Martian Manhunter

Martian Manhunter
File:Martianmanhunter.jpg Art by Alex Ross.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Detective Comics #225 (November 1955)
Created by	Joseph Samachson (writer) Joe Certa (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	J'onn J'onzz (John Jones)
Species	Green Martian
Place of origin	Mars
Team affiliations	Outsiders Justice League
Notable aliases	Bloodwynd, Bronze Wraith, Fernus, John Jones, John Johnstone, Manhunter from Mars, Marco Xavier, Mrs. Klingman, William Dyer, Hino Rei, Betty Nehring, Joan Jones, Brainwave
Abilities	Superhuman strength, speed, durability, flight and longevity, Telepathy, Shape-shifting, Martian vision

Martian Manhunter is the superhero alias of J'onn J'onzz, alternately known as the Manhunter from Mars, a fictional character created by DC Comics. The character first appeared in the back-up story "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel" in Detective Comics #225 (November 1955), written by Jack Miller and illustrated by Joe Certa.

J'onzz is a native of the planet Mars, also known as Ma'aleca'andra in his native tongue. (This is a nod to "Malacandra," the name used by the inhabitants of Mars in C. S. Lewis's novel Out of the Silent Planet. This is a much later addition and not part of the original version of the character.) His usual public appearance is as a tall, hairless, green-skinned humanoid with a pronounced brow. He was formerly weak to fire, which nullified his powers and often caused him to act as if he had pyrophobia; he has since overcome this weakness in the pages of the JLA.

Fictional character biography

Origin

In his debut story, J'onn J'onzz is accidentally teleported to Earth by scientist Dr. Mark Erdel, who immediately has a heart attack and dies, leaving the Martian stranded. He is able to use his powers to disguise his appearance, adopting the identity of police detective John Jones.

He joins the police force, secretly using his powers to help the inhabitants of Earth. His Silver Age stories are set in an unnamed large coastal city, which has been theorized to be in Florida, and dubbed "Apex City" based on the repeated use of the name "Apex" in the city's businesses. Later revisions of his orign have him replacing a deceased police detective and locate these stories to the fictional city of Middleton, Colorado.

J'onn eventually reveals his existence to the world, after which he operates openly as a superhero and becomes a charter member of the Justice League. He abandons the detective John Jones identity when Jones is ostensibly killed in action. After this, J'onn spent the next several years involved in mystical adventures involving the Idol Head of Diabolu.

He later takes the persona of Marco Xavier in order to infiltrate the international crime cartel known as VULTURE.

Later comics retconned several new details into the origin story, such as the revelation that Mars was dead when J'onn was taken, killed by a mental plague deliberately started by his brother Ma'alefa'ak, and 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 was created to fill the gap between the eras of the Justice Society of America and the Justice League of America.

Justice League

J'onn J'onzz, trying (and failing) to relax in his true form and reflecting on his history with the League

Martian Manhunter's history is closely linked with that of the Justice League. He is a founding member of the team, and served as a member during many of its various incarnations. His absence occurs during the first period of the Satellite Years as well as with the League's most recent formation one year after the events of Infinite Crisis. His appearances with the League kept him in the public eye long after his own series (appearing in Detective Comics and House of Mystery) was cancelled.

In the Justice League International series, J'onn is shown to be obsessed with Oreo cookies, partially due to Captain Marvel's influence. The story of how he got over the addiction was told in his solo series (a retcon refers to them as "Chocos" to avoid a trademark infringement).

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".

Solo adventures

Martian Manhunter began as an ongoing series in 1998, 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 series establishes that J'onn has a disturbed brother, Ma'alefa'ak, who uses his shapeshifting abilities to pose as J'onn, capturing and torturing Jemm, Son of Saturn, and terraforming part of Earth to resemble Mars. This is all part of a grand plan designed to convince the rest of the Justice League that J'onn has turned into a sociopath. However, J'onn is able to clear his name and defeat Ma'alefa'ak despite having most of his body destroyed in an exploding spaceship. (He is later able to regenerate his body from his severed hand.)

