The Superman Revenge Squad is the name of two fictional organizations in the
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 ...
Crisis
A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...
'' continuity, the Squad originated as the Superboy Revenge Squad, debuting in ''Superboy'' #94 (January 1962); the Superman Revenge Squad subsequently appeared in ''Action Comics'' #286 (March 1962). Both Squads are composed of aliens from the planet Wexr II, whom Superboy had prevented from achieving galactic conquest. The Squad later grows to include members from other planets, all of whom are sworn enemies of Superman.
Many of the Squad's plans to destroy Superman use psychological warfare, including red
kryptonite
Kryptonite is a fictional material that appears primarily in Superman stories published by DC Comics. In its best-known form, it is a green, crystalline material originating from Superman's home world of Krypton (comics), Krypton that emits a u ...
-induced nightmares, hypnotizing Superman into committing destructive acts, and tricking Superman into revealing his secret identity. They appeared briefly in the 1963 story ''
Superman Red/Superman Blue
"Superman Red/Superman Blue" refers to two comic book storylines published by DC Comics featuring Superman.
Silver Age story
The original Superman-Red/Superman-Blue tale, "The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue!", is an "Elseworlds" ...
'' storyline (July 1963), which takes place in an alternate universe. The group attempt to attack Earth alongside Brainiac, but reform after being struck by Superman's anti-evil rays.
Post-''Crisis on Infinite Earths''
In ''Adventures of Superman'' #543 (February 1997), a new version of the Revenge Squad is introduced. The new Squad is established by
Morgan Edge
Morgan Edge is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Originally a supporting character, he is a media mogul who acquires '' The Daily Planet'' and employs Clark Kent as a television journalist for his WGBS ...
, who assembles various characters with a grudge against Superman and attempts to frame
Lex Luthor
Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...
as their leader. Its members include Maxima, Barrage,
Riot
A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...
, Misa, and Anomaly.
In ''Action Comics'' #736 (August 1997), Edge assembles another version of the team, consisting of Barrage,
Parasite
Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...
, and
Rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
Lex Luthor
Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...
constructs a new team, which Superman joins to battle
General Zod
General Zod is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an List of Superman enemies, adversary of the superhero Superman. The character, who first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #283 (April 1961), was ...
. The Revenge Squad consists of
Metallo
Metallo () is the name of different supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an List of Superman enemies, adversary of Superman. All versions of the character are powered by kryptonite and are partially ...
, Parasite, and
Bizarro
Bizarro () is a supervillain or anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman, and first appeared in ''Superboy (comic bo ...
.
''DC Rebirth''
A new incarnation of the Superman Revenge Squad appears in
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 ...
Mongul
Mongul () is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Writer Len Wein and artist Jim Starlin created the first version of the character, who debuted in ''DC Comics Presents'' #27 (November 1980). Jerry Ordway created the s ...
, and General Zod.
Other versions
* A Batman Revenge Squad appears in ''World's Finest Comics'' #175 (May 1968), consisting of Cash Carew, Barney the Blast, and the Flamethrower.
* An "Ambush Bug Revenge Squad", consisting of fans of the eponymous hero who want him destroyed, appear in ''Ambush Bug: Year None'' #4 (December 2008).
* A "
Cyborg
A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.Elias Orr and Cyborg 2.0 and consisting of Shrapnel, Gizmo,
Magenta
Magenta () is a purple-red color. On color wheels of the RGB color model, RGB (additive) and subtractive color, CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located precisely midway between blue and red. It is one of the four colors of ink used in colo ...
,
Girder
A girder () is a Beam (structure), beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a sta ...
, the Thinker, and Cyborgirl.
* A Spider-Man Revenge Squad appears in
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
' ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' (1976), consisting of lesser known
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...
villains such as the
Spot
Spot or SPOT may refer to:
Places
* Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States
* The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia
* South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse
People
* Spot Coll ...
,
Kangaroo
Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
,
Gibbon
Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...
, and
Grizzly
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...
.
In other media
* The Superman Revenge Squad appears in the ''
Justice League
The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...
'' episode "Hereafter", consisting of
Metallo
Metallo () is the name of different supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an List of Superman enemies, adversary of Superman. All versions of the character are powered by kryptonite and are partially ...
,
Kalibak
Kal-El
Kaldur'ahm
Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope is a supervillain with photokinetic powers created by Robby Reed's villain personality, "The Master".
She was originally created by two fans, Chris Lawton and Nancy Mae Lawton in 1982.
Kaleidosco ...
Weather Wizard
Weather Wizard (Mark Mardon) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Weather Wizard made his first live-action appearance in the television specials '' Legends of the Superheroes'' (1979), played by Jeff Altma ...
, and
Toyman
Toyman is the name of three supervillains and one adolescent superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, as an adversary for Superman.
The most well-known incarnation of Toyman is Winslow Schott, a criminal who uses toy-based or to ...
.
* The Superman Revenge Squad appears in ''
Superman 64
''Superman: The New Superman Adventures'', commonly referred to as ''Superman 64'', is a 1999 action-adventure game developed and published by Titus Interactive for the Nintendo 64. It is based on the television series '' Superman: The Animated ...
'', consisting of
Lex Luthor
Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...
,
Darkseid
Darkseid () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Kirby, the character first made a cameo appearance in ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' #134 (December 1970), before being fully in ...
,
Parasite
Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...
, Brainiac, Metallo, and Mala.
* The Superman Revenge Squad's name was adopted by Nosferatu D2 frontman Ben Parker for his solo recordings.http://music.thedigitalfix.com/content/8909/superman-revenge-squad-interview.html