The Secret Society of Super-Villains + The Society

FIRST APPEARANCE:
Secret Society: Secret Society of Super-Villains #1 (May-June 1976)
The Society (in shadow): Adventures of Superman #636 (March 2005).
Revealed: Villains United #1 (July 2005)

+ History

The Secret Society of Super-Villains is often confused with similar groups The Society (detailed herein), the Injustice Gang and the Injustice League.

The original Society was secretly organized by Darkseid, who provided them with a hideout called the Sinister Citadel, in San Francisco. Throughout it's early days, the Society suffered from a constant struggle for leadership. On one side, Lex Luthor, the Wizard and Funky Flashman sought to command of team of high-level lackeys. And on the other side, the likes of Manhunter and Captain Comet hoped to turn the team around and do some good. After some initial confusion about the group's purpose, Comet became their primary nemesis. When the Society learned of Darkseid's involvement, they rebelled. (SSoSV #3) The lord of Apokolips sent both Mantis and Kalibak to try an squash their uprising. Ultimately, Manhunter perished in a conflagration, taking Darkseid with him. (#5) After this, the team splintered and Luthor and the Flashman assembled their own squads to clash with various heroes. (#7-10)

The Wizard was triumphant, however. He disposed of Flashman and re-formed the definitive Society with Star Sapphire, Professor Zoom, Blockbuster and the Floronic Man. Following their formation, they sought to take down the Justice Society, whom the Wizard assumed would supposedly be ill-equipped to defeat them. Instead, they (and Captain Comet) wound up freeing the imprisoned Crime Syndicate along the way. (#13-14) When they continued on with the Wizard's plan to take out the JSA one-by-one, they defeated the Atom and Dr. Mid-Nite. (#15) The villains were stopped by Captain Comet and the Justice Society. (Cancelled Comics Cavalcade #2) The Wizard's team escaped and returned to menace the Justice League before their final capture. (JLofA #166-168) The history of the Wizard's last team is suspect in post-Crisis continuity. Their escapade envolved a lot of travel between Earths-1 and -2, and they met the Crime Syndicate on Earth-3.

Meanwhile, the Silver Ghost assembled yet another Society to get revenge on the Freedom Fighters. (#15, Cancelled Comics Cavalcade #2) The history of these Freedom Fighters might also not exist in current continuity.

The resolution of this case sowed the seeds of great discord for the JLA. Because the villains had gained knowledge of the Leaguers' secret identities, Zatanna agreed to use her magic to wipe their memories of this information. (This was actually not the first time they used this procedure [Identity Crisis #3]) After this, Star Sapphire III went into a coma. (JLA #115)

The next incarnation of the Secret Society was organized by the Ultra-Humanite, who debuted his newest body: a mutated ape. Ultra organized foes of both the Justice League and Justice Society. He was undone when he betrayed the younger villains, and all of them were banished to Limbo to await trial. (JLofA #193-195; in pre-Crisis times, Limbo was the region between parallel Earths. It's concept has not been explored post-Crisis). There they encountered Vulcan, Son of Fire, who instead of perishing had also been thrust into Limbo. (All-Star Comics #61) With the Golden Age villains and Vulcan, Ultra made contact with his younger self in 1942. Their combined power along with Brain Wave's released them from Limbo. The ape-Ultra reappeared in modern day times to menace Infinity, Inc., and the others materialized in 1942. (All-Star Squadron #26) Ultra escaped and has continued his career in crime. At some point after their defeat, the villains in 1942 were returned to the future. The Brain Wave died soon after his return from 1942. Ironically, he died opposing Ultra in order to save his son (Infinity, Inc. #10). Rag Doll was killed and resurrected by Neron. (Starman v.2 #9) The Mist eventually died, too. (Starman v.2 #72)The Psycho Pirate became a pawn of the Anti-Monitor and played a significant role during the Crisis; he's since gone mad.

