The Elite is a team of fictional super-powered antiheroes featured in a DC Comics series.
The Elite made their first appearance in the story "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?", published in Action Comics #775 (March 2001). The story, which was voted number 1 in Wizard Magazine's "Top Ten Comics of the Decade", was written by Joe Kelly, inked by Tom Nguyen and penciled by Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo. They appeared as antagonists before some of the characters merged with members of the Justice League to form the Justice League Elite.
Team members
Superman vs. The Elite - The Hat - "Superman vs. the Elite" is directed by Michael Chang (Batman: Brave and the Bold). Bruce Timm (Batman: Year One) is executive producer, and Alan Burnett ...
Manchester Black
Manchester Black was the team's first leader. A British telekinetic vigilante, currently inactive after realizing that he'd become as bad as the villains he wanted to fight.
Vera Black
Vera Black was a British psionic cyborg, sister of Manchester Black and the second leader of the Elite.
Coldcast
Coldcast was a very large and muscular African-American man who wore dreadlocks and chains and manacles around his neck and wrists. He is capable of manipulating electromagnetism. He was eventually inspired by Superman to fight on the side of heroes.
Menagerie I
Menagerie I was a Puerto Rican woman with a symbiotic suit of armor that allowed her to transform into a chimeric creature. She was lobotomized and placed in a coma.
Menagerie II
Menagerie II was the sister of Menagerie I. She joined with an alien weapon cache that drove her insane. She is now in a metahuman prison facility.
The Hat
The Hat was a young Asian and a powerful Earth elemental with a measure of invulnerability and an ability to breathe fire. He was armed with a magic hat from which he could pull any item he wanted. He quit the team shortly after Vera Black took over.
Bunny
Bunny was a bacterial colony that became a floating fortress before The Elite brought her to their universe to use as a base of operations. It contains many wonders such as Excalibur and the skeleton of Pegasus.
Collected editions
All appearances of The Elite apart from Action Comics #795 have been reprinted in trade paperbacks:
- Justice League Elite:
- Volume 1 (collects: Action Comics #775, JLA #100, JLA Secret Files 2004, and Justice League Elite #1-4, 208 pages, 2005,
- Volume 2 (collects Justice League Elite #5-12, 192 pages, 2007
- Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told Volume 1 (includes Action Comics #775, 192 pages
Film
The Elite appeared in Superman vs. The Elite, with Manchester Black voiced by Robin Atkin Downes, Vera Black voiced by Marcella Lentz-Pope, Coldcast voiced by Catero Colbert, Menagerie voiced by Melissa Disney, and Hat voiced by Andrew Kishino.
References
External links
- The Elite at the Comic Book DB
- A profile of the team
- Review of Action Comics #775, Comics Bulletin
- Review of Action Comics #775, Comics Bulletin
- Review of What's so funny about Truth, Justice & the American Way?
- Review of JLA #100