The series also further established the history of both the Manhunter and the Saturnian race. The first issue revealed 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.

Outside of this, the Manhunter appears predominantly in the Justice League comic book. He is the only character to be involved with every incarnation of the League, except for the version written by Brad Meltzer. 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 on Infinite Earths, and it is now assumed he was with the team at this time.

J'onzz has two minor appearances in the Sandman series in the story "Passengers" in issue 5, 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 during "The Wake" story arc, conversing with Batman and Clark Kent about dreams.

Grant Morrison establishes in the JLA series that 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 Martian Manhunter, he decides to focus on his original human identity and retire the others.

Fernus

File:Jla89.jpg

JLA #89: Fernus vs. Plastic Man

In issues of JLA written by Joe Kelly, J'onn 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 J'onn confronts his fear of fire, he reverts back into one of the Burning 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.

The Justice League eventually defeats Fernus by re-enlisting Plastic Man, who is immune to Fernus' psychic powers and has superior shape-changing abilities; although Martian shapeshifting is highly efficient, it requires them to study an object using their telepathy to properly mimic it, while Plastic Man is 'inspiration made form' and hence can literally out-mimic Martians. 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 the Atom and Major Disaster 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, facing off against almost all of his old assumed identities in the process, 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." It was later revealed that Fernus was always an autonomous being with a distinct consciousness and genetic structure and powerset that emerged from J'onn's consciousness due to mastering his fire weakness.

Fernus' appearance is inspired by J'onzz's encounter with the Sandman, who appeared to the Manhunter in the form of Lord L'Zoril, the Martian God of Dreams, whose form was a gigantic, flaming skull. After J'onzz had helped him, the Endless Being gave him permission to dream of certain aspects of his lost planet.

Dream's aspect as L'zoril was in turn based on the appearance of H'ronmeer, the Martian god of Death and Fire (but also of Love and Art), who helped J'onn regain his true form and memories in the 1988 Martian Manhunter miniseries written by J.M. DeMatteis.

Infinite Crisis and One Year Later

Main articles: Infinite Crisis and One Year Later

Cover artwork for Martian Manhunter vol. 3, #2 (Nov, 2006)
by Al Barrionuevo

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". He also states he needs her help with keeping an eye on the Key, a powerful entity 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, though Superboy dies in the attempt. 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. Prime and the villains are defeated.

After Infinite Crisis, most of DC's series jumped ahead one year, having the weekly series 52 fill in the missing time. In 52 #24, it is revealed that J'onn has been undercover for half a year. His intentions are to destroy Checkmate in order to avenge the death of Ted Kord. Manhunter feels guilt because Ted had attempted to warn the superhero community about Checkmate. He had been brushed off and had investigated on his own. To stop him, Maxwell Lord, whom J'onzz had thought was a friend, kills Blue Beetle.

J'onzz is successful in banning their operations within the United States. Unfortunately, after a gang of 'everyman' heroes cause havoc in Metropolis, Checkmate is re-instated.

The story is set during the year prior to the miniseries mentioned above. During Week 50 and the tie-in event World War III, J'onn J'onzz is the first to confront a rampaging Black Adam. He links directly to his mind and is filled of images from the dark side of humanity, forcing him to retire from the fight and rethink his relation with Earth people as a whole. During this process, he dispenses of several of his active aliases by revealing his true nature to the police detectives he used to work with. Finally clearing his mind, J'onn returns for the final battle, and, being gravely wounded, heals himself and now bears a form more similar to his Martian appearance to reflect his new understanding of himself.

