Monday, September 30, 2024
The Manhunter From Mars #106 (Nov.-Dec. 1969)
Upon setting down on Phobos, J'onzz was greeted not by his loved ones, but the humanoid sentries of Duke Dorna. The Manhunter's Justice League of America compatriot Wonder Woman had once rescued her love Steve Trevor and Duke Dorna from a coup perpetrated by Ghurkos. Though Duke Dorna wasn't as clearly corrupt, the Plutonian legal system presumed guilt against any accused, and J'onn J'onzz was declared suspect in the immolation of Mars by The Blue Flame. Further, his fate would be determined through trial by combat, as was the Plutonian way, on penalty of death.
The accused was briefly jailed, sharing a cell with his old foe, B'rett, thanks to a safety feature in his Guard Belt that flew him to the moon when Mars perished in flames. Their reunion prompted a history lesson, recalling ancient myths of the Roman Gods having moved out into the solar system to claim worlds as their own, as was the case with Mars. Not content to reign over a planet that bore his name, Mars also sought to destroy any terrestrial gods, such as those worshiped by the green-skinned Desert Dwellers. The Albino Polar People embraced the gospel of Mars, which is why they assumed more humanoid appearances than the greens. Mars set the Martian tribes against one another, for sport and to assert dominance, aided by the lesser deities that served him. Lord Conquest oversaw a particularly ruthless band of Polars, who forced assimilation upon captive Desert Dwellers, from which B'rett's yellow-skinned race arose. Treated as lesser beings by the white-skinned Martians, the yellows came under the sway of Lord Conquest's rival, the Duke of Deception. The Duke so loved his people that he crafted a moon of their own to live upon, and led them to Deimos. Later, following a clash with Mars, Lord Conquest took his most fanatical followers to their own moon, Phobos, from whom the even more humanoid and Roman-influenced people of Duke Dorna were descended. Neither Green Martian nor Yellow Deimosian were welcome among the Phobosians, but only B'rett had the patronage of his personal deity in this foreign land. Not only had he declared that B'rett would survive his trial, but that he would also be free to leave for Earth aboard the soon-to-be deceased J'onzz's space ship. It was Duke Deception who had caused J'onzz to lose the trail of the Martian ark, and cast the illusion of J'onzz's family being stranded on Phobos.
All this caused the Sleuth from Outer Space to beg the question, what does God need with a starship? The Alien Atlas and the Xanthic Bandit competed in a series of Olympic-style challenges, as was the Phobosian way, each claiming an equal number of wins. Finally, the pair had to traverse perilous ground, and one wrong step meant a miles deep drop from atop a lunar plane where they had no special powers to save them. Through treachery, B'rett sent J'onzz falling to his apparent doom, while he succeeded with the aid of his still-active guard belt, giddily anticipating his rocket-powered exit from this satellite. However, Phobos could not sustain life without resources from lost Mars, so Duke Dorna and his favored would be taking the vessel for themselves, and allowing Brett to "live" for however long Phobos would keep him. Not only was B'rett enraged, but so was Duke Deception, himself trapped on Phobos by yet another rival, the Earl of Greed. Deception and B'rett joined forces against Dorna, but then the entire moon careened out of orbit.
The Martian Marvel had a history lesson of his own. Not only hadn't any of these false Roman deities of Earth "given" their followers moons, but there were never any Martian moons to begin with. 50,000 years earlier, the genius scientific survivalist Thas Bakkus had created the two miles-wide satellites during an earlier catastrophe on Mars when the rivers dried up and oxygen disappeared. While Thas Bakkus lay in suspended animation, Martian society evolved to adapt to the atmospheric changes, and in 1955 the Manhunter from Mars was teleported to Earth. Professor Erdel's experiments had also caused Thas Bakkus to awaken from his long slumber, and after studying Earth with his cosmic rays, attempted to conquer it as a replacement for his home world. Just after John Jones had captured “The Man of 1,000 Disguises”, Thas Bakkus caused all the humans on Earth to become his type of unevolved Martian, and obey his will. J'onzz was unaffected, but Thas Bakkus' having arrived near Earth aboard the Deimos satellite was causing gravitational calamity to the planet. While the Alien Atlas investigated Deimos and set it on a return course for Martian orbit, the human Jim Croft had thwarted Thas Bakkus himself. The Sleuth had recognized Thas Bakkus' handiwork on Phobos, and had programmed the satellite to carry its citizens to orbit a world that could sustain them. In the confusion, the Manhunter from Mars reclaimed his space ship, and made off, leaving B'rett and Duke Deception to drift through space, with only the guard belt between them...
