2010 Batman: The Brave and the Bold Despero Temporary Tattoos

Here's another exhibit of why Martian Manhunter and Despero belong together as superman and archfiend: animated Despero can't have a Silver Age, either. He may not be rocking a finhawk like it's 1985, but from the barbaric baring of flesh to the steroidal bod to the bad attitude, that's a fairly modern Despero for such a retro show. I'm not really complaining though, in part because my non-TV watching self will be speaking from ignorance until I get the DVD hook-up, and partly because I approve of what I've seen of this edition. Aside from working the classic fan fin, B:TBATB-D seems reminiscent of my favorite incarnation, the immediately post-rebirth version from the mid-80s. Also, I love that freakin' badge they came up with for this set. I'd have flipped it for the fan-fin-effect, because I'm cheeky like that, but it's still great!



Our pal the Irredeemable Shag of Once Upon a Geek offered these scans and more, so check out his comprehensive first post, and if you're so inclined, partake of character spotlights on some of my other blogs. Also, I've got additional stickers in there, and we all love stickers, right?

Firestorm & Company Temporary Tattoos @Firestorm Fan
The Atom (Ryan Choi) @Power of the Atom
2009 Sandylion Batman: The Brave and the Bold Sticker Bits @Justice League Detroit

2004 Post Cereal Justice League Trading Card #5 of 7: Martian Manhunter (s04)

The Transconsciousness Articulator

The Transconsciousness Articulator is a Martian device which can read the mind of a subject and generate a virtual reality so convincing that it can fool the heightened senses of Superman. It has been described as forcing the subject's conscious mind into the realm of their subconscious.

A subject is placed in an isolating chamber while wearing a black wetsuit with various attachments. The chamber fills with a clear liquid, and the subject is induced into a state somewhat like REM sleep, but of indefinite length and elevated impact on the subject. In fact, the device is meant to be used only with the guiding oversight of an experienced telepath, and can endanger the subject if used without such supervision.

First Appearance: JLA #83 (September, 2003)

1995 Skybox DC Villains: The Dark Judgment Doomsday Chase Card ge2

A legend throughout the universe-- the enemy of all that lives-- Doomsday exists only to smash, to destroy, and to kill.

...Hopefully as many Outsiders as possible, and not John Henry Iron, over the currently running "Reign of Doomsday" crossover mini-event. I haven't had to talk about Doomsday all week like Darkseid, but I also have even less to say about him, so I'll let the flavor text from his standard Card #88 continue...

One quarter of a million years ago, this creature was created. Its legend grew as it roamed the universe, obliterating life wherever it went. On Earth, it was called Doomsday and it fought Superman to the point of death. Finally, the Man of Steel dispatched him to the end of time. Do I dare retrieve this Doomsday?

Most of the good Martian Manhunter-related cards from this set ran at this time last year, so this has been one limp "New Years Evil." Sorry for that folks, but I wanted to "play through" with my other blogs and exhaust the material from that set I was interested in discussing. Here's the two cards from the earlier coverage that weren't linked to in other posts. Both are pretty Tony Harris paintings and I think my discussion of why Max Lord isn't in the Vile Menagerie may be worth revisiting.

• Vandal Savage
• Lord Havok

Finally, here's the last assortment of cards posted to my other blogs. You may want to take special note of (unknown) as it ties the set together...

• Lyrl Dox by Mark Chiarello @ DC Bloodlines
• (unknown) by Joe Devito @ DC Bloodlines
• Cheetah by Mark Chiarello @ Diana Prince: Wonder Woman
• Circe "Gathering of Evil" by Steve Stanley @ Diana Prince: Wonder Woman
• Monarch by Scott Hampton @ Power of the Atom

Ta'-Dun (The Golden Pyramid)

The Golden Pyramid is a vision seen by Martians on their way to the afterlife. Not unlike "walking into the light," Martians step up from the red sands of Mars onto the first of many steps up the Golden Pyramid. As they ascend, the given Martian will sing the song of their life. At the top of the pyramid, the traveler may be greeted by their loved ones. If the Martian's song is complete, they may then rejoin their family in the hereafter. However, if the lifesong is discordant, or there are notes missing, the Martian's loved ones will hear. It may then be determined that the Martian should return to the material world to complete their work.