Over time, the Society grew to include dozens of villains and numerous cells. When the seven "big guns" reformed the JLA, they formulated a plan to infiltrate this now-underground Secret Society. J'onn disguised himself as the Brain Wave (who is deceased) and lured the villains to one place, where they were handily mopped up. (Villains featured included the Riddler, Amos Fortune, Per Degaton, Star Sapphire, the Royal Flush Gang, Solomon Grundy, Deadshot, Hector Hammond, Cheshire, Blockbuster, Dr. Sivana, Scarecrow, Grodd, the Wizard and many more. (JLA 80-Page #1) NOTE: This last tale was told by the Rainbow Raider to another villain, and may have been embellished.

Ultra-Humanite	Signalman	Killer Frost	Mist
Psycho Pirate	Brain Wave I	Rag Doll	Cheetah

Years passed before the Society saw any more formal organization. Their regrouping was prompted by rumors that the JLA had altered Dr. Light's mind. Hearing these rumors unlocked the memories of many former Society members, and the Wizard summoned them back together for revenge. They also awakened Star Sapphire III from her coma in Belle Reve Prison and quickly struck at the Red Tornado and Elongated Man. In no time, the battle was brought straight to the entire League of old. (JLA #115)

In truth, it was Despero who had restored the villains' memories. The JLA moved quickly to protect their loved ones and soon brought down the Wizard's gang. The JLA was left with the same dilemma they had faced years before: how to stop these villains from doing it again. Hawkman proposed another vote. (#117) Hawkman, Green Arrow and Flash voted to wipe their memories again. Superman, Black Canary and Green Lantern opposed. The vote was moot, however, as Zatanna refused to perform the spell again. She resigns from the JLA reserves and left her colleagues with the problem. Meanwhile, Despero incapacitated J'onn and Aquaman, then brought the battle to the Batcave. (#118)

Zatanna strengthened her resolve and came to Batman's aid with the Red Tornado. Seeing the threat to their secret identities again firsthand, she reconsidered her decision and concluded that the League's safety outweighed the moral issue to wipe the Secret Society's memories. She once again performed the spell on the villains. (#119)

Star Sapphire was killed soon after this by the Spectre. (Infinite Crisis #6)

When Alexander Luthor formed The Society, he paid homage to the old Secret Society in name, but went with a less descriptive name for the group.

In light of the changes to DCU continuity, there are a few problems with the Secret Society's history. Much of their membership and history is closely tied to the relationship between Earth-1 and Earth-2 (and 3). None of the group's original adventures have been confirmed by a post-Crisis story. However, the Wizard's second formation of the team (with Zoom, etc.) has been verified several times, which suggests the validity of the earlier team as well (their histories are intertwined). Several villains' histories have been remade by the Crises, including Luthor, Bizarro, Angle Man and Cheetah. Also, some Batman villain histories have been slightly rewritten.

+ Animated Secret Society

In the Justice League Unlimited animated series (Season 3), Grodd assembled his own Secret Society in a headquarters that resembled the old Hall of Doom from Challenge of the Super Friends. Grodd recruited an army of villains but his control was eventually usurped by Luthor. The Secret Society were featured in Season 3, episodes 3-1, 3-4 , 3-6, 3-8, 3-12, 3-13.

In the end, villains chose sides and while they were in space their ship exploded. When Darkseid destroyed the ship, Sinestro managed to save Lex and those loyal to him: Atomic Skull, Bizarro, Cheetah, Evil Star, Giganta, Heat Wave, Killer Frost, Star Sapphire, Toyman, Volcana.

One group of others, including Grodd had been taken captive and may have died in the explosion:

Blockbuster, Copperhead, Fastball, Goldface, Hellgrammite, The Key, Parasite, Rampage, Shade, Weather Wizard.

