1988 Secret Origins: Martian Manhunter text piece by Mark Waid

As with most issues of Secret Origins, the "Secret Admirers" letter column in the thirty-fifth issue included a biography of characters covered within its pages...

MARTIAN MANHUNTER Many comics historians consider J'onn J'onzz to be the first super-hero of the Silver Age of Comics, having debuted in DETECTIVE #225, November, 1955, several months before the Flash was revived in the pages of SHOWCASE and the Age of the Super-Hero began once more in earnest. J'onn's premiere adventure, "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel," written by Joe Samachson and illustrated by Joe Certa, showed a scientist named Erdel inadvertently bringing J'onn to Earth, then dying of a heart attack brought on by the shock of meeting extraterrestrial life.

Though J'onn had a number of super­powers natural to all Martians, the ability to travel through space unaided was not one of them. The Martian, trap­ped on Earth, had to fend for himself. Using the power of "atomic transmuta­tion," J'onn assumed the form of a native called "John Jones" and joined the local police force as a detective.

Under the editorship of Jack Schiff, John Jones, Manhunter from Mars fought crime in the back pages of DETECTIVE for nearly ten years, using his powers in secret and keeping his Martian identity from his friends on the force. And though the Martian Manhunter was a powerful character, possessing many powers that even Superman didn't have, he never achiev­ed stardom, despite even his charter member status in the Justice League of America. Nevertheless, Schiff refused to give up on the character, and when DETECTIVE was handed to Julius Schwartz with issue #327, Schiff took J'onn to HOUSE OF MYSTERY begin­ning with issue #143 (June, 1964) and gave it a new direction by having J'onn jettison his human identity for good, in order to take on the full-time tasks of defeating the Babylonian idol-head of Diabolu, then tracking down an inter­national crime cartel called Vulture.

Well, it was a nice idea, but it wasn't enough to turn the series into a true hit, and when HOUSE OF MYSTERY chang­ed format to become a horror anthology with #174, the Manhunter was home­less for the first time. In his next appear­ance, in the May, 1969 JUSTICE LEAGUE (#71), J'onn left Earth, osten­sibly for good, though he was seen again from time to time around the DC Uni­verse over the next 15 years, after which he returned to our planet and helped form the new, short-lived JLA (JLA ANNUAL #2, 1984). J'onn's involve­ment with that group has carried over to his membership in the current Justice League International, where he serves as leader...

Oh—before we go, it's worth noting that, while no records currently exist naming the writer(s) of J'onn's long-running first series, the artist, Joe Certa, managed something unheard of in today's comics series—he stayed,with the feature from the first, for a remark­able unbroken 13-year run. Think about that the next time your favorite new series hosts a fill-in guest-artist with issue #7....

—Mark Waid