Podcast- JLMay 2019: Countdown To Blackest Night (2007-2009)

Episode #36

Look for us on iTunes, ShoutEngine or directly download an art-tagged MP3 from the Internet Archive

JLMay 2019-- Blackest Night 10th Anniversary Podcast Crossover Event
Frank always gets extra with #JLMay, so this first of several tie-in episodes covers three years worth of often extraneous Martian Manhunter material leading to his murder and the aftermath. Series referenced include Infinite Crisis, Amazons Attack, Checkmate, Countdown, Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special, Justice League of America Wedding Special, The Sinestro Corps War, Teen Titans, Black Adam: The Dark Age, Salvation Run, Catwoman, Final Crisis: Requiem, Faces of Evil: Prometheus, Justice League: Cry for Justice, & Blackest Night! From here follow JLMay 2016 to these fantastic podcasts! Each will cover a different issue of SILVER AGE and each will come out in May! And don’t forget to use the hashtag #JLMay2019 when discussing on social media!

JLMay 2019

1. JLMAY Blackest Night Anniversary Special [The Podcast of Oa Episode 138]
2. Blackest Night #1 (2009) [Chris & Reggie’s Cosmic Treadmill ep. 139]
3. Blackest Night #2 and Green Lantern (vol.4) #44 [Idol Head of Diabolu]
4. Blackest Night #3 [The Fire & Water Podcast]
5. Blackest Night #4 [Head Speaks]
6. Blackest Night #5 [Coffee & Comics Podcast]
7. Blackest Night #6 [Longbox Crusade]
8. Blackest Night #7 and #8, and Green Lantern (vol.4) #52 [The LanternCast]
9. Doom Patrol (vol. 5) #4 and #5 [Waiting for Doom]
10. Suicide Squad #67, and Secret Six #17-#18 [Task Force X]
11. Justice League of America (vol.2) #38-#40 [Justice’s First Dawn]
12. Adventure Comics (vol.2) #4-#7, and Untold Tales of the Blackest Night #1 [Coffee & Comics Podcast]
13. Starman (vol.2) #81 [Starman/Manhunter Adventure Hour]
14. Booster Gold (vol.2) #26-#27 [Doctor DC Podcast]
15. Blackest Night: JSA miniseries, issues #1-#3 [Birds of Prey Podcast]

Martian Manhunter in...

• Silver Age #1 (July, 2000)
• Silver Age: Justice League of America #1 (July, 2000)
• Silver Age: Dial H for Hero #1 (July, 2000)

JLMay 2017

• Justice (2005)

JLMay 2016

• JLA: Day Minus-One (1977)
• JLA: Day Zero (1994)
• JLA: Day One (1961)
• Secret Origins Podcast: Justice League of America
• JLA: Year One #10

We enjoy dialogue on the red planet, so here are our non-telepathic contact options:

• Tweet host Diabolu Frank directly, or probe @rolledspine as a group.
• Email Diabolu
• If the main Idol-Head of Diabolu blog isn't your thing, try the umbrella Rolled Spine Podcasts.

Final Crisis: Requiem #1 (September, 2008)

Superman said the final words at the funeral of J'Onn J'Onzz, attended by Wonder Woman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Metamorpho, Zatanna, Wildcat, Grace Choi, Black Lightning, Mr. Terrific, Firestorm (Jason Rusch,) Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders,) Starman, Booster Gold, Plastic Man, the Bulleteer, Beast Boy, Vixen, Robin (Tim Drake,) Nightwing, Green Lanterns Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Alan Scott, & Kyle Rayner, Green Arrow, Stargirl, the Arthur Joseph Curry Aquaman inexplicably in the original's costume, Starfire, Batman, Flash (Wally West,) Red Arrow, Geo-Force, Cyclone, Hawkman, Red Tornado, Steel, Huntress, Black Canary, Damage, Hourman (Rick Tyler,) Supergirl, Power Girl, Adam Strange, Ice, Gypsy and others in the background.

J'Onn J'Onzz had been lying on the floor in a villains' lair with over 300 pyro-tranq darts designed by Dr. Sivana lodged all over his body, immolating and sedating him. Perpetrators Dr. Light and Effigy lowered the so-called firewall so that they could carry him to another room under orders from the super-villain apostle Libra. Though groggy, J'Onzz began to regain consciousness en route. Libra wasted no time impaling him through the chest with his staff. The villains present in the room; Lex Luthor, Effigy, Dr. Sivana, Vandal Savage, Gorilla Grodd, Ocean Master, Dr. Light, and Talia al Ghul; were tormented by visions of a homicidal Justice League projected by J'Onzz in the throes. The Human Flame had cowered behind an armchair over the illusory sight of the Alien Atlas himself, though he was beneath notice as the Manhunter remained focused on Libra. The Martian Marvel pulled himself up from the ground by the spear and began choking Libra, but Effigy and Dr. Light blasted him with their energy powers. Burnt and exhausted, J'Onzz felt the killing cut dealt his heart by Libra from a borrowed knife from Vandal Savage. J'Onn forced a final grin.


