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scans_daily98 of 108.
Manga Khan has returned to Earth with an urgent desire to reclaim L-Ron, the robot servant he once traded away on a whim. But now he seems to need his old aide-de-camp back as badly as he needs to soliloquize. His medication can control the latter need, but not the former.
Meanwhile, Beetle and Booster are trying to help the dying Captain Atom, but the hospital staff bring in the Environmental Protection Agency. This was back when…no, I’m not even gonna go there. Cap is a biohazard every second that Booster’s force field isn’t containing him, and they can’t do anything to seal up his cracked shell when the field IS containing him. So everyone is prioritizing the needs of the many, which may just mean dumping Cap into a nuclear waste site to die.
“The sound of unfettered violence…and Portuguese obscenities” heralds the return of Fire, Elongated Man, and Mary, who charge back into Superbuddies HQ, having skirmished with Manga Khan’s forces outside.
Beetle racks his brains some more and realizes he does have one other friend who may be able to help.
Ted and Barbara had history over in Birds of Prey. She was the one who had pushed him to see a doctor, uncovering his heart condition (#39, #40).
And there was some will-they-won’t-they tension, though it sometimes seemed one-sided (#75)…
Babs would later confess they did have an affair of sorts, while setting up Ted’s memorial after his passing (BoP #96).
I’m not out to make any trouble with Batgirl-Nightwing shippers, but now that Ted’s back, it’d be nice to see Barbara and Ted spend a little time together as friends or exes, for old times’ sake. Or forgotten continuity’s sake? Whatever.
Anyway, maybe Beetle is getting old, because after all the fretting he does about Captain Atom, he barely registers it when the STAR techs tell him and Booster to see their doctors about the radiation exposure they took looking after Cap. And he definitely doesn’t have the spoons to care about this new alien invasion:
“…I’ve got a cousin in the toupee business.”
Superman doesn’t appear in this story, but when it comes to the kind of petty condescension that he used to offer Beetle, Booster, and Fire, the other members of the JLA are happy to fill in for him. And at first, their contempt seems justified when a long-simmering conflict between the JLI’s most iconic duo rears its head.
Beetle’s not wrong about Booster seeming to regress on purpose, but Booster’s not wrong about Beetle letting him down. Once the poster boy for JLI immaturity, Ted’s hot to condemn in his old friend what he really hates about his old self.
Khan reacts to this perceived attack by threatening to blow up the planet. Max doesn’t exactly de-escalate matters when he tries hitting Khan in the face.
Despite the unstable design of his ground forces, Khan’s overall resources are way too much for the Super Buddies, possibly too much even for the JLA. But what the JLA doesn’t understand is that the Super Buddies can end this with no violence at all, just by matching Manga Khan’s wavelength in a way the JLA never could.
This isn’t just masochism on Manga Khan’s part (though he does seem weirdly into the basement idea). Even though he has vast power, his weird business ethics prevent him from moves other villains would consider obvious. Even though he’s been abducted by force, he cannot resist the option to negotiate his way free when it’s offered to him. Even though that means giving up his original goal, he has, in his view, no choice.
Hey, remember when Diana was getting ready to join the Justice League for the first time, Beetle was being an obnoxious flirt to her, and Booster was holding him back?
Times have changed, for all concerned.
This reflects 2000s Must See TV, too: we were starting to see more and more positive LGBT portrayals, but they were still rare and new enough that revealing alternate sexuality could qualify as a subplot’s surprise punchline. (L-Ron suggested this possibility earlier in the story, but no one, including L-Ron, took it seriously.) It’s a little coy, but it’d infuriate the current presidential administration, so I’ll take it.
You might be wondering if Giffen and DeMatteis missed the fact that Wonder Woman did serve with this version of the Justice League, from about a year after their departure up to its very last days. She did, but her characterization on the team was…highly variable, with some treatments more aggressive and “mid-Nineties” than others. Given that range, her contempt here doesn’t seem too out of place.
Or you can just pretend this happened while Hippolyta was in the costume instead.
Back on Earth, a couple of contractors come in to set up a picture window for the Super Buddies offices. A sleep-deprived Max lets L-Ron field that one.
Saturday: The Super Buddies exchange one source of toxic energy for another as Guy Gardner returns.
Manga Khan has returned to Earth with an urgent desire to reclaim L-Ron, the robot servant he once traded away on a whim. But now he seems to need his old aide-de-camp back as badly as he needs to soliloquize. His medication can control the latter need, but not the former.
Meanwhile, Beetle and Booster are trying to help the dying Captain Atom, but the hospital staff bring in the Environmental Protection Agency. This was back when…no, I’m not even gonna go there. Cap is a biohazard every second that Booster’s force field isn’t containing him, and they can’t do anything to seal up his cracked shell when the field IS containing him. So everyone is prioritizing the needs of the many, which may just mean dumping Cap into a nuclear waste site to die.
