Super Buddies are a team of

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

es in the

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

universe who appear 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 Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

''). The team is put together by former

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

bank roller

Maxwell Lord Maxwell Lord IV is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Justice League'' #1 (May 1987) and was created by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire (artist), Kevin Magui ...

as a superhero team "accessible to the common man". 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 Ian Giffen (November 30, 1952 – October 9, 2023) was an American comics artist and writer. He was known for his work for DC Comics on their ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' and ''Justice League'' titles as well as for being the co-creator of ...

and

J. M. DeMatteis John Marc DeMatteis (; born December 15, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, television and novels. Biography Early career J. M. DeMatteis's earliest aspirations were to be a rock musician and comic book artist. He began playing in ban ...

, and artists Kevin Maguire and

Josef Rubinstein Josef "Joe" Rubinstein (born 4 June 1958) is a comic book artist and inker, most associated with inking Marvel Comics' ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' and the 1982 four-issue ''Wolverine (comic book), Wolverine'' miniseries by Chr ...

. Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire had previously created the tongue-in-cheek ''

Justice League International Justice League International (JLI) is a fictional DC comics superhero team that succeeded the original Justice League from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. The team enjoyed several comic books runs, the first being written by Keith Giffen and ...

'' comic book in the 1990s, 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-Ron L-Ron L-Ron is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, and first appeared in '' Justice League International'' #14 (June 1988). L-Ron ...

are former members of Justice League International when Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire worked on the series:

Blue Beetle Blue Beetle is the name of three superheroes appearing in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the rights to the ...

Booster Gold Booster Gold (Michael Jon "Booster" Carter) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the character first appeared in ''Booster Gold (comic book), Booster Gold'' #1 (February 1986) and has be ...

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

, Ralph Dibny (

Elongated Man Elongated Man (Randolph William "Ralph" Dibny) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''The Flash'' #112 (February 25, 1960). The character made his live-action debut on The CW's live-actio ...

) and his wife Sue, and

Captain Atom Captain Atom is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books, initially owned by Charlton Comics before being acquired in the 1980s by DC Comics. All possess some form of energy-manipulating abilities, usually relating to nuc ...

. A seventh former member, Captain Marvel, is recruited by L-Ron, but he turns down the offer. His sister,

Mary Marvel Mary Marvel (also known as Lady Shazam and Mary Shazam) is a fictional character and 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 (DC ...

, joined in his place. The Super Buddies do not and cannot get along: former friends Blue Beetle and Booster Gold constantly argue and attempt to prove to one another that they have 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 download, and cannot get along with the polite and innocent Mary Marvel, whom Fire dubs "

Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...

". 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, Lord plans to fully exploit his employees' images; he sets their headquarters up in a

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

strip mall A strip mall, strip center, strip plaza or simply plaza is a type of shopping mall, shopping center common in North America and Australia where the stores are arranged in a row, with a footpath in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a ...

storefront, making the team available for contact through a 1-800 number and producing a ''

Super Friends ''Super Friends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of Am ...

''-esque

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

for the Super Buddies. This new team successfully defeats the E-Street Bloodsuckers, a gang of

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

drop-out super-powered hoodlums, thanks to a well-timed slap from Mary. During their first team meeting, the Super Buddies are kidnapped by

Roulette Roulette (named after the French language, French word meaning "little wheel") is a casino game which was likely developed from the Italy, Italian game Biribi. In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various grouping ...

, who brainwashes them into serving as

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 ...

s in her intergalactic

metahuman In the DC Universe, a metahuman is a human with superpowers. The term is roughly synonymous with the terms '' mutant'', '' inhuman'' and '' mutate'' in the Marvel Universe and '' posthuman'' in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. In ...

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 Captain Atom to a hospital, the others find that

Manga Khan Manga Khan, originally known as Lord Manga, is a DC Comics supervillain and an intergalactic trader. A gaseous being, he relies on a metallic suit to give him form. He had a robot companion named L-Ron (before trading him to the Justice League), an ...

, L-Ron's former master, has come to Earth to reclaim him. Khan offers to trade

G'nort G'nort (pronunciation: "nort") Esplanade G'neesmacher is a character appearing in DC Comics. He is a member of the Green Lantern Corps and later a Darkstar and a member of the Justice League Antarctica. He resembles an anthropomorphic dog and is g ...

, 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 The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

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 psychology, identity crisis is a stage in Erik Erikson's theory of personality development. This stage happens during adolescence. It is a period of deep reflection and examination of various perspectives on oneself. The Erikson's stages of ps ...

'', in which Sue Dibny is killed, had run its course. ''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 superheroes for hire. Elongated Man is bragging about Sue allegedly being pregnant, when she is, in fact, ''not'' pregnant. Fire and Mary Batson (Mary Marvel's alter ego) become roommates, much to the distaste of Mary's brother Billy Batson (a.k.a. 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

Power Girl Power Girl, also known as Kara Zor-L, Karen Starr, and Paige Stetler, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books by DC Comics, making her first appearance in ''All Star Comics'' #58 (January/February 1976).''Who's Who in the DC Unive ...

and

Guy Gardner Guy Gardner may refer to: * Guy Gardner (astronaut) (born 1948), United States Air Force officer and former astronaut * Guy Gardner (character) Guy Darrin Gardner, one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superhero appearing in American ...

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 The Justice Society of America (JSA) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It first appeared in '' ...

headquarters, Booster Gold begins messing around with

Doctor Fate Doctor Fate (also known as Fate) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version was originally created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, debuting in ''More Fun Comics' ...

'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 " Beelze Burger". Ralph foils the demons' plan to torture the Buddies. To the amazement of both Fire and Gardner, the Super Buddies discover

Ice Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

, another former JLI member, among the denizens of Hell. Sickened by Fire and Gardner's displays of sorrow, the demons free the group, allowing them to take Ice with them as long as they do not look back on their way out. Fire accidentally looks back, and Ice is snatched back to the afterlife. It is implied that Ice will be sent to

Valhalla In Norse mythology, Valhalla ( , ; , )Orchard (1997:171–172) is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. There were five possible realms the soul could travel to after death. The first was Fólkvang ...

. 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 Maxwell Lord and his moll, a degraded and somewhat dimwitted version of Sue Dibny. The Power Posse consisted of a giant-sized

who began a destructive rampage, sado-masochistic incestuous versions of Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel, who called herself Mistress Mary, a murderous Ice, now a stripper using the name Tiffany, an even stupider version of Booster working as a bartender, and bouncer

Metamorpho Metamorpho (Rex Mason) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon, the character debuted as the lead feature in The Brave and the Bold, ''The Brave and the Bold'' (January 1965). ...

. The Fire of this universe had been killed by Tiffany and Sue had divorced Ralph.

brings the team back to their correct dimension after they battle their

doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

''Infinite Crisis''

It was revealed in ''

Countdown to Infinite Crisis ''DC Countdown'', commonly referred to as ''Countdown to Infinite Crisis'', is a one-shot publication and the official start of the "Infinite Crisis" storyline. It was released on 30 March 2005, sold out, and quickly went to a second printing. Wh ...

'' (2005) that Maxwell Lord was

Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

's 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.

References

{{Justice League International 2003 comics debuts Comics by J. M. DeMatteis Comics by Keith Giffen DC Comics superhero teams Eisner Award winners for Best Humor Publication Justice League