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
2014-2023 Martian Manhunter Foes Convention Sketch Jam
2014-2023 Martian Manhunter Foes Convention Sketch Jam
- 2019 A-Mortal convention jam sketch by Robert Henry
- 2014 The Conjurer Comicpalooza convention head sketch by Shane Davis
- The Conjurer convention head sketch inked by Kevin Conrad
- 2014 King Zeus Comicpalooza Commission by Thom Zahler
- 2014 Porto Comicpalooza convention sketch by Herbie Rivera
- 2014-2015 Porto Comicpalooza convention sketches by Herbie Rivera and Antoine Mayes
- 2023 S'vor Fan Expo New Orleans convention sketch by Ian Chase Nichols
- 2014 Scorch Comicpalooza convention head sketch by James O’Barr
Monday, September 23, 2024
2023 S'vor Fan Expo New Orleans convention sketch by Ian Chase Nichols
One trick that's helping me as my aging mind fails is to take pictures with my phone of commissions at a given con, so that I can later recall more details of the when/where/who. I wanted to get commissions for celebrities appearing at that year's Texas Frightmare Weekend, plus this looked like a last convention run with one of my best friends before he was going to have to settle down. NOLA seemed like a reasonable drive from Houston, so we loaded up the car, rented a shotgun shack, and headed out for the weekend. You typically have to adjust your expectations for a show taking place right after the holidays, but there was top quality talent at there. I seriously considered laying down the $3K asking price for another Arthur Adams, and would have if they'd taken the cash at the show, but I hate dealing with online negotiations, indefinite waiting times, shipping concerns, et cetera...
I wasn't as familiar with Ian Chase Nichols, who's done work on IDW TMNT, Dynamite Red Sonja, and seems to pal around with The Tick's Ben Edlund. I liked what I saw at the show though, and was very happy with a Dawn of the Dead Charlie Peters piece he did for me. We had the time and money for another go (because Art didn't take it,) so he was kind enough to help finish another jam piece. He chose Jupiter's least favorite son, S'vor, an appropriate name for the porcine foe. I'd never gotten anything done with S'vor, and there was a decent anount of space yet, so Nichols did me a solid by filling it out. The Jovian looks to have gotten on Ozempic since we last saw him in the '60s, and he cuts a man figure. A love the energy radiating from our boy!
Ian Chase Nichols
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
The Conjurer convention head sketch inked by Kevin Conrad
Monday, September 16, 2024
Mars & the Duke of Deception
In the Golden Age, the Roman God Mars ruled from the planet bearing his namesake, where he gathered the souls of dead men to serve as eternal slaves to his kingdom. Under Mars were three commanders, Lord Conquest, the Earl of Greed, and the Duke of Deception (along with General Destruction and Lya.) Mars and his lieutenants often deployed forces from the planet Mars against their sworn enemies, the Amazons, and their greatest champion, Wonder Woman. Initially, these "Martians" appeared to be Caucasian humans, perhaps related to those enslaved souls, but later, native Martians were clearly deployed.
At one point, Duke Deception overthrew Mars to rule their planet, and later commanded a fiefdom over Yellow Martians, whose form he assumed to lead them in a combined invasion force alongside armies from Saturn and Jupiter. This was after Deception had gathered representatives from planets throughout the Solar System in a bid to join together to invade Earth, but they were put off when Princess Diana made an impressive demonstration of potential resistance in "The Olympics of Terror." Later still, after an unexplained separation from his prior army (which may have involved the machinations of Morpheus,) the Imperator of Illusions assumed a green-skinned form, and was surprised to make the acquaintance of actual Green Martians. For a sprawling arena of natives, the Master of Matter tasked Wonder Woman in the Martian Olympics of the Doomed, but the Amazing Amazon bested him in the crooked competition. In revenge, the Green Martians destroyed the Earth, but with the help of a Jovian, Princess Diana traveled back through to prevent the destruction before it began.
