Martian Manhunter

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Martian Manhunter
Art by Al Barrionuevo.
Publisher DC Comics First appearance Detective Comics #225 (1955) Created by Joseph Samachson Joe Certa
Characteristics Alter ego J'onn J'onzz Species Green Martian, from Mars Affiliations Justice League Justice Experience Notable aliases Bloodwynd, Bronze Wraith, Fernus, John Jones, Jonh Johnstone, Manhunter from Mars, Marco Xavier, Mrs. Klingman, William Dyer Abilities Superhuman strength, speed, stamina and endurance, invulnerability, flight, telepathy, intangibility, invisibility, shape-shifting, "Martian vision,"

The Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz), alternately known as the Manhunter from Mars, is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in DC Comics. He first appeared in the back-up story "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel" in Detective Comics #225 (cover date: November, 1955), written by Joseph Samachson and illustrated by Joe Certa.

J'onzz is a native of the planet Mars who possesses abilities similar to those of Superman, including flight, heat vision (sometimes called "Martian Vision", and inconsistently accompanied by a full Superman-like suite of vision powers), super-strength, and super-stamina. He also possesses the powers of invisibility, telepathy and shape-shifting; related to shape shifting is the power to alter his density or phase, thereby becoming intangible and able to pass through solid objects. His usual public appearance is of a tall, hairless, green-skinned humanoid with a pronounced brow. He is highly sensitive to fire; in some stories this weakness is a physical weakness, and in others it is purely psychological. Fire can affect him much as kryptonite does Superman, making him sick and weak, unable to use his various powers.

Contents 1 Fictional character history 1.1 Early years 1.2 Justice League 1.3 Solo adventures 1.4 Fernus 1.5 Infinite Crisis and One Year Later 1.6 Future 2 Powers and abilities 3 Other versions 4 Other media 4.1 Television 4.2 Video Games 4.3 Parodies and analogues 5 Trivia 6 External links

[edit] Fictional character history

[edit] Early years

In his debut story, J'onn J'onzz is accidentally teleported to Earth by a human scientist, Dr. Erdel, who immediately has a heart attack and dies, leaving the Martian stranded and unable to return. He is able to use his powers to fit in, adopting a humanoid appearance and calling himself "John Jones". He joins the Middleton police force, secretly using his alien powers to help the inhabitants of his new planet. After he had given up his John Jones persona he became Marco Xavier in order to infiltrate the international crime cartel known as VULTURE. During the superhero revival that became known as the Silver Age of Comic Books, the Manhunter from Mars adopted a more characteristically superheroic modus operandi, openly fighting crime in a green-skinned form.

Later comics reveal that Mars was dead when J'onn was taken, killed by a mental plague deliberately started by his brother Ma'alefa'ak. It is also said that, prior to becoming a superhero in his real form, he took the identity of the Bronze Wraith, and fought crime with the Justice Experience (a group that essentially exists to fill the gap between the eras of the Justice Society of America and the Justice League of America).

[edit] Justice League

The Martian Manhunter's history is closely linked with that of the Justice League: He is a founding member of the superhero team, and his appearances with the League kept him in the public eye long after his own series of back-up stories (appearing in Detective Comics and House of Mystery) was cancelled. In the Justice League International series, J'onn is shown to be obsessed with Oreos, partially due to Captain Marvel's influence; the story of how he got over the addiction is told in his eponymous series (which, in a retcon, refers to them as "Chocos").

In 'Justice League International, J'onzz reveals that his familiar appearance is not his true Martian form but a "compromise" between his true form and a human appearance. This concept is refined in his solo series, which explains that his real form is private and that, even on Mars, his "public" appearance was the familiar version. In addition to serving in the League under his own identity, he also joins (under duress) as "Bloodwynd".

