Superman Sonderausgabe #6 - Superman gegen Mongul! (1981)

I never thought of Cologne as a must-visit locale for comic book fans. However, my second trip to Germany was going to be too brief to do anything substantial, so I Googled some nice looking shops within walking distance of where we were staying. As it happened, there were actually several very appealing and quite varied fandom-related stores in the area. Some were more geared toward Generation X nostalgia, like 1970s actions figures, lunch boxes, and such. One was a three story deal in the heart of the tourist section that gives Forbidden Planet a run for its money. My Gal found a vintage Playmobil from her childhood in their basement, while I hoarded a bunch of cheap '80s/'90s digest reprints of U.S. comics for "stocking stuffers." I was quite pleased to find Red Circle and First Comics representation in that department, although the condition on the latter was so poor that it's physically warped (while reprinting Warp.)

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Given the oft-noted fastidiousness of Germans, I was surprised to observe that they don't know how to store comic books. For instance, all of those digests were loose on a freestanding display rack, and some had been mauled to pieces by small children and clumsy adults (guilty.) They don't use standardized comic boxes either, with that mega-store I mentioned employing wooden shelves with dividing panels instead. Houston's own Bedrock City Comic Company has a similar set-up, with the key difference being that the Germans also don't use backer boards. Their vintage "floppies" are often on a thinner, glossier stock than their Bronze Age U.S. counterparts, and on top of that, they love sealing their comic bags with 3-inch-plus strips of tape. I over-zealously chanced opening them while on the road, and surely put some crimps in them spines, where a wiser man would have cut them free with scissors instead.

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I bring this up in part because there was one specific shop that I had targeted when getting the lay of the land. While on vacation in Europe, we saw plenty of modern style comic shops full of Panini reprints or North American imports, usually with at least some selection of more antiquated formats. This one shop in Cologne though was a proper Android's Dungeon hole in the wall. Mind, it probably still had more square footage and better bones than your average dusty old American dump, but it was still a dim and cluttered mess with treasures of yore. I could have easily spent a whole day there, and way too much money, but I had already punished my wallet and suitcase miserably at early stops. I needed to be as swift and objective-minded as I could be in the time allotted.

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This was tough because there were boxes everywhere, and again, random old repurposed and tape-reinforced cardboard of quite varied dimensions. Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed a smallbox small box (about a square foot) off of an eye-level but deep shelf, and set it on another chest-level box. A severe and socially disinclined shopkeeper that was already giving my gal hairy eyeballs just for taking up the limited space scolded me in Deutsch. Following his gestures, I was meant to take any given box to a cluttered wooden table nearby to peruse, since again, these comics were not held up by backer boards. I had been selfish in many of my prior purchases, but also, there wasn't that much representation of the Bronze Age DC favored in my blogging/podcasting circles. Here I had a good chance of digging up varied Silver/Bronze reprint floppies of their childhood favorites, and I did. Several nifty old numbers and a few more contemporary items that were reasonably inexpensive, so I didn't feel to guilty about it.

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There was one though that kind of broke the bank. The first Mongul story from 1980's DC Comics Presents #27 has been reprinted a bunch of times, thanks mostly to his being immortalized in "For the Man Who Has Everything." However, that introductory story arc by Wein & Starlin was pretty well regarded by Superman fans even before Moore & Gibbons got to him. I thought for sure I'd gotten the UK hardcover collection with the original Bolland cover at some point, but I guess not, so this German edition is my first oversized collection of DC Comics Presents #28 with Supergirl and DC Comics Presents #29 with The Spectre, plus unrelated bonus reprints. Despite his fallen posture, the Jim Starlin Martian Manhunter cover remains a personal favorite, so it's nice to have it on squarebound cardstock in a 9" x 12" presentation. The interiors are also on a heavier white stock, recalling the Baxter format, which is much more vibrant than the original comics without becoming glossy eyesores. The inside covers are plain white, and the random reprint stuck between the first and second Mongul chapters is a Supergirl serial that started in 1971's Adventure Comics #408. Mike Sekowsky is joined by inker Dick Giordano for a tale of green-skinned alien invaders that concluded in Adventure Comics #409. I feel this was worth my 25€, but I do feel a bit bad for not feeling the same about getting a similiar edition featuring Firestorm's induction in the Justice League of America (as advertised on the back cover) for my buddy Shag. Eh, he's well traveled enough to go get his own, plus I already got him other cool stuff.

DC in Germany

• Aquaman in Top Comics Wassermann Nr. 108 (1970)
• The Atom & Aquaman in Superman-Batman Heft 8 (April 1976)
• Wonder Woman in JLA - Die neue Gerechtigkeitsliga #31 (1999)
• GrimJack in Die Cosmic-Ranger Nr. 3 (1985)

2012 Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues: Manhunter and Iron Fist

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Almost a year ago, we covered Ross' Paul Kirk team-up fanfic collage Marvel Two-in-One: The Lost Issues: The Thing and Manhunter. Ross has been busy making a bunch of J'Onn J'Onzz ones since then, but I need to offer up the original Manhunter one more time to clear the decks and start catching up with the fun...

...More Lost Team-Up Issues...

• The Doom Patrol @ DC Bloodlines
• Zatanna and The Scarlet Witch @ Justice League Detroit
• The Thing and The Justice League of America @ Power of the Atom
• Wonder Woman and Wonder Man @ Diana Prince

2011 Marvel Two-in-One: The Lost Issues: The Thing and Manhunter

It's been a while since I spotlighted either the Paul Kirk Manhunter or Marvel Two-In-One: The Lost Issues, so why not knock out both on this fine Tuesday morning? Hell, how about I even throw in Kate Spencer? Maybe it'll serve as a reminder to the New 52 that there are plenty of different characters who once used the Manhunter name in the old continuity. They could now be revived as more viable IPs by giving them new codenames to avoid confusion and watering down the value of their most valuable Manhunter, the one from Mars!

...The Lost Team-Up Issues...

