2012 Thantos head sketch by “Illegal Machine”

Put quite simply, this blog wouldn't exist without the Ill Mac. See, while I'd been acquainted with and had some small affection for the Martian Manhunter dating back to the mid-eighties, I didn't become a true fan until I saw Jeff Johnson's splash page in 1996's Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare #2 (not to mention the story surrounding it.) This fueled a strong new interest in a familiar character with a long but obscure history. At around the same time, I went from running a small comic shop to working at a less small one. A couple of teenage brothers had been shopping at the former, moved to the latter after my departure, and were happy to see their old comic guy again. I'd been playing the Overpower collectible card game with another customer that made the switch with me, and the boys lived in the same apartment complex I did, so we ended up starting our own games. When the boys bought a WebTV, I got invited over to explore the internet for damned near the first time. I set up my earliest email account through it, and my first suggested search subject was "Wonder Woman" (then my #1 favorite hero.) We found a fair number of Amazing Amazon fan sites (including one involving some fetishistic cosplay-- heavens to Betsy!) A follow-up subject was my recent fascination, the Alien Atlas, but we found bupkis. The ancient, awful Martian Manhunter FAN PAGE wasn't even around yet. I vowed then that, if I ever got a WebTV of my own, I would build the first fan site for the Sleuth from Outer Space!

I did finally get my own internet, although I had to piggyback it on the shop's phone lines. I even had to buy a TV to use the WebTV. By that point, there were a couple of fan sites, one quite good in its time but long defunct. I abandoned the promise for a while, but still dug the Martian Manhunter, and talked him up on message boards. I got tired of retyping the same arguments over and over again on versus threads, so I looked into creating a repository for all my comic book wisdom, but it morphed into Z'onn Z'orr: Home of the Martian Manhunter, and later J'Onn J'Onzz: The Rock of the JLA. In those days, “Illegal Machine” jumped into plenty of flame wars with me, and when he graduated to a real computer, he was responsible for the vast majority of the scans featured on the site. The Ill Mac even contributed some Photo Shop collages and other odds and sods. Years later, when I decided to turn the basics of the web site into a daily blog in emulation of The Aquaman Shrine, Ill Mac took all of the early photos and did more tweaks besides. You can see some of his efforts here, here, here and here, but I'm sure there's more random, unattributed examples I couldn't readily find.

Anyway, “Illegal Machine” was working very late one night at the sort of job where one should expect to clock out by 5 p.m., not 5 a.m. During some downtime, he called me up while I was shopping at Krogers to ask me for a subject to draw. I didn't understand what he was bugging me for, since if he wanted to doodle, he should just do his favorite hero Iron Man. He explained that he either needed to unwind or stay awake or something, and since he knew the blog was full of weird ass characters, he wanted something kooky and challenging to engage him. I thought about it for a moment, and figured Thantos the 3-In-1 Man was his best bet. Illegal Machine complained a bit about trying to figure out how to make Thantos' face work, but had fun doping it out, and even protested my posting this piece because he wanted to try again. For a doodle knocked out on work stationary with an ink pen more than a dozen hours into his day, I think the kid did alright. The Ill Mac has been a best friend for nearly twenty years now, and put up with far more crap from me and my mad crusades than I can ever repay. It's pretty cool that I can still scam a free commission out of him.

Martian Sightings for July, 2013

I'd like to discuss the JUSTICE LEAGUE CHESS SET. Unlike most other chess boards featuring licensed characters that I've seen, this one is classically monochromatic and hues to more proper figure construction for the game. In other words, there are eight Flash pawns, two bishops, rooks and knights represented by Green Lanterns, Aquamans, and Batmans, then Superman and Wonder Woman. Under most circumstances, Batman would be the queen, but I like how the tyranny of gender roles makes Wonder Woman easily the most powerful white piece. Equally awesome, the Cheetah is her counterpart, with a pantywaist Lex Luthor as black king, followed by pairs of Black Manta, the Joker and Sinestro. That having been said, Martian Manhunter has been excluded from another JLA product, and there is little in life more boring to my mind than a row of Reverse Flash pawns. Someone set Gentle Giant's crumby $300 board on fire for me, would you?

Martian Manhunter

JUSTICE LEAGUE #22
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
1:25 Variant cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
1:00 B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale JULY 3 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Combo pack edition: $4.99 US
Retailers: This issue will ship with four covers. Please see the order form for more information. This issue is also offered as a combo pack edition with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.

TRINITY WAR, the action-mystery event of the summer, begins with a full-length epic adventure! The death of a hero ignites a violent war among the Justice Leagues! It’s League vs. League vs. League as an impending darkness approaches the DC Universe. But the truth behind it all will lead to an evil that threatens every hero on the planet. And what does the Secret Society of Super-Villains have to with this? Everything.