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

The first issue re-introduces the Golden Age character Roh Kar, (now renamed Roh'Kar). 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. J'onn tracks down and rescues the others, hiding them from government agents as well as the JLA. However, J'onn later learns that the rescued Green Martians are actually White Martians that have been hypnotized by a Green Martian named Cay'An. The series ends with only Till'All, J'onn and Cay'An left (the Martians Dal'en and Telok'telar are left in a coma). J'onn returns to the Justice League and takes Till'All with him, while Cay'An disappears to parts unknown after her bid to kill J'onn failed.

Following this, J'onn was recruited by Batman to be part of his new team of Outsiders. He appeared in the third issue of the "Outsiders: Five Of A Kind" series with Thunder, and joined the team afterwards. Due to the change of writers, Martian Manhunter saw his run on the Outsiders go quick. Within the first two issues he has officially resigned due to indifferences with Batman. He was last shown in Salvation Run #3, giving a status report to an unknown location regarding the villains trapped there. He has secretly taken the identity of Blockbuster, though Lex Luthor suspects that Blockbuster is not who he seems. J'onn is outed by Catwoman in #5, and is subsequently defeated by the mass of villains.

Powers and abilities

Martian Manhunter possesses a variety of superhuman powers, many of which are virtually identical to those of Superman, including superhuman strength, speed, resistance to harm, flight and "Martian vision" (a term designating both the ability to see through solid objects and the ability to generate optic heat beams). Aside from his superhuman abilities, he is also a cunning and logical detective. As Batman mentions in his file, that "in many ways, Martian Manhunter is like an amalgam of Superman" and the Dark Knight himself.

One power the Martian Manhunter has that Superman does not is shapeshifting, which the Martian Manhunter employs for various effects (e.g., adopting human or monstrous appearance, elongating his limbs, growing to immense size). He can render himself invisible, and is also able to render himself intangible so as to pass harmlessly through solid objects.

In addition to these abilities, J'onn is a powerful telepath, capable of both perceiving the thoughts of others and of projecting his own thoughts. He often acts as a "switchboard" between minds in order to coordinate the Justice League's actions. He has also demonstrated regenerative abilities, once able to regenerate himself from only his severed hand but with great strain (due to the loss of mass he found it necessary to incorporate new matter from Martian sand). The Manhunter has sometimes been said to possess nine different senses, although these additional senses are poorly defined and generally ignored by most writers.

Since his arrival to Earth, J'onn developed a keen analytical skill after becoming a law enforcement officer on Earth. As many of the League forgetting that the Martian was a police detective, on occasions J'onn would use his skill as an investigator when Batman isn't available. It is possible that J'onn himself can be defined as the world's greatest detective.

Weakness

For most of his existence as a character, J'onn was depicted as having a deep-seated pyrophobia, with fire being the Martian's "Achilles heel", equivalent to Superman's weakness to kryptonite. Exposure to fire typically causes J'onn to lose his ability to maintain his physical form, 'melting' into a pool of writhing green plasma. Numerous explanations have been given for this over the years, usually portraying it as a racial trait of Martians. Most recently it was revealed, during the Trial By Fire storyline, 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 arc, this weakness was partially removed, with J'onn explaining that only fires of psychic significance were of harm to him, such as flames of suffering or passion. Following Infinite Crisis and One Year Later it has been shown that J'onn's weakness to fire has changed once again. Martians are no longer afraid of fire nor do they lose their powers in its presence, however physical fire and intense heat can still injure and kill a Martian.

It has also been stated that Martian shapeshifting is based around the study of whatever the Martians wish to transform into, with their telepathy being the main instrument of 'research' for their study. Although the telepathy makes this study practically instantaneous, when facing the telepathy-immune Plastic Man, Fernus- J'onn's 'Burning Martian' identity- the Martian was outmatched by Plastic Man's superior instantaneous shapeshifting abilities.

Other versions

Alternate versions of J'onn have appeared in most Elseworlds featuring a Justice League, including JLA: The Nail; JLA: Act of God; the fantasy-themed League of Justice and JLA: Riddle of the Beast and the western Justice Riders.

