Super Buddies
Encyclopedia
Super Buddies are a team of comic book
superhero
es in the DC Comics
universe who appeared in the six-issue Formerly Known as the Justice League miniseries in 2003, and its 2005 sequel, I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League (published in JLA Classified). The team was put together by former Justice League
bank roller Maxwell Lord
as a superhero team "accessible to the common man". Named after the Hanna-Barbera
Saturday morning cartoon
Super Friends
, the team is considered more or less inept and incapable of being of any help by many (including the actual Justice League). The team was created by writers Keith Giffen
and J. M. DeMatteis
, and artists Kevin Maguire and Joe Rubinstein. The storyline is fully canon and can be placed shortly after the return of Green Arrow
(Ollie Queen) to life thanks to a comment made by Power Girl
in I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League.
Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire had previously created the tongue-in-cheek Justice League International
comic book in the 1980s, and revived a similar style of comedy as that series featured.
were former members of Justice League International when Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire worked on the series: Blue Beetle
, Booster Gold
, Fire, Ralph Dibny (The Elongated Man
) and his wife Sue
, and Captain Atom
. A seventh former member, Captain Marvel
, was recruited by L-Ron, but he turned down the offer. His sister, Mary Marvel
, joined in his place.
The Super Buddies do not and cannot get along: Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, formerly the self-proclaimed "Abbott and Costello
" of the JLI, now find themselves constantly arguing and fruitlessly attempting to prove to one another that they've matured. No one takes Booster or Ralph Dibny seriously, though not without good reason. Fire runs a website, "blazingfire.com", where she makes sensual pictures of herself available for (paid) download, and cannot get along with the polite and innocent Mary Marvel, whom Fire dubs "Mary Poppins
". In addition, Fire convinces Sue that Ralph rates as "a four" (out of ten), giving Ralph an inferiority complex as a result. Captain Atom has no idea why he even joined the team, and is constantly tense and frustrated around the others. To top it all off, Maxwell Lord plans to fully exploit his employees' images; he sets their headquarters up in a Queens, New York strip mall
storefront, making the team available for contact through a 1-800 number and producing a Super Friends-esque television commercial for the Super Buddies.
This new team successfully defeats the E-Street Bloodsuckers, a gang of Harvard drop-out super-powered hoodlums, thanks to a well-timed slap from Mary. The Super Buddies are then kidnapped during their first team meeting by Roulette, who brainwashes them into serving as gladiator
s in her intergalactic metahuman arena. Mary Marvel and Captain Atom are pitted against each other, and the mind-controlled Mary nearly beats Atom and Fire to death before she overcomes her programming and the team is released from captivity.
While Beetle and Booster rush a seriously injured (and radioactively leaking) Captain Atom to a hospital, the others find that Manga Khan
, L-Ron's former master, has come to Earth to reclaim the robot. Khan offers to trade G'nort
, another former JLI member, for possession of L-Ron, but when this offer is refused, and Booster accidentally knocks over several rows of Khan's sentries, Khan declares war on Earth. Only by the intervention of the real Justice League (who have been spying on the Super Buddies in anticipation of such a faux pas) is an intergalactic crisis avoided.
Formerly Known as the Justice League proved a popular miniseries, and won the 2004 Eisner Award
for Best Comedy Series.
I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, published in JLA Classified #4–9, finds the Super Buddies settling into their roles as super heroes for hire. The Elongated Man is bragging about Sue allegedly being pregnant, when she is in fact not pregnant. Fire and Mary Batson (Mary Marvel's sixteen-year-old alter ego) become roommates, much to the distaste of Mary's brother Billy Batson (aka Captain Marvel). Captain Atom has quit the team because of the incident with Mary from the previous miniseries and sued Maxwell Lord, leading him to attempt to recruit both Power Girl
and Guy Gardner
to join the team. Gardner causes several problems of his own: he is opening a bar next door to the Super Buddies' strip mall headquarters, and he takes delight in sexually harassing Fire, Sue, Power Girl, and Mary Marvel.
