The Green Team is a fictional

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

team of rich-kid adventurers published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. The team debuted in ''

1st Issue Special ''1st Issue Special'' is a comics anthology series from DC Comics, done in a similar style to their '' Showcase'' series. It was published from April 1975 to April 1976. The goal was to capitalize on the trend that the first issues of comic book ...

'' #2 (May 1975), and was created by

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (born Hymie Simon; October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books ...

and

Jerry Grandenetti Charles J. "Jerry" Grandenetti (April 15, 1926 – February 19, 2010) was an American comic book artist and advertising art director, best known for his work with writer-artist Will Eisner on the celebrated comics feature " The Spirit", and for ...

. In its initial appearance, the group was subtitled "Boy Millionaires". In 2010s comics, a revamped version of the group appeared in a series subtitled "Teen Trillionaires", thus adjusting for both

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

and the declining popularity of boy adventurers.

Publication history

The Green Team's first adventure appears in ''

'' #2 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d May 1975), an anthology comic. For many years, this would be their only conventionally published appearance. Not long after their debut, a regular ''Green Team'' series went into production, but the

DC Implosion The "DC Explosion" and "DC Implosion" were two events in 1978 – the first an official marketing campaign, the second a sardonic reference to it – in which American comics company DC Comics expanded their roster of publications, then abruptly cu ...

prevented it from reaching store shelves. Two issues had been completed at the time the series was cancelled, and these saw publication of a sort in the first volume of ''

Cancelled Comic Cavalcade The "DC Explosion" and "DC Implosion" were two events in 1978 – the first an official marketing campaign, the second a sardonic reference to it – in which American comics company DC Comics expanded their roster of publications, then abruptly cu ...

'' (Fall 1978), a two-volume collection DC Comics printed on photocopiers to secure copyrights on the stack of unpublished material left over after the DC Implosion. In the first of the two unpublished adventures, the boys are pitted against giant lobsters and the Russian Navy. In the second, the Green Team faces a villain called the Paperhanger who has special wallpaper that grows plants and trees, and who is a dead ringer for

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. In subsequent decades, the Green Team appeared in one panel of ''

Animal Man Animal Man (Bernhard "Buddy" Baker) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the ability to temporarily "borrow" t ...

'' #25 (July 1990), and a single page of ''

Adventures of Superman Adventures of Superman or The Adventures of Superman may refer to: * ''The Adventures of Superman'' (radio series), program of the 1940s * ''The Adventures of Superman'' (novel), written in 1942 by George Lowther * ''Adventures of Superman'' (TV s ...

'' #549 (Aug. 1997), in which the boys meet the

Newsboy Legion The Newsboy Legion is a teenage vigilante group in the DC Comics Universe. Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, they appeared in their own self-titled feature which ran from '' Star-Spangled Comics'' #7 (April 1942) to #64 (January 1947). In 1970, ...

and

Dingbats of Danger Street The Dingbats of Danger Street are a fictional comic book gang of kids published by DC Comics. The Dingbats debuted in '' 1st Issue Special'' #6 (September 1975) and were created by Jack Kirby. Publication history According to inker Mike Royer, ' ...

, financing a youth center for the two street gangs. Writer

Karl Kesel Karl Kesel (; born January 7, 1959) is an American comics writer and inker whose works have primarily been under contract for DC Comics. He is a member of Periscope Studio and is known for his collaborations with fellow artist Tom Grummett on ' ...

explained that he was a fan of the Newsboy Legion, and brought in the other two boy groups as a counterpoint to the Newsboys, since all three were created by Joe Simon and/or

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

. Cecil Sunbeam and Abdul Smith, two members of the Green Team, appear in '' Ambush Bug: Year None'' #1 (Sept. 2008). As part of

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

reboot of DC's continuity, the Green Team and its sister book ''

The Movement The Movement may refer to: Politics * The Movement (Iceland), a political party in Iceland * The Movement (Israel), a political party in Israel, led by Tzipi Livni * Civil rights movement, the African-American political movement * The Movement ...

'' were re-established in 2013. Written by

Art Baltazar Arthee "Art" Baltazar (born 1968) is an American comics artist and writer who currently works for DC Comics. Career Art Baltazar started making comic books with his self-published comic book, ''The Cray-Baby Adventures''. Since then he has cr ...

and

Franco Aureliani Franco Aureliani is an American comic book writer/artist, best known for writing the DC Comics series '' Tiny Titans'', for which he won two Eisner Awards in 2009 and 2011. ''Tiny Titans'' also won a Harvey award in 2011. He was also nominated ...

, and drawn by Ig Guara, the first issue debuted in May 2013 and focused on teens who use their financial resources to purchase power in the DC Universe, including super powers. This run lasted 8 issues and concluded in January 2014.

Fictional character biographies

The only prerequisite for joining the Green Team is possession of at least

one million 1,000,000 (one million), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the ...

dollar Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...

s, primarily in cash. The boys pay fortunes to anyone who can offer them a worthy adventure. In their first story, they fund the "Great American Pleasure Machine", a sort of

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

ride that brings so much pleasure, it drives the villain of the piece insane. A text page in ''

'' #2 (May 1975) explains, their jumpsuit uniforms have many pockets for money, with special locks, and they carry ticker-tape wristwatches, a chain of keys that unlock any of their many labs and money vaults in far-flung lands, and a quarter-million dollars each.

Membership

Original

* Commodore Murphy: A boy

shipping magnate A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

. * J.P. Huston: A Texan oil tycoon. * Cecil Sunbeam: A

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

known as the "Starmaker". * Abdul Smith: An

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

shoeshine boy Shoeshiner or boot polisher is an occupation in which a person cleans and buffs shoes and then applies a waxy paste to give a shiny appearance and a protective coating. They are often known as shoeshine boys because the job was traditionally ...

who received half a million dollars due to a bug in his bank's computer. He shrewdly multiplied that stake, returned it to the bank, and had a million dollars left.

The New 52

* Commodore Murphy: The leader of the group, who is into electronics. He is also interested in superhero-related materials. He is affectionately referred to as "64" within the group, an

inside joke An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke with humour that is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. I ...

related to his

trust fund A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is k ...

; he will inherit 64 trillion dollars from his family when he turns twenty-one. * J.P. Houston: A Texan who comes from "old money". He is Latino and has a sister named Lucia Lynn who often spends time with the group. He has misgivings about Commodore's interest in "this superhero thing" and how it will affect the group. * Cecilia Sunbeam: A big-time actress. People whisper about her: "She's a celebrity, and she has all the problems that go with that". * Mohammad Qahtanii: A prince and the youngest member of the Team.

References

External links

DCU Guide: The Green Team

Green Team
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...

Green Team
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on August 29, 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Green Team DC Comics titles DC Comics superheroes DC Comics teams Comics characters introduced in 1975 Characters created by Joe Simon