At the moment of his death, various heroes were struck by a telepathic wave that notified them of his passing, including Superman, Batman, Dinah (but not her bedmate Ollie,) Hal, and in Detroit, Gypsy. Of all people, it was Dick Grayson who first reached the body, dangling impaled through the chest by a post driven into a large model of planet Mars. This was in New York City, after being reported by a security guard at the Rose Center for Earth and Science. It was a "Level One Omega," in super-hero parlance. The body was taken back to the headquarters of the Justice League of America, a team he was no longer a member of in a Hall of Justice that was long denied him. Hal and Ollie kept watch over him, with the former asking "Look how they slaughtered our friend. Of all of us... I can't believe he's gone." Jordan couldn't bear to close J'Onn's still eyes, but Ollie convinced him his soul was finally with his family, so Hal consented. Both were thirsty for rough justice. Later, the heroes touched by J'Onn's mind began "sleep authoring" a sort of hardbound autobiography by proxy called "Mars: A History By J'Onn J'Onzz" that recapped his 1998-2001 solo series, plus the JLA arc "Trial By Fire" and 52: WW III. Finally, Superman picked up J'Onn's pyramid ancestral home in the Gobi Desert, the Green Lanterns carted dozens of mourners, and Mars was the site of a destination funeral. The book was left on a translucent ruby coffin as the Manhunter on Mars was left lying in state. Batman, unmasked, added a Choco cookie. "Goodbye, old friend." A spectral vision of J'Onn reunited with his wife and child closed the book.

"Caretakers of Mars" was by Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy and Rodney Ramos. I didn't synopsize the story a decade ago because I knew I'd add extraneous details I easily cut today, and because I didn't want to express my anger at the book to mourning fans. Its excessively detailed yet frustratingly specific history of J'Onn J'Onzz was mostly limited to stories edited by Tomasi that I already had a difficult relationship with, coupled with a bunch of more recent material that I deeply disliked. From Hal & Ollie calling J'Onn their "favorite Martian" to the damned Choco, the whole affair felt maddeningly superficial, obvious, and corny. At least this time the significance of Gypsy in J'Onn's later life was acknowledged, and we got to see J'Onn put up some kind of fight against his murderers, instead of being put down like a whimpering dog in the core Final Crisis mini-series. The opening splash page of J'Onn in repose at the funeral was lovely, and while uneven, I enjoyed the art overall.

Countdown to Final Crisis (2007-2008)

The Amazons of Themyscira, who had faced annihilation from an army of OMACs in Infinite Crisis, threatened others with annihilation ahead of Final Crisis. J'Onn served as a glorified cell phone in a few panels of the Amazons Attack mini-series by Will Pfeifer & Pete Woods. At least for his cameo in Catwoman #70 by Will Pfeifer, David & Alvaro Lopez, J'Onn was dispatched to stop an Amazonian terrorist captured by Selina Kyle from killing herself before information could be extracted from her. The appearance was likely intended to foreshadow his and Catwoman's joining a new team of Outsiders, but then those plans were scrapped so late that house ads featuring the two of them on the team were already running, and completed issues of the series were never printed. Replacement issues were rapidly commissioned and replacement team members were rapidly inserted.

In the Checkmate series that spun out of Infinite Crisis, it was revealed that the Manhunter was often impersonating Black King Taleb Beni Khalid to lure White Queen Amanda Waller into a trap. The Wall had continued to act primarily in the interests of the U.S. Government in direct opposition to her oaths to the United Nations organization, and had also violated a rule governing the number of metahumans allowed in the operation by injecting OMAC nanites into her bloodstream. Where Waller had thought the Manhunter impersonations would drive out the Black King, they instead placed her in a position to have a resignation extorted out of her. The Manhunter also helped in the investigation of her Salvation Run project, in which Task Force X was illegally capturing and deporting super-humans to a hostile alien world. In Countdown, the Manhunter was show attending the funeral of Bart Allen, who had been temporarily aged to adulthood to assume the role of The Flash, only to be murdered by a prior incarnation's Rogues. In the Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special, he claimed to have seen this outcome from the moment they met, and was in attendance for their nuptials. This was followed by the Justice League of America Wedding Special #1.



The Alien Atlas participated in the Sinestro Corps War, and was seen punching a robot from the Manhunter Corps. He also joined a host of heroes in a rematch against Superboy-Prime after his spree killing of heroes in Infinite Crisis. The Martian Marvel was one of the main point men in the struggle, and detected that Prime was not yet at full strength after escaping confinement on Oa. It was during the Sinestro conflict that a then unknown entity caused the first member of a new undead Black Lantern Corps to rise from the remains of the Anti-Monitor. [Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman Prime] Miss Martian had also fought Sinestro's Corps, while J'Onn J'Onzz turned up in her book for a few issues of Teen Titans [#50-51.] He had been investigating a murder in Vancouver when he was ambushed by evil Titans from the future, and joined several other powerful Titans mentors in temporary imprisonment. In another rematch involving the center of a recent super-hero massacre, Martian Manhunter and many other champions made sporadic appearances in the mini-series Black Adam: The Dark Age by Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke & Christian Alamy.

Back in Countdown, some alternate universe version of Superman broke the neck of some multiversal Martian Manhunter. He helped fight some rogue Kryptonians in Action Comics Annual #11.