There's no way I'm buying that a war between the three Leagues was in DC's plans when they announced "Trinity War" over a year ago. Perhaps it was going to be a war between Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, all depicted on the cover of The New 52 FCBD Special Edition? Maybe it was that trio versus the Trinity of Sin comprised of Pandora, the Phantom Stranger and (puh-leez) the Question? Maybe it was supposed to involve Justice League International, or maybe their reasonably well selling book was axed because it was later determined to be in the way? Personally, I think the concept was as half baked as the New 52 in general, and in working things out en route, came up with a bigger story for this to simply lead into. Therefore, I expect that this will suck.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #6
Written by GEOFF JOHNS and JEFF LEMIRE
Art by DOUG MAHNKE and CHRISTIAN ALAMY
Cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
1:25 Variant cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
1:00 B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale JULY 10 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Combo pack edition: $4.99 US
Retailers: This issue will ship with four covers. Please see the order form for more information. This issue is also offered as a combo pack edition with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.

TRINITY WAR CHAPTER 2! The War of the Justice Leagues continues as one hero is arrested and another goes rogue. Who is responsible for the evil that has infected the League? And who is the true killer? Only the Question knows the answer...

I'm really struggling with how stupid making the Question a mystical character is. Nice prominent spot for the Atom, and I dig Pandora's passivity amidst this chaos. It'll be interesting to see how the Justice League relates to Martian Manhunter and his team. I guess that coffin on the cover of the last issue meant something after all. Good that the JLofA will get field tested on their secret reason for existing straight away, rather than stringing us along endlessly on the conflict.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #22
Written by JEFF LEMIRE and RAY FAWKES
Art by MIKEL JANIN
Cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
1:25 Variant cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
1:00 B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale JULY 24 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with three covers. Please see the order form for more information.

TRINITY WAR CHAPTER 3! A member of the Justice League defects to Justice League Dark. But what does Constantine know about this murder that he isn’t telling? And what dark secret does one of our Leaguers hold that could turn the tide of this Justice League War?

No one seriously cares about how JLDark matches up with the other two teams, but Lemire would be wise to use their magic angle to spin out of this event hard. Not A.J. Lieberman stripmining Hush hard, but there's an opportunity there. Just please don't have Vic Sage join the team as their Fox Mulder/Lone Gunman.

TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA #2
Written by RAY FAWKES
Art by DANIEL SAMPERE and VICENTE CIFUENTES
Cover by RYAN SOOK
1:25 B&W Variant cover by RYAN SOOK
On sale JULY 17 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.

As “TRINITY WAR” erupts and battle lines are drawn, Pandora finds herself standing alone against The Secret Society of Super-Villains!

In case you missed it, the SSoSV will likely figure into an event unto themselves, given their build-up. Wonder if their role in those last issues of Savage Hawkman will figure into this? Is anyone going to represent the Vile Menagerie?

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA’S VIBE #6
Written by STERLING GATES
Art by PETE WOODS and SEAN PARSONS
Cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
On sale JULY 17 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Being chased by bounty hunters? The guns of A.R.G.U.S. aimed at your head? It’s a typical day for Vibe!

This one's here for the Gypsy factor. Besides, it's no less than halfway through its run already, right?

Miss Martian: Martian Manhunter Mates March Madness Maven 2013

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The corrupted white Miss Martian took the corpse of Scorch in her tendrils, ripped it to little bits, and spun with such ferocity that the dismembered portions turned into projectiles, which killed Gypsy and everyone else at the Middleton Police Ball.

"Fantastic" applauded the Interferer. "Bravura! Now that's my kind of action! A masterstroke!" Ma'alefa'ak continued to grouse, until he was nagged into focus by something at the periphery of his awareness. Psychically gazing over the carnage in Middleton, Ma'alefa'ak noted a lack of finer detail in the gore-- too much blood-- not enough gristle. There was something else though. What was it?

At the annual Apex Picnic, Patrolwoman Diane Meade smiled as the children played and all her fellow officers got along swimmingly. Everything was back to a peaceful norm in Middletown, just like they'd planned...



"Middleton? Wasn't it Middletown? Middletown! Curse L'Zoril to the armpit of Neron!" Ma'alefa'ak was once quite adept at telepathy, capable of lobotomizing his own mother, a Manhunter. Yet, he could not prevent a Martian council from stripping his psychic abilities away, nor were his memories left intact following a fictionalized rewriting of his life upon his very brain. Handicapped for untold time, Ma'alefa'ak was perhaps not the mentalist M'gann M'orzz was, especially when she used her abilities to amplify the illusionist Gypsy. As the perception of perverse horrors fell away, Scorch stood revealed, uncomfortably close to Malefic. You see, it was Ma'alefa'ak who had unleashed a telepathic plague upon his own people in retaliation against his hobbling, but his restored and comparatively atrophied mental strength was not well trained to resist the deadly allure of open flames. "H'ronmeer... H'ronmeer... J'Onn! J'Oooooonnnnn..." Flickering embers in Ma'alefa'ak's eyes sparked a spontaneous combustion of his material form, seemingly ending his reign of terror forevermore.