Mars himself pitted against Wonder Woman the Crimson Centipede, a powerful green-skinned being, and a Martian creation bearing roughly sixteen arms and legs. Meanwhile, the Duke of Deception disfigured Wonder Girl, and tried to use her as bait for the Wonder Family to be cut down by a Martian fleet, but was thwarted. After a final invasion attempt on Paradise Island with Martian saucers disguised as an Amazonian Swan Fleet, the Duke of Deception was commanded by the Lasso of Truth to return to the Red Planet, from which the Martian incarnation of the Imperator of Illusions never returned. This final return took place before the seeming destruction of Mars in the inferno of The Blue Flame.
Friday, September 13, 2024
2024 Comic Art Live “Ziggy Manhunter” Mystery Sketch by Nir Levie
For the mystery sketch May 2024, I chose Ziggy Stardust, what I received was this gorgeous amalgamation of Ziggy Stardust and Martian Manhunter. It’s crazy, unique and fun as hell! That’s what I love about the mystery sketches, you don’t really know what you are gonna get. Nir Levie put his own wild spin on it, and it works fantastically. David Bowie would have killed for abs like these.Sorry I missed yesterday. I went to a concert with the Rolled Spine Podcasts crew, and also was inspired to put a little more work into something that I'd intended to hack out before the weekend.
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
1986 FPC DC Comics Calendar Poster
It was produced by FPC, or The Federal Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd., who distributed black & white DC Comics reprints in the Down Under. In fact, the ad running, in the original U.S. comics, added the unusual shipping penalty of $1.50 extra outside Australia-- which is, y'know, all of us buying the original North American editions. Like, almost everybody on Earth is somewhere besides Ozzieland, which has less than 27M population, only 0.33% of the global population. I live in the state of Texas, with nearly 31M, and that's only one (admittedly populous) of 50 United States, and these things went to Canada, too (40M.) At $6.50 in 1985 dollars, that's $19.00 today, including shipping, which actually isn't that bad when I consider it. But it's pretty hefty for something expected to be thrown out on a year, which might be why I've never seen one in the wild. But also, it's a one-sheet poster, not a flip calendar, with the Marshall Rogers Batman & Robin crowding into four of the other images (molesting a small portion of the previously unobscured Titans portion.) Other characters revealed in the final release are Blue Devil & Amethyst by Paris Cullins, and... wait... that's it? A twelve month calendar with only eight images, because several months do double duty, and one triple. What a rip-off.
The image that I haven't discussed yet is maybe my favorite, though not without serious competition. Green Lantern John Stewart, Firestorm, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter, drawn by Luke McDonnell and inked by Jerry Ordway! Wooo-we! That is quite the collection of choices cuts for ol' Frank-- enough for me to let my Texas (or at least my Slim Pikins) out just now. I really wish this art existed outside a sloppy, mangled sheet of paper. And it kind of does, as the original art is nominally available for trade or purchase. I'd miss that lovely Greg Theakston painted color, though I could overlook it wth those characters and that linework. But see, the seller doesn't actually post prices, and the listing is so old that for all I know it's part of the dead internet. I have enough trouble getting art and quotes from people face to face with me at conventions. I can't manifest the energy for "email me bro," so one of you can pursue it with my full blessing. I reserve the right to envy, however.
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
2016 Armek Commission by Rick Hoberg
For instance, I approached Rick Hoberg at a convention. I'm pretty sure that it was in Houston, but I don't think it was Comicpalooza. Both Space City Comic Con and Amazing were still operating in town in 2016, the date on the finished piece, but it was a take-home that ultimately got to me later. For all I know, we might have first talked about it the previous year. I'd been getting 1950s-1980s characters done in modern styles, so I thought it would be fun have a comparatively recent (1996?!?) character created in the post-Image school done by a more classical Bronze Age veteran. There was an added layer of irony, because Hoberg is likely best known for his work on DC's Golden Age heroes in All-Star Squadron, but I mostly associated him with the Ultraverse's Image-adjacent team book The Strangers. I dug his clean line, and I think I gave him a choice of characters (I usually do,) with him picking the Hyperclan's robot member, Armek.