In Catwoman #75-77 by Will Pfeifer, David & Alvaro Lopez, we see the titular star sent to the ironically dubbed Salvation planet via Boom Tube alongside fellow villains Deadshot, Bane, Lex Luthor, Blockbuster, and Chemo. Cheetah was already there, nursing a grudge against Catwoman and intent on lethal payback with no one to stop her. Then Blockbuster punched Cheetah out cold. Catwoman was recruited by Luthor for a perilous mission alongside Cheetah, things go awry, and eventually Martian Manhunter appeared to warn Selina that things were not as they appeared. J'Onzz was silenced by explosive fire from an assault helicopter, and Catwoman became lost in her increasingly incredulous misadventure. Finally, wielding a Green Lantern ring against a host of DC heroes, Catwoman was again visited by the Sleuth from Outer Space. Selina had never left a computer room underneath the prison planet, slowly dying as a machine fed scenarios into her mind to keep her from acting to truly save herself. There were no external controls, so Luthor couldn't have saved her if he wanted to. The only way out was from inside, and J'Onzz guided Catwoman through willing herself loose. Their story would continue in Salvation Run...

Salvation Run #6-7 (June-July, 2008)

Two more weeks on Hell Planet. Despite the narrow bloodless victory last issue, Martian Manhunter was now depicted as brutalized and dirty with missing teeth in a flame cage constructed and maintained this entire time by a Heat Wave who has gone from fear at being blamed for his death to anticipation for murdering him. Except when he joins Captain Cold in pointing out that killing Bart Allen was the worst mistake the Rogues ever made and led to their dire straits. But ask again in five minutes. The Joker & Luthor camps also reunited, because. The Titans associates Thunder & Lighting tried to rescue J'Onn, but got captured by Bane and imprisoned. Luthor and Joker fought over whether to kill the lot of them, and then they just plain fistfought, and then the Parademons show up.

Vandal Savage continued to mentally abuse and sleep deprive his would-be villainess harem, tricking each in turn to think that they were his sole partner in manipulating the other, with Phobia's literal fearmongering amongst them going a long way toward explaining why they would be so malleable. Eventually, they bothered to talk amongst themselves, figure out his scam, and throw a beating. Luthor needed a safe place for Warp to teleport the device his team had constructed to return to Earth, and Catwoman guided them to the safe zone, where they halted the savaging of Vandal. Grodd reminded everyone why he was called Super-Gorilla by surviving the attempt on his life and working with Luthor to telepathically force help with opening a portal from unwilling parties. Grodd wanted to kill Joker, of course, but then the Parademons showed up again.

Even this late in the game, previously unseen key players were being introduced without explanation. Super-villains apparently killed in the ensuing battle are included and struck out in the final census below (though some will turn up elsewhere in the future, also without explanation.) Thunder, Lightning, Warp, Neutron, Plasmus, and, um, Lady Robot Arms(? I hope it's not Silver Swan. That would be embarrassing) were revealed to be powering the portal, and were all blown to pieces by a bomb left by Luthor before he was the last man through the portal. Weak and in great pain, Martian Manhunter was ignored by the Parademons and left to die in the flame cage (maintained by what exactly?)

"Burning Down the House World" & "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place Planet" were by Matthew Sturges, Sean Chen and Walden Wong, again, but for the last time, and joined by Wayne Faucher. I can't stand the Joker and can't believe he'd win a fight against Lex Luthor, but these issues were less terrible (and less substantial) than the rest. But why again didn't anybody kill the Joker after they got back home?

Census: Abra Kadabra, Bane, Black Spider, the Body Doubles, the Brain, Brutale, Captain Cold, Catman, Catwoman, the Cheetah, Chemo, Cicada, Clayface, Deadshot, Dr. Light, Dr. Sivana, Effigy, Fatality, General Immortus, Giganta, Girder, Gorilla Grodd, Hammer, Heat Wave, Hellhound, Hindenberg, Hyena, Ibac, Iron Cross, Jewelee, Jinx, Jongleur, Kid Karnevil, Killer Croc, Killer Frost, Leather, Lex Luthor, Lockup, Mad Hatter, Magenta, Mammoth, Man-Bat, Manticore, Meanstreak, Metallo, Mirror Master, Mr. Freeze, Mr. Terrible, Monsieur Mallah, Neutron, Phobia, the Prankster, Professor Ivo, Psimon, Rag Doll, Rock, Scandal Savage, Shadow-Thief, Shimmer, Shrapnel, Sickle, Silver Monkey, Silver Swan, Splitshot, Sterling Silversmith, Skorpio, Solomon Grundy, Sonar, Hugo Strange, Tapeworm, Tar Pit, Tremor, Tweedledee, Tweedledum, Two-Face, Warp and Weather Wizard. Wow, that's a lot of lame-os who survived.

Salvation Run #5 (May, 2008)

Another week later on Hell Planet. Catwoman continued to keep her own company while spying on others. The Joker's camp, being the most shiftless, launched a predawn raid on Luthor's supply silos. Although Joker's side was outnumbered, he managed to get the drop on Lex before Deadshot got the drop on him, leading to a Mexican stand-off. Then Catwoman got caught on the scene and Lex managed to talk all parties into believing she was a spy for Waller's people on Earth. To save her own skin, she gave up Blockbuster's true identity and fled the scene.