• The Thing and Zatanna @ Justice League Detroit
• Batman and The Doom Patrol @ DC Bloodlines
• The Thing and Tiny Titans @ Power of the Atom
• "The Thing and The Super Friends" @ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman

2010 "Ladies of DC - Manhunter" art by Taylor Cordingley

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They're fun, they're sassy and they all seem to have a mean right hook. For years, DC Comics has consistently created amazing female superheroes. I'd like to pay tribute to these amazing women of the DC Universe with one of my patented pin-up series -- Ladies of DC! Twenty-sixth in this series is the merciless Manhunter!

MANHUNTER
Real Name: Katherine "Kate" Spencer
First Appearance: Manhunter #1
Abilities: Wears a suit that is keyed into her unique bioelectrical signature, granting her increased strength, agility, and endurance. Carries a powerful staff once used by a previous Manhunter, Mark Shaw.

Kate Spencer is one of the relatively new crop of heroines who popped up during the dawn of the "events"-era DC Universe. She's a lawyer by day who, tired of seeing criminals walk free, took up the mantle of Manhunter and became a vigilante. Now, I haven't read any of her ongoing series (which, for a new character, lasted pretty long before getting canceled) but I enjoyed her while she was in Birds of Prey. She's like a character out of Law & Order -- but with the superhero thing mixed up. She's kind of like Super Alley McBeal or something. Anyway, I thought she'd make a great addition to the series and I'm hoping to make the Manhunter fans happy with this one.

Ladies of DC

• Artemis @ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman
• The Huntress @ DC Bloodlines
• The Vixen @ Justice League Detroit

Manhunter in Detective Comics #439 (February-March, 1974)

HE STALKS THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS GAME
MANHUNTER
Interpol agent Christine St. Clair found the end of the trail to Manhunter in "Marakech." Bodies garbed in white and blue costumes littered a courtyard, all bearing the same face. There was another like them, except garbed in red and gravely wounded, who greeted St. Clair. Christine felt he needed a doctor, but Manhunter explained that he only needed time to rest. While they waited, Manhunter revealed that he was indeed big game hunter Paul Kirk, whose interests in the late 1930s turned from animals to criminals. Kirk assumed the costumed identity of Manhunter to act as a vigilante, until World War II called him into a different kind of action. "Secret behind-the-lines jobs, violent and deadly... dirty and ugly..." These deeds soured Kirk's taste for the hunt.

After the war, Kirk tried to return to safari, but couldn't bring himself to kill. Unfortunately, that didn't stop him from trying, with an intentionally miss leading to a bull-elephant charging and killing Kirk. However, his body was soon recovered by a secret brain trust called the Agency, who placed Kirk in suspended animation until his body could be restored. Educational tapes informed his subconscious mind of the decades passing by, until genetic surgery allowed not only Kirk's revival, but improvement.

Paul Kirk awakened to the aged scientist Dr. Mykros, whom he had rescued from the Nazis in 1945. Mykros had gone on to form the Agency with nine other geniuses set on preventing the world from destroying itself in the atomic age. Recognizing Paul Kirk as a fine basis for building the perfect field agent, the hero was cloned countless times. Those clones were trained in combat by the legendary martial artist Asano Nitobe, who had been acting as the bodyguard of Dr. Oka, a geneticist recruited by the Council. They now needed only a leader to venture out into the world, the original Paul Kirk, who would himself train under Nitobe. Kirk also benefited from enhanced healing abilities bestowed unto him by the genetic surgery of the late Dr. Oka.



At first, Kirk felt indebted to the Council, and was fine with the prospect of serving their ends. However, when his first assignment was to assassinate a "certain Interpol officer," he began to question their motives. Asano Nitobe agreed to take Kirk to speak with the Council about the matter, but warned "in the tiger's lair, the only justice belongs to the tiger."

As Paul Kirk explained his origins, additional clones continued their assault, with Christine St. Clair aiding Manhunter until they both ran out of ammunition. Thankfully, they were also out of clones. However, St. Clair's Interpol superior Damon Nostrand showed up to attempt an assassination of his own. Manhunter tossed a knife into Nostrand's shoulder, and St. Clair realized he must have been the agent Kirk was assigned to eliminate and replace. "There's more to my story, Christine... Hear me out... while we go after Mr. Nostrand!"

"The Manhunter File Chapter 3: The Resurrection of Paul Kirk" was by Archie Goodwin & Walter Simonson. Ninjas before Daredevil. Healing factors before Wolverine. Cynical character revivals injecting mature themes into former kiddie fare. It may seem passé now, but this stuff was bleeding edge cool in 1974. Even by today's standards, the economy and panache of the storytelling is impressive, woefully needed when you consider the state of the industry then and especially now. In other words, this is the o.g. of grim n' gritty, with more class and care than the plethora of imitators that followed. Every time I whine that DC sabotages J'Onn J'Onzz by always having another couple or three Manhunters running around at any given time, I have to remind myself that Paul Kirk remains the most entitled to that name.

The Bronze Age

• Wonder Woman #290 (April, 1982) @ Diana Prince
• The Huntress in "Gotham Town Is Burning Down!" (August/September, 1978) @ DC Bloodlines
• The Vixen in Justice League of America Annual #2 (1984) @ JLDetroit
• The Atom in Brave and the Bold #152 (July, 1979) @ Power of the Atom

Manhunter in Detective Comics #438 (December, 1973/January, 1974)

HE STALKS THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS GAME
MANHUNTER

In Zurich, Christine St. Clair reported to her superior at Interpol's Information Center, Damon Nostrand. Justification had to be found for keeping St. Clair on a single case, so she supplied it. Her Manhunter file offered news of a battle with a tiger on a boat out of Calcutta, ended by a bundi dagger. Before that, at the beginning of the file, was the reappearance of one Paul Kirk after thirty years presumed dead. Kirk had tried to withdraw money right there in Zurich out of a personal account left moribund since 1946. His identity confirmed, Kirk had to fight off thugs in the bank to collect his cash.

