Super-Team Family

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Super-Team Family
SuperTeamFamily1.jpg
Cover of Super-Team Family #1 (October–November 1975), art by Dick Giordano.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
ScheduleBimonthly
Format Ongoing series
Genre
Publication dateOctober–November 1975 – March–April 1978
No. of issues15
Main character(s) Superman, Batman, the Flash, the Challengers of the Unknown, the Doom Patrol, the Atom
Creative team
Written by
List
Penciller(s)
List
Inker(s)
List
Editor(s)
List
Collected editions
Secret Society of Super Villains Volume 2 ISBN   978-1401231101

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.

Contents

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

IssueCover dateCharactersNotes
#1October–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)
#2December 1975 – January 1976The 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)
#3February–March 1976The 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 Batmanreprinted from World's Finest Comics #176 (June 1968)
#4April–May 1976 Justice Society of America reprinted from All Star Comics #33 (February–March 1947)
Superman and Batmanreprinted from World's Finest Comics #98 (December 1958)
#5June–July 1976Batman 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)
#6August–September 1976Superman and Batmanreprinted from World's Finest Comics #168 (August 1967)
Marvel Family reprinted from Marvel Family #89 (January 1954)
#7October–November 1976Teen Titansreprinted from Teen Titans #31 (January–February 1971)
Doom Patrol reprinted from Doom Patrol #86 (March 1964)
#8December 1976 – January 1977 Challengers of the Unknown original story by Steve Skeates, James Sherman, and Jack Abel
"Team Talk"original two-page story
Doom Patrolreprinted from Doom Patrol #86 (March 1964) and #87 (May 1964)
#9February–March 1977Challengers of the Unknownoriginal story by Steve Skeates, James Sherman, and Jack Abel
Green Arrowreprinted from Adventure Comics #254 (November 1958)
Doom Patrolreprinted from Doom Patrol #88 (June 1964)
#10April–May 1977Challengers of the Unknownoriginal story by Steve Skeates, James Sherman, and Jack Abel
Doom Patrolreprinted from Doom Patrol #88 (June 1964)
#11June–July 1977The Flash, Supergirl, and the Atom original story by Gerry Conway, Alan Weiss, and Josef Rubinstein
#12August–September 1977 Green Lantern, Hawkman, and the Atomoriginal story by Gerry Conway, Arvell Jones, and Bill Draut
Hawkmanreprinted from The Brave and the Bold #42 (1962)
#13October–November 1977Aquaman, Captain Comet, and the Atomoriginal story by Gerry Conway, Arvell Jones, and Romeo Tanghal
#14December 1977 – January 1978 Wonder Woman and the Atomoriginal story by Gerry Conway, Arvell Jones, and Romeo Tanghal
#15March–April 1978The 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:

References

  1. 1 2 Super-Team Family at the Grand Comics Database
  2. 1 2 Johnson, Dan (August 2013). "We Are (Super-Team) Family". Back Issue! (#66). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 8–14.
  3. ↑ Wells, John (October 24, 1997), "'Lost' DC: 1976–1980", Comics Buyer's Guide , no. #1249, Iola, Wisconsin, p. 128
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