Comics discussions, with flair…
Posts tagged Martian Manhunter
Justice League Reunited
Feb 13th
Well, the JLA is reunited and they break off into teams to go beat the bad alien conquerors into submission, so let’s get to it, shall we?
Team One: Batman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Zatanna take off to fight the Crystal Creature, the Wood King, and the Mercury Monster in the woods of the Vermont forest.
The Appellaxians are already battling each other as Superman and Hawkman swoop in to break it up. The Wood King sticks his roots into it again and manages to grow an offshoot that catches Hawkman. Superman avoids the sneak attack and collides with the Wood King and smashes him into so many splinters. Unfortunately Superman failed to think ahead and the Wood King’s sap was full of Green Kryptonite.. (when will he learn?) Wonder Woman uses her golden lasso to pull Superman out of harms way of the other aliens while Green Arrow uses a saw arrow to trim the root still choking Hawkman.
While this drama is going on, Zatanna has encased the Mercury Monster in a bubble of super heated oil causing the monster to evaporate. Mercury boils at 357 degrees Celsius, so make a mental note, do not tick Zatanna off. Black Canary is running a decoy pattern on the Crystal Creature while Batman puts a batarang through the creature’s back side. Never turn you back on the bat.
Team Two: Aquaman, Elongated Man, The Flash, and Red Tornado
Off the Irish Coast a fisherman spotted the monsters going toe-to-toe and though the Fire Lord is much larger than the Glass Golem, they both seem fairly unharmed when the Leaguers show up. The Glass Golem blinds the Flash but fails to notice Aquaman who bursts out of the water behind him and drags him down into the depths. The Glass Golem’s last thoughts were of why the Fire Lord didn’t warn him, but one less contestant in their contest works for him, doesn’t it? Aquaman crushes the Glass Golem while Elongated Man decoys the Fire Lord using the class stretchy guy trope of taunting the villain. This gives Red Tornado the opportunity to create a vacuum around the Fire Lord to put him out. The victorious leaguers stand on the beach as the scene shifts to team three.
Team Three: Atom, Firestorm, Green Lantern, and the Martian Manhunter
As the Rock God and the Golden Roc are making a mess of NYC ala Godzilla and years before 9/11 entered our national vocabulary Firestorm makes the exclamation…
“Hey, this is New York! You’re wrecking My City!” As Firestorm uses his atomic restructuring powers to rebuild what the aliens have demolished, Green Lantern creates a jack hammer and takes out the Rock God with very little than a thought. Martian Manhunter had been holding off the Golden Roc but now needed assistance from the team. GL creates a cannon and Atom crawls into it and is fired towards the Golden Roc’s head. Atom impacts the creature and distracts it long enough for Martian Manhunter to seal the deal.
15 Leaguers vs. 7 Alien Conquerors.. victory to the JLA.
The Epilogue features Green Lantern and Red Tornado traveling to the dumping ground of every comic book story, the Sun. They toss any and all remnants of the Appellaxians into the sun to burn up, no longer keeping anything for a trophy. I hope there was not another subliminal suggestion that will send our heroes into the Sun digging for remnants of these creatures, heh.
Back on the satellite the Martian Manhunter and Snapper Carr say their goodbyes to their old comrades, with J’onn J’onzz contemplating coming back to the Justice League..someday.
Then Green Arrow begins to make his exit as Hawkman pleads with Green Arrow to stay with the League as they need him. Green Arrow rethinks his decision and rejoins the JLA ending some tension with Black Canary and the rest of the Justice Leaguers.
All in all, a very satisfying initial story, eh? Lots of heroes, conflict, wrapped up in a nice, neat bow at the end. Which brings me to Fanboyism #1
Fanboyism #1: Fans loving watching their heroes fight one another.
It’s just the way of things, which hero is better than who? It doesn’t matter what the answer to the question is, in this story all the original JLAers won, and the new JLAers lost, but that does not mean there isn’t a case to be made that any of the new JLAers wouldn’t have won against their older compatriots had the circumstances been different. So I would venture that no matter the two characters in conflict, any hero could beat another hero given the correct set of circumstances.
There will be naysayers to this theory however, who will say “Batman is prepared for everything.” or “Flash is so fast he can do anything.” Could be… but again, I could give a scenario that an equally savvy Wonder Woman or Atom could take either of those characters out, again it is about the circumstances of the fight.
One thing though.. did you notice who was a mainstay of the Super Friends cast who was not in this story…
Usually the back half of Batman and… So in this DCU, where exactly is Robin and what is he up to? We’ll take that up next time as we discuss the sidekicks.