[edit] Solo adventures

Martian Manhunter began as an ongoing series in 2000, written by John Ostrander, and illustrated by Tom Mandrake (with fill-in art provided by Bryan Hitch among others). The series lasted 36 issues before being cancelled due to low sales. The first issue introduced Ma'alefa'ak as a new villain; it also established that there was a "real" human John Jones, a police detective who is murdered by corrupt colleagues, and that J'onn subsequently assumed his identity to complete an important court case. The series was responsible for giving a definitive origin to Jemm, Son of Saturn and his fellow Saturnians. Outside of this, the Manhunter appears predominantly in Justice League comic books; he is the only character to be involved with every incarnation of the League. (From the late 1960s until the late 1970s, J'onn was absent from the JLA, having left Earth to find New Mars. This storyline is later retconned during the Crisis, and it is now assumed he was with the team at this time.)^{[citation needed]}

J'onzz has two minor appearances in the Sandman series, in the issue #5 story "Passengers", in which the Dreamlord Morpheus inquires about the whereabouts of his Dreamstone. At this time, J'onn identifies him as an old God, and he sees Morpheus as a floating face, rather than the humanoid form others see him in. He also appears in issue #71 of Sandman during "The Wake" story arc, conversing with Batman and Clark Kent about dreams.

Grant Morrison establishes in the JLA series that the Martian Manhunter is the most recognized hero in the Southern Hemisphere, and that he maintains a number of different secret identities, many of them outside the United States; however, following two incidents later in the series in which John Jones separates from the Martian Manhunter, he decides to focus on his original human identity and retire the others.

[edit] Fernus

In Joe Kelly-penned issues of JLA, the Martian Manhunter attempts to conquer his fear of fire and makes a deal with a flame-wielding villainess named Scorch, who wants J'onzz' telepathic help in dealing with her own mental issues. The story reveals that 20,000 years before, an extremely dangerous race of beings, called "the Burning", caused large fires to help themselves to reproduce asexually. In order to prevent the Burning from destroying much of the universe, the Guardians of the Universe split the species into the Green Martians and the White Martians, changed their reproductive behavior, and instilled in them a fear of fire. When the Martian Manhunter confronts his fear of fire, he reverts into one of the ancient creatures and changes his name to Fernus. His genetic memory identifies threats such as Vandal Savage, who killed one of the Burning on ancient Earth. This same genetic memory also makes Fernus hate the Green Lantern, due to his association with the Oans.

Fernus vastly increases the strength of the powers he inherits from J'onn: for example, he can phase other beings rather than just himself, and he can telepathically control the other Justice League members, rendering them unable to fight him. He can breathe fire of such intensity it harms Scorch, who had previously been thought immune to damage from fire. Fernus' tremendous strength also allows him to dominate the Justice League in combat even without his Martian telepathic powers. He can also heal himself from almost total destruction within seconds.

The Justice League eventually defeats Fernus by re-enlisting Plastic Man, who is immune to Fernus' psychic powers and has superior shape-changing abilities. The story implies that Batman recruited Plastic Man to the Justice League as a balance in case the Martian Manhunter ever goes out of control. Meanwhile, mystic hero Manitou Raven takes two of his teammates into the Dreamwalk, a psychic plane on which they can reach the soul of J'onn J'onzz, imprisoned deep in Fernus' mind. Helping J'onn fight for his freedom against the mental might of the Burning Martian, they enable him to physically re-emerge when Fernus attempts to reproduce. The other Justice Leaguers then create a tsunami to submerge the two Martians, dousing Fernus' flames and giving J'onn the advantage.

After destroying Fernus, J'onn grieves for Scorch, who had fallen into a coma, and with whom he had fallen in love. In a later story, J'onn tells Superman that his aversion to fire has changed: he is now invulnerable to flames unless they are "flames of passion" or of some other "psychic significance".

[edit] Infinite Crisis and One Year Later

Main articles: Infinite Crisis and One Year Later

Although J'onzz is initially thought killed in the explosion of the Justice League Watchtower, Justice League member Manitou Dawn receives a telepathic vision of J'onzz assuring her that he "will reveal himself, in time" but needs her help to keep an eye on a mysterious, newly-powerful telepath - the mind-controlling villain Key - whose abilities he had always managed to dampen before. J'onzz resurfaces (in Infinite Crisis), unconscious and connected to Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s vibrational tower, along with Lady Quark, the Ray, Black Adam, Power Girl, Nightshade, and Breach. Wonder Girl, Superboy, and Nightwing free J'onzz and the others from Alexander's tower. Oracle asks J'onzz to telepathically coordinate the heroes' response to the Society's global jailbreak. He joins the assembled heroes in the defense of Metropolis from the combined might of the world's supervillains and in the battle against Superboy-Prime.

