History VillainTeamUp / ComicBooks

* Marvel has published two bad-guy-focused mini-series under the banner of ''Supervillain Team-Up'': The first was called ''{{MODOK}}'s 11'' and revolves around the titular giant floating head hiring a bunch of D-list supervillains to help him steal a MacGuffin. The second is ''Dr. Doom and the Masters of Evil'', where SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom [[TheChessmaster manipulates every other supervillain he can find]] into helping him...well, it takes a while to find out exactly ''what'' his goal is. Both involved many, ''many'' villain-on-villain betrayals.

** The DarkAvengers were in fact a team up of the more villainous members of the {{Thunderbolts}} with antiheroes Comicbook/{{Ares}} and TheSentry, young and misguided Marvel Boy (who quit the moment he found out what he gotten himself into) and {{ComicBook/Daken}}

** Of course, it didn't help that Comicbook/{{Loki}} decided that his inner circle should include an [[ComicBook/RedSkull UNREPENTANT FORMER NAZI]] alongside a [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Magneto}} HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR]]. Seriously, Loki, we thought you were supposed to be one of the ''clever'' Asgardians...

** The Cabal was this between ComicBook/NormanOsborn, Comicbook/{{Loki}}, ComicBook/TheHood, SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom, [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] and Emma Frost and later Taskmaster, with a lot of betrayals and schemes in it.

* Two of DC's big {{Crisis Crossover}}s, ''InfiniteCrisis'' and ''FinalCrisis'' had ''one'' of the threats being the team up of almost every single villain in the DCU (or the Earth-bound ones, anyway).

* The SinestroCorpsWar arc of GreenLantern had something similar. While there was plenty of new baddies created as Sinestro Corps members, the main threat was the team up of the major DCU baddies Sinestro, Superboy-Prime, the Cyborg Superman, Parallex, the Manhunters, and the Anti-Monitor.
* Marvel has published two bad-guy-focused mini-series under the banner of ''Supervillain Team-Up'': The first was called ''{{MODOK}}'s 11'' and revolves around the titular giant floating head hiring a bunch of D-list supervillains to help him steal a MacGuffin. The second is ''Dr. Doom and the Masters of Evil'', where DrDoom [[TheChessmaster manipulates every other supervillain he can find]] into helping him...well, it takes a while to find out exactly ''what'' his goal is. Both involved many, ''many'' villain-on-villain betrayals.

* ArchieComics's Comicbook/SonicTheHedgehog had a major teamup after Dr. Eggman [[VillainousBreakdown had a bit of a bad day]]. [[TheStarscream Snively]] and the [[DragonLady Iron Queen]] managed to unite the [[MachineWorship Dark Legion]] and four {{Ninja}} clans ([[FaceHeelTurn including Espio's]]), and for a time had the Freedom Fighters on the ropes. But this team up eventually falls apart when several of the Freedom Fighters (with help from Espio, who was a FakeDefector) convince the clans to turn on the Queen; at the same time, the Legion's leader [[TheBaroness Lien-Da]] tries to play TheStarscream, which fails rather [[ExplosiveLeash explosively]] and results in the Legion retreating. With their power base crumbling, Snively flees with a recovered Eggman, leaving the Queen to be defeated.

** Subverted in ''TurtlesForever'', where the 1987 Shredder tries this with his 2003 counterpart, [[spoiler:only to get kicked out of the Technodrome and have his resources taken over, leading to an EnemyMine situation with the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 1987]], [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 2003]], and [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage Prime]] Turtles]].

* Several of the MarvelUniverse's {{Big Bad}}s all teamed up in the 1980s ''Acts of Vengeance'' CrossOver in a large-scale EvilPlan to destroy each others' enemies by setting the heroes up against villains they'd never faced before. In effect, this was a Villain Team Up of almost '''all''' the human villains of the Marvel Universe, with a team of {{Chessmaster}}s manipulating dozens of lesser bad guys for their own personal agenda. The whole scheme falls apart for the simple fact that all of the villains behind the plot are so egomaniacal that they can't stand not being totally in charge, and they end up turning on each other while struggling for power.
** Of course, it didn't help that Comicbook/{{Loki}} decided that his inner circle should include an [[RedSkull UNREPENTANT FORMER NAZI]] alongside a [[{{Magneto}} HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR]]. Seriously, Loki, we thought you were supposed to be one of the ''clever'' Asgardians...

