The Justice League was created in 1960 to assemble DC Comics' greatest heroes to protect Earth, with an all-star line-up that included Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. The team has since become one of the biggest hits in comics and is arguably the biggest and most well-known superhero team alongside the X-Men. It should come as no surprise that such an iconic team would have many analogs and homages throughout the industry.
Indie comics are known for borrowing from Marvel and DC as creators put their own spin on comics' most well-known tales. From deconstruction stories that explore what makes a superhero tick to bright homages to the source material, many veteran creators have offered their take on the JLA. In fact, the team has even met up with some of their alternate analogs, allowing creators an opportunity to compare and contrast them.
10 Kings Watch
Created as a team-up of Dynamite Entertainment's pulp heroes, the "Kings Watch" team unites Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, and Phantom. Three of the premier heroes of the so-called Platinum Age of comic strips and magazines, these heroes teamed up to save Earth from a dangerous cult leader and alien invasion.
Kings Watch may be smaller than the Justice League, but it's hard to miss the parallels at least between DC's Trinity, and the potential to include more characters to come. These were the biggest heroes in comics before Batman and Superman were even created, and their shared adventures read like a JLA adventure.
9 The Atomic Legion
The Atomic Legion was created by Dark Horse to be a team-up homage to the classic Golden Age of science fiction. The team is composed of monsters, scientists, and vigilantes to form an outcast take on the superhero genre. Aided by a wealthy, scientist benefactor, the team has their base hidden away in the Arctic.
Rather than being a clear analog for the Justice League, the Atomic Legion feels like a combination of the Justice League and the style of Doom Patrol comics. The team is certainly a bigger departure from the JLA than most, but its members do offer up some of the same dynamics as the JLA, albeit with very different powers.
8 The Scorched
Todd McFarlane's Spawn universe features various unique Hellspawns, such as She-Spawn, Medieval Spawn, and Gunslinger Spawn. In the series Scorched, these heroes united with fellow Spawn characters like Redeemer and Haunt to form a new team of supernatural heroes to fight the forces of Heaven, Hell, and Earth's villains.
The Scorched team is mostly united by a common power set and darker personalities, but they have stepped up as a great superhero team. They even have a similar dynamic with Spawn as the Justice League does with Batman, offering a grim, paranoid ally to contrast against their own styles.
7 The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Although they are now owned by DC Comics, Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was created for the early 2000s publisher, America's Best Comics. The story assembled a team of literary characters from classic fiction, ranging from Allen Quartermain to the Invisible Man. The series borrows from classic fiction like the works of HG Wells, Jules Verne, and Robert Louis Stevenson.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen perfectly combined adventure and science fiction through a pulp aesthetic, sending them on classic adventures, such as HG Wells' War of the Worlds. The team may not have the spectacle or outrageous powers of the JLA, but for readers who like a Victorian spin on a superhero team, it's perfect.
6 WildC.A.T.s
The WildC.A.T.s were created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi, and borrowed from more than just the Justice League to form the roster. Considering Jim Lee's tenure on X-Men, designs, and concepts from Marvel's mutant heroes and DC's Justice League could be seen in the WildC.A.T.s' own members.
The WildC.A.T.s' most prominent ode to the Justice League is in its most powerful member, Mr Majestic. Like Superman, this hero came from an alien world and settled on Earth for a new existence. He shares many of the Man of Steel's abilities as he aids Jim Lee's superhero team.
5 The Authority
Beginning their life under Wildstorm, the Authority was one of the most acclaimed indie comics superhero teams before they were acquired by DC Comics. Created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, the Authority is very much a darker, antihero pastiche of the Justice League.
The Authority is known for, among other things, a morally grey style, with the heroes committed to winning the day through almost any means necessary. With Midnighter and Apollo offering up a romantically involved take on Batman and Superman, the team's Justice League parallels were never in doubt.
4 The Union
In Mark Millar's Jupiter's Legacy, the hero known as the Utopian leads a band of caped superheroes, named the Union. Evocative of Golden Age heroes, the Union is responsible for safeguarding the world from 1929 and the advent of the Great Depression and on.
The Union feels like a mash-up of the Justice League, Justice Society, and pastiche teams like the Squadron Supreme. Unlike most superhero teams, the core of the Union is the Sampson family, and are supported by heroes like The Flare, Ruby Red and Ectoplex.
3 The Guardians Of The Globe
In the world of Robert Kirkman's Invincible, Earth was defended by a superhero team named the Guardians of the Globe. This team was as clear an homage to the Justice League and DC as it gets, with Kirby-esque costume designs and some Elseworlds-style reimaginings of members like Aquaman.
The Guardians of the Globe were the team to which Omni Man originally belonged, and his villainy was revealed to readers when he murdered his heroic teammates. The team included all the hallmarks of a Justice League roster, from a Dark Knight character to a speedster.
2 Black Hammer
Jeff Lemire's homage to everything about Golden Age science fiction superhero comics, Black Hammer is one of the greatest teams in indie comics. In fact, the shared universe is easily competitive with Marvel and DC for quality, following the past and present adventures of a superhero team trapped in a mysterious town.
Black Hammer includes such obvious homages as Barbalien borrowing from Martian Manhunter to Colonel Weird being a clear ode to Adam Strange. When Black Hammer met the Justice League in their crossover miniseries, readers got to see how well the team fit into the DCU.
1 The Seven
Created for Garth Ennis' iconic series The Boys, the Seven are a clear evil analog for the Justice League and a deep deconstruction of the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman. The team is led by perhaps the most famous evil Superman analog in the brutal Homelander.
The Seven includes "heroes" like Black Noir being a clear copy of Batman, Queen Maeve being the resident Wonder Woman, and The Deep as a dysfunctional Aquaman. The series showcases a world where almost every superhero is a corrupt, violent, and morally bankrupt superhuman, opposed by human vigilantes.