The Royal Flush Gang have been a part of the DC Universe since 1966. The playing card themed team of villains has had several incarnations and each one with members designated as Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten. The first Royal Flush Gang made their debut appearance in Justice League of America #43 (March 1966), created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky.

Using the suit of clubs for their costumes they were led by Professor Amos Fortune as the Ace. The gang used luck altering technology to understand the fortune telling significance of playing cards. After Fortune left the gang they tried to steal paintings containing hidden clues to treasures, but the Joker stopped them. Most members abandoned their criminal careers, except for the Jack who joined the Secret Society of Super Villains as “Hi-Jack” for a short time. The original King, Queen, and Ten were all killed in a fight.

Green Lantern villain Hector Hammond set up the second Royal Flush gang in Justice League of America #203 (June 1982). He led the group as a Wild Card with their costumes featuring the suit of spades. They split up and had separate careers as criminals then reestablished themselves as the Royal Flush Gang without Hammond. Maxwell Lord hired them two times to fight the Justice League International and they reorganized later by the Gambler masquerading as the Joker.

The third incarnation of the Royal Flush Gang was revealed in Superman: The Man of Steel #121 (February 2002). The gang had grown to become an organization all over the country with groups in each of the major cities. The gang grew from the original group of five members to 52 members in each cell which are split into four suits and run by the Court Cards. Each member is given a card value with the potential to improve their standing and move up in the deck.

A new version was revealed in Justice League of America Vol. 2 #35 (September 2009) run by Amos Fortune, known as Wild Card. In this version Fortune explains the gang’s history by combining characteristics of the first and third gangs indicating that he has always run the gang. There were various members with codenames and costumes below the card values of ten. Members in this group could also rise in the numerical ranks after successfully completing missions they can also be dealt out of the gang by Fortune.

They appeared in The New 52 in the “Forever Evil” storyline. They are members of the Secret Society of Super Villains when the Crime Syndicate arrives from their world. When Heat Wave sacrifices himself so that the Rogues can get away from Mr. Freeze, Clayface, and Black Mask, the Royal Flush Gang confronted the rest of the Rogues and ordered them to surrender.

When DC relaunched their titles in DC Rebirth, the Royal Flush Gang took on a design similar to who they appeared in Batman Beyond. They were among the villains trying to kill Batman and ended up in a confrontation with KGBeast who wanted to take out rivals. In their next appearance, the gang was taken over by Punchline and helped her to make and distribute her drugs.