The Manhunter's first reappearance was in the Middle East, where he deflected a grenade fired at Sheik Rashid Ben Turhan with a simple throwing star. A second Japanese shuriken killed the assassin. Curiously, the body found later appeared to be that of Paul Kirk, although it was stolen before positive identification could be made with the medical examiner.

A week later in Brasilia, genetic scientist Dr. Raoul Salazano was abducted by masked men in a blue and white costume. Manhunter caught up with them, and displayed ninjutsu mastery unseen since the death of Asano Nitobe at Nagasaki in 1945. He then shot down their helicopter with a customized 1916 model Mauser employing plainly enhanced ammunition. Manhunter vanished thereafter, but once again, one of his opponents appeared to have been Paul Kirk before the body was snatched.

The mystery only grew thicker, and Christine St. Clair had a lead in Marrakech. Damon Nostrand ordered her to pursue it, but from then on, she would only report to him. After St. Clair left, Nostrand burned her files...

"The Manhunter File Chapter Two (2)" was by Archie Goodwin & Walter Simonson.

The Bronze Age

• The Vixen in Action Comics #521 (July, 1981) @ Justice League Detroit
• The Atom in Action Comics #521 (July, 1981) @ Power of the Atom
• The Huntress in Batman Family #18 (June/July, 1978) @ DC Bloodlines
• Wonder Woman #289 (March, 1982) @ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman

Manhunter in Detective Comics #437 (October-November, 1973)

HE STALKS THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS GAME
MANHUNTER

Katmandu, Nepal. Haj the Ancient collected the sights and sounds of the city, and was the best available source for all of its goings on. Interpol agent Christine St. Clair had use of his services in her investigation of Manhunter. Haj had heard this unusual name increasingly over the previous two weeks. "Law agencies all over the world have a growing interest in this man, Haj... Whatever you can tell us will not go unappreciated."

Manhunter had appeared in the Alley of Shadows, the sanctuary of the Cult of Thieves, searching for a man under their protection. Once given, said protection was honored to the death, and so it was. With sai and a Mauser, Manhunter cut these specialists in killing down with swift precision. Only one was left alive for information.

Christine St. Clair offered a photograph of a middle aged man with brown hair. "Haj, this man is called Paul Kirk. Could he have been the stranger in the Alley of Shadows?" Haj did not know, but a similar man was said to have shouted his intentions to find a certain individual to sherpas in the Himalayan foothills. Warned of such pursuit, the sherpas rushed out to kill the man, but he was gone without a trace. A rider was sent to the Pendrang Monastery to offer warning, while Manhunter followed in secret to the hidden valley, deep in the Himalayas.

The rider appeared at the monastery slung over his horse, unconscious, with slight bruises near a nerve cluster at the base of the neck. The monastery was protected by the legendary Blind Zen Archers of Pendragon, capable of detecting the slightest sound. That night, firecrackers proved a distraction. Miraculously, Manhunter managed to take down two of the skilled archers, but a third was an impossibility. Two arrows penetrated Manhunter's breast.



Dharmata had been raised in the monastery, and touched many in his wanderings abroad before returning home for sanctuary. Manhunter had finally caught up with him, pulling arrows from his breastpiece after disabling three good men for days to come. "I die a little less easily than most..." Dharmata was seen as a dangerous individual after rousing a revolution that could eventually make waves to pound China or India. To avoid this potentiality, some believed a calmer voice need be heard by Dharmata's followers, and the man himself silenced forever.

Monks arrived in the courtyard for their morning meditation, and Dharmata asked that he might observe them one last time. Manhunter refused, as he began killing the monks by numbers. As an unfortunate side note pointed out, "Monks are Caucasian (white-skin) not Oriental." As Dharmata pulled back the hood of a dead monk, he saw that they were not only imposters, but impossibly all had the same face-- Manhunter's! Dharmata was at a loss, and when he tried to question Manhunter, found that he was gone.

Christine St. Clair needed to know more, but "I cannot tell, Memsahib. Such a man is like the breeze in hottest summer..." The Interpol agent accepted this, but as she walked away, Haj disrobed. The disguised Manhunter was pleased with himself.

"The Manhunter File Chapter 1: The Himalayan Incident" was by Archie Goodwin & Walter Simonson. Goodwin had been asked to take over editing the poorly selling Detective Comics, which came with it a license to tinker. Batman was in two other titles every month, so there wasn't much room for experimentation on the lead feature, so any innovation fell to the back-up strip. Goodwin always favored the less traveled character, and after exposure to Golden Age Simon & Kirby Manhunter reprints in New Gods, decided he wanted to revive Paul Kirk, a famed hunter who turned his skill set from animals to men. While the book's sales didn't improve, the new Manhunter proved a well remembered artistic success that helped launch the career of collaborator Walt Simonson.

The Bronze Age

• The Vixen #1 in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2 (Fall, 1978)
  @ Justice League Detroit
  
  
• The Sensational New Wonder Woman #288 (February, 1982)
  @ Diana Prince
  
  
• Superman starring in Action Comics #530 (April, 1982)
  @ DC Bloodlines
  
  
• The Atom in Action Comics #530 (April, 1982)
  @ Power of the Atom

2009 Manhunter Paul Kirk by Chris Stevens

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Chris Stevens is one of the artists behind the surprisingly fun Skullkickers comic, and after looking through his deviantART gallery, I think he's going to be huge someday. When you can connect Ed McGuinness to Carlos Pacheco to Jim Steranko to Terry Dodson, you're like the Amazo of comic art talent. I haven't spoken much about the Paul Kirk Manhunter around here, and one of my only faults in Stevens' taste is his absence of love for J'Onn J'Onzz, but I'll play out the tenuous connection as part of my bid to raise Stevens awareness among the fan community. Anyone with multiple Dr. Strange pieces in their portfolio is alright with me, and I'd kill to have this guy work on any of several perfect vehicles for his style.