After Infinite Crisis, most of DC's series jumped ahead one year, having the weekly series 52 fill in in the missing time. In 52 #24, it is revealed that J'onn has been undercover for 6 months to destroy Checkmate to avenge Ted Kord, who he dismissed when Ted attempted to warn him of them. Although successful in banning them in the USA, the UN reinstates Checkmate with greater powers after a group of everyman heroes cause havoc in Metropolis in the same issue. The story is set during the year prior to the miniseries mentioned above, both of which are ongoing.

DC Comics announced a new Martian Manhunter limited series that will spin out of the DCU: Brave New World one-shot.[1] It will be written by A.J. Lieberman with art from Al Barrionuevo and Bit. The mini-series will be about J'onn's search for another possible survivor of Mars.

The first issue re-introduces the Golden Age Martian Manhunter Roh Kar, now renamed Roh'Kar but just as he and J'onn meet, a sniper shoots and kills him. As he dies, he tells J'onn that there are more of them elsewhere.

[edit] Future

More than once, DC Comics have published stories set in the far future where J'onn J'onzz is still alive.

In the fourth-edition run of Legion of Super-Heroes, J'onn J'onzz appears in the 30th century as an acquaintance of Dream Girl- obviously much older, appearing more wrinkled and aged than his modern-day appearance (despite apparently retaining his shapeshifting powers) - and assists the Legion of Super-Heroes against Mordru. After Zero Hour, this continuity was erased. In the post-Zero Hour Legion "reboot" stories, J'onn does not explicitly appear; however, it was hinted by the writing team that R.J. Brande, the financier of the Legion and President of the United Planets, was J'onn in disguise when Brande revealed he had telepathic training "from way back."

The Elseworlds story in Justice League America Annual 1994 has J'onn posing as "Doctor Jonas" 100 years from now, training new heroes to avenge his long-dead teammates. In the second issue of his ongoing series (numbered #1 Million as part of a company-wide time travel crossover), J'onn's lifestory is stretched many millennia hence. He lives under various cover identities until the 30th Century, and briefly reveals himself to assist the Legion of Super-Heroes. Ten thousand years thereafter (most of which he spends in suspended animation), J'onn fights a long war against a world-destroying cosmic "Swarm" who threatened to obliterate humanity; and later still, leads resistance against the occupation of Mars by Darkseid the Destroyer. When Darkseid and J'onn finally face the judgment of the elder gods together, J'onn is allowed to restore his home planet to the way he remembered it by physically becoming part of Mars. His consciousness is dispersed throughout the planet, watching over its human inhabitants in the following ages and now, truly, immortal.

[edit] Powers and abilities

• The Martian Manhunter has been described as "the Swiss Army knife of superheroes." He possesses many similar powers to those of Superman -- super-human strength, invulnerability, flight, and "Martian" vision -- at levels close to those of Superman himself. In various altercations with Superman, the Martian Manhunter is usually able to stun the Man of Steel, but ultimately loses the fight. He has fought Captain Marvel to a standstill using nothing more than his strength.

• He is also able to shapeshift (adopting human form, elongating his limbs, growing to immense size, and so on), turn invisible (in most Silver Age sources none of his other powers work while he is invisible), and alter his density (increasing it to become tougher and stronger, decreasing it to become incorporeal and thus able to pass through solid objects such as walls).

• In addition to his vast physical powers, J'onn is also a very powerful telepath, often acting as a "switchboard" for other JLAers in order to coordinate the team's actions. His defeat of Despero in JLI revealed that he is able to use his telepathy to completely submerge another being's mind in a permanent "wish-fulfillment" scenario, but that this is such a strain that he was only able to do it once — in Martian culture, this was a last gift to the dying from their loved ones.^{[citation needed]}

• He also possesses 9 different senses, though these are ill-defined and often forgotten.

• For most of his existence, J'onn was shown to have a deep-seated pyrophobia. Numerous explanations have been given for this over the years, usually (but not always) portraying it as a racial trait of Martians. Most recently it was revealed, during the Trial By Fire storyline (JLA nos. 84-89), that this fear was instilled on a genetic level by the Guardians of the Universe 20,000 years ago, when they split the original "Burning" Martians into the Green Martians and White Martians. The Guardians instilled this fear because the psychic suffering of others, combined with the physical conditions of an inferno, allow the barbaric, ruthless, and brilliant "Burning" Martians to asexually reproduce. As a species the Burning Martians existed only "to cause suffering and burn and breed," but if they were too afraid to go near fire, they could not reproduce.

