A Guide For Writing the Rebooted Martian Manhunter Part 10

Top Ten Things Writers Need to Consider When Writing the Martian Manhunter

Looking back: Number 10, Number 9, Number 8, Number 7, Number 6, Number 5, Number 4, Number 3, Number 2.  Whew, that's a lot of numbers.

Now, considering that the last chapter to Blackest Night just arrived yesterday, I realize this is all pretty irrelevant now.  But, oh well.  Here's the last installment in my "countdown."

1.  Figure out who the Martian Manhunter is.

Now, I don't mean what his powers are.  I don't mean how powerful of a telepath his is.  Or what his costume is like.  Or any of that superficial stuff.  (Though that is important as well.)  I mean, deep down, who is this character and what does he stand for?

Superman and Batman have instantly-recognizeable character premises: the ideal superhero, the avenging of a past wrong, respectively, and this is why readers connect to them, not because of X-ray vision or batarangs.

Now, it's no secret the character of J'onn J'onzz has suffered from a lack of focus.  Go back twenty years and you'll see at least three different versions of his character (including the I-don't-care-about-humans-anymore coneheader.)  Was Batman really all that different twenty years ago?  Sure, there were some differences, but the character was fundamentally the same as he is today.  (Well, the Bruce Wayne version, that is.)  Someone at DC needs to take the initiative the define the Manhunter from Mars, otherwise he's going to be a B-lister all his life.

All of this begs the question: who is the Martian Detective, anyway?  Well, I don't really know.  Sometimes I think I know, and then a few months (or even days) goes by, or someone offers a different viewpoint, and then I really don't know.  I'm not sure anyone knows.  Which is kind of a bad thing.

So far, J'onn J'onzz seems to be the inkblot character of the DCU, with each fan seeming to have his or her own conception of who he is.  Just take a look at the comments over on I-HoD and you'll see what I mean.  I mean, we can't even agree on costume, let alone villains, supporting cast, and such.

Perhaps it's because J'onn's most defining characterist is that he is the "alien" and we all have different ideas of what "alien" means to us.  Well, DC, I challenge you to develop him to be more than just a variation of "The Outsider" archetype.

I'll now digress into my first awareness of the character to show you at least how I see J'onn.  (Not that it really matters what I think--it's up to DC to fix this, not me.  Oh, and feel free to offer your own opinions on who you think the Martian Manhunter is.)

All right.  I'll make a confession: I came to comics really, really recently.  I mean, really recently.  Honestly, I don't deserve to have a comics blog, and without Google I'd know next to nothing.  So, I have a really skewed outsider's perspective on everything comics-related because, well, it's all pretty much new to me.  I started out with Batman, because, well, he was always my favorite, then I started reading Darwyn Cooke's The Spirit (do check that out, by the way) becuase I saw it at Borders, and the guy on the cover was wearing a hat.  (Yes, I really am that superficial.)  Then I heard Mr. Cooke won an award for DC: The New Frontier, and I really liked his style, so I picked up that.  I pretty much knew who no one was in that book at the time except the Big Three and The Flash.  Yep, not even Hal Jordan.

Now, I I like sci-fi.  I like aliens.  I watch the cheesy UFO-sightings shows on The History Channel.  Space fascinates me.  As I was reading New Frontier, there was this little Martian guy running around who I found simultaneously fascinating and amusing.  And if something amuses me, well, I'll be hooked for life.  (Never mind the fact that I thought Darwyn Cooke made him up.  I didn't know he was an established superhero till later.)

Now, this Martian guy had kind of a sad story.  He got beamed to Earth against his will by some scientist in Gotham City.  (Which really ticked me off that there was an observatory in Gotham, because I'm sure the seeing is terrible there.  Worst place ever for astronomy.  Anywho.)  Then the scientist guy dies in his arms and our little Martian friend (who's kind of scary looking) is stranded on Earth.  In addition to being a fan of things which amuse me, I'm also a fan of tragedy.  So, score two points for this Martian guy.

Turns out this Martian guy can shapeshift, and while he's watching an old detective movie, he decides he's just going to be one.  How cool is that?  This guy is naive enough to believe that movie heroes actually exist in the real world, and he decides he's going to go out and be one.  There's such a sweet little wide-eyed innocence in that premise that it melted my cynical little heart.  This was a guy who wanted to be good for the sake of being good, despite being given a raw deal.  Not because his parents got murdered or some such.  That's the true essence of hero in my book: someone who puts his or her personal needs aside for the betterment of humanity.  Score three points for the Martian.

Oh, and he wears a Fedora.

Four points!

So the Martian decides to be a cop, and he acts and talks like a movie cop, which is simultaneously amusing and endearing, much to the chagrin of his hard-boiled partner.  Now, I failed to mention that I love buddy cop stories, so we're now up to five points:

John with his partner Slam Bradley, as portrayed by Robert Mitchum

Oh, and I like secret identities.  Six points.

