New Guardians
In most cases, the teams on this list are underrated and undeservedly so. But no one questions the sorry reputation of the New Guardians, who made their debut in 1988. The New Guardians spin out of the little-loved 1988 crossover event Millennium, an extension of Steve Englehart and Joe Staton’s excellent run on Green Lantern. Millennium posited that humanity was poised to enter a new stage of evolution, an event the Guardians of the Universe dispatched a group of Green Lanterns to protect from the murderous androids the Manhunters.
Despite the Manhunters’ best efforts, the new stage of evolution arrives, specifically in the form of eight people from across the planet. Each of these eight people, which include Hal Jordan’s best friend Thomas Kalmaku and the plant-based baddie Floronic Man, gains incredible abilities to lead humanity forward as the New Guardians. That’s a fine concept, and it’s hard to get mad at Englehart’s desire to fill the team with people of different races, nationalities, and sexualities. However, in practice, the New Guardians were a collection of broad stereotypes and lame powers, making them an embarrassment and a missed opportunity.
The Omega Men
The Omega Men have been a constant in the DC Universe their first appearance in 1981’s Green Lantern #141, by Marv Wolfman and Joe Staton. However, they’re constantly overshadowed by things going on around them, whether it be the bounty hunter Lobo, who debuted in 1983’s Omega Men #3, the Tom King Omega Men miniseries that put Green Lantern Kyle Rayner front and center, and now the TV series Lanterns, in which Laura Linney plays Guardian and sometime Omega Men member Lianna.
Lobo, Lanterns, and Kyle Rayner are all great, but they do tend to overshadow the fun of the Omega Men themselves. Most often led by the surly Tigorr, the Omega Men are a group of freedom fighters engaged in guerrilla warfare against the tyrannical Citadelians, who rule the twenty-five planets in the Vega System. With a large and constantly-changing line-up, the Omega Men lend themselves to high-stakes stories, as the team often faces overwhelming odds. And if there’s one thing that would resonate with readers today, it’s the tales of a bunch of weirdos forced to work together to fight oppression.
The Outsiders
In a different world, the Outsiders wouldn’t qualify for this list, not when the Doom Patrol and the Legion of Superheroes are too popular to be called “obscure.” Since their introduction in 1983’s The Brave and the Bold #200, by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo, the Outsiders have been on more or less the same level as those aforementioned teams—not the Justice League, but popular enough to regularly carry their own book. Yet, while the others have gone on to get regular adaptations, the Outsiders are relegated to guest stars on Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Young Justice.
Which is a shame, because the Outsiders are a really cool team. Originally formed when Batman got tired of putting up with the rest of the Justice League, the main Outsiders line-up consists of under-appreciated greats Black Lightning, Metamorpho, and Katana, and has fun oddballs like Halo, Geo-Force, and Looker. Even the edgy 2000s reboot led by Nightwing and Arsenal had fun characters like Thunder. The Outsiders work well as a collection of people who don’t feel like they fit in the Justice League, people with their own mission.