First Appearance: JLA/Cyberforce (2005)

2010 Minimal Martian Manhunter art by Jonah Block

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Gallery quality Giclée print on natural white, matte, ultra smooth, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using Epson K3 archival inks. Custom trimmed with 2" border.
Art Print / SMALL - 23" X 13" ($23.92)
Art Print / MEDIUM - 28" X 16" ($29.12)
Art Print / LARGE - 40" X 22" ($44.72)

Stretched Canvases
Fine art print on bright white, fine poly-cotton blend, matte canvas using latest generation Epson archival inks. Individually trimmed and hand stretched museum wrap over 1-1/2" deep wood stretcher bars. Includes wall hanging hardware.
Stretched Canvas / SMALL - 19" X 9" ($85.00)
Stretched Canvas / MEDIUM - 24" X 12" ($95.00)

I like this, but all that red kind of throws me a bit. I'd still hang it on my wall, though. Maybe when I have money after I get done with school...

There's a Minimal Aquaman as well, so check it out.

1995 Skybox DC Villains: The Dark Judgment Darkseid Chase Card ge4

When the old gods died, there arose new ones. And most fearsome of them all was the mighty Darkseid, lord of fiery Apokolips.

After all these Darkseid posts, I guess I should have given last week over him, but I think what little I have to offer would quickly get repetitive. One of the conceits of this card set was that an unnamed evil observer was offering the commentary on each card back. I guess even he had said his piece on Card #87...

Ruler supreme of the planet Apokolips, Darkseid is one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Astoundingly strong and virtually invulnerable, I suspect that Darkseid has yet to display the full extent of his power. He would be the very definition of evil... were it not for his damnable sense of humor.

What the what? "Sense of humor?" Anyway, the two card backs were different. The "Gathering of Evil" Spectra-etch foil chase set were written in mixed caps om a bland brown "dirt" background with a few bugs on some cards and a skull in the middle where Parallax's card rested. The standard backs started out a stone gray, but "decayed" to a dark greenish color, with an increasing amount of rot and bugs. Also, the all-caps red text was highlighted by alternating shaded strips. Most importantly, the first letter of each flavor text segment was encircled and appeared twice on each standard card. Might be something to that...

Relishing New Year's Evil this week? Find more malicious pin-up fun at the following blogs:

• Scarth by Thom Ang @ DC Bloodlines
• Circe by Kent Williams @ Diana Prince: Wonder Woman
• The Baron by Tony Harris @ Power of the Atom

2010 The Justice League Of Pint Glasses by Heather Young

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When my wife—then girlfriend—moved in with me two years ago, we had a grand plan to stock our kitchen cupboard with pint glasses etched with the logos of the members of the Justice League of America. (We got the idea after she made a glass for Tom with the Black Hawk logo.) Life intervened, time slipped by, and our grand idea never came to pass. Then, this Christmas morning, I unwrapped an awesome surprise...

Jealous, nerds? My wife rules. Also, I love that Martian Manhunter’s symbol is apparently a halved grapefruit. He gets his powers from free radicals and polyphenols.

The full set includes the ankh of Death of the Endless (who may be a Martian goddess,) a Blackhawk Squadron symbol, a Green Arrow bullseye, a Z for Zatanna, and icons for Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Hawkman and the Martian Manhunter. Visit here to see them all, and be sure to check the comments section.

2010 DCSH 3: Triumph Cubee by Joshua Wolf

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I'm not going to pretend like I understand the phenomenon of turning super-heroes into super-deformed/Lego/cubist versions of themselves. I'm just going to promote the first of several Martian Manhunter related "Cubee" fold paper figures by Joshua Wolf (under the pseudonym "The Flying Dachshund." I do this because it exists, and because that fact amuses me.

1995 Skybox DC Villains: The Dark Judgment Mongul Chase Card ge7

"Gathering of Evil" was a nine card chase subset which came one per every seven packs. The cards were "Spectra" foil etched, like the cover of the 1993 Mayfair Games DC Heroes Role-Playing Game Third Edition Handbook This gave them a weird sort of texture (like feeling a pointilist painting) and made them very difficult to scan.

Collectively, the cards form a group image by painter Steve Stanley. Mongul rests at the bottom right corner, beside Brainiac and below Darkseid. The card back was boringly simple two-toned brown, with the following text:

While our planet stumbled toward its first global conflict, the warlord Mongul swept across dozens of worlds in as many days. Their survivors called him master.

Was Mongul established as being active in the early 20th century and I missed it? Also, the basic card set held the conceit of being narrated by a villain whose reach was established as extending beyond our Earth, so whoops.

I'm not the only blogger relishing New Year's Evil this week. Find more malicious pin-up fun at the following:

• Lady Shiva by Simon Bisley @ DC Bloodlines
• Ares by Kent Williams @ Diana Prince: Wonder Woman
• Major Force by Thom Ang @ Power of the Atom

2010 Triumph Convention Sketch by Guy Dorian

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When I'm just not feeling it, I post art. When I'm not feeling it during a themed session, that gets tricky. A few times a year, I start doing random searches at various art sites for the Martian Manhunter's rogues gallery. I assure you, I never seek out Darkseid art, but run the better stuff than falls into my lap or is somehow compulsory. I prefer to hold out hope that someone somewhere will decide to spend an afternoon doodling Commander Blanx, or maybe work up a Professor Arnold Hugo custom figure, but no such luck. I suppose then that I get a little more excited than is warranted from finding a Triumph pin-up.