While visiting the Justice Society of America
headquarters, Booster Gold begins messing around with Doctor Fate
's talisman and inadvertently wishes the team to Hell. From the depths of Hell, Fire calls Sue for help (on her cell phone, which is then accidentally destroyed), and Power Girl and Guy Gardner are recruited to follow the team to Hell and save them. While in Hell, the Super Buddies work at a labyrinthine version of Big Belly Burger called the "Beelze
Burger" fast food
restaurant, with the demons using Mary Batson as a hostage, since her magic word - "Shazam!
"-- does not work in Hell (since the wizard Shazam himself is not present in that plane of existence). Ralph's stretching abilities allow him to help foil a plan of torture the demons come up with. To the amazement of both Fire and Gardner, the Super Buddies discover Ice
, another former JLI member, among the denizens of Hell. Sickened by Fire's and Gardner's displays of sorrow, the demons free the group, allowing them to take Ice with them, as long as they don't look back on their way out (a direct allusion to the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice and Lot's wife). Fire accidentally looks back, resulting in Ice's immediate return to the afterlife (whether heaven or hell is left ambiguous) instead of returning to life. It is implied, however, that Ice will be sent to Valhalla.
The group makes its way out of Hell, but soon find themselves trapped in an alternate universe populated by a team of sinister versions of themselves and their fellow heroes called the "Power Posse". This team is a group-for-hire who operated out of a strip club owned by a sleazy, or sleazier, version of Maxwell Lord and his moll, a degraded and somewhat dimwitted version of Sue Dibny. The Power Posse consisted of a giant-sized G'nort
who began a destructive rampage, sado-masochistic
incest
uous versions of Captain Marvel (who talked with a lisp) and Mary Marvel, who called herself Mistress Mary, a murder
ous Ice, now a stripper using the name Tiffany, an even stupider version of Booster working as a bartender, and bouncer Metamorpho. The Fire of this universe had been killed by Tiffany and Sue had divorced Ralph. Doctor Fate finally brings the team back to their correct dimension after they have to do battle with doppelgänger
s of themselves. Most of the battle takes place on the hairy, insect-infested body of G'Nort himself.
The two series, while on the surface seemed mere parody and humour, contained foreshadow
ings of what was to come for the characters involved. Blue Beetle made the point of saying that he would be dead if he joined the team, and Mary Marvel's evil doppelgänger
closely resembling the current dark Mary Marvel
.
In The OMAC Project
#5, the remnants of the Super Buddies (Mary Marvel
included) are shown trying to avenge the Blue Beetle's murder, with no success.
The series Justice League: Generation Lost
reunites Booster, Fire, Ice and Captain Atom, as they hunt for Maxwell Lord following his resurrection at the end of Blackest Night.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es in the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
universe who appeared in the six-issue Formerly Known as the Justice League miniseries in 2003, and its 2005 sequel, I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League (published in JLA Classified). The team was put together by former Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
bank roller Maxwell Lord
Maxwell Lord
Maxwell Lord IV is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He is a shrewd and powerful businessman who was very influential in the formation of the Justice League International in DC Comics.-Before the League:...
as a superhero team "accessible to the common man". Named after the Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
Saturday morning cartoon
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
Super Friends
Super Friends
Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...
, the team is considered more or less inept and incapable of being of any help by many (including the actual Justice League). The team was created by writers Keith Giffen
Keith Giffen
Keith Ian Giffen is an American comic book illustrator and writer.-Biography:Giffen was born in Queens, New York City....
and J. M. DeMatteis
J. M. DeMatteis
John Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books.-Early career:Born in Brooklyn, DeMatteis graduated from Midwood High School and Empire State College. He worked as a music critic before getting his start in comic books at DC Comics in the late 1970s...
, and artists Kevin Maguire and Joe Rubinstein. The storyline is fully canon and can be placed shortly after the return of Green Arrow
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...
(Ollie Queen) to life thanks to a comment made by Power Girl
Power Girl
Power Girl is a DC Comics superheroine, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 ....
in I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League.
Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire had previously created the tongue-in-cheek Justice League International
Justice League International
Justice League International is a DC Comics superhero team written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, with art by Kevin Maguire, created in 1987.-Publication history:...
comic book in the 1980s, and revived a similar style of comedy as that series featured.