Roh'Kar

In 1953, DC Comics published a story, written by Ed Hamilton, 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 Batman. This version has devices that allow him to disappear and teleport.

In the 2006 Martian Manhunter miniseries, the Golden Age Manhunter from Mars returns as a Green Martian named Roh'Kar, who meets J'onn just prior to Roh'Kar's death.

Legion of Super-Heroes

In an issue of Legion of Super-Heroes, J'onn reappears in the 30th century as an acquaintance of Dream Girl and assists the Legion of Super-Heroes against Mordru. After Zero Hour, this continuity was erased. In the post-Zero Hour Legion 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." This was during an attempt to restore the catatonic Shrinking Violet who had been host of the Emerald Eye of Ekron (Emerald Empress' weapon/ally). During the sequence, Brande tries to establish contact with Violet's mind and the silhouette of a martian in his natural form can be seen around Brande.

DC One Million

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 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.

The Dark Knight Strikes Again

In The Dark Knight Strikes Again, the Question meets with J'onn in a bar. J'onn states that he lost his powers when his third kidney failed, although he notes that he still has occasional precognitive flashes and has envisioned his death later that night. He also tells the Question that Lex Luthor has implanted microscopic nanomites in his brain, scrambling his brain functions. J'onn and the Question leave the bar and are ambushed by a figure who resembles the Joker, who incinerates J'onn and himself.

Elseworlds

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 (Human) body's own solidity. Although still possessing some telepathy, he proves unable to pierce Lex Luthor's mental shields.

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 JLA: Destiny, J'onn J'onnz arrived to Earth and took up the identity of Paul Kirk, the hero known as Manhunter, after the real Kirk had been killed in Australia, and joined Thomas Wayne's Justice League of Gotham. During his time on the team, J'onn/Kirk fell in love with Sandra Knight, a.k.a. Nightshade, and the two would wed. While in a mission in Nevada along with the Clock and Green Lantern Guy Gardner, the three met the alien Mongul. Mongul subdued Guy with an alien parasite called the Black Mercy, killed the Clock, and tried to kill J'onn with a neural disruptor. Instead of dying, J'onn's mind begins to spread and dissipate over the Earth, but he somehow manages to pull himself together and form a link with Sandra's mind. He starts feeding her visions of the future, and she believes that she gains a new power and changes her superhero identity to Destiny. But Sandra would become somewhat mentally unbalanced by this ability, although she did maintain a link with the Justice League and supplied them with information. J'onn J'onnz later calls her down to an army base in Nevada under his control, where he helps uncover that Mongul had been responsible for genetically altering crops in America to die, and later convinces Jor-El that he needs to battle Mongul. In his final moments with Sandra, J'onn tells her to forget about him and move on.

In JSA: The Liberty Files, J'onn J'onnz is initially summoned by a Nazi scientist and appears to be Superman, fighting for the side of the Nazis as their Übermensch secret weapon.

The 52

In 52 #52, a new 52-Earth Multiverse is revealed. On Earth-3, the many-membered Crime Society of America exists, with a monstrous version of J'onn J'onnz showcased in 52 #52 (but not in subsequent Countdown appearances of the Society). Countdown to Adventure #1 depicts the Forerunner planet, in an alternate universe (Earth-48) where the races of the planets and dwarf planets in the universe conquer Earth; the leader of the Martian army and populace is General J'onzz. The Elseworlds story Kingdom Come's version of J'onn J'onzz is later amalgamated into the continuity of Earth-22.

The White Martian

J'onn J'onnz's antimatter counterpart. After arriving on Earth, he became Ultraman's chief rival. Ultraman eventually killed him.

Other media

File:Martian Manhunter JLA Live Action.JPG

The Martian Manhunter as featured in the Justice League 1997 pilot.

Television

Justice League (live-action)

J'onn J'onzz appears in the 1997 live-action television pilot for the Justice League of America television series. He has difficulty shapeshifting, and no mention is made of any other powers, although he describes himself as being able to survive extreme heat that would endanger a human due to the climate on his home planet, which would suggest that he is not from Mars. 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.