Chris Stevens Commissions

• Captain Marvel (2010)
• Doctor Fate (2010)
• Wonder Woman (2007)
• Golden Age Wonder Woman (2010)
• Zatanna (2007)
• Zatanna (2010)

1989 Mayfair Games DC Heroes Manhunter Character Card

This may come as a surprise, but in the late 80s/early 90s, I was more of a fan of Mark Shaw than John Jones. I only made it about halfway through Millenium in 1988, but enjoyed several tie-in comics like Suicide Squad, which led to my buying the spin-off Manhunter series. I enjoyed the premise of a super-heroic bounty hunter very much, but I never saw a second issue on the newsstand, so it was another couple of years before I bought a good chunk of the run through a comic shop. The opening Dumas arc was a very satisfying thriller with a highly effective antagonist, but the book never quite found its stride once Manhunter Mark Shaw settled back into his normal life. In fact, I long operated under the assumption it was intended to be a strong mini-series that was extended into a weak ongoing with fill-ins on both the writing and art fronts, entirely too many tepid crossovers, and no clear direction. Manhunter was canceled after two years, and the character seemingly killed off in the great Eclipso massacre. He had enough fans to turn up alive at the end of the Chase Lawler Manhunter series in the mid-90s, and last I saw he was a mentally unstable supporting character in the Kate Spencer Manhunter series. Have I mentioned there are too many f'n Manhunters in the DC Universe?

As far as early protomanga super-heroics goes, you couldn't beat Doug Rice's winning designs. In fact, I had an action figure in the late '80s that looked suspiciously similar to Rice's Manhunter. Unfortunately, nobody else seemed to draw it near as well (see also: the Manhunters of Jack Kirby and Walt Simonson,) and John Ostrander seemed so incapable of reclaiming his groove that he actually resurrected Dumas after a rather final finale.

Anyhow, here's the first serious look at Mark Shaw here after the Manhunters Around The World section quickly fell into disuse. I hope to revisit him again...

• 1989 Mayfair Games DC Heroes Character Card Blank & Checklist

The Top Martian Manhunter Covers of the 1950s (plus foreign editions, reprints and rarities)

A while back, I responded to a list of The Most Iconic Martian Manhunter Covers, and then DC's 75th anniversary celebration began, so I offered J'Onn J'Onzz Variant Cover Suggestions. None of these things are a true "top cover countdown" for our favorite Martian, and I've been asked to compile just such a beast. Seeing as that's a fairly enormous task, I've decided to break up my lists by decade, starting with the 1950s. However, John Jones, The Manhunter from Mars wasn't featured on any covers for its first five years or so. How about I look at some oddball reprints of those tales, along with various and sundry, until the real countdowns roll out?

Big Boy: Anthology reprints, originally heavily Western skewed, with a few ongoing characters. Co-Features include Tomahawk, Roy Raymond TV Detective, Bobo Detective Chimp, Silent Knight, Prof. Eureka and Green Arrow & Speedy.

Big Boy #17 (February, 1958): Reprints "John Jones' Female Nemesis" from Detective Comics #246.

Big Boy #18 (March, 1958): Reprints "The Martian Without a Memory" from Detective Comics #248. Also featured the unrelated "I Met the First Martian" from My Greatest Adventure #16

Big Boy #19 (April 1958): Reprints "The Stymied Sleuth" from Detective Comics #250.

Big Boy #20 (May 1958): Reprints "Target for a Day" from Detective Comics #249.

Big Boy #21 (June 1958): Reprints "The Impossible Messages" from Detective Comics #247.

Big Boy #22 (July 1958): Reprints "Alias Mr. Zero" from Detective Comics #251.

Big Boy #23 (August, 1958): Reprints "The Menace of the Super Weapons" from Detective Comics #252.

Big Boy #24 (September, 1958): Reprints "The Super Reporter!" from Detective Comics #253.

Big Boy #25 (October, 1958): Reprints "The One-Man Army" from Detective Comics #254.

Big Boy #26 (November, 1958): Reprints "The Carnival of Doom" from Detective Comics #256.

Big Boy #27 (December, 1958): Reprints "King of the Underworld" from Detective Comics #257.

Big Boy #28 (January, 1959): Reprints "World-Wide Manhunt" from Detective Comics #255.

Big Boy #29 (February, 1959): Reprints "The Jinxed Ship" from Detective Comics #258.

Big Boy #30 (March, 1959): Reprints "John Jones' Super Secret" from Detective Comics #260.

Big Boy #31 (April, 1959): Reprints "The Getaway King" from Detective Comics #259.

Big Boy #38 (November, 1959): Reprints "The Fantastic Human Falcon" from Detective Comics #265.

Big Boy #40 (January, 1960): Reprints "The Crime Conjurer" from Detective Comics #263.

Big Boy, after increasingly sporadic heroic offerings, returned to the non-recurring character anthology format of reprinting straight adventure and sci-fi/horror material. It's final issue revisited J'onn J'onzz, as well as Roy Raymond, Tommy Tomorrow and Rex the Wonder Dog...

Big Boy #45 (June 1960): Reprints "The Challenge of the Masked Avenger" from Detective Comics #266.

The Hundred Plus Comic #50 (Circa 1960-1962): Reprints "The Impossible Inventions" from Detective Comics #279.



Rommets Helter: Specialized in Blackhawk, with minors in Atom, Batman & Robin.

Rommets Helter #1 (1965): Reprints "The Case of the Golden Eagle" from Detective Comics #320.

Rommets Helter #2 (1965): Reprints "The Hobby Missions" from Detective Comics #323.

Rommets Helter #3 (1965): Reprints "The Man of 1,000 Disguises" from Detective Comics #315.

Rommets Helter #4 (1965): Reprints "J'onn J'onzz vs. John Jones" from Detective Comics #314.

Rommets Helter #1 (1966): Reprints "The Man Who Saved Earth" from Detective Comics #314. John Jones was the cover featured star this issues, thanks to art derived from a repurposed splash page.

Rommets Helter #2 (1966): Reprints "The Invaders from the Space Warp" from Detective Comics #311.

