By Ben Morse

When it comes to facing the rigors of the Marvel Universe, no question there’s strength in numbers.

More than ever over the past year, with threats ranging the ever-lingering terrorists bent on mutant eradication to unfamiliar denizens of an alternate reality where an absence of death has had demonic consequences, sometimes lone heroes just couldn’t get the job done. Heck, Daredevil remained one of the few good guys to stay solo and you saw how he ended up (or if you haven’t, be sure to pick up Shadowland in collected form).

Even the villains got in on the banding together thing, and for awhile there, it worked out pretty well for them.

With 2011 upon us, Marvel.com now takes this time to recognize the super groups that excelled in 2010 with our Top Teams list, selected by our very own Secret Cabal. Enjoy and let us know who you think deserved recognition!

The Secret Avengers

10. THE SECRET AVENGERS

2010 Roster: STEVE ROGERS, ANT-MAN (Eric O’Grady), BEAST, BLACK WIDOW, MOON KNIGHT, NOVA, VALKYRIE, WAR MACHINE, SHARON CARTER

Year in Review: In addition to his primary Avengers, Steve Rogers founded a black ops side group to take care of missions requiring a more finessed touch. Already the Secret Avengers have foiled an attempt by the mysterious Shadow Empire to make a grab for the Serpent Crown on Mars, but the challenges have just begun as this new enemy reveals itself.

Digital Comic Spotlight: CAPTAIN AMERICA: WHO WILL WIELD THE SHIELD? #1

More info available here

The Young Avengers

9. THE YOUNG AVENGERS

2010 Roster: PATRIOT (Eli Bradley), WICCAN, HULKLING, HAWKEYE (Kate Bishop), STATURE, THE VISION, SPEED

Year in Review: The Young Avengers stood alongside their older compatriots during Siege, helping end the tyrannical rule of Norman Osborn over the Marvel Universe. More recently, Wiccan has lead the group on a search for his supposed mother, the Scarlet Witch, that has brought them an unlikely mentor in Magneto and deadly new enemy in doctor Doom.

Digital Comic Spotlight: MIGHTY AVENGERS #28

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The Thunderbolts

8. THE THUNDERBOLTS

2010 Roster: LUKE CAGE, MACH-V, MOONSTONE, SONGBIRD, FIXER, ANT-MAN (Eric O’Grady), PALADIN, GHOST, HEADSMAN, MISTER X, SCOURGE (Frank Simpson), GRIZZLY, CROSSBONES, JUGGERNAUT, MAN-THING

Year in Review: After Siege laid waste to what remained of Norman Osborn’s corrupt Thunderbolts squad, Luke Cage restarted the team as a federally-backed rehabilitation program for super villains. With founding T-Bolts like Songbird and Mach-V lending support, the group has shown early promise, even if Crossbones did already wash out—if nothing else, things will stay interesting.

Digital Comic Spotlight: THUNDERBOLTS #141

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The Secret Warriors

7. THE SECRET WARRIORS

2010 Roster: NICK FURY, QUAKE, DRUID, HELLFIRE, PHOBOS, SLINGSHOT, STONEWALL, EDEN FESI

Year in Review: Things haven’t gotten any easier for Nick Fury’s team of “caterpillars,” as their ongoing conflicts with HYDRA and Leviathan cost them the lives of their teammates Phobos and Hellfire as well as wreaking mass casualties amongst their Howling Commandos allies. Undeterred, the Secret Warriors continued their shadow war with these unsavory elements, though the future appears shaky for the young group.

Digital Comic Spotlight: SECRET WARRIORS #13

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Uncanny X-Force

6. UNCANNY X-FORCE

2010 Roster: ARCHANGEL, WOLVERINE, DEADPOOL, FANTOMEX, PSYLOCKE

Year in Review: The last incarnation of X-Force came to an end following the back-to-back campaigns of Necrosha and Second Coming, but Wolverine and Archangel felt the X-Men still needed a group willing to go where the main team could not, whether Cyclops approved or not. This new top secret squad has only just formed, but should they survive their first encounter with a revived Apocalypse and his latest Horsemen, they should prove a force to be reckoned with.

