The Elite is a team of fictional super-powered antiheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, in particular those featuring Superman and The Justice League. They are DC's response to Wildstorm's The Authority. The Elite made their first appearance in the story "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?", published in Action Comics #775. The story, which was voted number 1 in Wizard magazine's "Top Ten Comics of the Decade", was written by Joe Kelly, inked by Tom Nguyen and penciled by Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo. They appeared as antagonists before some of the characters merged with members of the Justice League to form the Justice League Elite.
Fictional team history
Team members
Manchester Black is the team's first leader. A British telekineticvigilante, currently inactive after realizing that he had become as bad as the villains that he wanted to fight. His Union Jack shirt echoes the Authority's Jenny Sparks'.
Vera Black is a British psioniccyborg, sister of Manchester Black and the second leader of the Elite.
Coldcast is a very large and muscular African-American man who wore dreadlocks and chains and manacles around his neck and wrists. He is capable of manipulating electromagnetism. He was eventually inspired by Superman to fight on the side of heroes.
The second Menagerie is the sister of Menagerie I. She joins with an alien weapon cache that drives her insane, and later is incarcerated in a metahuman prison facility.
The Hat is a young and powerful Asian Earth elemental with a measure of invulnerability and an ability to breathe fire. He is armed with a magic hat from which he can pull any item he desires, summon demons, and wield magic. He quits the team shortly after Vera Black takes over.
Bunny is a bacterial colony that became a floating fortress before the Elite brought her to their universe to use as a base of operations. It contains many wonders, such as Excalibur and the skeleton of Pegasus.
Collected editions
All appearances of The Elite apart from Action Comics #795 have been reprinted in trade paperbacks:
The Elite appeared in the fourth season of Supergirl with Manchester Black portrayed by David Ajala, Menagerie portrayed by Jessica Merez, and Hat portrayed by Louis Ozawa Changchien. It’s formed by Manchester Black, along with Menagerie, Hat, and Morae that's nicknamed "Mo" in response to the bigotry of Ben Lockwood and the Children of Liberty as well as the ineffectiveness of the government and D.E.O. Manchester recruits Menagerie and Hat while in jail and they break out alongside the unnamed Morae. Believing that the government can’t be trusted and superheroes will not stop killers who don’t share their principles, they set out to kill the Children of Liberty and anyone else who would harm earthbound aliens, daring Supergirl to challenge them. They steal Brainiac 5's Legion Ring for Manchester Black and attempt to have the Claymore satellite - originally created to destroy alien ships within Earth's vicinity - fire at the White House. Menagerie is captured before an assassination attempt on Lockwood and the remaining members steal equipment from the Fortress of Solitude which they use to incite violence at a peaceful alien protest against an anti-alien rally where Mo and Hat are captured. In the episode "Stand and Deliver," Manchester Black is killed by Martian Manhunter while the rest of the Elite are arrested by the D.E.O.
The Elite appeared in Superman vs. The Elite, with Manchester Black voiced by Robin Atkin Downes, Vera Black voiced by Marcella Lentz-Pope, Coldcast voiced by Catero Colbert, Menagerie voiced by Melissa Disney, and Hat voiced by Andrew Kishino. The Elite is initially better received than Superman by the public for simply killing superpowered criminals, thus providing instant results after Atomic Skull escaped and went on a killing spree. However, the Elite grow to become darker and eventually tyrannical over the course of weeks and appear to kill Superman when he opposes them. After Superman returns and defeats them in a terrifying rampage, seeming to slaughter them without mercy as he tells them that he’s going to do things their way now, he reveals that he actually showed mercy and simply disabled the Elite's powers. Public opinion switches back to Superman.