Rommets Helter #3 (August, 1966): Reprints "The Bandits with Super-Powers" from Detective Comics #316.

Rommets Helter #5 (December, 1966): John Jones had already been dropped from the book at this point, as part of a format change that left only Blackhawk and the Atom appearing.

Läderlappen #7 (June, 1967): Reprints "J'onn J'onzz's Pesky Partner" from Detective Comics #312.

Superman Presents World's Finest Comic Monthly #42 (Circa 1968): Reprints "The Case of the Magic Baseball" from Detective Comics #226.

Superman und Batman #2 (Egmont Ehapa, 1969): Reprints "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel" from Detective Comics #225.

Superman und Batman #3 (Egmont Ehapa, 1969): Reprints "The Case of the Magic Baseball" from Detective Comics #226.

Superman #19 (December, 1969): Reprints "John Jones' Farewell to Earth" from Detective Comics #267.

Super Adventure Album #5 (Circa 1976-77): Reprints "Wanted -- the Capsule Master" from The Brave and the Bold #50, plus three Justice League of America stories.

Gigant #5 (October 1978): Reprints the Manhunter from Mars serial from Adventure Comics.

Also, be sure to check out the 1960s British Batman Annuals and the Superman Official Annual 1983

There are also plenty of obscure U.S. reprints, highlights including:

The Best of DC #30 (November, 1982): Reprints "The Man with 20 Lives" from Detective Comics #227.

The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told (October 1990): Reprints "Escape to the Stars" from Detective Comics #228, plus a cover gallery. 1992 Edition.

Mysteries in Space: The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics (October 1980): Reprints "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel" from Detective Comics #225, plus the cover of House of Mystery #151.

The Best of DC #52 (September, 1984): No reprint, but look at the back of that head!

52/WW III Part Three: Hell Is For Heroes #1 (June, 2007)

Week 50, Day 5. Once again in the guise of an adolescent white girl, the Martian Manhunter surveyed the terrible destruction wrought by Black Adam in Pisa, Italy. Far from overwhelmed by the psychic agony surrounding him, "None of it more than a distant, faraway static in the back of my mind. Jumbled bits of colored ash that I quickly blink away." J'Onzz assigned those arbitrary, non-Corps-approved colors to the following emotions: Green- Heartbreak, Black- Natural Human Evil, Muted Gray- Despair, Red- Anger, Gold- Courage, Blue- Strength, Yellow- Compassion. While Little Girl J'Onzz was painting the world in his jumbled head, the Justice Society of America showed up to actually help people in the disaster area. Some victims were distrustful of Adam's former teammates, though.

Despite already establishing Black Adam's psychic defenses (and the left field mental offensive that turned J'Onn into a jerk,) Manhunter telepathically sought out the mass murderer at the Parthenon in Greece. An interim cannon fodder Teen Titans team met the villain, resulting in Young Frankenstein's (literal) disarming death and the serious injuries of Zatara II and Offspring. Beast Boy, recalling every Titans writer since Geoff Johns, didn't bat an eye at the casualties. Manhunter arrived too late to the scene, disguised as a haggard EMT, compelled by "curiosity." J'Onzz mentally shared Young Frankenstein's final moments of life. "Humans, Martians... it matters not the race. At the end of things, we all die alone."

Junior high profundity. Boo-hoo. No seriously, this is me crying over John Ostrander writing Martian Manhunter again. Oh, the missing humanity.

King Faraday and Sasha Bordeaux made the scene and argued about the inevitable intervention of black ops aficionado Amanda Waller. Jones observed, "Amanda Waller. Two sides of human nature combined in one soul. Among humans, few are so comfortable doing good with evil hands."

In Detroit, MI, "No surprise then, that when my mind locates Ben Turner... I'm already two steps behind Amanda Waller." Why J'Onzz chose to peek in on Turner, beyond his being a certified badass in the Motor City, I don't know. Turner kicked down the door of his own apartment, prepared to face an unwanted intruder. The Wall replied, "That's one door that'll never piss you off again. Me, I usually just put an extra key under the mat." Turner wasn't having any of it. "Answer's no. Leave. Now." An argument ensued between two great characters Ostrander can write, but Waller as always got her way. The Wall revealing that Turner's old Task Force X leader Rick Flag Jr. was alive and a prisoner of a hostile nation. One assumes these two pages were gifted to Ostrander, as they were only relevant as a lead-in to the great Suicide Squad: From The Ashes.

Week 50, Day 6. The Teen Titans caught up with Black Adam in the Himalayas. The killer punched the heart out of Terra's chest, killing her once again. Since this was a character Beast Boy and people who were teenagers in 1984 actually cared about, mourning commenced.

Back to Martian Manhunter, "I ghost into Director Bones' D.E.O. inner sanctum, silent as a thought." With Checkmate boxed into a corner, the D.E.O. had stepped in to fill the void in the pursuit of Black Adam. Bones was also handling prosecutor Kate Spencer, whose double life as the vigilante Manhunter (no relation) had begun impacting her profession. Martian Manhunter had met Spencer during the investigation of Shadow Thief's involvement in the death of Firestorm, and later connected her to Not Martian Manhunter. The Manhunter from Mars eavesdropped into the meeting where Spencer resigned under the scrutiny of Federal Prosecutor Andrew Bates to start her own defense practice under Bones' guidance. "Theft. Lies. Deceit. All in the name of justice. The two sides of human nature, once more represented. Smaller acts of malice performed in service of the greater good. It is not the Martian way. It is not my way. Or... is it?"

The Martian Manhunter returned to the Denver, Colorado* precinct where he began his impersonation of deceased detective John Jones*. "Peter Santorelli. Diane Meade. My first partners.* My first friends.* In spite of never knowing who I really was.*" The still active Santorelli walked up to J'Onzz and burst out laughing uncontrollably. John Jones revealed himself as J'Onn J'Onzz, as well as "I'm inducing laughter in your mind to lessen the shock of learning my true identity. It is cowardly of me. I apologize. This is who I am, Peter. This is who I have always been. Many were the times I manipulated this truth. My motives were pure, my methods less so." Why come out now? "To make certain I never do it again, my friend. Goodbye."

