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Post by Reptisaurus! on Sept 30, 2015 16:18:20 GMT -5
So he started as a space detective and the morphed into a Superman clone but he could only use one of his powers at a time like Ultra Boy EDIT: THIS IS NOT TRUE, then the one power at a time thing got dropped and he fought the Idol Head of Diabolu with Zook, and then he lost some powers and was doing almost a James Bond riff, then he went back to Mars.
And at some point he came back to earth but had all his Superman powers PLUS his psychic detective powers? Was this explained?
Am I basically right here?
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 30, 2015 16:58:08 GMT -5
I love the Martian Manhunter! However, I haven't read very many Martian Manhunter stories from the time he moved over to House of Mystery (I've read fewer than 20 of his appearance in Detective, and that's mostly from issues of Detective that I bought over the last few years because I love pre-New Look Batman) to the era of Justice League Detroit. So that's the period from 1964 to the mid-1980s where I've only read a few scattered JLA stories. So I can explain the appeal of the 1960 to 1964 Martian Manhunter. And I can explain why I love Justice League Detroit. There's blog devoted to the Martian Manhunter that has a lot of information on ALL facets of the character. It's The Idol Head of Diabolu! Enter if you dare! I have to do some things right now but I can come back later and talk about The Martian Manhunter and what I love about his crazy crazy Silver Age adventures. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Sept 30, 2015 17:14:46 GMT -5
I've seen the blog - and the Idol Head of Diaobolu is one of my ten favorite comic supervillains - but it's difficult to put together a chronology from any of the internet sources I've read.
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Post by Icctrombone on Sept 30, 2015 17:56:31 GMT -5
I always thought he was a green Superman with the silliest weakness in comic history.
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Post by dupersuper on Sept 30, 2015 21:18:43 GMT -5
I always thought he was a green Superman with the silliest weakness in comic history. Sillier than the colour yellow? |
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Post by Icctrombone on Sept 30, 2015 21:59:00 GMT -5
I always thought he was a green Superman with the silliest weakness in comic history. Sillier than the colour yellow? They're neck and neck. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2015 22:05:06 GMT -5
Don't forget the Oreo addiction....  -M |
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 30, 2015 22:14:33 GMT -5
On my mostly dormant blog, I did a weekly feature called "Why We Love Detective Comics" for a while. It mostly focused on Batman, but I did write about the other features from time to time. Here's one about the Martian Manhunter.I also came across a post I wrote about why I think the Silver Age started with Detective Comics #225. I'll provide a link for that in a day or two. |
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Post by dupersuper on Sept 30, 2015 22:47:15 GMT -5
Sillier than the colour yellow? They're neck and neck. Really? Fire's a weakness for a lot of people... |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 1, 2015 0:11:01 GMT -5
Really? Fire's a weakness for a lot of people... I recall an early JLA issue where Manhunter feinted when someone lite a match. I swear I'm not exaggerating BTW, when did this Manhunter only able to use one power at a time gimmick occur? I don't recall it in the 1960s or 70s. And Zook needs a mention in this thread. There, my job is done. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 1, 2015 5:25:01 GMT -5
Really? Fire's a weakness for a lot of people... I recall an early JLA issue where Manhunter feinted when someone lite a match. I swear I'm not exaggerating Hey, a few great characters also do that, like Captain Ultra! |
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Post by Icctrombone on Oct 1, 2015 5:45:55 GMT -5
Really? Fire's a weakness for a lot of people... Years later in the Late 90's JLA run, they tried to turn it into a Psychological ailment. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2015 5:55:37 GMT -5
Really? Fire's a weakness for a lot of people... Years later in the Late 90's JLA run, they tried to turn it into a Psychological ailment. I think they took the cues form that from the JM DeMatteis/Mark Badger mini from 1988 iirc (but I haven't read that in nearly 25 years so my memory might be a little fuzzy...)  But the best Martian Manhuter series to read by far is this....  -M |
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Post by MDG on Oct 1, 2015 10:11:56 GMT -5
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Post by fanboystranger on Oct 1, 2015 13:38:36 GMT -5
Really? Fire's a weakness for a lot of people... Years later in the Late 90's JLA run, they tried to turn it into a Psychological ailment. Ostrander did some interesting things with that in his Martian Manhunter ongoing. Fire was highly symbolic in Martian culture, invoking H'Ronmeer, the god of creation and destruction. In a telepathic culture, fears can be transmitted like viruses, so the reverence Martians had for fire as a divine instrument of H'Ronmeer became something sinister and to be feared, like a flood or plague sent from God in the Old Testament. J'Onn's brother, M'alefic, would eventually develop a real telepathic plague which would lead the Martians to die horribly as their minds burned, which became associated with H'Ronmeer. J'onn's fear of fire is more psychological than actual-- his mind would actually shut itself off in terror if he had not conditioned himself to the feeling. Regular fire would damage him in that state because he had let his natural defenses down. |
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