Monday, March 29, 2010

A Guide For Writing the Rebooted Martian Manhunter Part 9

Top Ten Things Writers Need To Remember When Writing the Martian Manhunter


So you don't miss one second of Martian appreciation goodness:  Number 10Number 9Number 8Number 7Number 6Number 5Number 4, and Number 3.


2.  Give the Martian Detective a few supporting characters, and give him a place to go "home" to.


Now, the first part of this, I will admit, I have trouble with.  It's a tricky line to walk when you're creating supporting characters for a main character who is the outsider.  You can't have a character sit alone in a room by himself and expect him to carry a series.  He needs to be around people--like what I was saying back in Number 8.  At the same time, I don't want to see him "saddled" with, say a love interest or a sidekick, because it dampens the "outsider" vibe.


So, the trick is to get the relationships right.


I'll jump out of the Silver Age for a moment and dip into the gooey goodness that was the late 1980's Justice League International series.  J'onn played the father figure to Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, and Booster Gold, and the straight man to their juvenile (read: hilarious) antics.  Not only was it comedy gold, but it was a good role for the wise and stoic Martian.  We saw him in the role of protector and father figure:




And occasionally he'd offer his own dry humor:


Oh, and Starbucks was on Mars first, too.


Now I'm not saying go back to the JLI silliness.  It wasn't my very favorite portrayal of the Manhunter from Mars (but it ranks pretty darn high), since J'onn rarely had any solo story arcs during the JLI run.  (One annual does come to mind, though.)  What I am saying is that DC needs to find a way for J'onn J'onzz to interact with people.  Otherwise his character will never be revealed.  One of the JLI's most endearing qualities was its characterization: well all felt we knew these characters, who weren't one-dimensional stereotypes or bogged down with the "Standard Generic Hero Personality."  So, DC, find some people J'onn can play off of and put them in a room with him and let's see what happens.


I don't think we have to go full out "Dynastic Centerpiece."  I know Scipio was a big believer in creating a "family" of sorts which revolved around a particular superhero.  He faulted J'onn for not having one, and therefore, offered this as a reason why he would get killed off.  I think there's some credence to the idea, but for some reason I balk at having J'onn be the center of a family of supporting cast.  Perhaps because of the reasons which I'll get to in the next installment.


Scipio did propose some characters to be part of J'onn's Dynastic Centerpiece.  I agree with a few of them: Slam Bradley, Gypsy (but not as a sidekick), King Faraday.  I could see the JLU version of The Question in there (even though he has zero connection to J'onn), only to act as a darker, paranoid foil to J'onn's more upright methods of crime-fighting and truth-seeking.  I would probably add Diane Meade in there to not only give a Silver Age flair to it all but I think there needs to be a strong female character in there somewhere.


In addition to that, J'onn needs a "home" to call his own.  And not the Watchtower.  Like an actual apartment, or a cool secret cave crimefighting hideout.  (And no, not the abandoned House of Lies, either.)  With some roots in a fictionopolis, it will only help J'onn's character development.  Can you have Batman without Gotham or The Question without Hub City?  Nope.  So give Middleton back to J'onn (or another fictionopolis), make it reflective of J'onn character, and use it to provide conflict for some solo stories.  (Preferably not the failing-meteors-every-other-week-and-Froot-Loops-From-Space kind, but the crimes-outside-the-norm kind.)  Make his fictionopolis a little noir, a little old-fashioned, a little mysterious, and a tad strange.


In short, give J'onn some friends, partners, and possibly surrogate children (when Ted Kord comes back to life, that is!), and a nice place to call home.  Perhaps an apartment with golf clubs and a Basset Hound.


Hurry!  Someone call PETA!


10 comments:

Diabolu Frank said...

Scipio tried to do something with J'Onn's supporting cast, which is commendable, but he often bypassed anything resembling continuity to further his own agenda (see also: Apex City.) I tried to be more faithful to established history, but I ignored John Jones' supporting players from Detective Comics (my agenda: treat those stories as taking place when published, making Meade & Harding old/dead.)