Despite remaining visible and tangible while trying to talk to the assembled villains and it being known that he was in possession of a communicator that supposedly reached back home, everyone piled on the exposed Martian Manhunter as hard as they were able while tripping over each other. J'Onn took a punch from Mammoth and a citrus-like fruit to the head. He retaliated by dive-bombing Giganta in the solar plexus and simultaneously battling 20+ bad guys without breaking a sweat. He also blasted a (cyborg?) villain (Thinker?) through the chest with laser vision in what may have been a fatality, but the dude was too obscure for me to be able to positively identify. The Alien Atlas didn't run into trouble until Luthor gathered the sonics for an initial counteroffensive and then a group of fire-blasters (including Neutron, Heat Wave & effigy) for the coup de grâce. Sure the valuable communicator was destroyed, a powerful potential ally was felled, and wrathful heroes surely would be even less inclined to rescue them (and might actively retaliate,) but Salvation Run, ya'll

Elsewhere, Vandal Savage revealed to Lady Flash that the women he lured away were intended to be his personal breeding stock, and would have no say in the matter, because he only meant that this would be his paradise. Plenty of room for fights and two page spreads, but not even a smidge for subtlety. Also, it turned out the Hell Planet was created by Apokolips as a training ground for Parademons, and the trainees having the opportunity to take on all those super-villains would surely forge some of their greatest soldiers yet...

"Through a Glass Darkly Deadly" was by Matthew Sturges, Joe Bennett, and Belardino Brabo. Why yes, that is a new art team five issues into a seven part mini-series. On the right book with good embellishment, I have no major problem with Sean Chen, but his loose perfunctory work here only made an ugly book uglier. Bennett makes the title look so much better, at times I almost forgot what a stinky turd the script was. This book fits neatly in a pattern where some muckity muck at DC *cough*didio*cough* talks a modest talent without a serious following into executing a terrible idea that tanks their career.

Salvation Run #4 (April, 2008)

On Hell Planet, Martian Manhunter had been impersonating Blockbuster for the past thirteen days as part of an operation he was coordinating with Batman to find all those recently missing super-villains. Now, he was trapped incommunicado on a world so far from any he knew that there was no semblance of a direction home. The villains were turning on each other on a planet that appeared engineered to be as deadly as possible. And hiding in the bushes, observing J'Onn's futile effort to communicate with Batman, Catwoman found this development "Verrrry interesting."

One week later, tensions within Lex Luthor's camp continued to rise. Lady Vic confronted "Blockbuster" with his charade, not recognizing this man as the one she knew "very well." At least there were some support systems there. It was every man for himself at Joker's camp, as Gorilla Grodd shoved a bamboo rod in Bolt's hand so he could go hunt his own food if he wanted to eat. Grodd was eying Joker's chair when he was approached with a strategic alliance by Monsieur Mallah and The Brain. While Mallah tried to tout the apes' superiority to the humans, especially in a jungle setting, Grodd expressed repulsion at the comparison. "You absurd science experiment! ...You are an abomination!" It was Mallah's turn to be offended, and he lashed out, but was no match for Grodd's brute strength. In desperation, Mallah fired five slugs into Grodd's chest, only to be bludgeoned to death with The Brain's containment vessel, his one consolation being that he would die alongside his disembodied love. Weakened and wounded, the six-hundred pound Grodd was unable to prevent Joker's pallid, anorexic, dandy leg from from kicking him off an inconveniently located mountain ledge.

Vandal Savage had seen these downturns coming, and had convinced Lady Flash, Phobia, Nocturna, and the Cheetah to follow him into the wilderness. "Whether anyone develops the technology to escape or not, we'll be alive." Savage had already determined that the planet was technologically-based, and had located an isolated location wired for paradise...

"Life Is But A Dream Nightmare" was by Matthew Sturges, Sean Chen and Walden Wong. I stopped recapping this mini-series halfway through seven years ago for a number of reasons, not the least of which because these posts corresponded with lengthy simultaneous synopses of other titles across numerous blogs at a time when audiences for that format were dwindling. The New 52 had also gone into effect, rendering the continuity these stories took place in moot. But most importantly, it's because I hated what a vicious and stupid effort this mini-series was, and I was particularly disgusted at the thinly motivated ape massacre in this issue. It was DC not only disowning its innocent past of evil talking gorillas, but relishing in adulterating their very memory in as cruel and distasteful a way as possible. Its utter contempt for its own past creators and their output inspire contempt in me for them. I wanted no more to do with it then, and now, I just want to sort out my loose ends and draft copy for a podcast adaptation as part of a larger overview of this era.

Census: Abra Kadabra, Bane, Black Spider, Blockbuster (Martian Manhunter), the Body Doubles, the Brain, Brutale, Captain Cold, Catman, Catwoman, the Cheetah, Chemo, Cicada, Clayface, Deadshot, Dr. Light, Dr. Sivana, Effigy, Fatality, General Immortus, Giganta, Girder, Gorilla Grodd, Solomon Grundy, Hammer, Heat Wave, Hellhound, Hindenberg, Hyena, Ibac, Iron Cross, Jewelee, Jinx, Jongleur, Kid Karnevil, Killer Croc, Killer Frost, Leather, Lex Luthor, Lockup, Mad Hatter, Magenta, Mammoth, Man-Bat, Manticore, Meanstreak, Metallo, Mirror Master, Mr. Freeze, Mr. Terrible, Monsieur Mallah, Neutron, Phobia, the Prankster, Professor Ivo, Psimon, Rag Doll, Rock, Scandal Savage, Shadow-Thief, Shimmer, Shrapnel, Sickle, Silver Monkey, Silver Swan, Splitshot, Sterling Silversmith, Skorpio, Sonar, Hugo Strange, Tapeworm, Tar Pit, Tremor, Tweedledee, Tweedledum, Two-Face, Warp and Weather Wizard.