Diane Meade had been the first to recognize the adulteration of her idyllic Middletown, and formulated the start of a plot to expel the corrupting elements. Gypsy had the most experience with multiversal intrigue, and her secret ties to the magical world afforded assistance and direction from clandestine allies. Aubrey Sparks' resistance to telepathy and teleportation abilities were key in connecting all of the opposing forces, not to mention defeating Malefic. Miss Martian was the muscle, amplifying everyone's abilities and concealing the operation with her superior psychic prowess. M'gann was also the one who decked the Interferer. "You creep! You weasel! The disgusting thoughts in your head make me want to... do this!" A kick! A jab! "How could anybody want to put people through this garbage? It's just endless tragedy and brutality! Where's the truth-- the insight-- the joy in that?"



As M'gann M'orzz pummeled the Interferer, a coven encircled the pair. Bloodwynd had of course survived his "battle" with Scorch, hovering invisibly until Aubrey could smuggle him the Book of Diabolu, and he teleported himself to his confederates. Bloodwynd was joined by fellow mages Malador, Strega, Doctor Samedi, and Nemesus. While the wizard Diabolu read a spell from his eponymous tome, Malador scowled, "We are of the Vile Menagerie of Martian Manhunter adversaries. You are the author of the many defeats of one Irwin Schwab. You meddle in affairs not of your concern." Strega added, "Yeah, know your role, milk turd. You're voted off the island!" At the command of Diabolu, the reconstituted Idol-Head opened, drawing the Interferer inside. Shrinking but hanging for dear life from the edges of the magical trap, Clarence Tuland was defiant. "Haters! It doesn't matter what you do to me! None of this matters! You're all old news! The New rules all, and your freakin' Alien Atlas is long gone from this tired scene!" With that, the Interferer was gone, sealed in a magical box from a long gone era.



"What the hell" queried Aubrey Sparks. "This was all for nothing?" M'gann M'orzz argued, "Of course not. Diane Meade's Earth is safe among the infinites, and we've helped to make our own a better place, with or without J'Onn J'Onzz." Cindy Reynolds chimed in, "Look, I went through a few crises in my day, and let me tell you, the more things seem to change, the more they end up being the same. I'll always be a smartmouth sneak, M'gann will always be a sweetheart with a dark secret, and you'll alwa--" With that, Gypsy appeared to fade from existence. "Oh Christ, now what?"

Bloodwynd observed the strange occurrence, but was comforted by the unlikelihood of any of his party crossing over into the DCnÜ anytime soon. Meanwhile, Strega asked Diabolu how the Interferer was enjoying being stuck in a box with all of the beasties the wizard had locked up for centuries. "Oh, about that. It seems my Idol-Head emptied its contents before we could use it..." Bloodwynd wondered if perhaps the Idol-Head had an analogue in the new universe after all...

Coming in March 2014: The Isle of Diabolu....

1998 Unused Martian Manhunter Annual #1 art by Richard Pace

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Here's a fun find I made while screwing around today. Richard Pace is a writer/artist best known for his work with Dale Keown on Pitt in the late '90s. He never did much work at DC, but you may remember the "Times Past" story he drew featuring the Will Payton Starman or his contribution to the Elseworlds mini-series Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham. Apparently, his buddy Ty Templeton had another project in mind...

"Years back, a pal was writing a Martian Manhunter annual and asked if I'd be interested in drawing it - -didn't work out, but this was fun to draw."

This was clearly Martian Manhunter Annual #1, featuring J'Onn J'Onzz, General Washington, David Henman, and a very Diane Meade-like Karen Smith in her first appearance. As drawn by Ariel Olivetti, the annual was very distinctive in its look with an artist associated with the character in this period. This page has an entirely different vibe, but I like it a lot, especially the more conservative General. This also recalls Don Hillsman's art from JLA Secret Files & Origins, which is in no way a bad thing.

Martian Manhunter is in Injustice: Gods Among Us

Today's posts on my blogs have tended toward belated coverage of "news" stories, from Zatanna's Trinity War redesign to details on the New Atom Rhonda Pineda. Since there's only a few hours left in this Saturday before a post is due, I might as well talk about some video game stuff I don't truly care much about, since I haven't committed serious time to a non-singing game since Resident Evil- Code: Veronica X.