Other members were unaccounted for:

Angle Man, Black Mass, Bloodsport, Crowbar, Devil Ray (Deceased), Doctor Cyber, Doctor Destiny, Dr. Polaris, the Dummy, Electrocutioner, Gentleman Ghost, Gorilla Grodd, Javelin, KGBeast, Lady Lunar, Lex Luthor, Major Disaster, Merlyn, Mister 104, Monocle, Neutron , Queen Bee, Roulette, Shark, Silver Banshee, Sonar, Tala, Tattooed Man Black Domino Mask

Other non-members:

Shadow Thief, the Extremists, Metallo, the top, mister element, doctor alchemy, trickster, captain boomerang, mirror master, captain cold , shatterfist, hellhound

• The Joker won a super-villain popularity poll among readers, published in issue #14.
• Star Sapphire's origin, originally slated for SSoSV #17, was told in the letter column of JLofA #174:

  Star Sapphire was originally Remoni-Notra on the planet Pandina. She was chosen by the Zamarons to be to be their queen—an honor previously bequeathed upon Earth's Carol Ferris, but refused. Remoni-Notra was given one of the five star sapphire gems and was told of the existence of the other four. Using her powers, she came to Earth to locate and steal Carol Ferris' gem and hooked up with the SSoSV in hopes of finding a clue to the gem. Whether Remoni-Notra, who has masqueraded on Earth as French real estate agent Camille and also Captain Comet's sometimes girlfriend Debbie Darnell, will eventually succeed in her task is up in the air at present.

This revelation wasn't explored in comics until JLA #115, when the Wizard woke her from her coma. Since that time it's been revealed that Darnell was also an ex-girlfriend of Hal Jordan's, which is why the sapphire chose her. (Green Lantern v.4 #19) She was killed by the Spectre in Infinite Crisis #6 (5.06).

+ Secret Society Membership

The Society

As the former multiverse came to its end, the Lex Luthor and Lois Lane of Earth-3 sent their infant son, Alexander Luthor, to Earth-1. He appeared aboard the abandoned JLA satellite and grew rapidly to adulthood. He was instrumental in defeating the great Crisis' instigator, the Anti-Monitor. (Crisis #1) After the infinte realities were merged into one, Alex, along with the Earth-2 Superman and Lois Lane Kent, and Earth-Prime's Superboy, realized that there would be no place for thim in this new universe. Alex used his cosmic powers to create an extra-dimensional "heaven" for the four of them, where they lived happily for years. (Crisis #12)

As the new universe developed, Alex and Superboy watched from the outside and noticed how — to their perspective — the heroes of this new Earth had squandered their new chances at life. Alex thought that the universe could do better; Superboy was jealous that another Superboy had made an abysmal reputation for himself, while he was stuck in "heaven."

Eventually, Lois fell ill, which drew more of Superman's attention. This allowed Alex and Superboy the opportunity to break out of their home and set a plan in motion. They intended to completely remake the universe as they saw fit. They began by retrieving the Anti-Monitor's corpse and recruiting the Psycho Pirate (the only other person to remember the multiverse). Over several months, Alex used a hologram to pose as Lex Luthor and gathered together a powerful cartel of super-villains called The Society. (Infinite Crisis #4) The group's core consisted of Dr. Psycho, Deathstroke, Talia, Black Adam and the Calculator.

Alex took advantage of some recent developments to secure Society members' alliance and compliance. Recently, it had been revealed that the Justice League had used their powers to wipe Dr. Light's mind. The Calculator served as their coordinator and "dispatcher," using his pre-existing network of super-villains-for-hire to broaden the Society's ranks. (Identity Crisis #1-4) NOTE: What's odd about the Calculator's involvement is that he never questioned the obvious discrepancies between the two Luthors. Immediately before joining the Society, he worked a few times with the real Luthor. (Teen Titans #20, Superman/Batman #19) His base is the former satellite headquarters of the Injustice Gang (apparently forgotten after JLA #15).

Every active villain became fearful of suffering Dr. Light's fate, and Alex promised that he'd devised a way to return the favor to Earth's heroes. He told his Society members that with the right combination of elements and people, they could produce a massive mindwipe on the heroes. For his device, "Lex" would need several key individuals, including the Ray, Lady Quark, Pariah, Martian Manhunter, Power Girl, and a member of the Marvel Family. His true plan, of course, was to use these "survivors" from parallel Earths to warp reality.

The core Society members quickly recruited scores of other members, but also encountered some staunch resistance. Those who refused the Society's invitation were branded as their enemies. Meanwhile, the real Lex Luthor watched his doppleganger move and took advantage of his failures. Taking the alias Mockingbird, Lex scooped up several rogue villains to oppose the Society. (Villains United #1) This group was the new Secret Six — Scandal, Cheshire, Deadshot, Parademon, Rag Doll III and Catman. Mockingbird and the Six aggressively attacked the Society.