He also has this strange hypnotic weakness to fire, which I found intriguing.  A superhero stricken to his knees by flame?  This guy can't get a break.  Again, kind of tragic.  I liked it.  Meanwhile, Detective Jones (oh, I like detectives, too: seven points) is investigating some weird goings on in the world, complete with a conspiracy board, and takes a lot of ribbing from his fellow cops because of it.  Two bonus points for the conspiracy board.

What are we up to, like a million points or something?

Anyway.  I became an instant fan of the innocent-outsider-Martian-as-human "John Jones."  Later in the book, he winds up getting the crap scared out of him by Batman (welcome to Gotham City!) and then is captured by a government agent, King Faraday.  They play chess.  (Board games: ten points.)  And when a threat arrives J'onn decides he'll be a hero and join the fight, despite it nearly costing his life.  Again, true hero.

After reading New Frontier I started looking for that Martian guy and found out he was a bona fide superhero.  News to me.  Fast forward a little bit to me watching the Justice League: Unlimited cartoon, which I enjoyed, and then Alex Ross's: Justice, and Gerard Jones's American Secrets, Justice League International, and I was hooked.

What conclusions had I come to about the character?  In my own opinion, I thought at heart J'onn J'onzz was the "incorruptible one."  Meaning no matter what he always does the right thing.  Because he's a tad naive, he still believes in heroics and saving lives and goodness all that "corny comic book stuff" like Slam Bradley said.  He's kind of innocent, but very principled: he knows where his morals are.  Later on I realized he's the most patient member of the Justice League: he always could see things from each opposing viewpoint, and despite being an alien, he seemed accessible to any Leaguer who had a concern.  (One reason why his ignoring of Blue Beetle in Infinite Crisis bugged me...)  He's wise and mature and the elegant simplicity of just wanting to do good things is what drives him.  He seemed to be more passive than Superman, and willing to stop and think before acting, and much more humble than other League members.  (*coughHalJordancough*)  He carried around a lot of tragedy but didn't go whining about it or engage in self-punishing survivor's guilt like Batman.  To me, he was completely unique.  Plus he just seemed like a really nice, decent guy, and it's nice to see pleasant heroes for a change.  Like many heroes he was selfless, even though there was more working against him than other heroes: Superman was lauded, he was not (well, in modern continuity anyway) and he still decided to help us out.  Yeah, if my planet got wiped out and people were scared of me, do you know where I'd be?  Hiding out behind a rock somewhere.

Now, a lot of people see J'onn as just the outsider.  That's okay.  But looking back now at New Frontier, it was very clever of Darwyn Cooke to make J'onn the outsider not because of custom or culture, but because of morals.  In other words, J'onn's otherworldliness didn't come from pained observations on "your strange human custom of (fill in the blank with some everyday task)," but from believing that one could easily choose to do good and then put that into action without a second thought. I don't think we, as humans, really engage in that.  I mean, how many people wake up and say, "I'll do so such-and-such with my life" and then actually live it?  Not me, anyway.  We're all works in progress, we're all imperfect, we all hang on to the past, we hold grudges, we second guess ourselves, we're cynical, we're petty, and the Manhunter from Mars transcends all that self-serving behavior that tends to pull us down.

That's why I think the Martian Manhunter is a hero.  Your view may differ.  Deep down, I think we all agree on something about the character, though I'm not sure what, and I really wish DC would articulate even half of what the fans believe about J'onn J'onzz.  I hope Brightest Day delivers.

This wound up being endlessly long.  I hope you enjoyed it, and the rest of the countdown.  Because it went on forever, here's a little silliness.  No lie, this was my original reaction when J'onn first changed into his superhero duds:

Oh my God, that's the WORST costume ever!  Ha ha!  What great comic relief!  Now change into your REAL costume, J'onn!

(Ten seconds later....)

Crap.  That IS his real costume.

Wednesday Win!

Well, it's high time one of my all-time favorite comic book characters made it to this blog.

Here's Two-Face, in a moment of epic win (or fail?) that I found rather amusing.

And a few panels later...

Now I'm not the biggest fan of (not-Martian) Manhunter, but I have been enjoying Kate Spencer's run in Streets of Gotham, even if she does beat up Harvey Dent.

Gotta give him credit for playing both the sympathy card and offering her a job:

Next up: he puts on a pair of glasses and says, "You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you?!"

From Batman: Streets of Gotham #7.  Written by Mark Andreyko (whom I would like to see write more Two-Face), pencilled by Cliff Richards (whom I would like to see draw more Two-Face) and inked by Art Thibert (whom I would like to see ink more Two-Face.)

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 10, Number 9, Number 8, Number 7, Number 6, Number 5, Number 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!

