Summary
Before the likes of the Avengers, Teen Titans, and the Seven, there was the Justice League. Made as a reinvention of DC’s first superhero supergroup, the Justice Society, they became the most iconic gang of heroes around. They’ve changed over the years, gaining new members, losing old ones, forming separate splinter groups, but they’ve remained a standout in DC’s different universes.
That said, not everyone who gained a spot on the team did much with their membership. In some cases, they made the League worse, be it by being unhelpful, becoming walking security risks, or outright trying to harm the League from the inside. These aren’t necessarily the weakest members of the team (there’s another list for that), but they certainly were the worst.
10Mystek
Intriguing Superhero Goes Out As Soon As She Comes In
Mystekwas a Korean-American woman called Jennifer “Seong” Barclay, who donned masculine-looking high-tech armor to fight off The Ray. Through it, she could manipulate subatomic energy, fly, and form proactive matter. Martian Manhunter offered her a spot on the Justice League Task Force, which she accepted. Though unlikely to be a fan favorite, she could’ve done more for the team if she got the chance.
Her creator, Christopher Priest, certainly thought so, as he thought putting her on the Task Force might help her get her own miniseries later on. When these plans fell through, Priest decided to kill her off as soon as she appeared, blasting her way out of the League’s spaceship in a claustrophobia-induced panic attack. It kept DC from profiting off of her without his insight, but she could’ve gone out in a more dignified way.
9Bloodwynd
Hero’s Dedication to Pacifism Keeps Him from Doing Anything Useful
Known as Quintus Arce outside the suit,Bloodwyndwas the descendant of a group of slaves who used an ancient ritual to seal their slavemaster into a stone called the Blood Gem. It was then passed down through Arce’s family, where the slavemaster’s spirit combined with the demon Rott, giving them the power to work their influence on the gem’s owners until it landed in Quintus' hands.
Rott absorbed him into the gem and made Martian Manhunter turn into Bloodwynd to infiltrate the League and act against them from within their ranks. Once the League stopped Rott, they let the real Bloodwynd join their ranks. Unfortunately, he’d rarely answer the call and even withheld key info from the League on occasion, as his pacifism conflicted with the League’s cause. Eventually, he left the team after doing nothing of note for them.
8Vibe
Breakdancing Gangbanger Proved Better On Screen Than in Comics
WhenVibejoined the Justice League, both Martian Manhunter and Aquaman had their doubts. He was meant to be a more streetwise, modern member of the team (for 1984 anyway), using his seismic powers for his gang, Los Lobos. In practice, he was a breakdancing Hispanic stereotype who dragged the League into a gang war. So, one couldn’t blame his colleagues for being hesitant about letting him on the team.
Over the years, he would get some better-received redesigns, like inThe New 52and theArrowverse’s different series (which included his evil alternate universe counterparts Echo, Reverb, and Breakdance!). But as far as his original comic book incarnation went, few cared for his Spanglish slang and Poochy-like attitude. Fewer still mourned when he was killed off in 1987.
7Blue Jay
Marvel Mockup Becomes a Marvel Mockery
For one reason or another, comic book companies like spoofing their rivals’ casts of characters. Marvel has pastichesof DC heroes like Hyperionand Nighthawk, and DC does the same to Marvel, asBlue Jayshows. Looking like Hawkman with the Atom’s powers, he was meant to be a play on Marvel’s Yellowjacket (aka original Ant-Man Hank Pym), who came from the doomed world of Angor to save Earth.
Yet he rarely did much to help, and he seemed to know it. As part of the Justice League of Europe, he spent most of his time being a liability, getting caught or used by one villain or another. He’d end up leaving the DC universe in the hopes of finding one where he could truly be a hero…only to be one of the heroes killed by Savitar in theHeroes in Crisisstoryline. At least he got to beat up Owlman in theOmegastoryline.
6Geo-Force
Terra’s Brother Proves to Be a Better Outsider Than a League Member
The League’s luck with earthshakers didn’t improve withGeo-Force. Born Brion Markov, he had a history in DC as the half-brother oftheTeen Titans’turncoat Terra, and was part of the Outsiders with Batman, Metamorpho, and future Suicide Squad member Katana, among others. He had his ups and downs over the years, but he could’ve been a good hand for the League. However, he wasn’t technically part of the team.
