| Fearsome Five | |
|---|---|
 The Fearsome Five, from the cover ofOutsiders (vol. 3) #13 (August 2004). Back row: Mammoth. Middle row, left to right: Jinx, Psimon, Shimmer. Front row: Gizmo; art byTom Raney. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | The New Teen Titans #3 (January 1981) |
| Created by | Marv Wolfman andGeorge Pérez |
| In-story information | |
| Leader(s) | Doctor Light Psimon Jinx (formerly) |
| Member(s) | Mammoth Shimmer Gizmo |
TheFearsome Five is a group ofsupervillains fromDC Comics who serve as enemies of theTeen Titans andJustice League.[1] The group made its debut in 1981. The group's roster has changed multiple times, and characters from the group have appeared in other media, including the 2003–2006Teen Titans animated television series.
The Fearsome Five were created byGeorge Pérez andMarv Wolfman and first appeared inThe New Teen Titans #3 (January 1981), going on to become recurring adversaries for thesuperhero group.[2] Though deadly, they lack sophistication as criminal planners as well as a cohesive focus or loyalty, and are prone to in-fighting, backstabbing, and disbandment.[3]
The Fearsome Five were founded by the criminalDoctor Light, who recruited members through an ad he placed in theUnderworld Star, a criminal underground newsletter.Psimon is influenced byTrigon, the demon, who gave him his powers, and usurps Light's role as leader. The two continued to struggle over leadership for some time.[3]
After Psimon was banished by Trigon to another dimension for failing to destroy the Earth, the other members of the Five attacked the Titans at their newly unveiled headquarters,Titans Tower, inThe New Teen Titans #7 (May 1981). The Five attempted to useSilas Stone (the father of thesuperhero Teen TitanCyborg) and the Titans' dimensional transmitter to retrieve the still-living Psimon, but were again defeated. Psimon later allied himself with the immortal dimensional traveler known as theMonitor during the 1985 comic event known asCrisis on Infinite Earths. Feeling betrayed, the rest of the Five turned on Psimon and apparently murdered him.
InThe New Teen Titans #37 (December 1983) andBatman and the Outsiders #5 (December 1983), the Five turned on Light, expelling him from the group and attempting to kill him. Light escaped, and Psimon again became leader, though the Five were again defeated, this time by the Titans,Batman, and the Outsiders. The Five later invadedS.T.A.R. Labs inTales of the Teen Titans #56–58 (August–October 1985), freeing Jinx and Neutron, who had been imprisoned there, and taking them into their ranks, but were defeated again by the Titans, and unsuccessfully fought Superman inThe Adventures of Superman #430 (July 1987), this time with new members Charger and Deuce.
The team disbanded shortly after Deuce and Charger's first missions with the Five, with Mammoth and Shimmer deciding to renounce their life of crime and finding peace in aTibetanmonastery. Psimon returned from outer space, very much alive, and systematically sought revenge on his former teammates, Gizmo, Crocodile-Boy, Mammoth, and Shimmer. Mammoth barely survived after Psimon rammed a spear through his head; Shimmer was turned into glass and then shattered by the telepath, and seemingly perished. Psimon shrank Gizmo to subatomic size, though the diminutive tinkerer eventually found a way to return to normal; he was later incarcerated, along with Mammoth, Crocodile-Boy, and Jinx, at themetahuman prison onAlcatraz. Psimon himself was incarcerated at another such prison called the Slab, but later escaped when it was destroyed inOutsiders, vol. 3, #6 (January 2004).
Soon after, in a storyline inOutsiders, vol. 3, #13–15 (August–October 2004), frequentCaptain Marvel archenemyDoctor Sivana gathered Psimon, freed Mammoth, Gizmo, and Jinx from prison, and was able to successfully restore Shimmer's shattered form, returning her to life. He put the team to work in a scheme toshort sellLexcorp stock by having them steal its accounts from its corporate building inMetropolis, and then drive down the stock by killing all the people in the building and destroying two other Lexcorp properties. At the latter of the two, amicrochip factory of Lexcorp'ssubsidiary, Kellacor, the Five were confronted by theOutsiders. After escaping, the criminally unsophisticated Five urged Sivana to take Lexcorp's nuclear missile facility nearJoshua Tree, California. When Sivana refused, Psimon asserted that they would take it anyway; in response, Sivana killed Gizmo with a laser blast to the head, and severed relations with the remaining four, warning them that he would kill them if they ever crossed his path again. Sivana used the money he made from the scheme to purchase a tropical island off the coast ofThailand to use as his lair. The Five were defeated in their plan to take the facility and fire a nuclear missile atCanada. Mammoth was returned to themetahuman prison onAlcatraz Island, but the other three remained at large.
Sivana sarcastically suggested after killing Gizmo that the team rename themselves to the Fearsome Four. The Fearsome Five next turned up inVillains United #5 (November 2005), working for theSecret Society of Super Villains. This time around, they were led by Psimon, with three other members on the roster: Mammoth, Shimmer, and Jinx.[3]
Doctor Light, Dr. Sivana, Psimon, Neutron, Mammoth, Shimmer, and Jinx are next seen on the prison planet Salvation in the 2007–2008Salvation Run limited series. In #2, Psimon is interrupted by theJoker, who apparently murders him by breaking the dome which houses his brain and repeatedly smashing it with a rock. In the final issue of the series, Neutron is used byLex Luthor as a power source for a teleportation device, and is seemingly killed when it self-destructs.
A new Fearsome Five surfaced following theFinal Crisis, formed bythe Calculator. The members shown so far are Mammoth, Crocodile-Boy, Shimmer, Jinx, and new members Nano and Rumble.[4] Nano and Rumble were two inmates of Alcatraz that Shimmer recruited to the team, Nano having been put into jail after battling Cyborg.
InThe New 52 reboot of DC's continuity, theForever Evil storyline introduces the Fearsome Five (consisting of Gizmo, Jinx, Mammoth, Psimon, and Shimmer) when they are recruited by theCrime Syndicate of America to join theSecret Society of Super Villains.[5]
InJustice League, vol. 2, #29, The Fearsome Five were sent amongDoctor Psycho andHector Hammond to fight againstCyborg and theMetal Men. They were easily defeated by theMetal Men because the Metal Men are not vulnerable to mental attacks.
The Fearsome Five appears inDC Universe Online, consisting ofDoctor Light, Mammoth, Gizmo, Jinx, and Psimon.
The Fearsome Five appear inTeen Titans Go! (2004), consisting of Psimon, Doctor Light, Gizmo, Mammoth, and Jinx, the last of whom is working undercover to undermine the group on the Teen Titans' behalf.
An unrelated Fearsome Five appear in theDarkwing Duck episode "Just Us Justice Ducks", consisting of thetitular hero's enemiesNegaduck,Megavolt,Quackerjack,Bushroot, and theLiquidator.
Superman characters | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superman family |
| ||||||||||
| Supporting characters |
| ||||||||||
| Associated characters |
| ||||||||||
| Enemies |
| ||||||||||
| Alternative versions |
| ||||||||||
| In other media |
| ||||||||||
| Related | |||||||||||
Justice League characters | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founding members |
| ||||||
| Recurring members |
| ||||||
| Other characters |
| ||||||
| Enemies |
| ||||||
| Alternative versions |
| ||||||
| In other media |
| ||||||