* All of the above is per John Ostrander, who knows continuity like he knows the secret of cold fusion. The Silver Age Manhunter invented the John Jones persona to join the Middletown, U.S.A. Police Department, while Post-Crisis it was Middleton, CO, which is about 250 miles from Denver. As far as I know, this was Peter Santorelli's first and only appearance. Jones' first friends on the force were Capt. Harding in the Silver Age, and an unnamed retired beat cop in the modern era. If I recall correctly, Ostrander himself wrote a story where Diane Meade knew about Jones' dual identity. The real corker follows...

"The Terrel Building. My base of operations when I left the police to become a private investigator. After long decades of use, it now stands empty and condemned. I shared this office with Diane Meade. She selflessly bore the weight of both our partnership and our friendship while I... I failed her. She died."

Um, no. Ostrander killed Jones' p.i. partner Karen Smith. Diane Meade not only survived Ostrander's lousy series (my sanity didn't,) but her last modern appearance was alive and well a year later in Harley Quinn. Ostrander can't even keep his own continuity straight.

J'Onzz started whining about how everywhere he looked he saw lies, and used his Martian Vision to level the building in a terrible fire. That's fire. Y'know, fire. Please don't write anything but Suicide Squad, Grimjack and stuff I don't want to read for the rest of your life, okay Johnny O.? I'd really appreciate it. The art was by Tom Derenick and Norm Rapmund, which while not the best pairing of styles, maintained the surprising quality of art throughout this curse of a mini-series.

Man Hunt (1941)

Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created DC Comics' first Manhunter in 1942. According to a piece at Don Markstein's Toonopedia, Simon's inspiration was "the 1941 film Man Hunt, which starred Walter Pidgeon."

"Man Hunt" was based on the 1939 Geoffrey Household novel "Rogue Male," which was also adapted in 1976 with Peter O'Toole for the BBC. Per Wikipedia, "In a BBC Radio 4 interview on 26 January 2007, Peter O'Toole named this film as his favourite from his long career." The book also influenced David Morrell's 1972 novel "First Blood," which originated the character (John) Rambo.

"Man Hunt" was directed by the once German-based director Fritz Lang, best known for "M" and "Metropolis." It co-starred Joan Bennett, George Sanders, John Carradine and a tweenaged Roddy McDowall as Vaner.

Below is a detailed synopsis for the film, unavailable on DVD, taken from the Turner Classic Movies website.

"In July 1939, English big-game hunter Captain Alan Thorndike infiltrates Adolph Hitler's retreat Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps and takes aim at Hitler with his high-powered rifle. Although Thorndike had intended to carry out a "sporting stalk" only, and does not have bullets in his gun, he loads the weapon after locating the target. A German soldier surprises him, however, and his bullet goes astray.

Thorndike is brought to Gestapo Major Quive-Smith, to whom he explains that he did not intend to kill Hitler. Quive-Smith does not believe him, however, and orders him to confess that his assassination attempt was at the request of the British government. Although Quive-Smith promises him freedom, Thorndike refuses to sign the prepared confession and is tortured by the Gestapo. When Thorndike still refuses to sign, Quive-Smith arranges for him to be thrown off a cliff in what will look like an accident, but he falls into a river and survives.

The next day, the Gestapo searches for Thorndike but he eludes his pursuers and reaches a harbor, where he boards a boat bound for Britain. An intrepid cabin boy named Vaner hides him while one of Quive-Smith's men, Mr. Jones, boards with Thorndike's passport. Vaner keeps Thorndike hidden during the journey, but once he is ashore, Thorndike realizes that Jones and other Gestapo agents are following him, and he ducks into an apartment to escape. He appeals to the apartment's resident, a young Cockney woman named Jerry Stokes, for aid, and she helps him get to his brother's house.

Thorndike's brother, Lord Gerald Risborough, is an ambassador, who warns him that the German embassy is looking for him, and that England must acquiesce if Germany demands his extradition. Thorndike vows to disappear from England, then leaves with Jerry and sleeps on her couch. The next morning, Thorndike outlines his plans and does not notice that Jerry has fallen in love with him. She pouts until he takes her to buy a pin to replace the one she lost from her tam-o'-shanter, and she chooses a large chromium arrow. Jerry then accompanies Thorndike to the office of his solicitor, Saul Farnsworthy, where he tries to give her five hundred pounds. She refuses the money, and their squabbling is cut short when an assistant announces that Quive-Smith and Jones are on their way to the office.

Thorndike and Jerry escape to the Underground, where Thorndike is chased by Jones. After a fight, Jones is electrocuted on the third rail, and, because he still carries Thorndike's passport, his corspe is identified as the hunter. Realizing that the British police are now after him as well, Thorndike instructs Jerry to write to him at Lyme Regis in three weeks with any news. After a tearful farewell, Jerry returns to her apartment, where Quive-Smith is waiting for her.

Three weeks later, Thorndike, who has been living in a cave in the woods, goes to the post office to pick up Jerry's letter. When he returns to his cave, Thorndike discovers that the letter is from Quive-Smith, who has followed him and blocked the cave's opening. Through a small opening, Quive-Smith hands Thorndike Jerry's tam-o'-shanter and says that she was found dead on the street after jumping out her window.

Enraged by Jerry's murder, Thorndike finally admits that he did intend to kill Hitler, although he did not realize it at the time. Stalling for time, Thorndike agrees to sign the confession and constructs a bow while Quive-Smith opens the entrance to the cave. As Quive-Smith reaches for the signed confession, Thorndike shoots him with the arrow from Jerry's hat. As he dies, Quive-Smith shoots Thorndike with a pistol, but before he collapses, Thorndike destroys the confession.