“The sound of unfettered violence…and Portuguese obscenities” heralds the return of Fire, Elongated Man, and Mary, who charge back into Superbuddies HQ, having skirmished with Manga Khan’s forces outside.
Beetle racks his brains some more and realizes he does have one other friend who may be able to help.
Ted and Barbara had history over in Birds of Prey. She was the one who had pushed him to see a doctor, uncovering his heart condition (#39, #40).
And there was some will-they-won’t-they tension, though it sometimes seemed one-sided (#75)…
Babs would later confess they did have an affair of sorts, while setting up Ted’s memorial after his passing (BoP #96).
I’m not out to make any trouble with Batgirl-Nightwing shippers, but now that Ted’s back, it’d be nice to see Barbara and Ted spend a little time together as friends or exes, for old times’ sake. Or forgotten continuity’s sake? Whatever.
Anyway, maybe Beetle is getting old, because after all the fretting he does about Captain Atom, he barely registers it when the STAR techs tell him and Booster to see their doctors about the radiation exposure they took looking after Cap. And he definitely doesn’t have the spoons to care about this new alien invasion:
“…I’ve got a cousin in the toupee business.”
Superman doesn’t appear in this story, but when it comes to the kind of petty condescension that he used to offer Beetle, Booster, and Fire, the other members of the JLA are happy to fill in for him. And at first, their contempt seems justified when a long-simmering conflict between the JLI’s most iconic duo rears its head.
Beetle’s not wrong about Booster seeming to regress on purpose, but Booster’s not wrong about Beetle letting him down. Once the poster boy for JLI immaturity, Ted’s hot to condemn in his old friend what he really hates about his old self.
Khan reacts to this perceived attack by threatening to blow up the planet. Max doesn’t exactly de-escalate matters when he tries hitting Khan in the face.
Despite the unstable design of his ground forces, Khan’s overall resources are way too much for the Super Buddies, possibly too much even for the JLA. But what the JLA doesn’t understand is that the Super Buddies can end this with no violence at all, just by matching Manga Khan’s wavelength in a way the JLA never could.
This isn’t just masochism on Manga Khan’s part (though he does seem weirdly into the basement idea). Even though he has vast power, his weird business ethics prevent him from moves other villains would consider obvious. Even though he’s been abducted by force, he cannot resist the option to negotiate his way free when it’s offered to him. Even though that means giving up his original goal, he has, in his view, no choice.
Hey, remember when Diana was getting ready to join the Justice League for the first time, Beetle was being an obnoxious flirt to her, and Booster was holding him back?
Times have changed, for all concerned.
This reflects 2000s Must See TV, too: we were starting to see more and more positive LGBT portrayals, but they were still rare and new enough that revealing alternate sexuality could qualify as a subplot’s surprise punchline. (L-Ron suggested this possibility earlier in the story, but no one, including L-Ron, took it seriously.) It’s a little coy, but it’d infuriate the current presidential administration, so I’ll take it.
You might be wondering if Giffen and DeMatteis missed the fact that Wonder Woman did serve with this version of the Justice League, from about a year after their departure up to its very last days. She did, but her characterization on the team was…highly variable, with some treatments more aggressive and “mid-Nineties” than others. Given that range, her contempt here doesn’t seem too out of place.
Or you can just pretend this happened while Hippolyta was in the costume instead.
Back on Earth, a couple of contractors come in to set up a picture window for the Super Buddies offices. A sleep-deprived Max lets L-Ron field that one.
Saturday: The Super Buddies exchange one source of toxic energy for another as Guy Gardner returns.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-21 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-22 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-21 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-22 12:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-22 11:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-22 06:24 pm (UTC)...
... ... she totally just did a copy and replace on someone's appointment, didn't she?
Even if it is Hippolyta in the costume, pretty sure she should know. She's been leader of an island of warrior-women for over two thousand years. She has sisters (or at least one. Sometimes.).
Ted's phone call with Barbara's got some good little character moments.
If there'd been a bit more of that and a little less "bwa-ha-ha" first time around... ... hmm.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-22 07:17 pm (UTC)They live in the U.S., where people with money and connections can often get medical appointments just that quickly. Even MRIs, I'm told. (The flipside, of course, is that if you have neither money nor connections... yeah.)
... ... she totally just did a copy and replace on someone's appointment, didn't she?
I'm going to assume you're joking because that'd be very out of character for Barbara. Or for pretty much any hero who wasn't so grimdark they were scarcely distinguishable from a villain.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-22 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-22 07:16 pm (UTC)I think part of it was the Marvels. I thought Billy was grown up in the first issue, or whenever they were shown.
Still growing to appreciate Max Lord more and more, which is just going to make what's to come all the worse.