Team-up

{{Short description|Collaboration between two different superheroes in a same comic book}} [[File:Shield and Wizard.JPG|thumb|The Shield and the Wizard met in ''Top Notch Comics'' #5. It was the first team-up between superheroes.]] In superhero comic books, a '''team-up''' is a fictional crossover where two or more superheroes or superhero teams who usually do not appear together work together on a shared goal.

==Overview== The first team-up between characters published in different comics from the same publisher was published in 1940 by the MLJ Comics. ''Pep Comics'' #4, by Harry Shorten and Irv Novick, featured a story with the Shield, which was continued in ''Top Notch Comics'' #5, by Will Harr and Edd Ashe. In that comic, the Shield met the Wizard. Timely Comics would follow, with a team-up between Sub-Mariner and Human Torch. National Comics Publications took the team-up concept one step further and created the Justice Society of America, the first superhero group, composed of superheroes who starred their own comic books.<ref name="Stan">{{cite web |url= https://www.cbr.com/marvel-comics-universe-stan-lee/|title= How Stan Lee Helped Create the Modern Superhero Universe|author= Brian Cronin|date= November 13, 2018|publisher= Comic Book Resources|access-date=November 13, 2018}}</ref> In international comics, the Phantom teamed up with Zigomar in 1939.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-03 |title=Zigomar |url=https://thephantom.fan/comics/zigomar/ |access-date=2023-04-20 |website=The Phantom |language=en}}</ref>

The team-up was an important worldbuilding narrative device, one that allowed for the creation of a shared universe concept.<ref name="Stan"/>

==In other media== * ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' * ''Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)''

== References == {{reflist}}

Category:Comics terminology Category:Team-up comics

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