Injustice: Gods Among Us is an alternate universe story where the Joker causes a massacre in Metropolis. The personal and professional tragedy leads Superman to establish a global fascistic government of super-heroes loyal to him. Meanwhile, Batman leads a rebellion alongside other heroes, explaining why good guys are fighting each other throughout the game instead of joining together against bad guys. Superman is once again a bully, and Batman gets to be the heroes' hero. Oh, and of course Wonder Woman is the hard ass bitch muscle behind the Superman regime. Hoo-rah. Yawn. Blech.

Most of the major super-heroes in the DC Universe are included in the game, but to drum up extended interest the producers excluded mention of some B-level names until nearer to the game's release date, creating "controversy" over "omissions" like the Martian Manhunter. So of course, a few weeks before the game's wide release, we see that the Alien Atlas at least earned an appearance, though it still hasn't been confirmed if he's a playable/downloadable/etc. character. Most of the game's characters have been redesigned through the aesthetic sensibilities of Mortal Kombat, and therefore look like walking junkyard scraps, but the Manhunter is in his New 52 costume. I'm still ambivalent about this development, because doesn't Martian Manhunter deserve a stupid 2D fighting game variation to mock for years to come? On the other hand, the New 52 garb is spiffy, so J'Onn stands apart from the other heroes by not looking a fool.

Floating J'Onn J'Onzz appears around the 10:25 mark...

Ma'alefa'ak's March Madness 2013: The Championship

Blood trailed down the length of Scorch's thigh, barely perceptible against her crimson flesh as it mingled with her profuse sweat. Her breasts heaved as her taut body fought against the evil White Miss Martian's probing tentacles (which, while manifesting from her fingertips, in no way diminished the appeal of her svelte post-adolescent frame.

"Lovin' it!" cried the Interferer. The bald behemoth couldn't help but insert his own interests into the narrative for maximum personal appeal, but Ma'alefa'ak was distracted from the present events. He had attacked his brother's friends and allies at four key points without the slightest reservations, but despite his increasingly appalling transgressions, his intended audience was nowhere to be found. Where was J'Onn J'Onzz, and how could he sit by, allowing these horrors to be perpetrated against his loved ones?

Diane Meade woke up with a knot on her head, but was otherwise unharmed. "What happened? Who stopped those ghastly creatures?" Chief Harding and the men of the Middletown Police Department chuckled. "The little lady must have had quite a tumble, boys. We'd better get her checked out by the doctor." Sally Winter felt bad about having spiked that volleyball, and was a little less patronizing, but was perplexed when her fellow patrolwoman again asked about Karen Smith and Patty Marie. "Who?" This was Middletown's annual Apex Picnic, held each year during the one season when spontaneous meteor showers weren't a concern. No one there had ever heard of any Officer Thomas Lappas or sordid newcasters like Spencer Lee. Diane was comforted by this, but remained suspicious...

Scorch had her mind tampered with by J'Onn J'Onzz and Fernus, and the damage done then helped her fight off the compulsions of Ma'alefa'ak. She had also tried to protect her universe from the Interferer, keeping the Book of Diabolu out of the hands of his amalgamated agent, The Erdel. Scorch had teleported the book to Gypsy before being cast away to Mars II and certain defeat against M'gann M'orzz. Now all of their fates were in the hands of Gypsy and her mysterious benefactors...

Cynthia "Cindy" Reynolds had seemed to others like a suburban runaway who affected the trappings of the gypsy like a valley girl appropriating "street" culture. However, there had always been nagging questions as she hid her legitimate ties to the Roma in plain sight. This made her more sensitive to the magic of the sorcerers, and more adept to serve as their protected agent against the manipulations of the Interferer and Ma'alefa'ak. Together, they had collected all the scattered pieces of the Idol-Head, the last acquired from a necklace around Diane Meade's neck, as well as successfully shunted the first universe to preserve its integrity. Now, Miss Martian had traveled from Mars II, and the final confrontation was at hand within Gypsy's sanctuary, the House of Mystery...

“Super Hero Inspired Fondant Baby - Martian Manhunter” by Brandee Dent

Click To Enlarge


Hello nightmare fuel. You must read through the entire solicitation for the full traumatizing effect. While you do that, I'll go scream in a corner until I vomit up my larynx...

"This adorable baby is the perfect topper the shower cake of a movie addict!! Or super hero fan! Or anyone else for that matter!

This listing is for 1 baby. Roughly 2 1/2 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide.

If you'd like to change the colours, no problem! Send me a message and ask!

It's made completely out of fondant, Nut free, gluten free and entirely safe to eat!

With proper storage, it can also be kept almost indefinately, although I wouldn't recommend consumption after a year.

Since all of my items are handmade to order please keep in mind that they may not be exactly as shown. Some may weigh slightly more then others, be slightly taller or shorter etc. Also, please allow up to 7 days before shipment, as all items need to dry properly before being packaged.