When the Ostrander series was first announced as planning to use the Justice League as J'Onn's "supporting cast," I approved. After all, J'Onn was the "heart & soul of the League," so naturally he'd keep tabs on all the former members, like those who served in the JLI/JLTF/Detroit. Aside from a downright racist Fire guest spot and two Gypsy appearances, what they really meant was "the connection to the popular Morrison JLA series will be milked shamelessly." Today, there are so few living JLI members, the viability of those relationships is questionable. It's hard to have fun with all that murder and rape sitting in the room. Plus, I can't see J'Onn hanging with Guy, Captain Atom, Fire or Booster outside a team context. His closest confidants were Batman, Max, and Oberon, who are now either dead or irrelevant. It's a shame, as JLI was one of my favorite periods of J'Onn's characterization.

Gypsy is a strong female character, by the way. Priest did swell work with her in JLTF, and her brief turn as a Bird of Prey didn't hurt, either.

This headquarters thing has come up before, and be sure to check the comments. I really wish Ostrander had just moved Z'onn Z'orr to the desert, instead of destroying it and setting J'Onn up in that damned Martian pyramid. I've always preferred J'Onn mobile, so I would have loved an Earth-orbiting Z'onn Z'orr (the name of my first Martian Manhunter website, BTW, predating the late '90s The Rock of the JLA.) I prefer J'Onn stay out of Middleton/Middletown, as another white male super-cop in another generic U.S. fictionopolis leaves me cold. John Jones died and J'onn J'onzz left town decades back, which was a bold move for the day, and I'd like that decision to be honored again.

Sea-of-Green said...

Oh, that poor Basset Hound. I always felt so sorry for that dog. J'onn probably shouldn't HAVE a dog. Though for some reason, I can picture him with a parrot.

LissBirds said...

Ah! I was looking for that link of yours, Frank, and it was driving me nuts that I couldn't find it. I could only find a similarly-related post.

Sometimes I think Scipio threw out wild ideas to get people talking. Maybe. Hey, I'm furthering my own agenda so I'm not much better. As for comics time...well, treating those stories as taking place in the 50's opens up a whole can of worms. I mean, how many years did Dick Grayson stay a teenager? I guess you could make a case for or against Meade & co., but I don't mind playing loose with the rules of time.

"Plus, I can't see J'Onn hanging with Guy, Captain Atom, Fire or Booster outside a team context." True. Which is why I think he needs some non-League friends/colleagues/confidants what have you. But I would also like to see him be a real part of the League and act like it instead of just hearing someone else say, "Oh, he's the heart and soul of the League." The JLI days really showed him as the glue that keeps everything together.

Ah, see, I didn't read JLTF, so my only knowledge of Gypsy is from JLI. I was thinking he needs a female character that is similar in age, not younger, so it wouldn't be a surrogate father/daughter relationship. Unless Gypsy grew up and I missed it.

As for headquarters, I like the Secret Mountain Lair. It's kind of like the Batcave. Though I don't understand how he was able to get fan mail there...

"John Jones died and J'onn J'onzz left town decades back, which was a bold move for the day, and I'd like that decision to be honored again." True, that was pretty impressive. But didn't he just get killed off because they were moving him to House of Mystery?

"as another white male super-cop in another generic U.S. fictionopolis leaves me cold." I think if the right writer came along, there's promise there. Being only a superhero seems too one-dimensional to me. I think heroes need a private life so we can understand who they are beneath the cape and cowl. I know I'm not the same person when I'm at work as opposed to being home. Plus, it seems everyone else gets their own town. Ralph Dibny gets his own town. Starman got his own town. It doesn't seem fair. Sure, J'onn can be a citizen of the world, but it'd be nice for him to have the honor of having his own stomping grounds.

LissBirds said...