It turned out great, and I think you can tell that he had fun working on something outside what was expected from him. This poor guy probably never wants to draw another archer or old-timey mystery man again. His Armek reminds me of Geoff Senior's Death's Head, with all the armor layers and battle damage. There's another blog I could have threatened. Anyway, the same year as the art arrived, I was working on the first volume of Who's Who in Martian Manhunter, making a bunch of mistakes with it while chasing a stupid self-imposed deadline. That project was a ton of work, but I had every intention of getting back to it, and "saved" Armek for the first page of Vol II. Eight years later, I wouldn't hold your breath over that happening. So here I am, poorly serving Hoberg's efforts by sitting on them and forgetting most of the finer points behind the piece's creation. John Cassaday, twenty years Hoberg's junior, died today, and I'm still playing around with time like it's infinite. Sorry, Rick. The piece came out awesome. Thank you!
Monday, September 9, 2024
The Fake Manhunter from Mars Comic Series & Other Entertaining Fabrications
- The All-Stars #120 (August-September, 1961)
- The Boy All-Stars #1 (April, 1963)
- John Jones: Manhunter From Mars #100 (Sept.-Oct. 1968)
- The Manhunter From Mars #105 (Sept.-Oct. 1969)
- Manhunter from Mars #125 (February 1973)
- The Martian Manhunter #150 (Winter 1976)
- Manhunter from Mars #175 (February, 1979)
- Limited Collectors' Edition #C-61 ([March] 1979)
- Manhunter from Mars #199 (February 1981)
- Manhunter from Mars #200 (March 1981)
- Manhunter from Mars #201 (April 1981)
- Manhunter from Mars Annual #1 (1984) Part 1, Part 2
- Manhunter from Mars #250 (May 1985)
- Manhunter from Mars Annual #2 (1985)
- The Best of DC #74 (July, 1986)
- Manhunter from Mars #300 (July, 1989)
- The Manhunter from Mars Annual #7 (1990)
- Manhunter from Mars #350 (September, 1993)
- Manhunter from Mars Annual #12 (1995)
- The Manhunter from Mars Annual #14 (1997)
- Manhunter from Mars #400 (November, 1997)
- Surf and Turf #4 (9/08)
- 2012 Martian Manhunter Super Spectacular #2 Mock-Up
- 2012 New 52 Wave 3 Martian Manhunter #1!
- 2013 New 52 Villain’s Month: Malefic #1!
I've also goofed off in other ways, like constructing the The Manhunter from Mars Filmation-style limited animation intro/theme, or coming up with a solicitation catalog for the years 1999 and 2021 featuring more alternate universe Sleuth from Outer Space projects...
- "1967 The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure: Manhunter from Mars Segment Intro"
- 35 Years Ago (an alternate history of J'Onn J'Onzz's super community in the Post-Zero Hour 1950s
- Silver Age Triumph by Gil Kane
- 2021 “DC Comics 1999 Editorial Presentation: Countdown To The Millennium”
- DC Comics 1999 Editorial Presentation: Manhunter
- 2021 “Justice League Extreme #1” Bloodwynd fanfic commission art by Brad Green
- 2021 “The Legend of Isis” fanfic commission art by Jean Sinclair
- Bloodwynd Mini-Series Announced!
- O’Neil & Netzer Announced for RETRO-ACTIVE 1970s Martian Manhunter!
- Creators for RETROACTIVE: MARTIAN MANHUNTER – THE ‘80S #1
- Creators for RETROACTIVE: MARTIAN MANHUNTER – THE ‘90S #1
- 2013 “The Post-Punk / New Wave Martian Manhunter” (In the style of "Butcher Billy")
Friday, September 6, 2024
2015 Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues #1289: Martian Manhunter and The Mighty Thor
Martian Manhunter and Thor in "Battle for the Bifrost!"To show how long I've been absentee/coasting, it's been nearly a decade since I shamelessly recycled one of Ross' blogging efforts just to make my quota on a daily. Which means I had plenty to choose from, but this was a favorite.
Thursday, September 5, 2024
2016 Cherry Capital Comic Con Martian Manhunter Commission by Ryan Lee
Ryan Lee Art Studio
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
2024 Martian Manhunter Convention Sketch by Tom Mandrake
I had something else in mind for tonight, but my files have gotten to be such a byzantine sprawl of external drives into which past computers have been collapsed that I can't find some required background. Also, I have a podcast and a long form blog supporting a podcast to get out tonight. So heere's a recent CAF post by prolific art patron Off(icer) White from the most prodigeous J'Onn J'Onzz artist in modern times. I'll do better tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 3, 2024
2014 Martian Manhunter Villains Comicpalooza Jam
2014 Martian Manhunter Villains Comicpalooza Jam