Round One: Martian Manhunter vs. Firestorm
Feb 5th
VERSUS
We open our story as Firestorm is enjoying a JLA tradition called Monitor Duty. A period where the JLA assigns a hero to “man the headquarters” to keep an eye and ear out for any trouble. It is interminably boring duty and Firestorm being the team rookie is not taking it all that seriously.
Just then the Martian Manhunter bursts through the hull of the JLA’s satellite headquarters demanding to know why the JLA headquarters has been abandoned and where the other JLAers are and who the heck is Firestorm anyway? Before Firestorm gets a chance to answer any of those questions he is prompted by Professor Stein to seal the hull in the satellite before all their oxygen escapes. Manhunter continues his questioning and then ignores Firestorm as too dim witted to chat with (he was talking with himself after all) and as Firestorm pursues him Manhunter uses an ancient Martian trick and goes all invisible.
While Firestorm is dumbstruck by the Manhunter’s disappearance, Prof. Stein points out to Ronnie that the Martian Manhunter seemed to try to avoid Firestorm’s flaming hair, correctly deducing that the Martian Manhunter has a weakness to fire. Sure enough as Firestorm heats the air in the satellite, J’onn’s powers begin to give way and he becomes visible again. But before Firestorm can get anywhere, J’onn just skips the formalities and throws a huge trophy case at Firestorm.
Firestorm counters this move by setting the trophy case J’onn picks up on fire which causes J’onn pause. Manhunter uses his martian vision to cut a water pipe to not only dowse the fire but to distract Firestorm long enough for him to rip up some of the floor and throw it right at the nuclear man with all his strength. This knocks Firestorm unconscious and Martian Manhunter grabs the meteor and leaves the headquarters.
One for the Old Guard.
Firestorm wakes up and sounds the biggest alarm the JLA has and all the non-charter members show up, including the recently resigned Green Arrow. Based on the story Firestorm tells the gathered Leaguers, Green Arrow and Elongated Man deduce all the other original Leaguers must be off gathering the other meteors, but for what reason? Even the Martian Manhunter did not know why he was acting as he did, he was just compelled to do so.
The JLA transporter hums up again and out steps Snapper Carr. Snapper is the JLA’s sidekick/mascot from the early days of the League. It turns out that Firestorm’s signal even signaled his old signal device. The other JLAers leave Snapper and Firestorm on the satellite and head off to stop their comrades from retrieving the other meteors.
When next we chat…
Aquaman vs. The Red Tornado, with a special guest star.
In the beginning… there was the Justice League of America
Jan 30th
“Darren… this makes no sense!”
These are the words that a young friend who had probably not really picked up a comic before. The volume he had chosen was “The History of the DC Universe” written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by George Perez. I just looked at him and said
“You should have seen the DC Universe BEFORE that book came out.”
I feel like I understand the DC Universe (DCU) fairly well and it’s nothing against the Marvel guys across the way, but I had the cash for one universe and DC won, probably due to their presence on tv back when I was growing up.
Theoretically, I understand the DCU because I started out when I did, so I am supposing that if we do the introductions of characters back when I met them hopefully some of that understanding will rub off on the non-readers out there. So, if this fictional universe is going to make any sense to someone who has never delved past the surface let’s start off with my beginning as a DC fan.
You are now taking a college prep course.
JLA 101 The Basics
So, let’s start at the beginning as to when I encountered my first DC comic book.
Super-Friends was no longer on the air as much, I had become aware of the concept of “the rerun” and it annoyed me. I went looking for other things to read. Anything about heroes, villains, epic battles of right versus wrong, that was what drew me to literature. I delved into books about Greek myths, King Arthur, and Robin Hood. After all, there was no Harry Potter back then, instead it was Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach and E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web that were the popular books in school at the time.
Then one day, for my birthday, I went to the local Magik Market ™ and was going to get a slurpee with the last of my birthday money. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted the famed circular comic book rack. In the era before the direct comic market, most comics were shipped to convenience stores, mom and pop drug stores, and grocery stores. On the racks I saw Superman, Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, but I didn’t have a lot of money and comics were 60 cents back then. A major financial commitment for a kid without an allowance. I had $2 dollars on me. So I could get 3 comics plus tax. Then I saw it.
The Justice League of America. Those are the Super-Friends, right?
To me, they were. I would not realize this at the time but it was not just any issue of Justice League, it was #200. It has a wrap-around cover. It features no less than 17 heroes on the inside and it was easily triple the size of the other comics featuring only one character.