**NOTE** Please know, that the shipping I include in my listings is airmail from Canada, and could take 2-3 weeks before you receive your item after it leaves my hands. If you need quicker shipping, please convo me and we can work it out!

Any questions or inquiries, don't hesitate to ask!

Happy shopping!"

Have any questions? Contact the shop owner.
Ships from Canada
Ready to ship in 1-2 weeks
ship to cost with another item
Canada $8.00 USD $4.00 USD
United States $10.00 USD $4.00 USD

2012 The Marshal Comicpalooza Commission by Jerry Rascoe

When I started the Vile Menagerie version 1.0 on the old Rock of the JLA fan site, The Marshal was one of (if not the) first entries I wrote. I was still pretty ignorant about the Martian Manhunter rogues gallery back then, and in the company of dudes like Professor Ivo and Asmodel, the Marshal was one of the only legitimate entries (ignoring only the most liberal parameters for inclusion.) Then again, it's not like anyone else was breaking a sweat putting together a better list in 1999 or whenever. Anyway, the Marshal was a proper Alien Atlas adversary, and figured into one of his all time best covers, but I can't honestly say he made much of an impression.

"War of the Worlds 1984" was an impactful story because it was used to justify the disbanding of the Satellite Era Justice League of America and their being replaced by the infamous Detroit-based operation (which some would say was more like an impaction.) The tale also returned J'onn J'onzz to the League, to regular appearances in comics in general, and set the stage for his full embrace by fandom as a Super Powers figure and key member of the beloved JLI. On the other hand, the "WotW 1984" story itself never rated much attention, and was clearly a rushed, illogical affair manned by a couple of warm bodied fill-in artists. None of the featured players ever appeared anywhere again (including the sensational character find of 1972, Bel Juz*) and the event was retconned out of existence by Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Marshal and the Challenger ahead of him were also taken out with expedience unbecoming a super-villain likely to get work in future comics. The Marshal doesn't even have a distinctive, Google-friendly moniker. What a wash-out!

Despite not being especially enamored with an over-hyped glass-jawed cheat, I see potential in the big lug, and "WotW 1984" was the capstone on the Martian Manhunter's Bronze Age. Ostrander and Mandrake's Martian Manhunter series exclusively employed newly created villains, of whom only Ma'alefa'ak is widely remembered. Another series attempt would be wiser to mine the archives, and guys like the Marshal and Commander Blanx are more functional and familiar to mainstream readers than obscure oddities like Mister V or Professor Arnold Hugo.

Keeping this in mind, the Marshal was in the initial stack of reference I put together for my first trip to Comicpalooza. The last artist I spoke to at the convention that year was given their choice of several options, and picked Bel Juz & Commander Blanx for a proposed two-figure piece. I pointed out that the Marshal was the more obvious partner for Bel Juz, since they were romantically entangled, so Blanx was swapped out. At the time, I worked under a one character/one commission policy, so when the Marshal's piece went uncompleted for over a year before it was finally canceled, that meant he was out of the reference pile for Comicpalooza 2011, as well. I decided to prioritize the Marshal in 2012, so he was selected as the second and final piece from Jerry Rascoe, following B’enn B’urnzz.

Once again, Jerry Rascoe killed with a full color full figure at the low low price of just $30 American. Looking at all that orange though, I became aware that at least part of the reason why my favorite rendition of the character was Chuck Patton's was because his shirt was torn off and he was colored as though he only wore the purple briefs. Not an ideal scheme, but Rascoe handles it as well as it could be handled, with an eye for detail. Rascoe unfortunately hasn't updated his deviantART gallery since last year, but there's some nice new pieces on his Facebook page, which also confirms his attendance at Comicpalooza 2013. I'm more than a little irritated that with fifty days to go and Artist Alley booking officially closed, the damned con organizers still haven't announced any non-guest illustrators. I'll have to cruise by past commission artists' pages via the handy links in my posts to see who else will be there, but in the meantime, feel free to offer suggestions in the comments as to who Rascoe should draw for us next round...

*Competition admittedly includes Luke Cage, Ghost Rider, Alec Holland, Jonah Hex, Kamandi, Christopher Chance, and Shang-Chi. Further confession involves my often wearing a brand new Power Man t-shirt but not owning a Bel Juz one since it never ever ever existed anywhere ever.

2013 New 52 “Superman, Batman & Martian Manhunter” print by Cory Hamscher

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Cory Hamscher is an inker best known for his work over Tom Grummett, although he's done full art here and there. He reminds me a lot of early '90s Mark Pacella, and likes to draw versions of the Justice League without the Martian Manhunter in them. This JLA trio in New 52 garb is the lone exception I could find, and Hamscher still drew that stupid flower thing on J'Onn's chest that Dave Finch doodles instead of knuckling down and crafting five intersecting straight lines like everyone else. I'm not sure that I like this Cory Hamscher fellow very much.