He was made an “unofficial” member when he asked the League to help him with his malfunctioning powers, which turned out to be caused by Deathstroke, who blackmailed Geo-Force into being his mole in the League. He told the League about it and tried acting as a double agent for them instead. But that led to the League being captured and Geo-Force getting tortured. He’d survive, only to be sent back to the Outsiders.
5Maxima
Supervillain’s Baby Fever Drives Her to Join Superhero Team
It’s amazing how some superheroes like Booster Gold always get denied a place on the main JLA team for one reason or another. Then someone likeMaximacan just get accepted on the spot. Granted, she had a wide range of powers, from super strength to telekinesis, and helped them defeat Brainiac and Starbreaker. But that was only part of her reason for wanting to be in the League.
What she really wanted to do was have children with Superman to produce strong heirs for her home world of Almerac. He declined her offer when they first met, then kept declining until she joined the Superman Revenge Squad to make him pay for refusing her advances. This baby fever became such an embarrassment for DC that she was reintroduced as a lesbian trying to avoid a forced union on Almerac inThe New 52.
4Lobo
The Ultimate Bastich Becomes the League’s Unlikeliest Member
Even people with a passing knowledge of DC heroes likely know whyLobowas a bad fit for the League. He’s a deliberate death metal parody of edgy antiheroes like Wolverine and The Punisher, who’s as likely to kill the innocent as he is the guilty. He’s better known for trying to force his way into the team after Superman’s apparent death (he got better) in theJustice Leaguecartoon. So, how did he end up as one of its members in the comics?
InDC Rebirth, he was mind-controlled into being part of the Suicide Squad by Maxwell Lord. To fix this, Batman planted a bomb in Lobo’s head and blew it up so he’d grow a new one free of Lord’s control. To return the favor, Lobo joined the League for a while. Surprisingly, he managed not to murder anyone while part of the group, but Lobo is better off as the main man in his own series than as a bounty hunter with a heart of gold in the League.
3Snapper Carr
Average Guy Goes From Saving the League to Almost Dooming Them
Once the Silver Age of comics was underway, the Justice Society was beginning to look rather old hat. Especially when DC introduced new versions of the Flash and Green Lantern in their more familiar red suit and space-cop personas. Thus, they, alongside Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter, would become the first version of the Justice League, alongsideSnapper Carr.
He was an ordinary guy who, by being in the right place at the right time, became an honorary member of the team. Then, lacking any superpowers beyond being an annoying hep cat, he began feeling left out. He tried to make them pay by letting John Dough (the Joker in disguise) into the Secret Sanctuary, where he took them hostage. After the League stopped Dough, Carr quit the teambefore he could be fired, and he’s remained adrift ever since.
2Batman
One of Their Best Members Became One of Their Worst
It’s hard to imagine the League without Batman. Even without the superpowers of his colleagues, his detective skills, technical know-how, and riches have made him invaluable to the team. Yet he’s also been their own worst enemy. Like when, in response tohis mind-wiping inIdentity Crisis, he created Brother Eye to spy on his colleagues, only for the AI to go rogue inCountdown to Infinite Crisis.
But before then, inTower of Babel, his paranoia made him think of ways to defeat his friends, like overpowering Superman with red kryptonite, making Aquaman hydrophobic, making the Flash suffer light-speed seizures, etc. Then Ra’s Al-Ghul discovered his plans and put them into motion, nearly killing the League off for good. They’d survive, then vote to boot Batman out of the team as punishment.
1Maxwell Lord
Business Backer Broke the League From Within
Maxwell Lordwasn’t a fellow hero so much as their post-CrisisCEO. The guy who handled affairs that didn’t involve punching supervillains, etc. He wasn’t always good, as his first efforts to reunite the League were while he was being controlled by a program called Kilg%re. But for years, he was the guy maintaining the League and its different splinter groups, like Justice League International and the “Super Buddies.”
ThenInfinite Crisisrevealed he was playing a long con, sabotaging his groups from the inside before using Brother Eye and the OMACs to kill superhumans worldwide. He personally killed off Blue Beetle before getting killed by Wonder Woman, but the damage he caused took much longer to clean up. Between him and their heroes, the League needs to vet every rung of their staff more thoroughly.
