Erdel, his secret identity of John Jones, and some of his powers, but by and large, his history was rewritten post-Crisis.
DeMatteis and artist Mark Badger which totally redefined key aspects of his history, and shed more light on his interior life.Ī few aspects of J'onn's original history hold over into the modern age, including his summoning to Earth by Dr. He also received his own Martian Manhunter limited series from writer J.M. Martian Manhunter returned in earnest to the Justice League in the early '80s, though his history was quickly redefined, as were many characters' stories, by the DC reboot 'Crisis On Infinite Earths' (here's where that whole 'post-Crisis' thing comes in).įollowing 'Crisis,' J'onn J'onzz once again became a core member of the publisher's new incarnation of the Justice League, serving as something of a senior member alongside Batman and a bevy of new recruits (some of whom had different histories with the League prior to the reboot). In fact, after a few years with the Justice League, of which he was a co-founder (we'll get into it), he actually did return to Mars to become the planet's leader, resulting in a long period of absence from the DC Universe outside a handful of cameos, usually alongside the Justice League. In the Silver Age of comic books (roughly defined as 1956 to 1970), J'onn J'onzz was taken away from a thriving society on Mars, where he was a respected citizen with a family and a life all his own, all of which were still theoretically awaiting him on Mars, should he ever find a way home. More than anything, Martian Manhunter's place in the DC Universe has been defined, as you may guess, by his Martian ancestry. He also has a traditional weakness to fire, which has had different effects on him over the years, usually having to do with breaking down his ability to hold his malleable shapeshifting form. He can shapeshift into the forms of other people (kinda like a Skrull from the Marvel comic book and cinematic universes), he has super-strength, flight, and he can make himself intangible, and of course he has a vast array of psychic powers revolving around telekinesis and telepathy. To simplify things somewhat, J'onn's powers boil down to absolute mastery of mind over matter. Even in the modern era, Martian Manhunter has a regular habit of discovering, developing, or otherwise revealing new and secret ways to use his powers as his stories have dictated. Throughout the Silver Age, Martian Manhunter regularly underwent Superman-esque power increases, seemingly adding abilities to his starting powerset of super-strength, flight, and shapeshifting almost at random. He took up the human identity of 'John Jones' (a fairly self-explanatory pseudonym), a detective in the fictional Middleton, USA, moonlighting as the superheroic Martian Manhunter.Īs a Martian, J'onn J'onzz's powers are both vast and ill-defined. Startled by J'onzz's appearance, Erdel died and was unable to use his machine to send him back, leaving the Martian to remain on Earth.
Erdel who had invented a machine to contact Mars. As established in that tale, Martian Manhunter is actually J'onn J'onzz, a Martian who was summoned to Earth by a scientist named Dr. In the pre-Crisis era, Martian Manhunter made his debut in a back-up story in 1955's Detective Comics #225 (opens in new tab), created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa.