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Teenage superhero teams have always been very popular in comics, and there is a good reason for that: they tend to connect with young readers, and there is always a specific energy and carefree attitude that young heroes bring to the table. Therefore, it is no surprise that there is no shortage of great teenage superhero teams.
Below is our list, in no particular order, of the best teenage superhero teams out! Let’s begin!
By the time the 80s rolled around, the X-Men, now reaching their zenith in popularity, were no longer a teenage superhero team and more of a young adult team, so Marvel Comics came up with a solution: the New Mutants.
The New Mutants were a group of teenage mutants from all over the world who joined Charles Xavier’s academy and went on to have their own adventures. Things got very crazy with this team in the original 80s run, with Magneto leading them for a while.
Later, during the late ’80s and early ’90s, writer and artist Rob Liefeld revamped a more violent and somewhat mature team, led by Cable, called X-Force. This continued the legacy of this team, even if there were a lot of changes over the years. And while the X-Force is not so fondly remembered, there is much to like about these two periods of the team’s history.
There is a solid argument to be made that the Legion was the first-ever teenage superhero team out there. And one of the most impressive things is that it has managed to survive and stay relevant after so many decades.
The team is set in the 31st century, and the three core members of the Legion, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, and Cosmic Boy, founded it because they were inspired by the heroes of the present, mainly the Man of Steel himself, Superman. So they go out, have adventures, and do many things that get them in trouble, along with other characters joining them in the process.
What makes the Legion of Superheroes so appealing is that they were set so many years in the future that the writers could develop continuity, giving them a lot of free rein to do many different kinds of storylines. There was even a period in the late 80s where they tried a time-skip, giving readers darker, more adult versions of these known characters, and the reception was mixed, but the attempt was bold and interesting. It’s one of DC Comics’ more underrated titles, for sure.
When world-class artist Jim Lee left Marvel Comics in the early 90s to form Image Comics with six other high-profile artists, he created his own studio, WildStorm, where he came up with his own characters and projects. One of the most successful during his indie tenure in the 90s was Gen 13.
The premise of this book was a group of teenagers subjected to government experiments and managed to escape when their powers manifested. Now, they only had each other and had to find ways to survive.
The idea is undoubtedly entertaining, the art is quite good (with many of the highs and lows that 90s comics come with), and there is such a lighthearted feel to the story that the first couple of volumes can be read easily. It’s a fun read.
This is one of those underrated 90s comics that never gets much credit. It is a shame that the only time they have gotten mainstream media attention in recent years has been the ill-conceived reboot that went viral by a video on Marvel’s YouTube channel. However, that would be doing the original New Warriors a disservice.
The premise of this team was quite simple: they were all heroes but had nowhere to go and were not part of any team, so they decided to team up and form their teenage version of the Avengers (or at least something along those lines). This is how characters such as Nova, Firestar, or Namorita, characters that had been around for quite some time, were given the chance to shine on their own.
The New Warriors were undoubtedly a lot more about the character dynamics between one another than the characters individually, and it worked for quite some time now, so this is a series that should get a lot more attention.
Let’s face it: there was no way this team wouldn’t make it on this list. The Teen Titans are the definitive teen superhero team, and they have managed to inspire different generations of superhero fans over the years, which shows the staying power that these characters have.
Writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez crafted the perfect run in the 80s, with characters such as Dick Grayson, Changeling, Raven, Cyborg, Donna Troy, and Starfire becoming household names in the process and adding something very fresh to DC: a lot of continuity and novel-like feel.
There was a progression and drama in this version of the Teen Titans that became compelling and interesting. There were a lot of dynamics between the team members, many plots and subplots, and a constant development in their stories that you felt every character mattered. This was something relatively new in DC then, making this a classic in the comic medium.
So, there you have it! The World’s Coolest Nerd’s list of the best teenage superhero teams of all time. Let us know if we missed your favorite in the comments section.