The Manhunter From Mars #105 (Sept.-Oct. 1969)

Outgoing House of Mystery editor George Kashdan had been hammering out projected talent and schedules for the launch issues of the spin-off John Jones: Manhunter From Mars book without the strip's departing longtime creative team of Jack Miller and Joe Certa when he himself left National. The book had been intended to come out with a May cover date, but the editorial reshuffling pushed it back four months and into the lap of Dick Giordano, who was nonetheless held accountable for correcting the snafu with all haste. A fresh new direction was hammered out with fellow Charlton Comics alumni Dennis O' Neil, but Denny was already struggling with Justice League of America scripts, and couldn't commit to another ongoing series so far outside his comfort zone as a writer. Jim Aparo was a candidate on art, but Giordano prioritized his need for a new illustrator on Aquaman. Four earthbound, uninspired fill-in issues followed before the series's true launch with #105. During this period, Mike Sekowsky introduced Giordano to Len Brown, who had mostly left comics after a brief dalliance when he helped establish the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, but was convinced to give the medium one more go. Golden Age veteran John Giunta, also late of Tower Comics, was offered the Manhunter art reins after drawing a short story for Giordano in Strange Adventures (which appeared a month later in #215.)

After John Jones was first announced, the new generation of older, hipper, and better informed readers began writing in with suggestions. The Manhunter From Mars strip had never been very attached to its own continuity, but suddenly requests were coming in for reappearances of characters, especially villains, from the old stories. May of 1969's Justice League of America #71 served as a stealth promotion for the new direction, seeing J'onn J'onzz into outer space adventures while searching for his fellow survivors of the destruction of Mars. The Manhunter's reputation preceded him to the stars, and the threat of a revered super-hero nosing around innumerable worlds did not sit well with the interstellar criminal underground. Possibly inspired by the recent short-lived Secret Six series by E. Nelson Bridwell and Frank Springer, a team of agents were gathered together by a mysterious benefactor for a mission-- to kill J'onn J'onzz before he could bring justice to the spaceways!

The agents were chosen based on their each having previous, ill-fortuned experiences with J'onn J'onzz that would enable them to topple him as a group when they could not as individuals. Further, the agents represented one world each, and to preserve their anonymity in the event that the Justice League or other avengers looked into the assassination, the agents were identified amongst one another only by their planet of origin.

The Mercurian, The Martian, The Jovian, The Saturnian, and The Plutonian ambushed J'onn J'onzz outside his spacecraft, and appeared to disintegrate him with brutal efficiency. As it turned out, the Manhunter had anticipated the plot against him after his discovery that Earth's international criminal organization Vulture's scope was much grander than previously believed. Extending throughout the solar system from its current base on Earth, the Manhunter had realized Faceless had outlived Marco Xavier, assuming he was ever truly Mister V in the first place. A prior attack had led to his silly disguise in Justice League of America #71, and he predicted others once he left the protection of Earth. The Alien Atlas stealthily tracked and captured each of the five main "Cosmic Criminals" for his attempted murder, but Faceless remained on Earth to mastermind more schemes.

Reader response was positive, though there was some nitpicking over the Vulture retcon and Faceless not being "The Earthling." Most seemed to like the Martian Manhunter getting to take elements of his rogues gallery with him after departing Earth, and variations on the "Cosmic Criminals" persisted, though not typically under that name. One pedantic fan letter pointed out that the creators had missed out on the opportunity to use a Venusian of the type seen in Detective Comics #278, despite their having been proven fake by story's end. Regardless, this inspired demand to represent every known planet. The gang's ranks inevitably swelled to include all of the (then) nine planets and the sun itself to form what we now know as the Solar Syndicate, Martian Manhunter's outsized equivalent to the Sinister Six. Credits
Script: Len Brown
Art: John Giunta
Price: $0.15 USD
Pages: 36
Indicia frequency: bi-monthly
Indicia Publisher: National Periodical Publications, Inc.
Brand: Superman DC National Comics
Editing: Dick Giordano

2012 “Vil24: Ma'alefa'ak J'onzz Cubee” by Joshua Wolf

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Following in the tradition of Triumph and Cay'an comes a third Vile Menagerie monstrosity, Malefic! I think Cubees are a cute way to land on a holiday of very opposing sympathies to the genocidal extraterrestrial loony tune that has dominated our March. I'd be willing to try out Ma'alefa'ak Month as an annual affair, but I exhausted a lot of the available material to be found on the internet, so that might be a stretch content-wise. I think we'll give over May 2014 to him, if I can get myself together enough to fill the month with coverage of the issues of Martian Manhunter and JLA: Classified he appeared in before dying out. Maybe we'll even have a New 52 version by then?