* ''Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}}'' had to fight the Sinister Six -- six of his enemies united for the sole purpose of killing him. In a variation, they fail not because they don't trust each other, but because they have such big egos that each one ''has'' to be the one to deliver the killing blow... so they make him RunTheGauntlet instead of ganging up. A later version did fight Spider-Man as a team, but they've had no better luck. The one time it worked and they had Spidey on the ropes, the [[OhCrap Fantastic Four and the Avengers]], all at once, swooped in to save the day. Heroes can play that game too.

** A similar thing happened to ComicBook/SpiderGirl in the ''MarvelComics2'' continuity. It was a RunTheGauntlet style, and Spider-Girl was both exhausted and (unknown to herself) depowered before the last fight...so she calls in a favor from pretty much every hero she's ever met. The last villain wisely surrenders.

* In TheDCU, the ''SecretSix'' are a team of supervillains-for-hire (comprising two Bat-villains, two second-generation versions of JSA villains, and two rotating positions). They'd happily not tangle with ''any'' heroes, but don't mind if it happens. They're also usually in the bad books of other villains as well (especially since they won't join [[LegionOfDoom the Society]]). Unusually, they get on reasonably well with each other (mostly), and have a good sense of teamwork.
* Recent ''{{BPRD}}'' miniseries have focused on a VillainTeamUp between [[spoiler: the frog army led by the Black Flame and the slaves of Hyperboria led by the King of Fear]]. Unlike the average team up, this is proving very successful and has already led to the destruction of one major European city with more carnage on the way.

* In the [[ClassicDisneyShorts Mickey Mouse]] 70th anniversary comic book story "The Past Imperfect," Mickey is captured by a team of his worst comics enemies, including Pegleg Pete, Sylvester Shyster, Eli Squinch, Dr. Vulter, and Profs Ecks, Doublex, and Triplex. Interestingly, the Phantom Blot is ''not'' included, as he was being saved for a different story also published at that anniversary.
* In the 50th anniversary story that DonRosa did for [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Scrooge McDuck]], ''A Little Something Special'', his three main foes--The Beagle Boys, Magica [=DeSpell=], and Flintheart Glomgold--all join forces, and are led by [[spoiler:Blackheart Beagle]]. Incredibly, the three do ''not'' betray one another, but all live up to the deal they made at the start of the team-up. [[spoiler: Of course, once the team-up is over, nothing prevents the Beagle Boys and Magica from joining forces to plunder Glomgold...]]

* [[JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA Classified]] had an arc [[VillainProtagonist focused]] on the Injustice Society. Unlike some cases, they're very professional about teaming up, with the expressed belief that having a competent pro watching your back beats "every man for himself" any day.
* ''{{Irredeemable}}'' played with this with members of Plutonian's RoguesGallery offering to join him in his new FaceHeelTurn; [[spoiler: being DangerouslyGenreSavvy he decided to test their loyalty, by offering each of them a button that, when pressed, would render him completely powerless. They betrayed him before he could even finish the sentence. He then revealed they just triggered the destruction of the facility they were in]].

** The Cabal was this between NormanOsborn, Comicbook/{{Loki}}, TheHood, DoctorDoom, [[{{Sub-Mariner}} Namor]] and Emma Frost and later Taskmaster, with a lot of betrayals and schemes in it.

* The {{Superman}} [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Revenge Squad]]. Originally made up of aliens from planets that Superman had prevented from conquering earth, it later became a team of Metropolis supervillains.
* Comicbook/DoctorStrange's enemies Dormammu and Umar are a brother/sister pair of {{Dimension Lord}}s. Usually they don't cooperate, which is good because it goes badly for him when they do. (Subverted in nearly all instances, since Umar is more clever, though less powerful, than her brother and wants to see Dormammu fall more than she wants to defeat Strange.)
* Very quickly subverted in a JusticeLeagueOfAmerica story. GreenLantern calls into JLA and says that seven supervillains are trying to kidnap the President at the White House and that he and TheFlash need support. The others assume it is this trope, but GreenLantern quickly cuts them off: they all got the idea independently at the same time, and are currently trying to kill each other for "stealing my idea!" He and Flash need help saving civilians from their crossfire, the president is safe. This turns out to be one of many signs someone has been misusing powers of probability manipulation.

* When SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker travelled to the Dreddverse in one of the ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' / ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' crossover comics, he joined the Dark Judges, a group of four undead lawmen dedicated to annihilating all life. After Joker convinces Judge Death that he could be useful and asks for immortality, Death placed his spirit inside a dead body to make him one of them. Eventually though, Joker tires of the arrangement because he found the constant mass slaughter to be getting monotonous.