• At the end of the Trial by Fire arc, J'onn told Superman of the changes he'd gone through. "The flame and I are again bound, body and soul... but not as before... I can withstand simple fire without pain. Candle flame, or a burning forest, it matters not unless -- they are flames of psychic significance. Flames of suffering, as The Burning created... flames of passion, as an arsonist might create... flames of love. Those... those most of all I cannot bear."

[edit] Other versions

• In 1953, DC Comics published a story in which a green-skinned manhunter from Mars named Roh Kar arrives on Earth and captures an escaped Martian convict with the assistance of the Earth-Two Batman. This version has devices that allow him to disappear and teleport. (First appearance: Batman #78)
• In the 2006 Martian Manhunter mini-series, the golden age Manhunter from Mars returns as a green Martian named Roh'Kar, who meets J'onn just prior to his death.
• In the timeline witnessed in DC One Million, J'onn is still alive, having become one with the planet Mars and now living in the dust of the planet itself. He appears to have grown weaker over time, speaking at a slower rate and apparently unable to leave Mars, but he remains active if need be, even telepathically communicating with the present-day Aquaman as the JLA launch the final attack on Solaris.
• In the Elseworlds series Kingdom Come, J'onn is shown to be a shadow of his former self; in an attempt to understand humanity, he "opened his mind to the world-- and was forever shattered by its thoughts." This version of J'onn is weak, speaks with a stammer and must concentrate to maintain his body's own solidity. Although still possessing some telepathy, he proves unable to pierce Lex Luthor's mental shields.

[edit] Other media

[edit] Television

Justice League (live-action pilot)

J'onn J'onzz appears in the 1997 live-action pilot for the Justice League of America television series. He has difficulty shapeshifting, and no mention is made of any other powers. J'onzz is played by David Ogden Stiers.

Justice League (animated series)

In the Justice League animated series, J'onzz' history is even more closely tied with that of the League. In the series, the Justice League originates as a temporary uniting of Earth's heroes against an alien invasion; the invaders had previously invaded Mars, wiping out all the inhabitants except J'onn J'onzz, who travels to Earth to warn of the invaders and join the fight against them. He is captured by the aliens, but manages to summon Batman and Superman to come to his aid, then, when the aliens pursue them, he also calls Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and Hawkgirl to the battle as well, effectively forming the initial League. When the invaders are defeated, he remains on Earth as a member of the League. His addiction to Choco/Oreo cookies is referenced in the Holiday special Comfort & Joy where he pretended to be Santa Claus for a young girl, coming down a chimney and snatching one of the familiar cookies so that she'll believe Santa had eaten them (and he clearly enjoyed eating it).

For the animated series, executive producer Bruce Timm revised and reduced J'onn's powers somewhat; his superstrength was vastly downplayed (though he was still seen performing great feats of strength on occasion), his superspeed and Martian Vision removed altogether and emphasis was placed on his telepathy, shapeshifting and density alteration, specifically his ability to become intangible. J'onzz only increased his density sporadically on the series, usually noticeable by a glowing blue aura surrounding his body; he actually became diamond hard once in a single episode, season 1's "A Knight of Shadows".

The character, voiced by Carl Lumbly, is referred to as J'onn J'onzz -- and not Martian Manhunter -- with the exception of "Task Force X", an episode aired when the show was recreated as Justice League Unlimited, and he is always listed as "J'onn J'onzz" in the show's closing credits.

After the Watchtower is destroyed during a Thanagarian invasion, the League reforms, enlisting more than 50 new members. J'onzz assigns and monitors many of the missions. J'onzz remains on the Watchtower for two years without leaving, and begins to dislike humanity. When Wonder Woman points this out, J'onzz resigns from active duty to live among Earth's citizens and learn more about them. His duties as Watchtower moderator are passed to Mr. Terrific. In the series finale, "Destroyer," J'onn, apparently living with a middle-aged human woman in China (or vacationing there), joins the fight against Darkseid's forces.

