The Secret Society of Super Villains is a team of bad guys created by Gerry Conway and Pablo Marcos to be an evil version of the Justice League. The original lineup debuted 50 years ago in Secret Society of Super Villains #1 (June 1976) when Darkseid founded what he originally called the Brotherhood of Crime.

Darkseid (who insisted on being called the Director) brought together Captain Cold, Star Sapphire, Gorilla Grodd, Clayface, and a clone of Manhunter to steal deadly nerve gas and use it to hold the world ransom. The group quickly turned on him when Manhunter pointed out that Darkseid had a history of enslaving people. They also learned that the Darkseid they knew was actually an android controlled from a different location by the real Darkseid.

So, the team rebranded themselves as the Secret Society of Super Villains to beat Darkseid and hatch their own plans. Setting up a base in the Sinister Citadel in San Francisco, the lineup grew to include Lex Luthor, Wizard, and Funky Flashman. Because of their strong personalities, the team went through regular power struggles. Captain Comet became their regular hero/nemesis which was done to avoid showing the lead characters as protagonists to appease the Comics Code Authority. He and Manhunter attempted to channel the team’s talents into more positive missions, but it didn’t work out that way.

Angered by their dissension, Darkseid sent Mantis and Kalibak to retaliate, and Manhunter sacrificed himself to stop Darkseid. Manhunter had been the de facto leader, so Lex, Grodd, Wizard, and Flashman led the team at different times. They fought the Justice League and the Crime Syndicate of America from Earth-Three. When they returned from Earth-Two, the Secret Society of Super Villains fought the Justice League and ended up swapping bodies. As a result, the villain team learned the secret identities of their superhero nemeses. To remedy that, the Justice League wiped their memories once they switched back to their original bodies in an event that would lead to Identity Crisis.

The Secret Society’s second incarnation was created by Ultra-Humanite and debuted in 1981. The group was composed of villains of Earth-One’s Justice League and Earth-Two’s Justice Society. Villains that joined Ultra-Humanite included Brain Wave, Killer Frost, Rag Doll, Psycho-Pirate, Cheetah, and Floronic Man.

Alexander Luthor Jr. put together a Secret Society of Super Villains teams with Deathstroke, Talia al Ghul, Black Adam, Doctor Psycho, and Calculator. Luthor wanted the team to track down heroes connected to the multiverse and use their residual temporal vibrations to restart the multiverse.

More incarnations of the Secret Society of Super Villains in Final Crisis, the New 52, and DC Rebirth.