Martian Manhunter has always been a hero for the rest of the Justice League to look up to, but when a secret addiction became too powerful, he nearly killed his fellow Leaguers over a box of cookies. J’Onn has been part of the Justice League since it was first founded, and he’s been a staple of nearly every incarnation of the team since they originally came together. But it was Manhunter's time with the Justice League International that taught him what it means to be human – and if humans love one thing, it’s cookies.
J’Onn was first introduced to “Chocos” – the DC Universe equivalent of Oreos – by none other than Captain Marvel during the early days of the Justice League’s International era. Martian Manhunter’s love for cookies would go on to become a running gag for years. But the depth of his obsession with the chocolate treats wasn’t truly explored until 2000's Martian Manhunter #24 by John Ostrander and Doug Mahnke.
Seeking to teach J’Onn more about human customs, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle pull off the prank of the century and steal every single Choco that the Manhunter has stashed around the JLI embassy. Taking it a step further, the duo even buys every bag of cookies in the neighborhood, cutting J’Onn off from buying his precious cookies anywhere within a one-mile radius. Unfortunately, their plans go awry when J’Onn’s cookie deprivation sends him off the deep end. Overwhelmed and missing his fix, J’Onn quite literally Hulks out and starts terrorizing the neighborhood. Booster and Beetle try to calm him down, inadvertently admitting that they’re the ones who took his cookies and nearly getting crushed in the process. They lead him to the warehouse where they stashed their ill-gotten Chocos, with J’Onn leaving behind a trail of destruction that attracts Maxwell Lord and the rest of the authorities. The JLI stages an intervention for Martian Manhunter and Batman reveals that the chemicals found in Chocos affect J'Onn in the same way that highly addictive drugs affect humans. Luckily, J’Onn uses his shapeshifting abilities to physically expel and destroy the addiction, but not before it attempts to infect the other Leaguers.
The end of the issue hints that this is just a story J’Onn makes up to teach Green Lantern Kyle Rayner a lesson, but there’s a good chance that there’s at least some truth to it. After all, this is exactly the sort of prank that Booster and Beetle would pull, and someone as strong as J'Onn wouldn’t necessarily realize that he would have a problem in the first place. And while the Manhunter would go on to eat plenty of Chocos in the years since, it’s clear that his experience with Booster and Beetle taught him the value of moderation.
Martian Manhunter is the Justice League’s powerhouse, but this story shows that he’s still just a person with the same vulnerabilities as anyone else in the League. And it should also be noted that J’Onn’s two confirmed weakness – fire and cookies – are both extremely simple things to threaten a hero on his level. Quirks like these humanize a frequently all-too-alien character and add an interesting dimension to a hero described as one of the most powerful beings on the face of the planet.
Whenever a supervillain attacks the Justice League, they always need to come prepared. And for the most part, that preparation involves finding some pretty obscure and hard-to-find weaponry. But while they may have a hard time getting their hands on Kryptonite to take down Superman, they’ll just need a box of cookies for Martian Manhunter.