Months pass as Thorndike recuperates and Europe is thrown into war. Once he has recovered, Thorndike joins the RAF, and on a reconnaissance mission over Germany, bails out with a high-powered rifle, intent on fulfilling his purpose this time."

Manhunters Around The World Index

There were Manhunters before, after, and alongside J'onn J'onzz, published by DC Comics, other companies, and in other mediums entirely. "Manhunters Around The World" is where we'll cover all of these characters, as the subject comes up. We'll also take a look at the various characters that are, shall we say, "suspiciously similar" to the Martian Manhunter.

Above are covers from the 1930s pulp magazine "World Man Hunters," which bears no known relation to any of the comic versions, but is an early use of the term.

Man Hunt (1941)

Manhunters Around The World (Various, DC Comics, 1940s-1950s)

Paul Kirk (DC Comics, 1942)
Detective Comics #437, #438, #439
2009 Manhunter Paul Kirk by Chris Stevens

Starker: Manhunter 2070 (DC Comics, 1970)
Why does Starker do it?
Showcase #91, #92, #93

Mark Shaw (DC Comics, 1975)
1989 Mayfair Games DC Heroes Manhunter Character Card

John/Jon Starker (DC Comics, 1990)
Twilight Book I, Book II, Book III

Kate Spencer (DC Comics, 2004)
52/WW III Part Three: Hell Is For Heroes #1 (June, 2007)

Current as of 11/24/11

Twilight Book III of III (1990)

Prologue: Homer Glint argued nature vs. nurture with his seeing-eye cat F'tatatita, who refused to stop denying its feral nature by stalking lizards and birds.

Space Cabby: A tubby, smarmy, sweaty, cigar-smoking ethnic type who tried to run up Star Hawkins' meter, and made the mistake of assuming his robot Ilda was also his lover. The thought revolted Hawkins.

Star Hawkins: "Poor Ilda-- a Greek heroine in full metal dress... stuck on a bastard nobody could ever mistake for a hero..." She joined Hawkins on the planet Jerkwater 18, in search of Jon Starker and in anticipation of Tommy Tomorrow's arrival.

Tommy Tomorrow: "What Jerkwater 18 was... was a cesspool... collecting the assorted dregs... A toilet for the indiscriminate lowlife and biogenetic misfits... In other words, the perfect breeding ground... for the Sound of Thunder Wonder Show." The deified Tommy temporarily appeared as miles high, nude, and gold-skinned. He called the people of Jerkwater 18 the "Heartland" and "Tomorrow People," demanding they help carve up the remaining Karelists and unify in praising him. Also launched a homecoming parade/nuclear strike on the Chinese.

Knights of the Galaxy: The former Planeteer and Knight Brent Wood took personal responsibility for the death of Karel, which drove him mad. Homer Glint kept him sedated so that he wouldn't hurt himself.

Star Rovers: Homer Glint led the surviving Karelists in hiding. He noted Brenda Tomorrow also felt guilt in Karel's demise, manifest in her search for the Methuseloid mother race.

Space Cabby: Took part in seeing-eye cockfighting.

Manhunter 2070: Jon Starker was sleeping through a bender in the stands. Starker awoke under the mistaken impression he was back assisting suicides, and shot a gamecock dead. Participants were out for his blood.

Star Hawkins: Rescued his brother and hauled him into another Space Cab. Tolerated Jon's drunken pawing at Ilda.

Star Rovers: Homer Glint captured by Tommy Tomorrow's forces. Most of his fellows slaughtered. Tommy Tomorrow wanted to bring him on to write his bible.

Manhunter 2070: "Poor Jon Starker... All eternity ever did for Jon Starker... was give him more time to lie in the gutter." Had his system flushed out by his brother, who wanted to use him to assassinate Tommy Tomorrow. This would mean going bio-mechanical to get close. "Why in hell should I want to be part of any machine-- or be melded with a ro-- ah... hmmm... yes... well... I'll do it... on one condition... that I meld with Ilda... body and soul"

Star Hawkins: "EEEUUWW!" Hawkins had to convince Ilda, stroking her neck and explaining the melding would make her like family, as she carried his brother's essence. Ilda swooned. "...Hawkins was a loathsome slug who found himself on the side of right... only by accident..."

Tommy Tomorrow: Hot to find a "consort" and have his image refined by Homer Glint. "Spare me... you've either accidentally incinerated them when you ejaculated-- or you've simply murdered them in a fit of pique..."

Space Museum: The Ilda-Starker meld paid the Space Cabby extra to drop it off as close as possible to where Tommy Tomorrow's big rally would be taking place.

Knights of the Galaxy: Brent Wood was also in attendance, and was spotted by Brenda, who in his deluded state he imagined as Karel. Brenda enlisted him for a second assassination plot.

Manhunter 2070: A riot cop tried to push Starker-Ilda behind a set perimeter. "I know how important it can be for you fanatics to get close to the Eminence... even you freaks he's never going to let in the Kingdom... but rules are rules-- no two ways about it..." Manhunter punched his crotch out.

Tommy Tomorrow: Preached before the masses, Homer Glint and the spirit of Karel in tow. It seems her consciousness came with her power, allowing Karel to manipulate Tommy from the great beyond. Karel drove Tommy to tear his own eyes out.

Manhunter 2070: Tried to capitalize on Tommy's distraction, but was torn in half for the trouble.

Knights of the Galaxy: Brent Wood tried to capitalize on Tommy's other distraction, but was blasted dead for the trouble.

Manhunter 2070: Capitalized on Tommy's other other distraction, shooting him in the chest.

Tommy Tomorrow: Forced by Karel to allow Manhunter's blast through his defenses, killing him.

Star Rovers: "Most of the crowd had fled the scene when the fur started flying... suddenly, the few that remained joined voices in unison... singing the first verse of Karel's favorite hymn..." Glint was escorted away by his only real friends, Brenda and F'tatatita.