Formerly Known as the Justice League
Most of the Super Buddies recruited by Maxwell Lord and his robot sidekick L-RonL-Ron
L-Ron is a fictional character, a robot in the DC Comics universe. L-Ron first appeared in Justice League International #14...
were former members of Justice League International when Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire worked on the series: Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
Blue Beetle is the second Blue Beetle, a superhero who was originally published by Charlton Comics and later picked up by DC Comics...
, Booster Gold
Booster Gold
Booster Gold is a fictional DC Comics superhero. Created by Dan Jurgens, he first appeared in Booster Gold #1 and has been a member of the Justice League, DC Comics' all-star team of heroes. The character is initially depicted as a glory-seeking showboat from the future, using knowledge of...
, Fire, Ralph Dibny (The Elongated Man
Elongated Man
The Elongated Man is a fictional comic book superhero in the DC universe. He is a reserve member of the Justice League. His first appearance was in The Flash vol. 1, #112...
) and his wife Sue
Sue Dibny
Susan "Sue" Dearbon Dibny is a fictional character from DC Comics associated with the Elongated Man. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in Flash vol. 1 #119...
, and Captain Atom
Captain Atom
Captain Atom is a fictional comic book superhero that has existed in three basic incarnations. Created by writer Joe Gill and artist/co-writer Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Space Adventures #33 . Captain Atom was created for Charlton Comics but was later acquired by DC Comics and revised for...
. A seventh former member, Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
, was recruited by L-Ron, but he turned down the offer. His sister, Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine, originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, she first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 in...
, joined in his place.
The Super Buddies do not and cannot get along: Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, formerly the self-proclaimed "Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
" of the JLI, now find themselves constantly arguing and fruitlessly attempting to prove to one another that they've matured. No one takes Booster or Ralph Dibny seriously, though not without good reason. Fire runs a website, "blazingfire.com", where she makes sensual pictures of herself available for (paid) download, and cannot get along with the polite and innocent Mary Marvel, whom Fire dubs "Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins is a series of children's books written by P. L. Travers and originally illustrated by Mary Shepard. The books centre on a magical English nanny, Mary Poppins. She is blown by the East wind to Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane, London and into the Banks' household to care for their...
". In addition, Fire convinces Sue that Ralph rates as "a four" (out of ten), giving Ralph an inferiority complex as a result. Captain Atom has no idea why he even joined the team, and is constantly tense and frustrated around the others. To top it all off, Maxwell Lord plans to fully exploit his employees' images; he sets their headquarters up in a Queens, New York strip mall
Strip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
storefront, making the team available for contact through a 1-800 number and producing a Super Friends-esque television commercial for the Super Buddies.
This new team successfully defeats the E-Street Bloodsuckers, a gang of Harvard drop-out super-powered hoodlums, thanks to a well-timed slap from Mary. The Super Buddies are then kidnapped during their first team meeting by Roulette, who brainwashes them into serving as gladiator
Gladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
s in her intergalactic metahuman arena. Mary Marvel and Captain Atom are pitted against each other, and the mind-controlled Mary nearly beats Atom and Fire to death before she overcomes her programming and the team is released from captivity.
While Beetle and Booster rush a seriously injured (and radioactively leaking) Captain Atom to a hospital, the others find that Manga Khan
Manga Khan
Manga Khan originally known as Lord Manga, is a fictional DC Comics supervillain and an intergalactic trader. A gaseous being, he relies on a metallic suit to give him form...
, L-Ron's former master, has come to Earth to reclaim the robot. Khan offers to trade G'nort
G'nort
G'nort Esplanade G'neesmacher is a fictional character, a DC Comics superhero created by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis during their Justice League period.G'nort was a member of the Green Lantern Corps and later a Darkstar...
, another former JLI member, for possession of L-Ron, but when this offer is refused, and Booster accidentally knocks over several rows of Khan's sentries, Khan declares war on Earth. Only by the intervention of the real Justice League (who have been spying on the Super Buddies in anticipation of such a faux pas) is an intergalactic crisis avoided.