2009 Martian Manhunter Sketch Card art by Bryan Hitchen

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"i really love the martian manhunter. i really think he could have his own series. and i cant believe they killed him off!"

2010 “One Year Later” Martian Manhunter commission art by Dan Mexia

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2012 Martian Manhunter Kuru Pendant Wallpaper by Morgan R. Lewis

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“I thought the "Kuru pendant" J'onn J'onzz had in the post-Infinite Crisis Martian Manhunter miniseries was pretty cool looking, so I drew up a vector version and created a wallpaper based on it. While I've generally come to want to avoid using simple strokes for interior details, in this case I still think it was the correct approach. And in the absence of a better idea for a background, I went with a red-green gradient for two of the dominant colors in the Manhunter from Mars's color scheme.”

While the Kuru Pendant was meant to apply broadly to Martian culture, I'll understandably always associate it with Cay'an, so it makes sense to run this the same week as my Vo Nguyen commission of her.

2012 Martian Manhunter 3D Rendered Art by Christopher Brändström

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Per Twitter, Swedish artist Christopher Brändström has worked on "Concept Art for World War Z, 47 Ronin, All You Need is Kill, RIPD + more. Zbrush junky and Freelance Character Artist for movie, commercial and game industry."

"I don't know why, but the last two pieces have all been DC-characters. The last one I did was a 40s alternate version of The Flash Noir. I did acutally start on another version of Martian Manhunter a couple of years ago, but after revisiting it I wanted to start from scratch.

So this is a render from Vray. I've been using Mental Ray for quite som time now but I thought I'd move over to Vray, which I feel I like better and better each time. So I'm still learning the ropes and testing the different shaders and so far it's pretty straight forward which is nice. I'm used to the mix8layer-shader in MR so it's nice to try out Vray's BlendShader and mixing it up! So this is just a test render so far. Not sure I'll be keeping any of it in the end."

Brändström continued this "One Year Later" inspired modeling to a full (uncolored) figure, which you can see here, or progress to his site Badrobots for more of his work.

2013 Martian Manhunter art by Biram Ba

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"I thought I might try painting in grayscale and then adding colour, but I couldn’t make it work. So finally I just added red. Still looks kind of crappy, but it must do for now."

2010 “j'onn” color art by MamonnA

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"I think I've watched Justice League too much."

Justice League: Cry for Justice #1 (September, 2009)

Aboard the JLA satellite, Green Lantern Hal Jordan took a stand against Superman, feeling that the League as it currently stood was failing to see justice done. “How much more are we supposed to take? And how many more of us will be taken? …With each crisis more of us fall. Now Bruce is gone. And J’Onn.”

Typical grandstanding douchebaggery on Hal’s part, given his less than cozy relationship with either recently deceased hero, and the way he added the Martian Manhunter’s name as an afterthought to Batman’s. Wonder Woman felt this wasn’t like Hal, which made it clear that she was still in Post-Crisis mode and didn’t know Jordan all that well. Green Arrow knew him for the reactionary cowboy that he is, given that they were the same in that regard. Oliver Queen chose to ride out with Hal as a hard-traveled hero over sticking by his own wife, Black Canary.

From there, the story branched out to events in the lives of Starman Mikaal Tomas, Congorilla, two Atoms (Ray Palmer and Ryan Choi,) and many more. These heroes all found themselves in a position to seek out extreme justice, if not for the negative association with the '90s team, though not entirely inappropriate.

“Cry For Justice: The Beginning” was by James Robinson and Mauro Cascioli.

2008 JLA vs. Brainiac color art by Joshua Flower & Jon Hughes

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The JLA is often thought of as a seven member team, which is sizable enough, but the line-up has been known to balloon up twice that or spill over into multiple concurrent incarnations (see: February, 2013.) Blog crossovers often explode in similar fashion, as with Halloween Heroes, so expansive that even I as a participant never read the whole thing. Like this "JLA" piece teaming the uncommon trio of Superman, Green Lantern Hal Jordan and the Coneheadhunter, I thought it would be nice to keep it tight and have a simple pin-up get together with my blog buddies Anj and Shag. This being December of Despero though, if you jump around, you'll find the Kalanorian has broken free of the Idol-Head and attacked elsewhere...

Hand to God, I couldn't see the Martian Manhunter in the original black & white art, even while admiring that Lee Bermejo-influenced Man of Steel. The image is just too dense with detail, so I'm glad Joshua Flower got his own pal Jon Hughes to color the piece and sort things out. Hughes was at Comicpalooza this year, and one very good reason to be his friend is that he's got a smoking hot cosplaying booth girl who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Rose McGowan (see: here, Shag.)

Finally, the holidays saw me neglect another classic team up with m'boy Luke, weekly The Atom & Hawkman Family posts at our devoted blogs, so we've snuck that into the mix as well. Reunited and it feeels so gooood...

Joshua Flower Power

• The Nuclear Men @ Firestorm Fan
• The Maid of Might @ Supergirl Comic Box Commentary
• Wonder Woman @ Diana Prince

Ray & the Family Carter
• Nephilim of Hawkworld @ Being Carter Hall
• The Atom's Family: Bumblebee @ Power of the Atom

2006 CBR Martian Manhunter Interview with AJ Lieberman

Published at Comic Book Resources on June 23rd, 2006, here's an interview with writer AJ Lieberman conducted by George A. Tramountanas used to help pitch the One Year Later Conehead Martian Manhunter mini-series...