Sold!
I got back to the car and my father yelled at me. I was supposed to get a Slurpee not a comic book. But it was my birthday and my money, I spent it the way I wanted. My mom defended me and my younger brother wanted to read the comic. This family dynamic would continue until my senior year in high school. But, more about that later.
I opened the gorgeous cover drawn by George Perez. Prounounced (PAIR – ehz). I was treated to a very short retelling of the origin of the Justice League in which the icons of the DC Universe fought seven aliens from the planet Appellax who came to use Earth as their arena for trial by combat. It seemed as if I could hear the Super-Friends music ringing in my ears.
So, let’s just introduce the first characters in the DC Universe that I ever met.
Superman – Rocketed from the doomed planet Krypton, orphaned Kal-El was raised in Smallville, Kansas by Jonathan and Martha Kent with good old Midwestern American values. As his body took in the rays of Earth’s yellow sun his body gained the abilities to be “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.” He is known as the “Man of Tomorrow”, “The Man of Steel”, and “The Big Blue Boy Scout”.
Wonder Woman –The only daughter of the Amazon’s queen Hippolyta, won a contest to become the Amazon’s ambassador to Man’s World to teach peace, love, and respect for all humankind. Wonder Woman’s purpose is right out of the theme song of the Lynda Carter TV Show “Make a hawk a dove, stop a war with love, make a liar tell the truth.” In her satin tights, fighting for our rights, Diana is not only a role model to all women in her iconic status as the most recognizable female super hero, but she is the undisputed mother of all super heroines. There may have been some older than her, but she is undoubtedly the one with the most staying power.
Batman – The Dark Knight. The origin is classic. A young boy goes to a movie (typically Zorro is showing in the origins) with his parents and upon leaving the movie in high spirits his parents are accosted by a mugger. The mugger shoots and kills his father and mother leaving the boy alive and alone in a single street light. Raised by his family’s butler, Alfred, the young Bruce Wayne vows to wage a never ending battle for justice. He uses an image that will strike fear into the hearts of the superstitious that of a Bat. He trains his body and mind to perfection and becomes the scourge of the Underworld. The Batman.
Aquaman – King of the Seven Seas. Born cursed with blonde hair the son of a lighthouse keeper and a mermaid, Arthur Curry is torn between his two heritages. He is able to move through water as fast as Superman can through air or Flash can on land. He commands all the marine life within range of his telepathy. His body can withstand pressures that would crush lesser beings. He can see through the darkest oceans. Forget all that. He is KING OF ATLANTIS. Aquaman gets a bad rap and is easy for others to make fun of, but he is KING OF ATLANTIS! He commands a force of warriors and mystics that should make you think twice to even go near the ocean. His King and Diana’s Princess give the JLA more than a touch of regal respect.
Green Lantern – When Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814 Abin Sur was dying he landed his space craft in the Mohave Desert on Earth and commanded his ring to find a worthy successor. It sought out a human being who knew no fear. That being was Hal Jordan, test pilot. Hal accepted the ring and became a member of the Intergalactic Police Force, the Green Lantern Corps. With the ring he can create constructs as long as he wills them into being. He is Aladdin with a proverbial genie on his finger and his cosmic adventures rival any of those experienced in the sci-fi genre.
The Flash – Barry Allen, a consistently late police forensic scientist was working in the lab one evening when a lightning bolt struck him and a wall of chemicals bathing him and made him The Fastest Man Alive. The Flash controls all of his molecules and can pass through solid objects, run up the side of buildings, and can cross an ocean before he has time to sink. He was C.S.I. before C.S.I. was cool.
The Manhunter from Mars or more commonly known as The Martian Manhunter also known as John Jones or J’onn J’onzz. If Superman is the ideal, Wonder Woman is the heart, Batman is the brain, the the Martian Manhunter is the soul of the Justice League. Pulled from Mars after his race was eradicated in a fiery plague, J’onn assimilated into human culture as a detective and used his Martian gifts to change his shape, telepathy, flight, super strength, and Martian vision and breath to fight crime as the Martian Manhunter.
These seven are the founding members of the Justice League of America (JLA). From Left to Right: Green Lantern, Flash, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter as done by Alex Ross.
Yes there is a lot more to say about these characters. Entire encyclopedic volumes have been written about some of these characters, but I am not here to overwhelm. Just enjoy the visuals of the logos and the seven heroes together for now. When next we meet, we will encounter the non-charter members of the JLA.