Formerly Known as the Justice League proved a popular miniseries, and won the 2004 Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
for Best Comedy Series.
I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League
A six-issue sequel to Formerly Known as the Justice League, I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, was produced by Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire in 2004, but its publication was held off until 2005, after DC's Identity Crisis, in which a pregnant Sue Dibny is killed, had run its course. There is a running gag in the miniseries involving whether or not Sue is pregnant.I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, published in JLA Classified #4–9, finds the Super Buddies settling into their roles as super heroes for hire. The Elongated Man is bragging about Sue allegedly being pregnant, when she is in fact not pregnant. Fire and Mary Batson (Mary Marvel's sixteen-year-old alter ego) become roommates, much to the distaste of Mary's brother Billy Batson (aka Captain Marvel). Captain Atom has quit the team because of the incident with Mary from the previous miniseries and sued Maxwell Lord, leading him to attempt to recruit both Power Girl
Power Girl
Power Girl is a DC Comics superheroine, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 ....
and Guy Gardner
Guy Gardner (comics)
Guy Gardner is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. He is a core member of the Green Lantern family of characters, and for a time was also a significant member of the Justice League family of characters.He was created by John Broome and Gil Kane in Green Lantern...
to join the team. Gardner causes several problems of his own: he is opening a bar next door to the Super Buddies' strip mall headquarters, and he takes delight in sexually harassing Fire, Sue, Power Girl, and Mary Marvel.
While visiting the Justice Society of America
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
headquarters, Booster Gold begins messing around with Doctor Fate
Doctor Fate
Doctor Fate is the name of a succession of fictional sorcerers who appear in books published by DC Comics. The original version was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, and first appeared in More Fun Comics #55...
's talisman and inadvertently wishes the team to Hell. From the depths of Hell, Fire calls Sue for help (on her cell phone, which is then accidentally destroyed), and Power Girl and Guy Gardner are recruited to follow the team to Hell and save them. While in Hell, the Super Buddies work at a labyrinthine version of Big Belly Burger called the "Beelze
Beelzebub
Beelzebub -Religious meaning:Ba‘al Zəbûb is variously understood to mean "lord of flies", or "lord of the dwelling". Originally the name of a Philistine god, Beelzebub is also identified in the New Testament as Satan, the "prince of the demons". In Arabic the name is retained as Ba‘al dhubaab /...
Burger" fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
restaurant, with the demons using Mary Batson as a hostage, since her magic word - "Shazam!
Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine, originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, she first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 in...
"-- does not work in Hell (since the wizard Shazam himself is not present in that plane of existence). Ralph's stretching abilities allow him to help foil a plan of torture the demons come up with. To the amazement of both Fire and Gardner, the Super Buddies discover Ice
Ice (comics)
Ice is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in publications from DC Comics. Created by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire, she first appeared in Justice League International #12 ....
, another former JLI member, among the denizens of Hell. Sickened by Fire's and Gardner's displays of sorrow, the demons free the group, allowing them to take Ice with them, as long as they don't look back on their way out (a direct allusion to the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice and Lot's wife). Fire accidentally looks back, resulting in Ice's immediate return to the afterlife (whether heaven or hell is left ambiguous) instead of returning to life. It is implied, however, that Ice will be sent to Valhalla.
The group makes its way out of Hell, but soon find themselves trapped in an alternate universe populated by a team of sinister versions of themselves and their fellow heroes called the "Power Posse". This team is a group-for-hire who operated out of a strip club owned by a sleazy, or sleazier, version of Maxwell Lord and his moll, a degraded and somewhat dimwitted version of Sue Dibny. The Power Posse consisted of a giant-sized G'nort
G'nort
G'nort Esplanade G'neesmacher is a fictional character, a DC Comics superhero created by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis during their Justice League period.G'nort was a member of the Green Lantern Corps and later a Darkstar...
who began a destructive rampage, sado-masochistic
Sadism and masochism
Sadomasochism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. The name originates from two authors on the subject, Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch...
incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
uous versions of Captain Marvel (who talked with a lisp) and Mary Marvel, who called herself Mistress Mary, a murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ous Ice, now a stripper using the name Tiffany, an even stupider version of Booster working as a bartender, and bouncer Metamorpho. The Fire of this universe had been killed by Tiffany and Sue had divorced Ralph. Doctor Fate finally brings the team back to their correct dimension after they have to do battle with doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
s of themselves. Most of the battle takes place on the hairy, insect-infested body of G'Nort himself.
