If You Could Revive "SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS"...

[Air Wave]

What would you do with it?

[sifighter]

I’d probably make it a mini-series with the idea I have because it’s mainly meant to be fun then serious, which is wannabe villains. See what inspired this idea was the rebirth Suicide Squad run where there was the character of Hack who was a supervillain fan. So that made me think what if there was just a fun little miniseries about a group inspired by the Legion of Doom and other villains to be the best bad guys they can be.

[DrNewGod]

Alex Ross' Justice pretty much delivered that for me.

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I would say the arc from the final season of JLU is another great take on it.

sifighter is right: it probably needs to be a limited series of some sort. You just know any collection of psychopaths worth watching isn't going to be stable unless it's like Suicide Squad, where they're wired up to explosives.

[Dr. Poison]

I'd bring back the team's iconic comic roster consisting of:


Wizard
Star Sapphire
Blockbuster
Reverse Flash
Floronic Man


and then add:


Dr. Poison II
Scavenger
Parasite

[scary harpy]

What the SSoV should not be is the Legion of Doom or the Injustice Society or etcetera. We don’t need yet another group of villains trying to defeat a group of heroes. We have enough of those already.

The SSoV should be support villains: villains whose services aid and abet other villains.
Examples:
The Eraser: Batman foe who erase evidence at a crime scene…for a price.
The Calculator: The Oracle for the Underworld; answers questions for villains…for a price.

And so on. Villainous bankers, doctors, lawyers, insurance agents, nurses, occultists, real estate agents and other specialty services are available to through the SSoV…for a price.

Hench-people could also be unionized through the SSoV so capable help is available…for a price.

[DrNewGod]

What the SSoV should not be is the Legion of Doom or the Injustice Society or etcetera. We don’t need yet another group of villains trying to defeat a group of heroes. We have enough of those already.

The SSoV should be support villains: villains whose services aid and abet other villains.
Examples:
The Eraser: Batman foe who erase evidence at a crime scene…for a price.
The Calculator: The Oracle for the Underworld; answers questions for villains…for a price.

And so on. Villainous bankers, doctors, lawyers, insurance agents, nurses, occultists, real estate agents and other specialty services are available to through the SSoV…for a price.

Hench-people could also be unionized through the SSoV so capable help is available…for a price.

Yeaaaaah, the problem there is you're talking a band of villains. Not just villains, but megalomaniacal outlier villains. Something that organized and stable just ain't gonna hold up. At the very least, some number of them will be individually attempting to manipulate whatever system they establish to screw the eyeballs out of the rest. Then there would be the ones trying to subordinate all the rest to their will.

If they were a bunch willing to be part of a 401K and collective health insurance plan, they wouldn't qualify for an SSoV.

[Nomads1]

What would you do with it?

Bring back Captain Comet and Manhunter to the spotlight.

Peace

[Multiverse]

I always wanted it that while the Injustice League/ Gang/ LoD would be comprised of major big bads (Luthor, Joker, Cheetah, Deathstroke etc), the SSoSV would be a chance to showoff the some of lesser-known yet equally powerful major villains that get glanced over in stories every so often. They would live up to their name by keeping most of the activies... well secret, and when the heroes finally do find out about them, their masterplan is already well into effect.

For example my line-up would include:

Vandal Savage
Prometheus
Ma'alefa'ak
Mongul
Lady Styx
Key
Queen Bee

[DrNewGod]

I always wanted it that while the Injustice League/ Gang/ LoD would be comprised of major big bads (Luthor, Joker, Cheetah, Deathstroke etc), the SSoSV would be a chance to showoff the some of lesser-known yet equally powerful major villains that get glanced over in stories every so often. They would live up to their name by keeping most of the activies... well secret, and when the heroes finally do find out about them, their masterplan is already well into effect.

For example my line-up would include:

Vandal Savage
Prometheus
Ma'alefa'ak
Mongul
Lady Styx
Key
Queen Bee

Interesting. Do you see that as something like the structure from Villains United, where you had Luthor's cabal overseeing all these organized scamsters? Or are you thinking of the SSoV as something completely separate from the Big Bad organization?

[Dr. Poison]

Bring back Captain Comet and Manhunter to the spotlight.

Peace

How did I forget these 2 characters? They were pivotal to the original SSOSV series.

[Nomads1]

How did I forget these 2 characters? They were pivotal to the original SSOSV series.

SSOSV was the book that made me a Captain Comet fan.

Peace

[Restingvoice]

So as usual, what's the difference...
I'm assuming this should not be filled with the likes of Lex and Joker since they're in Legion of Doom or Injustice League depending on their mood...
Also if they're supposed to be a secret they should not consist of neon-colored loud mouth brutes but more agents and masterminds

Let's start with Ultra-Humanite, Dr. Psycho, and The Calculator

[Multiverse]

Interesting. Do you see that as something like the structure from Villains United, where you had Luthor's cabal overseeing all these organized scamsters? Or are you thinking of the SSoV as something completely separate from the Big Bad organization?

I'd rather have it just one small team (the smaller the team, the easier the "secret" in Secret Society is).

[Kaijudo]

The first thing that should be decided is whether SSOSV is just the name of the book or the name of the actual team. Because there are a number of high-profile villains who would NEVER refer to themselves as "super-villains." Most of them are the heroes in their own stories, like Lex Luthor or Ra's Al Ghul, while others have so much arrogance that an easy label like that is beneath them (thinking folks like Vandal Savage, Dr. Psycho, Grodd, etc). Also, as far as the secrecy portion goes, some characters don't exactly do well keeping a low profile. So working under the idea that the team is actually going to be calling itself the Secret Society of Super-Villains, it should be characters who aren't so full of themselves that they'd never accept the "super-villain" label and are good at staying below the radar as needed. With that in mind, I think I'd use a cast of characters who have long histories in the comics, who aren't used all that much anymore, and who are smart/crafty enough to pull of a secret society correctly. With that in mind...

Riot
Matter Master
IQ
Signalman
The Blue Snowman
Marine Marauder
The Invisible Destroyer
The Ghost
Catalyst
Sting
Quakemaster
The Red Dart
Brutale
Granite Lady
Bug & Byte
Mindancer

It's a weird, weird lineup, I realize, but it's also the last collection of characters you'd expect to be a serious threat. But collectively they have the abilities to affect weather, matter, human biochemistry, computer systems...little things people might need. And you've got geniuses to plot things out, assassins to take out folks who'd get in the way, and a one-man army of foot soldiers, if needed.

I'd also put a pair of mismatched heroes together tasked with uncovering the Society and bringing it down. Captain Comet, as a shout-out to the original series, and put him together with someone kind of off-kilter, like the Bulleteer.

[Alpha]

That's a cool idea