** The DarkAvengers were in fact a team up of the more villainous members of the {{Thunderbolts}} with antiheroes Comicbook/{{Ares}} and TheSentry, young and misguided Marvel Boy (who quit the moment he found out what he gotten himself into) and {{Daken}}

* The {{Flash}}'s RoguesGallery is an exception: the villain team, known simply as "The Rogues", works together all the time with practically no problems whatsoever, and is effectively a standing army of super-villains. As the Flash points out to Batman, in Central City the super-villains and organized crime are one and the same.

* {{Daredevil}} actually suffered through this more than once. The first time saw Electro organize a group of villains defeated by Daredevil into the "Emissaries of Evil" to try and get revenge on DD, and the second time would occur a few decades later, when Typhoid Mary would gather several latter-day Daredevil villains into the "Daredevil Revenge Squad".

** A similar thing happened to {{Spider-Girl}} in the MarvelComics2 continuity. It was a RunTheGauntlet style, and Spider-Girl was both exhausted and (unknown to herself) depowered before the last fight...so she calls in a favor from pretty much every hero she's ever met. The last villain wisely surrenders.

* ''GothamCitySirens'' revolves around when [[FemmeFatale Poison Ivy]], [[VillainousHarlequin Harley Quinn]] and [[ClassyCatburglar Catwoman]] decide to team-up and...become roommates?

[[caption-width-right:348:You'll make me blush!]]

* In ''{{Empowered}}'', an animal-themed group of supervillains seek out the fire elemental [[HeroKiller Willy Pete]] for a teamup. Unfortunately for them, it turns out that Willy Pete's definition of "teamup" means he [[spoiler: rapes and eats]] the people he's teaming up with.

[[caption-width-right:348:-You'll make me blush!]]

[[caption-width-right:348:"-You'll make me blush!"]]

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** DarkAvengers were in fact a team up of the more villainous members of the {{Thunderbolts}} with antiheroes Comicbook/{{Ares}} and TheSentry, young and misguided Marvel Boy (who quit the moment he found out what he gotten himself into) and {{Daken}}
** Cabal was this between NormanOsborn, Comicbook/{{Loki}}, TheHood, DoctorDoom, [[{{Sub-Mariner}} Namor]] and Emma Frost and later Taskmaster, with a lot of betrayals and schemes in it.
** One of the tie-ins featured a team of supervillains, Lethal Legion, who decided they don't like Norman being in charge and want to [[EvilVersusEvil team up against him]]. [[spoiler: It was all a plot set by Norman to make himself look better]].

* The SinestroCorpsWar arc of GreenLantern had something similar. While there was plenty of new baddies created as Sinestro Corps members, the main threat was the team up of the major DCU baddies Sinestro, Superboy-Prime, the Cyborg Superman, Parallex, the Manhunters and the Anti-Monitor.

** In the "World's Collide" crossover with ''Comicbook/MegaMan'', Eggman teams up with Dr. Wily to conquer both worlds... and surprisingly, they get along pretty well, with the only hiccup being that they [[RunningGag have trouble]] agreeing on what to name their joint creations. [[spoiler: At least until the heroes start winning; at that point, the two start plotting to betray and abandon each other.]]

* A 1960s [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] comic had the Mandarin team up with the Sandman. It ended with Mandarin sending Sandman into a molten vat turning him to glass.
* Paste-Pot Pete broke another Human Torch foe the Wizard out of jail, however they conflicted due to the Wizard trying to act as leader while Pete wanted them to be equal. They were captured by the Torch, but didn't seem sorry at the team-up ending.

** The Destructix, being a QuirkyMinibossSquad-for hire, have teamed up with anyone willing to pay them, or who earn their loyalty (Mogul, Finitevus, Scourge, etc). The team actually started out as one of these, when the Fearsome Foursome (Mogul's first QMS) teamed up with Snoop Dawg and Drago Wolf, and it solidified into a team.[[hottip:*: Though it should be noted that those latter two eventually quit, and have now been replaced by Scourge and Fiona.]]

** In the "World's Collide" crossover with ''Comicbook/MegaMan'', Eggman teams up with Dr. Wily to conquer both worlds... and surprisingly, they get along pretty well, with the only hiccup being that they [[RunningGag have trouble]] agreeing on what to name their joint creations.

** Not all of Flash's Rogues Gallery falls under "The Rogues" though, Gorilla Grodd won't stand to work with any humans, and the rest of the Rogues REALLY hate Zoom, since he [[CompleteMonster breaks so many of their codes of conduct.]]

** In the "World's Collide" crossover with ''Comicbook/MegaMan'', Eggman teams up with Dr. Willy to conquer both worlds... and surprisingly, they get along pretty well, with the only hiccup being that they [[RunningGag have trouble]] agreeing on what to name their joint creations.