Manga Khan
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Manga Khan, originally known as ''Lord Manga'', is a
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...
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 L-Ron La Dama La Dama is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. La Dama is a leading figure in El Paso's criminal underworld who was nothing more than an urban legend. Anyone who crosses her will find o ...
(before trading him to the Justice League), and was a foe of the
Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...
in the early 1990s.


Fictional character biography

In one of his first encounters with the Justice League, Manga kidnaps
Mister Miracle Mister Miracle (Scott Free) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Mister Miracle'' #1 (April 1971) and was created by Jack Kirby. Publication history Mister Miracle debuted in ...
in order to open up trade relations with
Apokolips Apokolips is a fictional planet that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The planet is ruled by Darkseid, established in Jack Kirby's Fourth World series, and is integral to many stories in the DC Universe. Apokolips is co ...
. He is followed in a spaceship by
Big Barda Big Barda is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She first appeared in ''Mister Miracle'' #4 (October 1971), and was created by Jack Kirby. Jack Kirby based Barda's physical appearance on Lainie Kazan, who had rec ...
, G'Nort, Rocket Red and
Martian Manhunter The Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and designed by artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in the story "The Manhunter from Mars" ...
. Teamwork allows them to find Manga, which enrages him to the point of damaging his L-Ron. His robotic assistant is not too concerned, he then ponders what the 'fall line' of robotic forms look like.


Less of a villain

After this situation, Manga Khan becomes a more helpful person, befriending the Justice League. He takes
Despero Despero () is a supervillain that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in ''Justice League of America'' #1 (October 1960) and was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky. Debuting in the Silver Age of Comi ...
off their hands after the
Martian Manhunter The Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and designed by artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in the story "The Manhunter from Mars" ...
devolves him. This trade ends with L-Ron being in the employ of the League, which would last for some time. In ''Justice League Europe'' #28, Manga takes the defeated villain
Starro Starro (also known as Starro the Conqueror) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (February–March 1960). It was created by Gardner Fox and Mike ...
. Despero however escapes, but Khan hires Lobo to retrieve him. Lobo comes to believe that Khan's way of speaking has started to affect him: Khan suffers from a condition which causes him to soliloquy at random intervals, in a parody of comics from the sixties. In the same vein, he founds the ''Manga Khan School of Melodrama'' to teach similar speech patterns to other characters. One of his alumni is the Scarlet Skier. Khan later works with Mister Miracle as part of a scheme to market soap all across the galaxy. At first it gets the two into trouble with the dolphin loving Lobo. Khan suffers damage to his robotic shell but later recovers. Later, they attempt to market the soap to the filthy denizens of
Apokolips Apokolips is a fictional planet that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The planet is ruled by Darkseid, established in Jack Kirby's Fourth World series, and is integral to many stories in the DC Universe. Apokolips is co ...
. Not only does this product clean anything material, it cleans souls as well. The revolution they cause is stopped by Darkseid.''Mister Miracle'' #17-18 (July–August 1990)


Powers and abilities

In his natural gaseous state Manga Khan can communicate telepathically but can't physically interact with anything. He normally wears an armored suit that makes him impervious to damage and grants him superhuman strength. Manga is a poor fighter preferring to talk his way out of combat. Manga is a master negotiator and barterer, thoroughly lacking ethics in his wheeling and dealings.


Relationships

Many of Manga Khan's male (or "male"-personality) robotic assistants are named after
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
writers: L-Ron after
L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianeti ...
, Hein-9 after
Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
, K-Dikk after Philip K. Dick, for instance. In the 2003 miniseries ''
Formerly Known as the Justice League Super Buddies are a team of comic book superheroes in the DC Comics 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'' (publishe ...
'', a "female" robotic assistant, J-Lo, was introduced, whose moniker is, of course, derived from a popular nickname for
Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...
. This same series saw Manga Khan speaking of strong feelings for L-Ron, which he referred to as " the love which can never speak its name". A portion of the storyline is dedicated to his attempts to recover the robot, who remains in the company of several of Earth's superheroes. The same storyline implied that J-Lo was interested in a relationship with Manga Khan, which the alien trader seemed to reciprocate. Although none of the robots are built to appear especially masculine or feminine, their personalities are described as such, and they are referred to by other speakers in the comics with appropriate pronouns.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan DC Comics aliens DC Comics extraterrestrial supervillains DC Comics LGBT supervillains DC Comics male supervillains DC Comics supervillains