Before anyone mentions it, I know that I really need to cover the Justice League Task Force already...

1996 Rogues Gallery #1: Darkseid by John K. Snyder

I've grown ever so very bored with Darkseid over the years, but I really appreciate how John K. Snyder III reminds you here that the Lord of Apokolips is so much more than DC's Dr. Doom. That is not actually Darkseid, who was "dead" at the time, but instead a towering monument to the reigning deity of a planet of demigods that easily dwarfs the scale of the Statue of Liberty. If only Darkseid were consistently written this "big," I'm sure interest would reignite like the firepits of Armagetto.

I'm not the only blogger relishing New Year's Evil this week. Find more malicious pin-up fun at the following:

• Shadow-Thief by John Van Fleet @ Being Carter Hall
• White Lotus by Simon Bisley @ DC Bloodlines
• Circe by Bill Sienkiewicz @ Diana Prince: Wonder Woman

2009 Gorilla Grodd by Evan “Doc” Shaner

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Good Grodd...

2009 Darkseid by Evan “Doc” Shaner

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I guess when you're the Lord of Apokolips, you can tug on Superman's cape, and perhaps he was even involved in the cancellation of Dynamite Entertainment's The Lone Ranger. Them look like cheeks a'fixin to spit into the wind, so look out Jim(my Olsen)!

1996 Rogues Gallery #1: Mongul by John Hanley

Ahh. The 50th anniversary December of Despero is finally over, and I do believe it was the best one yet. Since Mongul made a guest appearance right there at the end, I thought revisiting the jaundiced giant would be a nice way to ring in the new year. Don't worry about another month long "New Year's Evil," "Vile Menagerie," or "March of Mongul" this year, though. Barring a wild hair, I won't be bothering with that kind of coverage in 2011 until December. I think we spent enough of 2010 fixating on villains, so this is more like the start of a week or so of coasting after the holidays.

Actually, I feel like the blog jumped a track after the death of J'Onn J'Onzz in the middle of 2008, when I began pushing one initiative after another in anticipation of the Martian Manhunter's resurrection. Now he's back, and creators are making the exact same mistakes with the character they always have. I expect his history will continue to be ignored, he'll lack much of a supporting cast, his rogues gallery will remain anemic and filled with "brand new" knock-offs of other villains or borrowed from other heroes... the usual. I'm not writing the guy, and I run a daily blog trying to help inform the work of those who do, so I feel I've done my part at this point. DC Comics would rather canonize a blogger's 2½ year old internet meme than acknowledge their own 47 year history, so why should I kill myself over this crap?

Which brings us back to Mongul, a villain I used to really like, and hope to enjoy again. Peter Tomasi has a history with both the Martian Manhunter and Mongul dating back to the mid-90s. If I have to suffer through more of his Didio porn scripts in an ongoing series, the least the guy could do is finally have Mongul become a proper Manhunter villain after a thirty year tease. It's not like Tomasi doesn't worship at a homemade alter to Alan Moore every night, and Superman Annual #11 (1985) continued the tease in one panel (reproduced if you scroll down the link.) Damn it, I want some green on yellow violence, and nobody's bringing back B'rett for that!

As a tie-in to the Underworld Unleashed crossover event, Skybox produced the trading card set DC Villains: The Dark Judgment. I suspect they had some leftover art, because DC Comics offered a pin-up book of painted art with an identical aesthetic to the set called Rogues Gallery. Mongul was already covered in card form by Joe Devito, so John Hanley got relegated to the comic. It's a shame, because both are pretty epic, and far more snazzy than a lot of the more art school frou-frou stuff on display.

In case you're wondering about the in-picture text, the Post-Crisis Mongul was killed by Neron in the first issue of Underworld Unleashed. Mongul Jr. showed up a few years later, just as big a jobber as his daddy. If you've ever enjoyed Mongul, do yourself a favor and read his Pre-Crisis stories, when he was bad ass enough to take on planet-pushing Superman, the Justice League and even the Legion of Super-Heroes all by himself.

I'm not the only blogger relishing New Year's Evil this week. Find more malicious pin-up fun at the following:

• Cheetah by Cliff Nielsen @ Diana Prince: Wonder Woman
• Dementor by Ray Lago @ DC Bloodlines
• Killer Frost by John Hanley @ Firestorm Fan
• Chronos by John Van Fleet @ Power of the Atom