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Martian Manhunter Silver Age Origin Restored By Mark Waid & Dan Mora

Martian Manhunter Silver Age Origin Restored by Mark Waid and Dan Mora in Justice League Unlimited#22

Created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa, Martian Manhunter, J'onn J'onnz, first appeared in the story "The Manhunter from Mars" in Detective Comics #225 in 1955, which is pretty much where the Silver Age of DC Comics began, though some prefer the Barry Allen as the Flash in 1956. One of the seven original members of the Justice League of America, he has been played on TV by David Ogden Stier, Phil Morris, David Harewood, while Harry Lennix played him in the Zack Snyder movies. In a nod to A Princess Of Mars from 1912 by Edgar Rice Burroughs, he was originally teleported to Earth from Mars by the scientist Dr. Saul Erdel. The Martian Manhunter's choice to shapeshift into a human gives Dr Erdel a heart attack and leaves the Martian Manhunter stranded. And leaves J'onzz with no way of returning home. The character decides to fight crime while waiting for Martian technology to advance to a stage that will enable his rescue. And adopts the identity of John Jones, a detective in the fictional Middletown, USA, later becoming Middleton, colorado.

Decades later, it would be revealed that Doctor Erdel was alive in the "everything you knew was wrong" Swamp Thing model, which had J'onn J'onnz's life as a fabrication based on A Princess of Mars and the like, even the invention. Instead, he was a Martian refugee whose child had died, and he had lost his mind. On arrival, he was cared for by Erdel, who then faked his own death.

There have been all manner of versions since, that have restored the original, with Dr Erdel burning to death…

Or getting a heart attack, simply from his presence rather than a transformation, and had travelled across time as well as space…

Or that he died from the experiement itself, with his own daughter beside him, who carried on his work…

And then there was the version in which even more of what you thought was wrong, that removed Dr Erdel from the story entirely and had Martian Manhunter as a product of an ancient Martian civilisation, creating an ultimate warrior to defend itself from threat, blasted to Earth after a climatic apocalypse, and who then split himself into many beings hiding on Earth for millennia and had been deceiving himself.

But yesterday's Justice League Unlimited #2 from Mark Waid and Dan Mora has simplified things a little, courtesy of Dr Occult, mystical detective. With Dr Erdel back, and dying of a heart attack in Middleton, Colorado.

But also declaring Martian Manhunter as an American superhero on the scene before Superman, which has also been back and forth in regards to canon.

Something to add to the DC Timeline going forward, I guess… until they change it again.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #2 CVR A DAN MORA
(W) Mark Waid (A/CA) Dan Mora
INTO THE NEST OF THE PARADEMON! As the Justice League grapples with the ramifications of the Atom Project, a strange alert brings the team to the jungles of South America…and a horrific discovery. Can the elite Justice League strike force save a village from total slaughter? Plus…the mystery of the Darkseid heir deepens, and dissension in the ranks forces Batman's hand. Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 12/26/2024

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