10) Legion Of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes aren’t particularly big players nowadays, but in the annals of comic book history, they’re pretty significant.
From the minds of Otto Binder and Al Plastino and first appearing in Adventure Comics #247 in 1958, the Legion are a group of teenage heroes from the 30th (later 31st) century. With the aid of their Legion rings, the Legionnaires are able to fly and, more impressively, travel through time. Originally, the Legion were created as one-off allies for Superboy – Clark Kent’s adolescent alter ego during his teenage years in Smallville – but their popularity was such that they became icons of the Silver Age of Comics.
Led by founding members Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad, the Legion of Super-Heroes consists of Legionnaires from across the universe – aliens, androids… all are welcome – and they’ve had an endless amount of colourful, cosmic adventures over the decades.
9) New Gods
Created in 1971 by the King of Comics himself Jack Kirby (most known for his iconic work with Stan Lee over at Marvel), the New Gods are the inhabitants of the corner of the DC universe known as the Fourth World. The Fourth World consists of two connected but totally opposite worlds – the utopian realm of New Genesis and the hellish planet of Apokolips.
While Apokolips is ruled over by the megalomaniacal tyrant Darkseid, New Genesis is home to a race of heroic super-beings. These include Mister Miracle, Lightray, Metron, Jezebelle and Big Barda. The most notable, though, is Orion. The son of Darkseid, he was raised by New Genesis’ Highfather to defy his parentage and become a hero. Orion and his allies have gone on to work with the Justice League on many an occasion.
The New Gods mythology has only got richer and more important to the DC comics world over the years and seeing as Darkseid will be the overarching villain for the DC Extended Universe, it looks likely that we’re going to see it explored on the big screen soon enough.