He's the lone survivor from another planet, who found himself suddenly jettisoned to earth. Not only that, but he has special abilities and powers that set him apart from the average human. Oh, and he also wears a cape.

Sounds like I'm talking about Superman, doesn't it?

I'm talking about DC Comics' Martian Manhunter (aka J'onn J'onzz) though, and this summer, writer AJ Lieberman is hoping to help make the big green guy a bit more distinguishable from that fellow with the "S" on his chest. First, Lieberman is contributing a Martian Manhunter story to DC's "Brave New World," a $1.00, 80-page one-shot arriving in stores on June 28. This will then lead into an eight-issue limited series that begins in August with Al Barrionuevo on covers and pencils.

CBR News contacted Lieberman, who was happy to talk about both projects. We began by discussing that last time Martian Manhunter was seen by readers…



At the end of "Infinite Crisis," we saw J'onn using his powers to gather all the heroes in Metropolis, and then...I'm not sure. Did he fight in the battle of Metropolis? Can you clarify where he was as of the end of "Infinite Crisis?"

J'onn was part of the fight in Metropolis and told the earth's heroes what Superboy's plan was in "Infinite Crisis" #7. After that, he was part of the recovery and clean-up in Metropolis and then went out on his own. By the end of IC, Martian Manhunter is nearing his frustration with things.

Does your story take place immediately following IC, or does your story belong to the OYL ("One Year Later") camp?

The story begins OYL – and it will have parts that flashback to various parts of the missing year – but because of scheduling and release dates, this "Brave New World" series needed to almost be a standalone story. To that end, some questions about Martian Manhunter's past and recent events will be answered while other questions will be raised.

Will we learn what happened to J'onn after IC in your book or in the pages of "52?"

From what I understand, J'onn will be in "52" at points, but the main parts of his journey will be in the "Brave New World" series where some of the strained alliances he's had in the past start to surface. I was done writing almost all eight books (in the miniseries) before everything in "52" was ever fully outlined, so we were able to get Martian Manhunter into an emotional place in that story that will make sense for the BNW series.



How did you get this gig? Did you make a pitch? Or did they come to you with the character?

The series came about when Matt Idelson and I met for lunch and he brought up the idea of Martian Manhunter. One of the great things about Matt as an editor is his ability to bring up a character I never would have considered tackling – especially having spent so much time in Gotham (writing Batman books). So, after we talked about the character, I went off and came up with a story, fleshed it out and gave it to Matt. Matt liked it, DiDio liked it, and here we are.

I know Dan Didio and his editorial team have "mapped out" the DC Universe post-IC. So did they hand you the character saying "This is who he is now?" Or did you have more say in defining who J'onn is in this book?

No, this baby's all mine. Check the DNA. Due to the lead time, I was done writing very early, before the writers on "52" were completely finished outlining their story. As I said earlier, there will be some elements in "52" that will carry over. As far as getting an outline from Dan, that didn't happen. I can't speak for everyone, but one of the -- if not the -- best things about working with editors like Matt and Dan are that they allow the creative teams to do their jobs.

What can you tell me about your story? Why do you think readers will be interested?

Well, I would think any fan of the JLA would be interested in a story where J'onn gets out from under the JLA's influence. In order to set up a possible new monthly book, I needed to give J'onn a chance to grow as a character. I wanted to show J'onn grappling with the ideas of identity, acceptance, and loyalty. Any changes J'onn makes, physically and emotionally, are directly related to the fact that since he's been on earth, he's literally not been himself – he's been a version of himself. The discoveries he makes in the eleven page teaser (in BNW) and the first issue of the miniseries start changing all that.



The solicitation indicates that he's on a search to find out more about his origins. I thought his origins were fairly clear, or has this changed on "New Earth?"

The "new earth" continuity doesn't really change what happened in J'onn's past. He was still dragged through time and space and brought to earth. As for him finding out about his origins, I will simply say that it's more about the Martian Manhunter discovering something from his past he never thought could exist, as well as what he'll do to protect it and what happens when everything he assumed about this discovery starts to unravel.

How do you view the character? In a lot of ways, he seems like a green version of Superman in that they're both the last survivors of their planets.

You're correct. Martian Manhunter's only rival as far as power/abilities is Superman, and yet the two could not have evolved more differently since arriving on Earth. While both are aliens, J'onn has never achieved the same kind of acceptance Superman has. Although Superman experienced some isolation growing up due to his powers, he effectively passed as human. J'onn never had that opportunity. And to me, it's this lack of acceptance that has made all the difference in his development. The BNW story deals with this very issue.



What kind of villains can we expect to see J'onn face off against?

You know, sometimes the people closest to us turn out to be our greatest enemies.

Interesting. From the last issue of IC, it appears that J'onn is getting a new costume.

No comment…yet.

Well, that gives us readers something to look forward to. Thanks AJ!

Small Press Expo 2007 OYL Martian Manhunter art by Otis Frampton

Click To Enlarge

Salvation Run #3 (March, 2008)

Vandal Savage's daughter Scandal like to have killed Bolt over a bit of sexual harassment. Way to play down the lesbian stereotype. Lex Luthor did some more speechifying, having enlisted Thaddeus Sivana, General Immortus, and Anthony Ivo's aid in constructing a device to escape the Hell Planet. The Joker thought it was hogwash, and rabble-roused to avoid contributing to any society, even one made up of super-villains. A giant monster attacked, so the Joker told Super-Gorilla Grodd to command Chemo to fry the threat in a toxic bath. The Clown Prince then took all the credit.

