Years ago, I compiled a master list of all of the Martian Manhunter rogues that I could think of, supplemented heavily by the internet. I left a lot of monsters out, but I think I also overreached by letting too many other people in. For instance,
Amos Fortune. Here was an early Justice League of America villain, debuting in the sixth issue, who happened to be defeated by the Martian Manhunter. Fortune's whole schtick was that he discovered a luck gland in human beings that he could remotely effect to cause them to have either good or ill fortune. As a Martian, J'onn J'onzz did not possess this gland, and was therefore immune to Fortune's gadgets. That's it. That's how he's ended up in two years worth of Menagerie March Madness contests.
In his third appearance, Fortune founded the Royal Flush Gang, one of the few villain teams to fight the JLA with any kind of regularity. However, the gang really flushed any royalty they could have laid claim to by being beaten repeatedly by the League and heroes far beneath their standard. Heck, the notoriously underwhelming Detroit League; prone to being battered by such non-luminaries as
The Cadre, random Ivo robots, an
Esimo-Amazo and
a giant amoeba; involuntarily manslaughtered some Royal Flush gangsters. It's worth noting that the Gang debuted after the Martian Manhunter more or less stopped appearing with the JLA in the '60s, and his encounter with the group alongside the JLD was a retcon from a couple of decades after that team's dissolution.
Amos Fortune is a crumby, undesirable villain to begin with, but he's especially unnecessary in the Vile Menagerie. That lot is already filled with professors who specialize in gadgets and have hi-tech but lo-yield henchmen. His one trick gimmick specifically doesn't work on Martians, and he's had little to do with the Alien Atlas in the years since his initial defeat. Heck, it isn't even novel that he has an uncommon (for comics) overweight body type, given that
Mr. V was an actual archnemesis representing for the plus set. I regret ever bringing the guy up, and with your permission, I'll deal him a bum hand so that he can crap out on a gambling yacht sailing far away from SurVILEvor Island...
I would like to suggest that you rule that during the move to the new continuity, Amos Fortune slipped on a slime trail and ended up having his existence retconned out. Or that he was beaten by other heroes. A luck gland? Really! This may be the lamest gimmick that I have heard of in a long time.
ReplyDeleteOh no, I like the New 52 Amos "Professor Fortune" Turner. He was an original member of Wetworks who dealt out "fortunes" through his explosives expertise, and his great grandfather was Gravedigger. He's a stone cold badass master of Tae Bo!
ReplyDeleteI love your sense of humor -- and a version of Professor Fortune like this would make sense as a foe and seem like many DcNU reimaginings.
ReplyDelete