File:Mmsheet.jpg

J'onn J'onzz design for Justice 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 episode Comfort & Joy where he pretended to be Santa Claus for a young girl, coming down a chimney and snatching one of the cookies so that she'll believe Santa had eaten them (and he clearly enjoyed eating it). The same episode also features a cameo by his former pet/partner from the comics, Zook, in the form of a cuddly toy. In Flashpoint, he identifies himself as "command authority 004" presumably placing him behind Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman in terms of seniority.

For the animated series, executive producer Bruce Timm revised and reduced J'onn's powers somewhat; his superstrength was downplayed (though he was still seen performing great feats of strength on occasion), his superspeed, invisibility and Martian vision are not present, 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, (A Knight of Shadows). The history of Martians is revised somewhat; unlike the DC Universe, there are no White Martians native to Mars, but creatures vaguely similar to them appear from deep space and enslave the Martian civilization, absorbing their shapeshifting powers. The Martians are finally able to paralyze the invaders with a nerve gas, but J'onzz is the only survivor, and lies dormant until captured and imprisoned by Earth.

The character, voiced by Carl Lumbly, is referred to as J'onn J'onzz—and not Martian Manhunter—with the exception of the episode Task Force X, 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 fifty 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, 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 named Aldar who feeds off the bones of people. As Clark is overpowered and Aldar lifts Clark up into the air, an invisible figure passes his hand through the being's body and kills him. Noticing a half-eaten Oreo cookie on the ground, Clark walks to the end of a harbour, where a shadowy figure is standing. As Clark shouts to it, the figure opens his glowing red eyes and flies away into the sky, leaving a red stream of light closely behind. Later, Clark finds another half eaten Oreo on his barn floor.[2] These clues all hint to the character being J'onn.

Phil Morris portrays John Jones in the Season 6 episode "Labyrinth". Though his name is never given (he gives Clark the name John Jones in the deleted scenes on the season 6 DVD disc 4 episode 12 and reveals his home as Mars, adding that he was charged with watching over young Kal-El), he relates to Clark that he is "from Mars" during an encounter with a being from the Phantom Zone that takes over Clark's mind and makes him think that he was never Kryptonian, he has no powers and has had schizophrenia for the past five years. John helps Clark escape from the phantom's illusion by explaining to him that he is not crazy and that as a Kryptonian, he has the power to overcome the phantom. When Clark recovers, Morris' character is standing over him, holding a red-gemmed device which appears to suck the incorporeal alien into it. His eyes then glow with a bright red light and he flies away into the stars in a reddish blur. While in Clark's mind, John demonstrates his characteristic fear of fire when two asylum guards are poking fun and ridiculing John. In the next episode, "Crimson", he does not appear, but is referred to for the first time as "Martian Manhunter" by Chloe Sullivan. Morris, also a comics fan, has in the past voiced Vandal Savage on the Justice League animated series.. On the multimedia Smallville parallel story, "Justice and Doom", it shows that Dr. Virgil Swann has been communicating to John Jones since before 1987. John used Swann Communications to build himself a large orbital satellite for him to use as a base. John was seen wearing his current comic costume as well as turning into his Martian form at the end of the story arc.

In the episode "Phantom", John returns. He had been in pursuit of the final refugee from the Phantom Zone throughout the world. John was injured during his attempt to stop the last Phantom and had to leave before it could be stopped and to evade detection by Lex Luthor and several of his troops. Injured by the wraith, John sought out Kal-El and stopped him from hurting Lionel Luthor at LuthorCorp by explaining that Lionel was the Emissary of Jor-El. Further, John reveals that he had been an assistant to Jor-El years prior to the destruction of Krypton which resulted in Jor-El and many other Kryptonians' deaths and assisted with the development of the final wraith. He also explained that Jor-El had sent him to be a guardian for Clark until he began his training. John also warns that the Phantom would not be easily stopped, as human hosts were not a strong enough host, needing a Kryptonian body to survive.