Smallville

In the episode Static of the television series Smallville, Clark Kent faces a criminal from the Phantom Zone who feeds off the bones of people. As Clark is overpowered, an invisible figure phases his hand through the being's body and kills him. Noticing a half-eaten Oreo on the ground (a trademark addiction of the Martian Manhunter), Clark walks to the end of a harbor, where a bald, shadowy figure is standing. As Clark shouts to it, the figure opens his glowing eyes and flies away, leaving with a red stream closely behind. Later, Clark finds another half eaten Oreo on his barn floor. [2]

The Batman

It has been revealed at Comic-Con 2006 that Martian Manhunter will be making a guest appearance in The Batman's season four finale. [3]

[edit] Video Games

The Martian Manhunter is prominently featured in the videogame Justice League Heroes.

The animated version of Martian Manhunter appeared in both the Game Boy Advance games Justice League: Injustice for All and Justice League: Chronicles.

[edit] Parodies and analogues

There have been few parodies of Martian Manhunter made in recent times, due to the concentration on more well-known heroes like Superman and Batman.

• Martian Anteater - A member of Just'a Lotta Animals

• Mr. Martian - CH'kk Kk'xx (Chuck Cox) - A Big Bang Comics hero

• Mister X - An amalgam between J'onn and Marvel's Professor X, from Amalgam Comics

• Martian Man in the Guardians of the Globe from Invincible

• Vigilante from Venus - a female character (men are from Mars...) in Top Ten

• Skrullian Skymaster from Squadron Supreme. While the connection is never established "on panel", the Skymaster fills the Martian Manhunter spot in this JLA pastiche.

[edit] Trivia

• Mars was known as Ma'aleca'andra, in his native tongue; this is similar to Malacandra, the name used by the inhabitants of Mars in C. S. Lewis's novel Out of the Silent Planet.
• J'onn's approximate height, according to DC comics official stats is 6 ft 7 in (2.0 m) and weighs at 300 lb (136 kg).
• The post-Zero Hour reboot of Legion of Super-Heroes sometimes hinted that Legion mentor R.J. Brande might actually be J'onn.
• In other languages:
  • In Brazil and Portugal, Martian Manhunter was known as Ajax. The direct translation to Portuguese (Caçador de Marte) was seldom used. Currently, the translators favor the character's name, J'onn.
  • In Spain, the character is known as El Detective Marciano (The Martian Detective).
• J'onn's daughter K'ymm is named for Kim Yale.^{[citation needed]}
• J'onn revealed in the JLA: Year One storyline that when he first came to Earth, he watched a lot of television to learn about Earth culture, and, in doing so, became a "fan" of actress Rita Farr from watching her "chiller pictures", who later became the superheroine Elasti-Girl of the Doom Patrol. J'onn admits this to Rita when the JLA works together with the Doom Patrol in order to thwart the Brain, and she gives him a kiss on the cheek, feeling flattered. Later Rita tells J'onn that she met actress Sigourney Weaver and told him she was sure Weaver would "approve" of him, in reference to her role in the Alien film series.
• From 1963 to 1968, Manhunter briefly had a small orange skinned speech challenged alien partner from another dimension named Zook, who he found on an island. Zook had the power to change temperatures and shape shift his body, though not his color. At first the speechless Zook was his pet, as Zook learned speech he later became Manhunter's partner helping him solve several cases. After his final appearance in House Of Mystery Number 172 (1968) Zook later vanished from the series and DC Continuity altogether with no explanation. Zook bore a striking similarity to Cryll, the alien partner of fellow DC character Space Ranger.
• When he first appeared, The Manhunter had an alien appearance with a low overhanging forehead. During his later 1960s Silver Age adventures his face and head had a more "softer" human appearance. In the 70s, he gradually reverted to his original, native Martian facial features.

[edit] External links

• Alan Kistler's Profile On: The Martian Manhunter - An in-depth analysis and retrospective on the history of J'onn J'onzz by comic book historian Alan Kistler of www.MonitorDuty.com. Includes explanations of when and why his origin and history were changed, how the character of Jemm, Son of Saturn, was created, and just how important the Martian hero is to the rest of the DC Comics Universe. Contains various art scans.

• Index of J'onn's Earth-1 adventures