) | Superman, Batman, the Flash, the Challengers of the Unknown, the Doom Patrol, the Atom |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | |
| Penciller(s) | |
| Inker(s) | |
| Editor(s) | List
|
| Collected editions | |
| Secret Society of Super Villains Volume 2 | ISBN 978-1401231101 |
Publication history
Super-Team Family began publication with an October–November 1975 cover date.[1] DC Comics published several other ... Family titles concurrent with Super-Team Family including The Superman Family (1974–1982), Batman Family (1975–1978), and Tarzan Family (1975–1976). As a rule, DC's ... Family titles contained mostly reprints and featured a higher page count and higher price than DC's normal books.
The original intention of Super-Team Family was to be a "home" for original story team-ups without Batman, as editor Gerry Conway wrote in the letters column of issue #1. The first issue was only all-reprints due to scheduling problems, according to Conway. By issue #3 "economics had changed", and readers were informed that the series would go all-reprints with #4, edited by E. Nelson Bridwell. As of #8 the editor changed again, and Super-Team Family returned to an original-story format, with the occasional reprint seen in back-up stories.
A Creeper/Wildcat team-up in #2 and a Flash/Hawkman tale in #3 were the only new stories in the first seven issues of the title. The Challengers of the Unknown were the lead feature in issues #8–10 in a series of new stories by writer Steve Skeates and artists James Sherman and Jack Abel. Reprinted backup stories were eliminated as of #11 which saw the start of a four-issue serial written by Gerry Conway, starring the Atom teaming up with various other DC characters.[2]
DC management liked the sales results of later issues of the series and saw the financial advantage of lowering the page count. Rather than redefining the nature of the "... Family" titles, they opted to create a new series. Super-Team Family ended its run with issue #15 (March–April 1978),[1] and was replaced a few months later with the Superman team-up title DC Comics Presents (July 1978).[2]
After the cancellation of Super-Team Family, a Supergirl/Doom Patrol team-up by Gerry Conway and artist Arvell Jones originally scheduled to appear in the series was published in The Superman Family #191–193 (Sept.–Oct. 1978/Jan.–Feb. 1979).[3]
The issues
| Issue | Cover date | Characters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | October–November 1975 | Superman and Batman | reprinted from World's Finest Comics #175 (May 1968) |
| Teen Titans | reprinted from Teen Titans #19 (January–February 1969) | ||
| The Flash | reprinted from The Flash #166 (December 1966) | ||
| #2 | December 1975 – January 1976 | The Creeper and Wildcat | original story by Dennis O'Neil, Ric Estrada, and Bill Draut |
| Batman and Deadman | reprinted from The Brave and the Bold #79 (August–September 1968) | ||
| Green Arrow | reprinted from Adventure Comics #266 (November 1959) | ||
| #3 | February–March 1976 | The Flash and Hawkman | original story by Steve Skeates, Ric Estrada, and Wally Wood |
| Aquaman | reprinted from Adventure Comics #267 (December 1959) | ||
| Green Arrow | |||
| Superman and Batman | reprinted from World's Finest Comics #176 (June 1968) | ||
| #4 | April–May 1976 | Justice Society of America | reprinted from All Star Comics #33 (February–March 1947) |
| Superman and Batman | reprinted from World's Finest Comics #98 (December 1958) | ||
| #5 | June–July 1976 | Batman and Eclipso | reprinted from The Brave and the Bold #64 (February–March 1966) |
| "Origin of Eclipso" | single-page recap of Eclipso's origin reprinting material from House of Secrets | ||
| "Superboy's Workshop" | single page story | ||
| Superboy | reprinted from Superboy #47 (March 1956) | ||
| #6 | August–September 1976 | Superman and Batman | reprinted from World's Finest Comics #168 (August 1967) |
| Marvel Family | reprinted from Marvel Family #89 (January 1954) | ||
| #7 | October–November 1976 | Teen Titans | reprinted from Teen Titans #31 (January–February 1971) |
| Doom Patrol | reprinted from Doom Patrol #86 (March 1964) | ||
| #8 | December 1976 – January 1977 | Challengers of the Unknown | original story by Steve Skeates, James Sherman, and Jack Abel |
| "Team Talk" | original two-page story | ||
| Doom Patrol | reprinted from Doom Patrol #86 (March 1964) and #87 (May 1964) | ||
| #9 | February–March 1977 | Challengers of the Unknown | original story by Steve Skeates, James Sherman, and Jack Abel |
| Green Arrow | reprinted from Adventure Comics #254 (November 1958) | ||
| Doom Patrol | reprinted from Doom Patrol #88 (June 1964) | ||
| #10 | April–May 1977 | Challengers of the Unknown | original story by Steve Skeates, James Sherman, and Jack Abel |
| Doom Patrol | reprinted from Doom Patrol #88 (June 1964) | ||
| #11 | June–July 1977 | The Flash, Supergirl, and the Atom | original story by Gerry Conway, Alan Weiss, and Josef Rubinstein |
| #12 | August–September 1977 | Green Lantern, Hawkman, and the Atom | original story by Gerry Conway, Arvell Jones, and Bill Draut |
| Hawkman | reprinted from The Brave and the Bold #42 (1962) | ||
| #13 | October–November 1977 | Aquaman, Captain Comet, and the Atom | original story by Gerry Conway, Arvell Jones, and Romeo Tanghal |
| #14 | December 1977 – January 1978 | Wonder Woman and the Atom | original story by Gerry Conway, Arvell Jones, and Romeo Tanghal |
| #15 | March–April 1978 | The Flash and the New Gods | original story by Gerry Conway, Arvell Jones, and Romeo Tanghal |
Collected editions
Part of the series has been collected in a trade paperback:
- Secret Society of Super Villains Volume 2 includes Super-Team Family #13–14, 328 pages, May 2012, ISBN 978-1401231101
References
- Super-Team Family at the Grand Comics Database
- Johnson, Dan (August 2013). "We Are (Super-Team) Family". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (#66): 8–14.
- Wells, John (October 24, 1997), "'Lost' DC: 1976–1980", Comics Buyer's Guide, Iola, Wisconsin, no. #1249, p. 128
External links
- Super-Team Family at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Super-Team Family at Mike's Amazing World of Comics