Mr. Terrible called a lumbering worker a blockhead, but when the towering hulk corrected "Blockbuster," he backed down quick. Sivana thought that guy was dead, while Lex knew this was a different Blockbuster than the one he'd created.

Iron Cross yelled at some of the women to help with the building process, but they and other layabouts blew the Nazi off. Kid Karnevil went so far as to threaten the Aryan Brigade member, and got backhanded like the little boy that he is. A rumble started, so the Joker put a bullet through Iron Cross' head before ordering a previously scheduled mutiny. The chaos was short lived, as Grodd recognized Luthor had already prepared for Joker's sudden but inevitable betrayal, and laid a psychic whammy on everyone to "lay down your weapons and cease fighting... You are too tired to fight any longer." The end result was a division into two camps, with Joker leading an exodus into new territory.


Sivana criticized Luthor for this turn, but Lex had kept the irritating Clown Prince around specifically for the purpose of clearing out "the worthless half" of the camp and hoard all their once shared resources. Lex had even talked Iron Cross into instigating, thus creating an enemy for his camp to unite against.

Blockbuster remained with Luthor's group, but snuck away for a while into the bush. "The villains are beginning to crack under the pressures of this world. And I believe there is worse yet to come. Together, they stood a chance. Divided, they'll be consumed. Is that such a terrible thing? Would Earth not be better off without them? Or is leaving these villains to their fate the same as murdering them? I pray that the decision does not become mine to make. For now, my job is simply to observe." Pale blue caption boxes slowly turned green with a red x in the background. "Blockbuster" saw his long hair fade away and his morphing bare skin covered in a uniform. His secret transformation complete, a communication device was brought near to mouth. "Day thirteen. Martian Manhunter-- status report" The situation here is out of control."

"All You Need Is Love Hate" was by Matthew Sturges, Sean Chen and Walden Wong. The change in writers didn't cause the slightest blip in variation this issue, probably because he's a regular collaborator with Willingham, and the whole plot was probably editorially mandated, anyway. I can't stand it when a powerless, addle-brained and generally useless character like the Joker gets treated like a king based solely on his popularity. When the clown tried to get folks to eat the monster Chemo had contaminated, I wish Grodd would have forced him to follow through on it himself, so he could choke on poison like a cockroach.

Brave New World

• Wonder Woman #14 (January, 2008) @ Diana Prince
• Justice League: Cry for Justice #3 (November, 2009) @ Power of the Atom
• Doom Patrol #9 (June, 2010) @ DC Bloodlines
• Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #55 (October, 2007) @ Justice League Detroit

Census: Abra Kadabra, Bane, Black Spider, Blockbuster (Martian Manhunter), the Body Doubles, the Brain, Brutale, Captain Cold, Catman, Catwoman, the Cheetah, Chemo, Cicada, Clayface, Deadshot, Dr. Light, Dr. Sivana, Effigy, Fatality, General Immortus, Giganta, Girder, Gorilla Grodd, Solomon Grundy, Hammer, Heat Wave, Hellhound, Hindenberg, Hyena, Ibac, Iron Cross, Jewelee, Jinx, Jongleur, Kid Karnevil, Killer Croc, Killer Frost, Leather, Lex Luthor, Lockup, Mad Hatter, Magenta, Mammoth, Man-Bat, Manticore, Meanstreak, Metallo, Mirror Master, Mr. Freeze, Mr. Terrible, Monsieur Mallah, Neutron, Phobia, the Prankster, Professor Ivo, Psimon, Rag Doll, Rock, Scandal Savage, Shadow-Thief, Shimmer, Shrapnel, Sickle, Silver Monkey, Silver Swan, Splitshot, Sterling Silversmith, Skorpio, Sonar, Hugo Strange, Tapeworm, Tar Pit, Tremor, Tweedledee, Tweedledum, Two-Face, Warp and Weather Wizard.

Jornell

History:
Of the Martians imprisoned in a government facility as part of a plot by Cay'an against the Martian Manhunter, Jornell was the most seemingly reasonable adult. While Jornell was the first to threaten action and question the Manhunter during the liberation of his fellow captives, Jornell was also the first to call for civil relations with their rescuer. Early on, Jornell put his faith in J'Onzz, deferring to his wisdom with regard to survival on Earth. Sadly, Jornell's freedom was short lived. He was shot by a special agent named Giggs with a sniper rifle modified to kill Martians during a helicopter assault on the penthouse where Jornell's group had been staying.



First Appearance: Martian Manhunter #2 (November, 2006)

Group Affiliation: The Others

Distinguishing Features: Jornell wore an orange bodysuit with a purple sash and belt. He was alternately referred to as J'orneel and Sy'rann, so perhaps one name was informal or his first name, and maybe he was referred to by the second to mark his passing into the afterlife. Jornell chose to be a dwarf, standing roughly half the size of his fellow "Green Martians," and a head shorter than the child Till'all. It is unknown whether his diminutive stature would have translated to his natural White Martian form. During his brief stints in human guise, Jornell preferred the appearance of a well dressed bespectacled Caucasian little person with a receding brown hairline and bowtie.