Joshua Wolf's Villains Cubees

• Ambush Bug @ DC Bloodlines
• Doctor Light @ Power of the Atom
• Giganta @ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman
• Professor Ivo @ Justice League Detroit

Malefic versus Bizarro

Malefic
Debut: 1998
Nemesis: Martian Manhunter
Other Major Foes: The JLA
Appearances: 15+ comics
Powers: Flight, shape-shifting, Laser Vision and other heightened ocular abilities, nigh-invulnerability, invisibility, intangibility, and superhuman strength/ speed/ physique/ senses/ reflexes/ endurance and sometimes telepathy.

Bio: Ma'alefa'ak is the evil twin brother of J'Onn J'Onzz, established from birth by his own mother as the darkness to the Martian Manhunter's light. Ma'alefa'ak killed and molested much of his extended family, including being credited with unleashing a plague that killed most of the inhabitants of Mars.

Vile Menagerie Stats
Win: Asmodel (13-6); Commander Blanx (5-2); Darkseid (?); Despero (9-7); Fernus (18-5); The Hyperclan (10-4); The Master Gardener (13-5)
Lose: Despero (?)
Draw: 0




Bizarro
Debut: 1958
Nemesis: Superman
Other Major Foes: Lex Luthor, Superman Family
Appearances: 350+ comics, newspaper strips, animation, video games and live action television.
Powers: Flight, flame breath, vacuum breath, freeze vision and other bizarre ocular powers, invulnerability, and superhuman strength/ speed/ physique/ senses/ reflexes/ endurance.

Bio: Bizarro is a flawed duplicate of Superman whose power set works in a contrary version of the Man of Steel's. At various times, he has existed on a whole world of like creatures, or been a lonely creature with nothing like him in existence. Sometimes the product of science, other times magic, Bizarro is always an unstable, unpredictable, overwhelming force of the unnatural kind. Bizarro typically does not understand the difference between good and evil, is easily confused/confusing, and often actively attempts to do the opposite of whatever he interprets as Superman's actions.

Vile Menagerie Stats:
Win: 0
Lose: 0
Draw: 0




Idol Speculation:
Given Bizarro's tendencies, a team-up would be more likely than a brawl, but the reverse-Superman does seem to have a bit of a soft spot for life that Malefic would chafe against. Bizarro is problematic, but he/it does function within uncertain, garbled ethical parameters. Malefic has the raw power and lack of compunctions to take down Bizarro by any of the considerable means at his disposal, and I expect he could do so, as long as Bizarro doesn't have time to mount a response. Breathing fire and having most of the same powers as Malefic to a greater degree could make life very hard on a Martian psychopath.

Ma'alefa'ak's March Madness 2013: The Final Four

King Faraday took the green rock from out of his pocket and placed it in Carré's mystical artifact detector. After a brief period of analysis, it determined that there were numerous positive readings throughout Europe, and a simple adjustment in scope soon projected finds throughout the continent. "J'onn J'onzz" certainly was thorough." Faraday's keen analytic mind detected something amiss-- that the large concentration of artifact fragments gathered by the Harovian Royal Family were nowhere to be found in the kingdom. Instead, the loudest ping directed King toward a very specific area of the Mediterranean. Even more intriguing, this locale appeared to be a focal point of magical activity. Most curious of all, a JLI teleportation tube had been installed inside, which allowed Faraday to make the trip in record time through his Checkmate connections.



Gypsy had followed J'Onn's directions to the posh villa where he had once made his home under the alias "Marco Xavier." It remained one of the Martian Manhunter's getaways, though its installation of teleportation technology and tethering to the sorcerous property dubbed the "House of Mystery" meant that it wasn't exactly a quiet retreat. Gypsy had gained J'Onzz's trust through their time together in the Justice League, and Cindy Reynolds had agreed during their Task Force days to observe certain protocols should an alarm go off from the villa. J'Onn had taken great pains to destroy and scatter the heinous device of a deceased warlock, but had become aware of Prince Rudolph's attempts to reconstitute it as part of a metaphysical "nuclear deterrent." This had attract the attention of a whole Illuminati of concerns interested in staking their own claim to the resource. This included Checkmate, who sent one of their top agents to procure a detection system developed by the Carré company. However, in Faraday's haste, he had failed to consider that he was teleporting into the home of a metahuman with an assigned protector capable of broadcasting illusions while simultaneously demonstrating martial skills learned from no less a light than the Bronze Tiger. Under the circumstances, Faraday never stood a chance...