The Six didn't realize that the Society had bugged their communications, and soon they were caught and tortured for Mockingbird's identity. (#2) Black Adam, who had recently been on the side of good as a member of the JSA, objected to the torture. He allied with the Society in order to protect his homeland, Kahndaq. (Luthor had told Adam that the Six had planted a super-bomb underneath his country.) Adam also objected when Dr. Psycho took a trip to Metropolis to terrorize Superman, which endangered innocents. (Action #830-831)

Catman was able to engineer the Six's escape and they proceeded to attack a Society base in Brazil. There the Queen Bee commanded H.I.V.E. agents to guard a captive power source: Firestorm and the mysterious Gehenna. Black Adam led a new Royal Flush Gang to stop the Six, but when they arrived they found Firestorm released; the Six escaped. (V.U. #4)

The two groups came to a final confrontation after this when it was revealed that Cheshire had betrayed the Six. But this wasn't the only double cross that day. Scandal revealed that her father was Vandal Savage. Savage cut his ties to the Society when he learned they were out to kill her. Further, Scandal's lover Knockout was acting covertly among the Society. When Cheshire left to join the Society, she was shot by Deathstroke. The Rag Doll was attacked by his father. The Parademon ultimately sacrficed himself by setting all his Mother Boxes on self-destruct, destroying the House of Secrets. Savage ultimately forced Luthor to back down. Afterwards, Catman warned Green Arrow that the Society were planning to mindwipe all heroes (at least this was Alex's lie). (#5-6)

The last time the Society saw Alex Luthor was when he entered a room to kill Pariah. Alex was successful in his plan to bring back the multiverse. But Earth's heroes destroyed his tower and prevented him from destroying Earth. As for Alex, ...?

In Alex's absence, the real Lex Luthor shrewdly stepped in to assume his place within the Society. They were none the wiser, but did notice changes in his demeanor. Luthor no longer treated the rest of the Society's inner circle as his equals. The others, especially Talia, knew that if he was capable of betraying Black Adam (as Alex had), how safe were they? Luthor added Dr. Light to the inner circle as a symbolic figure. He knew that villains everywhere would remember the Justice League's actions towards Light — a cause to rally.

Luthor led them to their greatest plan yet: a massive global prison breakout designed to stretch Earth’s heroes to their max. It was one year after the "crisis," and the greatest heroes had not been seen that whole time. In lieu of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, Oracle and the Martian Manhunter rallied as many heroes as they could. But the Society had one massive ace up its sleeve: the revived Doomsday. (Villains United Infinite Crisis Special)

The Society first appeared in shadow with Luthor in Adv. of Superman #636 (March); next in JSA #70 (April) when they recruit Adam; then in Wonder Woman #214 (May) with Psycho recruiting Zoom; and also shadowed in Teen Titans #23 (June), revealing Deathstroke. The name "Society" was used in JSA #70. They are not all fully revealed until Villains United #1 (July).

+ Post-Infinite Crisis

After Lex Luthor exited the scene, the Society continued, with the Calculator, Talia and Dr. Psycho playing prominent roles. Looking to bolster their ranks, Cheetah, Talia and Felix Faust tried to recruit the powerful new magician, Black Alice. This were narrowly prevented by Oracle's Birds of Prey—and Alice's defiance itself. (Birds of Prey #96-97)

The Society were twice drawn out into the public by Los Angeles District Attorney, Kate Spencer (Manhunter). When she was appointed defender of the Shadow Thief. The Soceity tried repeatedly to have the Thief killed, but because of the antics, a mistrial was declared. (Manhunter #1-10) Later, she was put in a similar situation, defending Dr. Psycho for the murder of the Hangmen (who had defied the Society's orders). Secretly, she was working with the DEO to draw out the Society. Talia visited Dr. Psycho in jail and ordered him to accept his verdict. If he was found guilty, they reasoned that it would work in the Society's favor because public opinion will think them weakened. Before Psycho's verdict could be read, however, the Society changed its mind and freed him. The attempted escape dismissed that trial and he was taken back into custody. Ironically, Manhunter learned that the jury's verdict was "not guilty." The Society beleived they were better off without Psycho—which was probably true, as they would later discover. Later, Director Bones of the DEO remarked that now every super-villain would want Spencer as his defender. (#21-24)