The two series, while on the surface seemed mere parody and humour, contained foreshadow
Foreshadow
Foreshadow is a Polish record label.The label formarly included such artists as As All Die, Moss, Niko Skorpio, Oktor, Quercus, The River, Transcendent Device, Váli. Current artists include Dream System, Nadja, and Newbreed....
ings of what was to come for the characters involved. Blue Beetle made the point of saying that he would be dead if he joined the team, and Mary Marvel's evil doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
closely resembling the current dark Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine, originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, she first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 in...
.
Infinite Crisis
It was revealed in the eighty-page one shot Countdown to Infinite Crisis (2005) that Maxwell Lord was in fact Checkmate's latest Black King, and had been collecting information on the Justice League members' weaknesses so that he could annihilate them. Blue Beetle had broken into Lord's secret headquarters and discovered his secret, but was murdered by Lord before he could warn anyone.In The OMAC Project
The OMAC Project
The OMAC Project is a six issue American comic book limited series written by Greg Rucka with art by Jesus Saiz and published by DC Comics in 2005.-Overview:...
#5, the remnants of the Super Buddies (Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine, originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, she first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 in...
included) are shown trying to avenge the Blue Beetle's murder, with no success.
Fate of the Super Buddies
Since the end of I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, many of the characters have had serious upheavals in their lives.- Blue BeetleBlue Beetle (Ted Kord)Blue Beetle is the second Blue Beetle, a superhero who was originally published by Charlton Comics and later picked up by DC Comics...
is dead, killed by Maxwell LordMaxwell LordMaxwell Lord IV is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He is a shrewd and powerful businessman who was very influential in the formation of the Justice League International in DC Comics.-Before the League:...
; Booster Gold attempts to save his life via time travel, but after witnessing the repercussions it causes, Ted resolves to reverse his salvation. - Maxwell Lord was killed by Wonder WomanWonder WomanWonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
and retconRetconRetroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
ned into always having secretly been a villain; this was later changed again in the Booster Gold series, proving his redemption had once been genuine before he began the procedure to become fully human again after he became a cyborg. - Fire has become an operative for the CheckmateCheckmate (comics)Checkmate, a division of Task Force X, is a fictional covert operations agency within the DC Comics universe. It first appeared in Action Comics #598 and proceeded to have its own ongoing title in Checkmate!...
organization. - Booster GoldBooster GoldBooster Gold is a fictional DC Comics superhero. Created by Dan Jurgens, he first appeared in Booster Gold #1 and has been a member of the Justice League, DC Comics' all-star team of heroes. The character is initially depicted as a glory-seeking showboat from the future, using knowledge of...
was apparently killed, only for it to be revealed that he faked his death. Upon his return, Booster shows maturity and strength of character not previously shown during his Super Buddies days and is recruited by Rip Hunter to become an unseen protector of the Timestream. He still decides to portray himself as immature and greedy while in public in order to trip-up other time travelers, confessing his true self and agenda only to BatmanBatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
. - Mary MarvelMary MarvelMary Marvel is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine, originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, she first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 in...
, after losing her powers and acquiring Black AdamBlack AdamBlack Adam is a fictional comic book character, created in 1945 by Otto Binder & C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. Originally created as a one-shot villain for Fawcett Comics' Marvel Family team of superheroes, Black Adam was revived as a recurring supervillain after DC Comics began publishing Captain...
's, she is corrupted. After briefly having her good powers restored by the Greek gods, she is tempted back to the powers of darkness by DarkseidDarkseidDarkseid is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 and was created by writer-artist Jack Kirby....
and finds herself alone, shut out by both Black Adam, the Marvel Family, as well as the entire hero community she betrayed. Freed of what is revealed to be DesaadDesaadDesaad is a fictional comic book supervillain, appearing in books published by DC Comics. He is one of the followers of Darkseid from the planet of Apokolips in Jack Kirby's Fourth World meta-series....