In Middletown, Patrolwoman Diane Meade had been secretly pursuing a case with potentially terrifying consequences. After capturing and questioning the Conjurer she learned that a true wizard had come to the metropolis to unearth the idol-head which had killed her friend and associate Detective John Jones years earlier. The city's own former guardian super-hero, the Manhunter from Mars, had left town to avenge Jones by locating and destroying the idol-head. Already, this mage had corrupted the minds of her fellow officers, causing them to attempt murder against one another. Meade had fought hard against her own friends to save them from themselves, but was now confronted with the reanimated corpses of private investigator Karen Smith, long dead child star Patty Marie, and now Detective John Jones his own self. What Meade didn't know was that she had really been compromised by the telepathic suggestions of Ma'alefa'ak, and that Gypsy's attempt to sooth her with the illusion of a fallen friend only placed her in the same crosshairs as John's long gone associates...



Erdel may have given up knowledge required for the research and development into the technology needed to locate the broken pieces of the Diabolu Idol-Head, but they would have little value without the supernatural wisdom required to reactive the vessel. Erdel recognized the need for the long lost tome hidden in the Martian Manhunter's forgotten mountain lair, the Book of Diabolu. However, his research had attracted unwanted attention, including the agent of darkness born Aubrey Sparks. Scorch teleported into the lair, lived up to her name by roasting Erdel, and vanished in a puff of smoke with a hard won spellbook...

Bel Juz had survived the destruction of her home world by Commander Blanx and the long trip to a new world dubbed Mars II through deceit and cunning, but she had little in the way of raw power when compared to a dynamo like Miss Martian. With the heroine under the psychic spell of Ma'alefa'ak and freed from any soft-hearted gullibility or mercy that Bel could play upon, Juz fell to her terrible fury. However, before Ma'alefa'ak had any time to gloat, a new combatant appeared from distant Earth. J'onn J'onzz had taken one piece of the Idol-Head with him to Mars II, and Scorch would go through anyone to get it back. It wouldn't be easy though, since Ma'alefa'ak's forcing M'gann M'orzz into her white-skinned future form made her invulnerable to flames...

2012 Ma'alefa'ak Custom Action Figure by “mr_mxyzptlk05”

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"I had an extra Martian and couldn't quite dedcide waht to do with it. Modern? White Lantern? Ma'alefa'ak? Justice Lords? Almost went with Justice Lords, but decided I'd rather have another villain on the shelf instead. Based his appearance mostly on his look ing "Doom" but researched the character and found no consistancy to his look, so I took some liberties. Wanted to keep the "rain catcher" on the cape, but couldn't get the look to come out right. Used sculpy on the head, paint, fabric for the collar, and real chain.

Enjoy!"

Oh, I do, and so can you with more perspective shots here!

Coming in February 2014- Martian Manhunter: Son of Mars TP

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Bleeding Cool reports that the early issues of the only eponymous Martian Manhunter ongoing series ever will finally get an English language trade paperback collection.

Martian Manhunter: Son of Mars TP
Writers: John Ostrander and John Arcudi
Artists: Tom Mandrake and Jan Duursema
Collects: Martian Manhunter #0-9
$19.99 US, 240 pg

Gah! It weirds me out to see that cover image. The art for #0 was used in advertisements for the series, #9 and #24 are favored images for articles about the Alien Atlas, #8 was commonly seen around the time J'Onn J'Onzz's death was leaked ahead of Final Crisis, and many of the rest turn up in character biographies for Antares, Bette Noir, Jemm, Cabal, and Mister Bones. The Martian Manhunter versus the JLA cover to #6 gets around, even though that's a disguised Malefic, and even Martian Manhunter Annual #1 has its fans. However, in the marketing stunt that surrounded the series' debut with two #1s, a #0, and a #1,000,000 within a span of a few months, the cover to #1 really got lost in the shuffle. Yet, it was used in a previous collection of this material, Universo DC: Detective Marciano Nº 01, the first in a two volume Spanish edition that compiled the entire three year run of the series.

The fact is, the U.S. really lags behind international Martian Manhunter editions. The gold standard of Sleuth from Outer Space tales, American Secrets, has been in trade paperback everywhere but America. In fact, the only full color Martian Manhunter trade released in North America so far is 2007's The Others Among Us, so inauspicious a debut that the only others available to date are the two black & white fire sale volumes of Showcase Presents.

Not to make too big a deal of it, but "Son of Mars" will be the first edition to collect well received modern age stories featuring the character's origin, the introduction of his nemesis Ma'alefa'ak and several lesser character-specific foes, the explanation of his ties to the Son of Saturn and White Martians, plus copious guest appearances. Finally, DC has a tendency to put out seemingly random collections like this around the same time as launching a new series, and after several waves of failed mini-launches after the initial splash of the New 52, it might finally be J'Onn's turn. Few of the outgoing Green Lantern family creative teams have announced new projects, so maybe we'll see Pete Tomasi (who edited the comics in "Son of Mars" and started his writing career doing Martian Manhunter short stories) and Fernando Pasarin will launch a solo series? Of course, I've been wrong a few times or so.