Monkey Business (Issue 2)

Young Justice #2: "Monkey Business" is the third issue of the official Young Justice spin-off comic series. It was released on March 16, 2011.

Solicitation
Superboy discovers that an unwanted guest in the Team's cave is not really what he appears to be! Is the threat deadly to only The Boy of Steel – or is the entire Justice League in danger, as well? Superboy struggles to find the balance between fighting for himself and for the sake of others!

Synopsis
Superboy comes to, and finds himself tied up. The Joker has prepared a big, gift-wrapped trap for the League, and when Flash, Hawkman and Martian Manhunter arrive, it's the first thing they see.

Martian Manhunter and Hawkman are skeptical, but Flash is convinced Snapper threw them a surprise party—why else would there be a giant present in the middle of the Cave, and a banner that says "Surprise"? Flash wants to open it and Batman tries to intervene, but is too late. The present bursts open and countless green monkeys jump out. Batman quickly finds the culprit: Joker. Joker reveals the lapse in security caused by Snapper, and proceeds to detonate bombs the monkeys carry. Batman frees Snapper and Superboy, but no-one seems to realize the latter is there.

The League continues to fight the monkeys. Flash manages to grab the jetpacks of several, but is knocked out by gas concealed within them. Joker tries stabbing Martian Manhunter, but his knife is not strong enough. However, with a special gun, he takes out the Martian and Hawkman in one shot. He dodges Superboy, and beats up Snapper. Joker is looking forward to some alone time with Batman, but at that moment, the rest of the League arrives. Joker detonates more bombs.

Superboy is thrown at the Zeta-Beam tube, and hears his designation. At that point, he suddenly realizes what doesn't make sense: the League entered through the tube, but their designations were not called by the computer. Just to test his theory, he picks up Aquaman and throws him in the tube. Nothing happens. None of this—Snapper, Joker, the monkeys, the League—is real. Angrily, he smashes the ground. All the illusions disappear; only a G-Gnome remains. It was the G-Gnome that fed him the information for Cadmus. In the aftermath of Superboy's escape from the facility, the little genomorph escaped, and tracked Superboy because he missed him.

Red Tornado returns, and takes care of the G-Gnome. He tells Superboy the G-Gnome was most likely triggering perception at a distance. The events took place, once, and the psychic residue was picked up by the G-Gnome. Because Superboy's connection to this particular G-Gnome was so strong, all of it felt real, even the pain. But it was all in his brain. He tells Superboy to rest, and returns the G-Gnome to Cadmus. Miss Martian asks him if he learned something about himself, which he did—he hates monkeys.

Title
Monkey business is an activity that is considered a waste of time. The issue has monkeys in it, and explains Superboy's dislike of them.

Characters
! colspan="3"| Non-speaking roles
 * colspan="3" | Batman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Flash (illusion)
 * colspan="2" | Hawkman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Joker (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Martian Manhunter (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Miss Martian
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="3" | Snapper Carr (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Superboy
 * colspan="3" | Superman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Martian Manhunter (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Miss Martian
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="3" | Snapper Carr (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Superboy
 * colspan="3" | Superman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Snapper Carr (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Superboy
 * colspan="3" | Superman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Superman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Superman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Aqualad (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Aquaman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | G-Gnome
 * colspan="3" | Green Arrow (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Hawkwoman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Kid Flash (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Robin (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Wonder Woman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Hawkwoman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Kid Flash (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Robin (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Wonder Woman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Robin (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Wonder Woman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Wonder Woman (illusion)
 * colspan="3" | Wonder Woman (illusion)

Continuity

 * The story continues from the previous issue.
 * The G-Gnome's illusion recreates a scene from four years earlier. Joker discovered the location the location and attacked Snapper Carr. The Justice League had not yet gone public, and numbered only ten members, all present in the battle.
 * For the first time Superboy states his hatred of monkeys. He would later reiterate this hatred in "Schooled", "Alpha Male" and "Revelation".

Trivia

 * The cover features a small bubble in the left top with Artemis; it reuses artwork from Mike Norton's cover of #0.
 * When Superboy breaks free from the illusion, he shouts, "None of this is real". This mirrors 's scream "None of you are real" when he breaks free from his hallucinations in the Gargoyles episode "Shadows of the Past".

Goofs

 * Snapper has green eyes instead of blue.
 * Superman blows away a monkey, but he does not have "super-breath" according to Greg Weisman.
 * When the G-Gnome's illusion drops, Hawkman's wings are miscolored white.

Cultural references

 * Joker's cry "you bent my wookie" is a reference to Ralph Wiggum's line "I bent my wookie [Wookiee]" in the Simpsons episode "Lisa's Rival". YouBentMyWookie.com is also a website and community on merchandise and collectibles.
 * Part of the images implanted into Superboy's mind are the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Great Sphinx of Giza.

Answered questions

 * When did the Joker invade the Cave? (Answer)