John appears once more in the episode "Bizarro", where he reveals that he has healed from his wounds somewhere outside Earth's atmosphere (which he can tolerate but isn't conducive to his health). He explains to Clark that the phantom is his exact opposite, helping Clark determine Bizarro's weakness of sunlight. After Clark punches his opposite into the air, John takes over, flying Bizarro out of the atmosphere.

In episode 4 of Season 7, "Cure," he tries to explain to Clark that his relative Kara Zor-El is a danger to him. In the Kent barn, he tells Kal-El that Kara's father was a menace to the House of El, having tried to kill Jor-El in the past. He convinces Clark to be warier of his newfound cousin. Kara throws a fit, telling Clark not to trust this liar, and flies away in a huff.

This version of the Martian Manhunter has some preternatural talents, including flight, telepathy, enhanced healing and superhuman strength. In Clark's asylum vision he wears a loose blue robe about his shoulders that recalls the Manhunter's cape. In the animated spin-off series Justice & Doom (available online and on Season Six DVDs), John is shown to shapeshift into his martian form aboard an artificial satellite.

The Batman

File:The Joining.jpg

John Jones/Martian Manhunter on The Batman Season four finale

Martian Manhunter makes a guest appearance on the animated television series The Batman, during the two-episode Season 4 finale, "The Joining, Part One" and "The Joining, Part Two". He is voiced by Dorian Harewood. In addition to the character's standard powers, he also displays telekinetic abilities. He uses the guise of Detective John Jones to warn Batman about "The Joining", a coming alien threat to Gotham. The Joining is a robotic mind divided into several machines that is capable of destroying the world. He also helps him fight the aliens, and discover how to defeat them. At the end of the invasion, John shows Batman the Justice League and invites Batman to join them, to which Batman subsequently agrees after revealing he had been watching the League's activities for the previous few months.

Film

On February 22, 2007, Warner Bros. hired Kieran Mulroney and Michelle Mulroney to write a treatment for a potential Justice League movie. No announcement was made on the characters, actors, or crew involved. They handed in their script by June that year. In September, word broke that Warner Brothers, incredibly happy with the Mulroney script, is moving ahead on the project and George Miller was announced as the director. The film features Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter. Warner Bros. has put their Justice League plans at a higher priority than a proposed sequel to Superman Returns.

In October, 2007, Miller announced auditions for the leading roles in the film, indicating that he had no interest in established actors for the parts, as he was "looking for actors who can grow into their super-roles". The film is currently slated for a 2009 release date.

Justice League: The New Frontier

J'onn J'onzz appears on Warner Premiere animated feature Justice League: The New Frontier, playing a pivotal role againsting Earth's ancient evil The Centre. In the film, J'onn's origin is once again retold, but more focus on his roles as a detective and a refugee than a superhero and finding faith within humanity. He is voiced by Miguel Ferrer.

Videogames

The Martian Manhunter is prominently featured in the videogame Justice League Heroes voiced by Daniel Riordan.

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

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
• Martian Man in the Guardians of the Globe from Invincible
• Vigilante from Venus - a female character in Top Ten
• Skrullian Skymaster from the Squadron Supreme
• The Freedom City sourcebook for the role-playing game Mutants and Masterminds includes pastiches of many popular superheroes, including Pseudo, a shapeshifting alien telepath who is a member of the Freedom League, which is an analogue for the Justice League
• Jack from Jupiter from the series The Boys.
• Stalker from the "secret" Stormwatch team.

See also

• Miss Martian
• One Year Later
• White Martian

External links

• Martian Manhunter at the DC Database Project
• Profile On The Martian Manhunter
• Index of J'onn's Earth-1 adventures
• Martian Manhunter's secret origin on dccomics.com
• The Martian Manhunter and Apex City