Rob Kelly and Shag Matthews have returned after months and months of not getting it done for a new installment of their side project podcast devoted to Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe. Billed as a line wide encyclopedia of DC's most important characters and concepts, just in time for their 50th anniversary, a side effect was to make clear how little regard they had for anything related to the Manhunter from Mars. While you listen to the boys' commentary on Volume III and Volume IV, feel free to mentally insert the following Alien Atlas omissions...
- Baltaz is an underground city located on Mars II with an atmosphere deadly to Martians.
- Baltaz's Council is the ruling authority of the buried city of Baltaz on Mars II.
- Barry Clark was a professional Martian Manhunter impersonator who was replaced by the real thing when the actor hurt his leg.
- The Blue Flame of Mars was an energy source that, when unleashed by Commander Blanx, wiped out signs of life and rendered uninhabitable most of the surface of the planet Mars.
- B'rett is a yellow-skinned Martian convict who escaped captivity to Earth before being recaptured by Martian Manhunter. He was responsible for altering J'Onn J'Onzz's powers and revealing his existence on Earth.
- Burt Biloxi was the namesake of "Burt Biloxi's Special Investigations," a low rent private investigation operation. When the John Jones identity was resumed in the mid-80s, the Martian Detective worked for this firm.
- Captain Harding was essentially Middletown's answer to Commissioner Gordon, Harding appeared as Police Detective John Jones' supervisor and primary exposition device in most Manhunter from Mars strips from 1956-1963.
- Charles Brigham Dade was a C.I.A. operative whose grief over the death of his fiancée led him on an anti-alien mission involving Jemm and Superman. He was killed by Saturnian robots.
For the record, the only glaring oversight was Captain Harding, as he was essential to the Manhunter from Mars strip for half its run.
1 comment:
Frank - Thanks for the shout-out! Much appreciated! Also, I'll be sure to scrawl those new Who's Who entries on a used paper napkin in crayon and staple them directly into my Who's Who issues. I'm on it!
The Irredeemable Shag
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