Digital Comic Spotlight: X-FORCE (2008) #25

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Guardians of the Galaxy

5. THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

2010 Roster: STAR-LORD (Peter Quill), DRAX, GAMORA, GROOT, MARTYR, ROCKET RACCOON, BUG, COSMO, JACK FLAG, MAJOR VICTORY, MANTIS, MOONDRAGON

Year in Review: Star-Lord’s rag tag band of cosmic misfits went out in a blaze of glory, making a suicide run against Lord Mar-Vell and his “Cancerverse” cohorts alongside Thanos of all allies that saw half the team including Drax and Peter Quill himself fall in the line of duty. However, the brave actions of the Guardians not only preserved reality as we know it, it has given rise to an even more powerful team of universal protectors in the Annihilators.

Digital Comic Spotlight: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2008) #25

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The New Avengers

4. THE NEW AVENGERS

2010 Roster: RONIN (Clint Barton), LUKE CAGE, MS. MARVEL (Carol Danvers), MOCKINGBIRD, SPIDER-MAN, WOLVERINE, DOCTOR STRANGE, IRON FIST, CAPTAIN AMERICA (Bucky Barnes), SPIDER-WOMAN (Jessica Drew), JESSICA JONES, THE THING, VICTORIA HAND

Year in Review: In the final days of Dark Reign, the New Avengers kept the torch of justice burning regardless of the odds stacked against them, paving the way for the emergence of the Heroic Age. Luke Cage’s team scored a major win immediately post-Siege by finally taking down their perennial nemesis, The Hood, and then regrouped under the approval of Steve Rogers as a troubleshooting adjunct to the main Avengers team; in this capacity, they’ve already thwarted threats from the mystic realm, though Doctor Voodoo perished in the process.

Digital Comic Spotlight: NEW AVENGERS #64

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The Fantastic Four

3. THE FANTASTIC FOUR

2010 Roster: MISTER FANTASTIC, THE HUMAN TORCH, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, THE THING

Year in Review: Their role as the go-to explorers of the super hero set kept Marvel’s first family plenty busy, as they made trips to the Hidden City of the High Evolutionary, Old Atlantis, the Inhumans’ former home on the moon and the Negative Zone, serving as ambassadors and working to foster peace between various exotic races. While their enemies have begun closing in on them in recent days with a casualty in the imminent future, the FF made great headway this year, perhaps nowhere more so than with the establishment of the Future Foundation to guide intellectually gifted children.

Digital Comic Spotlight: FANTASTIC FOUR #575

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The X-Men

2. THE X-MEN

2010 Roster: CYCLOPS, ICEMAN, ANGEL, BEAST, NIGHTCRAWLER, WOLVERINE, STORM, COLOSSUS, KITTY PRYDE, ROGUE, MAGNETO, PSYLOCKE, DAZZLER, GAMBIT, EMMA FROST, NORTHSTAR, PIXIE, NAMOR

Year in Review: The X-Men saw triumph and tragedy in the wake the so-called “mutant messiah,” Hope Summers, returning to the present day. While Nightcrawler and Cable both fell protecting Utopia from Bastion, the team managed to turn the tide and the young “savior” unleashed her power, beating back the bad guys and also reigniting new mutant births across the globe. Cyclops and company also fended off a vampire invasion of San Francisco and stopped Selene’s undead mutant army.

Digital Comic Spotlight: X-MEN: SECOND COMING #1

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The Avengers

1. THE AVENGERS

2010 Roster: IRON MAN, THOR, HAWKEYE (Clint Barton), SPIDER-MAN, WOLVERINE, CAPTAIN AMERICA (Bucky Barnes), SPIDER-WOMAN (Jessica Drew), THE PROTECTOR, MARIA HILL

Year in Review: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes returned when they were needed most, with Iron Man, Thor and the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, getting back together in order to finally put an end to Norman Osborn’s Dark Reign and stem the Siege on Asgard from spreading any further. With the days of villain’s running the show in the rear view, Rogers assembled a new elite team to serve as the vanguard of the newly minted Heroic Age. In their very test post-reunion, the Avengers managed to do no less than save all of time by defeating their old nemesis Kang.

Digital Comic Spotlight: SIEGE #3

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Keep checking back for more of the Best of 2010 here on Marvel.com!