Sea, I see J'onn as more of a cat person. Or fish. I think he'd do well with some nice tropical fish. 'Course he's away a lot so maybe we should downgrade that to a hermit crab. I think they can survive a long time without food.

Diabolu Frank said...

"As for comics time...well, treating those stories as taking place in the 50's opens up a whole can of worms."

True, but some retcons could take care of the few ties to other books' continuity. The only hang-ups are Hugo's connection to Batman & Robin, and the Mr. V story from Justice League of America. Otherwise, John Jones was an island unto himself.

"The JLI days really showed him as the glue that keeps everything together."

True that.

"Ah, see, I didn't read JLTF"

You should consider correcting that. You can skip the first year (though there were diamonds in the rough,) as the goods are from the launch of the permanent team in #0 on. It's a very different J'Onn J'Onzz, though.

"my only knowledge of Gypsy is from JLI"

...her weakest point as a character. She was much more sassy and capable in the Detroit years, which was reinstated & amplified in the Task Force. She's been more namby pamby since, but it seems to me most writers haven't done their research. Even Gail Simone watered her down.

I also dig the mountain lair. I like to think Zook still lives there.

"Being only a superhero seems too one-dimensional to me."

While I don't feel as strongly about it as you do, I'm all for a human identity. In the 1950s, it was John Jones. In the 1960s, it was Marco Xavier. Let's try a new hat on for the 2010s. I don't think he works as a girl, but he can be a male with his own town anywhere in the world. I loved the premise that he was the Superman of the Southern Hemisphere, so keep him out of North America, at least.

LissBirds said...

I haven't had a chance to read JLTF, though it is on my reading list. It's tough catching up so late in the game. That's one good thing about second-string characters...the amount of back issues is way less daunting.

"I also dig the mountain lair. I like to think Zook still lives there."

Do you think J'onn made a little door for him so he doesn't have to keep stretching through the mail slot? :(

"I loved the premise that he was the Superman of the Southern Hemisphere" Yes, definitely not as a girl. I mean, shapeshifter or not, he is male. He could be in Australia--that would be cool.

I could see also him in North Asia. Some sort of downtrodden region...Russia, Tibet, Burma, etc., where he could mingle with humans and help mend broken lives. And if he's in an isolated region that's never heard of him (or maybe even the JLA), he'd have to be human a lot of the time to gain trust, and deal with xenophobia. Now that I think of it, I might like seeing that more than "John Jones." And you could even bring the Great Ten into the mix to tie into the rest of the DCU. What do you think?

But he still has to wear a hat. I'm dead set on that.

Diabolu Frank said...

JLTF reads pretty quickly, too. Not Jeph Loeb quick, but as in "so full of sarcastic banter that you don't notice the time" quick.

I doubt Zook minds the slot. He's a "pet," right?

A former Soviet bloc country would be cool. J'Onn J'Onzz, from a truly communal society, picking up the pieces of earthlings' failure at communism that descended into drugs, human trafficking, political assassination, and other skullduggery. Man, I'd buy that in a heartbeat! Can his hat be fuzzy?

LissBirds said...

Hmm. I think if it can read fan mail, it's not a pet. We could call Zook a companion?

Add to the list political prisoners, passive resistance, espionage, Manchurian Candidate-style brainwashing, and a little Marco Xavier-type undercover work and I'd buy it, too. Let's write up a proposal and send it to DC so we can both be famous and then retire early from all the royalty checks.

"Can his hat be fuzzy?" Like that Russian nutria hat George Costanza wore in that episode Seinfeld? I might be able to handle that.

mathematicscore said...

I'd love to see MM in a Eastern Promises style Russian crime story.

Frank, the communism angle is pretty cool.

The One True GL said...

A former Soviet bloc country would be cool. J'Onn J'Onzz, from a truly communal society, picking up the pieces of earthlings' failure at communism that descended into drugs, human trafficking, political assassination, and other skullduggery.

So, J'onn following in a certain alien's footsteps?