MARTIAN MANHUNTER #1
Story by DWAYNE MCDUFFIE
Written by JOHN ROZUM
Art and cover by FERNANDO PASARIN and SCOTT HANNA
On sale JULY 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• “EXPATRIATE” part one!
• Ten Years Ago, J'ONN J'ONZZ was a political prisoner on Mars. Separated from his family and fearful of global war, the man who would become MANHUNTER was sentenced to die by the White Martian COMMANDER BLANX. Outside, J'ONZZ's people marshal their forces for the ultimate battle, while his terrorist brother MA'ALEFA'AK is working on a project that may render the conflict moot. When a quirk of fate transports J'ONZZ to the planet Earth, it becomes a race against time to find a means of escape from our primitive planet to save his own. However, on a world without super-heroes, the MARTIAN MANHUNTER must act in secret, and he soon learns that he's not the only alien on Earth with an agenda!
• Written by animation legend Dwayne McDuffie (JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, STATIC SHOCK, Ben 10) and the acclaimed John Rozum (XOMBI)!
• Art by the GREEN LANTERN CORPS team of Pasarin & Hanna!
• The first New 52 comic set before JUSTICE LEAGUE! Learn the untold history of the DCU!
Most years, April Fool's Day among the DC Blogosphere revolves around shenanigans like ‘Vibe: Rebirth’, the Bloodwynd Mini-Series Announcement, or last year's slew of blogs changing their formats in outrageous ways for the day. I figured 2012 was a natural for us all to do "DC New 52 Wave 3," but schedules and other commitments wouldn't allow for it. Further, my natural inclination was to do the Martian Manhunter #1 that DC hasn't yet bothered with, and not play it for yucks.
After hearing on the Justice League: Doom commentary track that Dwayne McDuffie was in talks to do said book before his untimely death last year, I couldn't let go of how good that could have been. Instead of playing April Fool's for laughs, I thought we'd use it this year as an opportunity to look at a better world that could have been... where McDuffie had a close call on the operating table, and decided to finally take advantage of the screenwriting opportunities that had been coming his way. A world where he lent his name and a story bible to Martian Manhunter, then allowed fellow Milestone Media alum John Rozum to springboard off it while McDuffie went on to earn Emmys and Oscars. Wouldn't that have been something? Could I live there instead?
This would have been a great book. My only suggestion, if I had been the head of DC editorial in such a world, was to have it take place earlier -- with the destruction of Mars happening at least some centuries ago and J'Onn transported to 1950s Earth. (This way, American Secrets could be written in to the new continuity and perhaps J'Onn joined Stormwatch shortly after that incident.)I like to think of J'Onn as someone who has been quietly watching our backs for years.
ReplyDeleteSadly, we have a DCnU where I am not sure if we will ever see a Martian Manhunter solo book and I wonder about a lot of the editorial choices.
Thanks for a wonderful, "What If" , Frank!
I've been giving a lot of thought to the DCnU, and I just could not see it allowing for those 1950s adventures. World War II and points thereafter seem verboten at DC, because the company's history has been tied to that period for so long. I know it's like they're talking out of both sides of their mouth with Stormwatch dating back to medieval times, but they seem to want access to all of their characters now, inside the five year time span. I can see the point. For instance, I kept struggling with which villains would be in the '50s versus '90s, and the continuity becomes needlessly overwrought. You can still do the clandestine pre-supers stuff, but J'Onn can also be new and shiny and accessible to readers disinterested in the period material. It isn't the choice I would make in the old continuity, but it seems the way to go in the NU.
ReplyDeleteIf only...
ReplyDeleteAlso, I did the logo Nice work!
That would have been great.
ReplyDeleteThis would've been nice. If only....
ReplyDeleteI love the colors in the logo, btw.
You would, Liss. ;)
ReplyDelete