Autocomplete Me, Google

I was aimlessly browsing the internet and trying to figure out (of all things) the "birthdays" of DC's superheroes.  (I just found out that Nightwing's is March 20th, apparently.)

Anyway, I went to Google and typed in "Hal Jordan" and one of the autocomplete suggestions was "Hal Jordan for Congress."  Well, lol, I'd buy that T-shirt and wear it.  Wouldn't that be funny.  Hey!  They should make a whole line of "So-and-so for Congress/Public Office" T-Shirts.  So then I clicked on the link to see what Hal's platform was.

Oh, wait.  It's a real guy.  Named Hal Jordan.  Running for Congress.

http://www.haljordanforcongress.com/

Oh, and it gets better.  He has a Twitter account.

Imagine how much fun I could have with this...

It's been very, very quiet....

This past week has seemed kind of dull, comics-wise.  Nothing too exciting is going on...maybe it's the calm before the end-of-Blackest-Night storm?

As for my Silver Age silliness, I'm brainstorming ideas for the penultimate entry in A Guide For Writing the Rebooted Martian Manhunter.  I've got an idea for the last one, but it's that second-to-last one that's driving me up the wall.  And after I finish that countdown I won't have a clue what to write about next!

Hopefully something interesting will present itself soon.

A Guide For Writing the Rebooted Martian Manhunter Part 8

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

You shook your head at Number 10, Number 9, and Number 8.  You'll always remember where you were when Number 7 went live.  Number 6 made you tear up just a little and say to yourself, "It's true.  It's all so true."  And Number 5 and Number 4 left you wanting only more Martian appreciation goodness.  So now here's what you've always wanted: Number 3.

3.  Give the Manhunter From Mars a proper nemesis.

Like it or not, superheroes are defined by the characters around them.  And no character can provide a better crucible for characterization than his or her nemesis.  A villain must attack the hero's various weaknesses, and in so doing, define who the hero essential is.  Part of Batman's success is due in part to his stellar Rogues Gallery: it's iconic, archetypal, and each villain, when contrasted with Batman, highlights a different aspect of Batman's fundamental nature: Joker his need for order above chaos, Two-Face his need for justice over revenge, Riddler to test his detective skills, and so on.  There's a reason Batman's Rogues Gallery bridged the gap to popular culture: great villains only make their heroes greater.

Now, our friend Frank over at The Idol-Head of Diabolu has undertaken a massive effort to compile a list of all Martian Manhunter villains in I-HoD's "Vile Menagerie."  There are all sorts of worthy villains listed, spanning the Silver Age to villains from Final Crisis.  Though Frank makes a strong case for many of the foes J'onn has battled, such as Professor Hugo, Commander Blanx, and Despero, I'm still holding out for "THE" Martian Manhunter villain.  You know, the guy whose name you can't help but mention when talking about the character: like Batman and the Joker or Superman and Lex Luthor, there really is no Martian Manhunter counterpart.

That's not to say that there isn't a proper villain hiding in J'onn's Vile Menagerie, it's just that no one in modern times bothered to take the idea and really run with it.  (And I don't mean a one-time villain like the Human Flame.  I mean a constant thorn in J'onn's side.)  And since most villains in his Vile Menagerie were also JLA villains, I think the strongest contenders for a proper nemesis are--you guessed it!--lying in the Silver Age.  Professor Hugo is at the top of my list.  Why?  Becuase you just can't go wrong with a megolomaniacal genius with aspirations of world domination and a real nasty streak:

Yeah, that's right: Kneel before Zod!  I mean, Hugo!

My second contender would be Commander Blanx.  Since Blanx is also a Martian, albeit an evil (white) one, he's uniquely positioned as the perfect foil for our good-hearted J'onn J'onzz.  Blanx is maybe even a better candidate for the role of Nemesis of the Martian Manhunter, considering that not only did Blanx have grand world-dominating desires, but when it came to the rivalry with J'onn, it was personal.  Blanx wanted to downright destroy him, and when it comes to arch-nemesi, there's nothing better than a guy who wants to destroy the hero and everything he stands for.  J'onn himself called Blanx his "arch-enemy."

It was J'onn's efforts to return home that brought Blanx to Earth.  Ouch, that's irony.

Whether it's a foe the Manhunter from Mars has faced before, or whether it's an entirely new creation, J'onn needs a nemesis.  Or two.  Or three.  Whoever it is who ultimately becomes his arch-enemy, though, they must take into account who J'onn J'onzz is.  Once you see our Martian friend battling a well-crafted villain, then you'll truely see him shine.

Forget Blanx.  The best part about JLA #144 is the fact J'onn's still wearing that same striped red tie he's been wearing for the past FIFTEEN years.  That is dedication.  Oh, and kudos to Dick Dillin for drawing the invisible Martian head while J'onn is traveling icognito--a nice homage to Joe Certa.