's possession, she is left powerless and in the care of Freddy Freeman, the new Captain MarvelCaptain Marvel (DC Comics)Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
before she regains the powers of the Black Marvel Family. She later has this power stripped from her when the Wizard ShazamShazam (comics)Shazam is a comic book character created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. He is an ancient sorcerer who gives young Billy Batson the power to transform into the superhero Captain Marvel...
reclaims all the powers he has provided, leaving Billy and Adam powerless as well. - Sue DibnySue DibnySusan "Sue" Dearbon Dibny is a fictional character from DC Comics associated with the Elongated Man. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in Flash vol. 1 #119...
has been killed by Jean LoringJean LoringJean Loring is a fictional character in comic books published by DC Comics, formerly associated with superhero the Atom for whom she was a supporting character and primary love interest. She first appeared in Showcase #34 , created by Gardner Fox and Gil Kane...
, who would later become the new host for EclipsoEclipsoEclipso is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. The character is the incarnation of the Wrath of God and the Angel of Vengeance that turned evil and was replaced by the Spectre...
. In an ironic twist, after steadfastly denying she was pregnant during the tenure of the Super Buddies it was revealed in Identity Crisis that Sue had in fact become pregnant shortly before being murdered. She returns as a mystery-solving ghost with powers similar to the ones held by Deadman. However, her body, along with Ralph's, was revived by a Black Lantern Ring, which led to her revenant killing Hawkgirl. - Ralph Dibny was a shell of his former self after his wife's death and embarked on a spectral journey to find a way to bring Sue back to life. In Issue 42 of DC's 5252 (comics)52 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...
, he allowed himself to be murdered by NeronNeronNeron is a fictional demon, a comic book character published by DC Comics. He first appeared in the DC Comics cross-over event Underworld Unleashed #1, , and was created by Mark Waid and Howard Porter.- Publication history :...
in order to mystically trap him and the couple was later turned into mystery-solving ghosts. His body was resurrected as a revenant by a Black Lantern Power Ring; this act led him to later kill Hawkman. - Captain AtomCaptain AtomCaptain Atom is a fictional comic book superhero that has existed in three basic incarnations. Created by writer Joe Gill and artist/co-writer Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Space Adventures #33 . Captain Atom was created for Charlton Comics but was later acquired by DC Comics and revised for...
was transported to the WildstormWildstormWildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
UniverseWildstorm UniverseThe Wildstorm Universe is a fictional shared universe where the comic books published by Wildstorm take place. It represents an alternate history of the real world where ideas such as interstellar travel and superhuman abilities are commonplace...
; upon his return, he wears the MonarchMonarch (comics)Monarch is the name of three fictional DC Comics supervillains. The first Monarch is Hank Hall, formerly Hawk, who later renames himself Extant for the Zero Hour crossover. The second Monarch is Nathaniel Adam, a U.S. Army Captain. The third Monarch is Captain Atom, a former superhero...
armor to prevent himself from rupturing, and later conspires against the Monitors. His armor breached by Superboy Prime, he disappears, losing his chance at multiversal domination to Lord HavokLord HavokLord Havok is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain, part of the supervillain team called the Extremists. He is based on the Marvel Comics supervillain Doctor Doom, and, like him, is a genius equipped with powered armor...
.
The series Justice League: Generation Lost
Justice League: Generation Lost
Justice League: Generation Lost was a year-long comic book limited series that premiered July 2010. It ran twice a month for 24 issues, alternating with Brightest Day written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi.-Publication history:...
reunites Booster, Fire, Ice and Captain Atom, as they hunt for Maxwell Lord following his resurrection at the end of Blackest Night.
In other media
- Many of the Super Buddies characters, including Booster Gold, Fire, Captain Atom, and Elongated Man appear in Justice League UnlimitedJustice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
.
- A live action television series pilot Justice League of America produced in 1997 featured a Keith Giffen inspired League. This pilot featured Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Fire, Ice, Flash, The Atom and Weather Wizard as the featured villain.