Dr. Psycho found a way to escape his bonds by switching bodies with Sarge Steel, head of the Dept. of Metahuman Affairs. Working with the Cheetah, they dealt a major blow to Wonder Woman. They worked with T.O.Morrow and Felix Faust to create and control a monster called Genocide. (Wonder Woman #26-27) After an epic battle (and the aid of Morrow himself), Wonder Woman destroyed the Society's headquarters completely. (#30)

+ Known members have included…

Abnegazar, Abra Cadabra, Amazo, Amos Fortune, Angle Man, Atomic Skull, Bane, Baron Blitzkrieg, Bizarro, Black Manta, Black Mask, Black Spider, Black Spider II, Black Spider III, Blackrock, Body Doubles, Bolt, Boss Moxon, Brain, Brother Blood II, Brutale, Bug-Eyed Bandit, Byte, Captain Boomerang II, Captain Cold, Captain Nazi, Chain Lightning, Chain Lightning, Charaxes, Charybdis, Cheetah, Chemo, Chronos, Cicada, Clayface, Computron, Count Vertigo, Crazy Quilt II, Crime Doctor, Cyborgirl, Deep Six, Deuce, Double Dare , Double Dare, Dr. Light, Dr. Moon, Dr. Poison, Dr. Polaris, Doomsday, Eel, Egghead, Fadeaway Man, Fatality, Felix Faust, Firefly II, Fisherman, Floronic Man, Folded Man, Gamesman, Gemini, General, Gentleman Ghost, Ghast, Giganta, Goth, Grodd, Hammer, Harley Quinn, Headhunter, Heat Wave, Hector Hammond, Hellhound II, Hindenberg, HIVE, Houngan, Hugo Strange, Humpty Dumpty, Hyena, IBAC, Icicle, Jinx, Jongleur, Key, Killer Croc, Killer Frost, King Shark, Knockout, Lagomorph, the League of Assassins, Lock-Up, Mad Hatter, Madmen, Mammoth, Man Bat, Merlyn, Mirror Master II, Mister Freeze, Mister Terrible, Monocle, Monsieur Mallah, Mr. Atom, Mr. Zsasz, Multiplex, Murmur, New Wave, The Nuclear Legion (Geiger, Reactron, Professor Radium, Mr. Nitro, Neutron, Nuclear), Ocean Master, Parasite II, Penguin, Per Degaton, Phobia, Planet Master II, Plasmus, Poison Ivy, Prometheus, Psimon, Psycho Pirate, Queen Bee, Rag Doll, Rath, Ravager (Rose Wilson), Red Panzer, Riddler, Royal Flush Gang, Sabbac, Scarecrow, Scarface, Scavenger, Shadow Theif, Shark, Shimmer, Shrapnel, Sickle, Silver Banshee, Sinestro, Siren, Sivana, Skorpio, Skorpio, Sledge, Solomon Grundy, Splitshot, Starro, Sting, Tattooed Man, Tigress, Torpedo, Toyman, Tremor, Trickster, Trigger Twins, Turtle, Tweedledee & Tweedledum, Typhoon, Ubermensch, Vandal Savage, Vault, The Ventriloquist, Virtuoso, Warp, Weather Wizard, Wizard, Zoom, Zebra-Man II

Appearances + References

Secret Society: All-Star Squadron #25-26, Annual #2 Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2 DC Special #27 DC Special Series #6 (Secret Society of Super-Villains Special #1) Justice League of America #166-168, 195-197 JLA #115-119, 80-Page Giant #1-2

Secret Society of Super-Villains, 15 issues (1977-78) Villains United, 6-issue limited series (2005)

Injustice Gang Injustice League Legion of Doom Dark Mark > Secret Society Comic Archives: SSoSV