Quote: "It's hard to accept things as they are and not as we wish them to be. You've had years to understand the feelings we're dealing with. We've had but days. Though all of this must be hard on you, as well."

Created by A.J. Lieberman & Al Barrionuevo

Salvation Run #2 (February, 2008)

A third wave of deportation brought Metallo, Tar Pit, Meanstreak (of the New Extremists,) Iron Cross (from the Aryan Brigade,) Hellhound, Skorpio, Rag Doll, Manticore (of Jihad,) and the Body Doubles to Salvation, and they worked as a team to scavenge some of the advanced technology to be found on the alien world. The second Hellhound (who'd bought the deceased first's gear) was eviscerated by aliens, and his fellows kept him alive just long enough to feed other creatures on the world in a distraction play.

Back at camp, Kid Karnevil swore to skin the Joker alive if possible, to pay tribute to the Clown Prince of Crime by surpassing his lunacy. Successive waves had brought Hugo Strange, Giganta, Jewelee, Mad Hatter, Silver Monkey, Warp, Man-Bat, Shadow-Thief, Two-Face, Sterling Silversmith, and more into the fold. Psimon tried to win support for staying on Salvation and making babies around the clock with super-villainesses, which went over about as well as could be expected. The only surprise was that it was Joker who bashed his head in with a rock, instead of a female. Well, that and Psimon didn't even attempt to defend himself despite having vast powers, and that a wimp like the Joker would kill in such a savage fashion, and that this would instill fear in a throng of villains who could have easily killed the creep for his unpredictable homicidal rampage. This book is not well written.



To further that argument, a final Boom Tube party was put together by the Suicide Squad. Present were Rick Flag, Deadshot, Lex Luthor, Bane, Blockbuster, Catwoman, Chemo, Bronze Tiger, Plastique and Captain Boomerang. Deadshot was betrayed and sent to Salvation, supposedly with two other Squaders. Only five characters total were depicted as being sent, and none were Squaders besides Deadshot. Finally, it's only Deadshot, and he's been cooperative for years, so why bundle him up for the Boom Tube? Because is why.

Upon arrival, Lex Luthor got himself elected leader under a "Truth, Justice and the American Way" platform that probably sounded subversive in the scripter's mind, but just made the collected villains seem like lemmings. It was a long, weak three pages of jibber-jabber (including a second reference to Boom Tube'n folk into the vacuum of space.) So yeah, it's the Joker & Luthor show, with special guest Gratuitous Violence. I run a blog whose mission statement includes promoting awareness of Martian Manhunter villains. I'm so glad it was just getting started while this mini-series was being produced, or the entire Vile Menagerie could have ended up in this meat grinder. Well, unless the disguised Alien Atlas arriving this issue helped save his old support staff...

"Take This Job World and Shove It!" was by Bill Willingham, Sean Chen and Walden Wong.

Brave New World

• Justice League: Cry for Justice #2 (October, 2009) @ Power of the Atom
• Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #54 (September, 2007) @ Justice League Detroit
• Doom Patrol #8 (May, 2010) @ DC Bloodlines
• Wonder Woman #10 (August, 2007) @ Diana Prince

Salvation Run #1 (January, 2008)

After World War III, Amazons Attack and the murder of a Flash by his Rogues, Checkmate White Queen Amanda Waller authorized a clandestine operation. Super-villains were captured by Task Force X and sent via Boom Tube to an undeveloped world dubbed "Salvation." The villains could keep their weapons and costumes for survival, but everything else would have to be derived from the planet itself. As Waller's lieutenant Rick Flag would inform deportees, they had to take responsibility for themselves after blowing all their chances on Earth. No more trials, pardons or provisions-- the crooks could screw off and form their own society.

While Flag would have been content to dump the lot into the vacuum of space, Checkmate had made sure that Salvation was a peaceful world. However, it was actually a death trap of alien menaces that had been briefly suppressed by unseen forces with their own agenda. The Flash Rogues had fought tooth and nail for a couple of weeks to insure their survival. Finally, Heat Wave, Mirror Master, Abra Kadabra, Weather Wizard and Captain Cold were joined by a second wave.

The Joker had been among those knocked out by the stresses of instant inter-dimensional travel, and the last to wake up. Most everyone else present had been captured after crashing the wedding of Black Canary to Green Arrow, but the Clown Prince of Crime had his scheduled departure expedited for creeping out his guards. He was joined by Kid Karnevil, Tapeworm, Hammer, Killer Frost, Mr. Freeze, Girder, Black Spider, Phobia, Mr. Terrible, Hyena, Clayface, Sonar, Effigy, Tremor, Shrapnel, Sickle, Killer Croc,  Mammoth, Psimon, Shimmer, Rock, and the Cheetah. The Flash Rogues demanded to lead the collective in exchange for their guidance against the dangers of the planet.

"Brave Hellish New World" was by Bill Willingham, Sean Chen and Walden Wong. I wish there had been a line in there about Waller keeping the villains alive out of self interest in the event of future need (rogue heroes, alien invasion, etcetera,) but her involvement with the Suicide Squad made the implication clear. The mini-series actually started out pretty decent in concept and execution, but would devolve rapidly from here.

Brave New World

• Justice League: Cry for Justice #1 (September, 2009) @ Power of the Atom
• Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #53 (August, 2007) @ Justice League Detroit
• Doom Patrol #7 (April, 2010) @ DC Bloodlines
• Wonder Woman #9 (July, 2007) @