The World's Greatest Superheroes Part 3: The Disco Disappearances

It’s 1978, and what’s deadlier than — disco?

A strange, beautiful woman is abducting young men from popular discothèques around Metropolis. For what purpose? Where does she take them? No one knows, but street-level superhero Jefferson Pierce – a.k.a. The Black Lightning – is on the case.

When the Dark Knight Detective’s teen sidekick Robin (in his civilian identity of Dick Grayson) is also abducted by the mysterious mademoiselle, Batman joins Black Lightning in the quest for the missing men.

The Disco Disappearances introduce the first original villains in the World’s Greatest Superhero universe – Dr. Giles Manning, and his unwilling assistant Ella. A catastrophic fire at Dr. Manning’s private clinic leaves the brilliant surgeon paralyzed and badly scarred, and likewise disfigures the once-beautiful Ella. 

Manning is so damaged by the accident that he is constrained to a bizarre life-support mechanism which boasts a tank-like body, a single sinuous metal claw, and a red-wigged fright mask for a face. It’s simultaneously unsettling to imagine a human being twisted into such a hideous conveyance, but also hilarious how it kind of looks like a roomba with a styrofoam head on it. 

Provided with amazing technical gadgets by a mysterious benefactor, Manning arranges a scheme to transfer his brain into the strong, youthful form of one of Metropolis’ hunkiest club rats. Ella, for her part, only goes along with the devilish doctor’s inhuman scheme in return for amazing technology that lets her recreate her stolen beauty.

Located behind a roaring waterfall, the doc’s presumably-humid headquarters becomes the home for the missing men, and a trap for the superheroes. What’s the hot design trend for the hip homes of 1978? How about three identically dressed men in John Travolta’s clothing in glass containers in the middle of the foyer? Groovy!

In the end, Manning pays for his perfidy – but not at the hands of the Justice League. 

Batman, Black Lightning and a newly-arrived Superman liberate Manning’s victims and bungle his plans, but the demented doctor is teleported away at the last moment by his mysterious benefactor – and done away with in gruesome fashion. But at whose hands? Read on to find out!

03. The Disco Disappearances
(1978-10-25 to 1979-01-21)
Starring: Black Canary, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Robin, Black Lightning, Jimmy Olsen
Villains: Ella, The Suicide Serpents, Dr. Giles Manning, Mysterious Benefactor
Creative Team: Pasko, Tuska/Colletta