Who's This? Dr. Light's irregulars.
The facts: Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, they first appeared in New Teen Titans #3 (January 1981), new characters assembled by the old JLA villain Dr. Light, they became recurring foes of the team, but also ran afoul of the Outsiders several times in their history. In fact, the first time, a Titans/Outsiders crossover, led to the expulsion of Dr. Light. Psimon takes over and recruits Jinx (a new character) and Neutron (a fairly recent Superman foe), though the latter wasn't always used in later stories, at one point replaced with Dr. Sivana. They appeared in Villains United and Salvation Run, and a newish team was assembled by the Calculator in the wake of Final Crisis. The New52 used them in Forever Evil.
How you could have heard of them: The Teen Titans cartoon rebranded them as the younger H.I.V.E. Five, with Gizmo, Jinx and Mammoth in the team.
Example story: Tales of the Teen Titans #58 (October 1985), "Fearsome Five Minus One!" by Marv Wolfman, Chuck Patton and Romeo Tanghal
In the previous couple issues (starting with #56, which was my first issue of any Titans comic), while Cyborg was given a more human-looking body, the Fearsome Five Minus One had freed to sorceress Jinx as part of their recruitment drive and with Cyborg left all melty when they attack S.T.A.R. Labs for a sixth member (unlike Dr. Light, Psimon isn't a stickler for rules like basic maths), there's got to be a reckoning. From Fearsome Five Minus One, to Fearsome Five PLUS One. Neutron, an old one-off Superman villain, has been freed from S.T.A.R.'s energy dampener...
And already, Neutron has pegged them as losers. But Psimon is entirely correct that Dr. Light cramped their style (how could he not?). So Neutron accepts the invitation to "take control" of New York, since Superman kept screwing him up in Metropolis. Like he's not a phone call away. Nevertheless, Wolfman created Neutron in Action Comics, so it's fair play to reappropriate him for New Teen Titans. But first, the Fearsome Fi--Six need to get through the Ti--the police!
The various personalities are on show: Neutron's obsession with Metropolis, Gizmo's smart mouth, Shimmer's maternal (sisterly) care for the less-than-independent Mammoth, Psimon's arrogant cruelty, Jinx's nothing. Okay sure, normal humans are no match for this lot, but what about the Titans? When it's team versus team, it's time to pair off. The energy blaster bracket: Starfire vs. Neutron!
He blasts her through a nearby building. Oops! The magical girl bracket: Wonder Girl vs. Jinx (where's Raven?!)!
Well, in a previous panel, she did try to tell those cops to retreat and they wouldn't, but if this is one of the newbie's "simple" spells, the Titans are in trouble. Next up, the normal human bracket: Nightwing vs. Gizmo!
Oh, first blood on the Titans' side! It's like Dick's been trying to tell Batman for years, acrobatics trump gadgets. Meanwhile, Donna is trying to avoid Jinx's spell blasts and bumps into Mammoth. Hold on, there, no switching partners yet! This is the elephant bracket! Changeling vs. Mammoth!
Sure, let's sink a couple boats in the name of justice. Shimmer didn't get a partner (and Psimon was zapped by Starfire in the opening volley and fell into the river), so now it's time to mix up the dance card.
Okay, sometimes gadgets ARE useful. Jinx seems quite taken with how the Titans work as a team, but there's someone behind her and everything goes black (so... Raven, finally?). The other recruit, Neutron, then pulls a Wildfire, opens his visor and zaps the four heroes insensate. Psimon gets recruited by the Monitor as the Crisis is about to start, saving him from drowning. But as the Fearsome Five (counts... yes, Five now) picks themselves up, they're attacked by the ARMY!
Look, if the Titans couldn't make a dent... And what's Jinx on about? Ah yes, not Raven... Jericho! He jumps from one Fearsome to another and uses their own powers to defeat them, or almost. It gives the other Titans time to wake up and finish the job, with Neutron obviously the toughest (he WAS a Superman villain). But with team work...
Psimon MIGHT have made things harder had he stuck around, but this was such a good rumble that it made me a fan of the New Titans at the time. Little did I know that the "important" stories had moved to the Direct Market and I would be reading them with a year's delay on the newsstand. I didn't even realize until the Crisis crossovers, honestly. The Fearsome Five were a great match for them, but with teams like this, you almost DO need new recruits to keep things fresh (or else have them only fight new rosters) because once defeated, you have the key to their every defeat, feels like. Still, I've always liked them.
Who's Next? An exotic dancer with cat-like grace.
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