An anthology series with an identity crisis…
Superman Family? Makes sense. Batman Family? Sure. Tarzan Family? OK. Super-Team Family? What?
Super-Team Family was a Bronze Age DC Comics anthology series originally edited by Gerry Conway that featured — you guessed it — team-ups. How “Family” entered into it, I don’t know, but perhaps our old pal Paul Levitz, the book’s assistant editor-cum-editor, will chime in with a comment.
Anyway, I got to thinking about Super-Team Family this week when I realized that material from the first seven issues of the series, which ran from July 1975 to December 1977, was included in DC Finest: Team-Ups — The Impossible Escape, which is dominated by Bob Haney/Jim Aparo stories from The Brave and the Bold.
Evidently, the first seven covers of Super-Team Family are included, as well as two original stories that appeared in the mag — from Issue #2, a Wildcat/Creeper (!) pairing by Denny O’Neil and Ric Estrada that was originally intended for 1st Issue Special; and from Issue #3, a Flash/Hawkman tale by Steve Skeates and Estrada.
Super-Team Family, however, had a super-funky identity crisis. It was originally designed for new stories but quickly changed to an all-reprint book. (The first installment was actually all reprints because of deadline problems.) Its reprints were generally well chosen, but, strangely, they were frequently pulled from series like World’s Finest and B&B, which would have been better homes. Some stories, on the other hand, weren’t really team-ups at all.
Dick Giordano
By Issue #8, DC opted to give the series a regular new, lead feature, probably because Jenette Kahn had arrived as publisher and she was not a fan of reprint books. The Challengers of the Unknown ran for three issues, but after that, the series took a completely different approach: a four-ish run starring the Atom and various co-stars, though the Tiny Titan usually received third billing behind, say the Flash and Supergirl, or Green Lantern and Hawkman. The final issue, meanwhile, was a Flash/New Gods mash-up.
Rich Buckler pencils, Jack Abel inks
Super-Team Family was cancelled not long before the infamous 1978 DC Implosion, with a Supergirl/Doom Patrol story scheduled for the book ending up in Superman Family.
Since then, it’s become something of an oddball footnote in DC history — a hot mess of a title that somehow managed to make it for two-and-a-half years. It’s cool that it’s been recognized in the DC Finest line — but also fitting that there’s no mention of it on the front cover at all.
* * *
Normally, a feature like this would be accompanied by a 13 COVERS gallery. But since there were 15 total, we’re giving them all to you, including the two above.
Because we’re nice like that.
Neal Adams top vignette, Giordano bottom vignette
Frank Brunner
Ernie Chan
Chan
Chan
Jack Sparling pencils, Vince Colletta inks
Buckler and Abel
Buckler and Abel
Alan Weiss pencils, Joe Rubinstein inks
Al Milgrom pencils, Abel inks
Milgrom and Abel
Milgrom and Abel
Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
—
MORE
— BATMAN FAMILY: The Coolest Batbook of the Bronze Age. Click here.
— 13 SUPERMAN FAMILY COVERS to Make You Feel Good. Click here.
June 11, 2026
Wasn’t STF where the “Jean Grey is nuts” concept began? Between her and Two Face, one gets the impression DC management didn’t like lawyers (Marvel, otoh, had Matt Murdock and Jennifer Walter’s).
Alan Weiss should’ve drawn a lot more Supergirl
June 11, 2026
Jean Loring? I think you’re correct, if memory serves me right. Been a while since I read the story.
June 11, 2026
‘Lady lawyer’ Jean Loring’s mental problems began in the final issue of The Atom & Hawkman, #45, and the subplot was picked up in JLA #81, with Jean regaining her sanity. But she lost it again in Super-Team Family #11, with Iris Allen referring to ‘another nervous breakdown’.
June 11, 2026
I have no idea who came up with condensing the three fading titles into SUPERMAN FAMILY, but I think its modest success made it a buzzword in Carmine’s mind, and an easy way to pad the schedule when budget season seemed to call for another ‘giant’ title. The team and team up books were doing well in those years, so SUPER TEAM FAMILY made some business sense if little creative logic.
An oddity indeed.
June 11, 2026
Professor Levitz, folks.
(That’s pretty much what I assumed but thanks for the detail, Paul!)
June 11, 2026
13 and 14 are heavily tied into the late great secret society of super villans and i think 11 and 14 as well
June 11, 2026
The Batman vs Eclipso story was a strange choice to reprint…and just a strange story period. Well, ok, maybe not if you’ve read a lot of Bob Haney. Anyway, I came across STF 5 in a dollar bin a long time ago, and I’ve been a huge fan of the Marcia Monroe/Queen Bee ever since. I think she is the only character to have appeared on more merchandising (a card game and a jigsaw puzzle) than in new stories (one, her B&B issue, reprinted here and partially reprinted in an issue of Batman).
One thing I miss about series like this is getting introduced to older characters. I loved all the reprint books from DC and Marvel. Since Super Team Family only lasted 15 issues, and were very inexpensive, I eventually purchased the entire run.
June 11, 2026
Interesting that the cover of Super TeamFamily #7 lists the Teen Titans that are in the story, but doesn’t bother to add Mal Duncan to the roster. I mean – he’s right there on the cover with Kid Flash, Wonder Girl and Speedy.
June 11, 2026
Issues 4 & 6 were among my earliest comic purchases and imprinted very heavily on me, making me a Captain Marvel, JSA, and Legion fan from the get go!
June 11, 2026
“…probably because Jenette Kahn had arrived as publisher and she was not a fan of reprint books…”
Boo! I love reprints books, especially the backup features in all those 100-Page Spectaculars. It’s also why facsimiles got me into comics again.
Would love to get those Challengers of the Unknown / Doom Patrol issues. Coincidently, just days ago, my brother gave me #3, which he got in a trade with a stamps dealer.
June 12, 2026
>>Boo! I love reprints books, especially the backup features
>>
I absolutely agree with you there. Kahn could possibly show the sales numbers to backup her ideas but for this 10’ish year old fan, I LOVED the old stories. Things that messed me up more than an anything at that time was jumps to like .60 cents. I was on such a limited budget raising a comic with the extra .10 cents meant another title was dropped with .15 cents left over. What do I do with that?!
June 12, 2026
I was quite the fan of the DC “family” comics because there were several stories and characters in them, which, in my young mind, made them somehow better than other comics on the spinner rack.
June 14, 2026
I remember! I think I bought them all! May still have them somewhere! At the time I thought the title was odd but loved the book!
June 15, 2026
I loved Super-Team Family. I bought #1, #2 (the Wildcat/Creeper story always stayed in memory because I was trying to justify the Earth-2 Wildcat/Earth-1 Creeper before I later learned that Bob Haney ignored that kind of stuff), #6, and #11 (I loved the Flash/Supergirl/Atom team up) off the stands. I’ve since read the entire Atom storyline as reprinted in the JLA: Wedding of the Atom and Jean Loring book.