Epilogue: For months, a hailstorm of metal appeared on every known world, from when all of Tommy's space vessels spontaneously disintegrated in orbit. Homer married Brenda, who died at some point thereafter, alluding to a sequel that never came into being. The aging process was reinstated. Homer Glint was an old man with a talking cat, and "if someone had told me the collapse of civilization was the middle of the story, and not the end-- I'd've gotten off right there."

Twilight: Howard Chaykin - Writer. José Luis García-López - Artist. Steve Oliff - Color Artist. Ken Bruzenak - Letterer. Andy Helfer - Editor.

Showcase #93 (9/70)

"On his way back home, Starker is loafing along through space... when..."

"Arky here-- with a big one, boss-- An embezzlement case-- Milton Wallen-- 20 years with Trans-Planet Mining Co. decided to suddenly quit! After checking his books TPM found out he left with two million credits belonging to TPM. TPM is offering 30% reward for the return of the two mill-- 25,000 for Wallen... Wallen has been reported being seen on the planet Zodan, 4th galaxy from Sol... He'd have been a fool to land... with anything valuable... Because of the peculiarities of the Zodanians-- or Greenies-- as they are called... They are compulsive thieves... Every last one of them down to the toddlers! They think-- believe-- it's an honorable thing to do... Be especially careful of red-haired Greenies-- They're the worst!"

Once again, in the same breath, Starker questioned Arky's consistent infallibility, this time with his stereotyping of Minorities "Greenies." As soon as Starker arrived on Zodan, his bag was stolen. He quickly determined and tackled the perpetrator, but the bystanders who helped him up tried to pick his pocket! Starker started whaling on the lot of them, again claiming "I'll never doubt Arky again!" Starker took to pulling his pistol at the first sign of a hassle, so that the thieving Greenies politely smiled and backed off whatever scam they were running. "From the way some of these citizens are eyeing me-- I'd better keep my money in my mouth for safety--"

Starker roamed from place to place, asking after Wallen, until he finally turned up a lead. "Aye, I did see such a man-- hardly got off the space ship afore someone tried to snatch his satchel! Turned white as a ghost, he did-- ran right back into the ship-- never got off here at all."

After collecting his things, which required more threats of bodily harm to secure, Starker recalled his ship from planetary orbit by remote control to follow Wallen's course from Zoldan to Zoldar. However, two stowaways clung to the belly of his ship...

Starker wandered into the nearest town after nightfall, and strolled into the local saloon. "These types look like they wouldn't give me the right time-- let alone information! Best get back to the flyer and move on to-- hold it-- I can't believe it-- Nobody can be this lucky! --It's Wallen!" Starker's bounty was sitting alone, a sad sack nursing a drink, so the Manhunter strolled over and bought him another. Unaware of Starker's intentions, Wallen told his sorry story of being taken for everything by dirty dealing card sharks. Three other bounty hunters had recognized Starker, and assuming there must be a reward on his company, tried to take Wallen off his hands. Starker tossed booze in the face of one, then beat all three unconscious.

Starker made Wallen aware outside that he knew all about the embezzlement, and intended to continue tracking the missing millions. "Stop whining! Start talking!" Wallen pointed him toward the city of Chandor, requiring a desert trek on glyphs, which looked like relatives of the kangas from old Paradise Island. As Starker and Wallen trailed their hustlers, they themselves were followed by the pair of stowaways...

Starker and Wallen's glyphs were shot out from under them by the hustlers, who lay in wait once they spotted their tail. Starker made Wallen act as a decoy to draw fire, then gunned down one of the sharks. Wallen shouted a warning as Starker took a shot from behind, but Manhunter managed to roll and return deadly fire. Starker found the pair's glyphs, which offered both escape from the desert and the recovered two million. "For what you did Wallen, I wish I could let you go-- but I can't--"

The pair were within two miles of Chandor when they spotted a beautiful red-haired girl lying in the desert. The green girl's glyph had been shot dead, but she was alive, so Starker began carrying her to his animal. A voice from behind ordered Starker to turn slowly, which proved to be another lovely red-haired Greenie, this one armed. "We've heard how fast you are-- so we thought up a gimmick to keep your hands full-- and it worked! All right, Sis-- you can cut the act now!" The girl in Starker's arms had pulled one of his pieces out of his holster and held it on him. Starker dumped her on her butt. "Nobody's hijacking me! Sorry, baby--"

Sis barked, "What kind of gentleman are you-- throwing a lady to the ground?" She then shot Starker twice with his own gun, her partner following suit. The girls mounted the glyphs, and made off with the money and Wallen. Incredibly, Starker yet lived, but could not summon the strength to fire his blaster. Lying unconscious, Starker was approached by a group of cavemen: "--with a grunt of anger one suddenly raises a crude stone axe--"

"--and-- but you'll find out in the next Manhunter 2070-- if there is one! That depends on you-- the buying public!"

That's right, Manhunter 2070's story ended on a cliffhanger lasting 38 years and counting. Starker appeared in Showcase #100, which featured virtually every character from the series. However, between temporal considerations and the story being considered apocryphal at conception, Starker most likely died in that desert at the hands of Red-Haired Greenies and cavemen. Or Howard Chaykin, perhaps...

Showcase #92 (8/70)

Starker and his young lady friends had a great time in the resort city of Janus on Jupiter, but a wanted poster killed the mood:
Reward
100,000 Credits will be paid for the death of Starker, bounty hunter.
The Brotherhood of Space
"Didn't know the Brotherhood has that long a reach! No staying a little longer for you now! That means you've got to go and go now-- before some clown tries to collect-- and I don't want you two in the line of fire!"

Along the way to taking the girls home, Starker set his flyer on auto pilot and relented to their queries as to why he does it.

"--It all started out long ago-- 17 years ago to be exact-- 17 long years of fighting and catching this criminal scum... Hate them, yes, I guess I do. And with good reason-- a reason they gave me themselves! It started when my father, an asteroid miner made his find-- the thing most miners never find--" It was didanium, and a rich enough vein to insure the pair would never want again. It was also plenty enough to kill for, as a pack of claim-jumpers gunned the miner down in front of his son. The boy would have been next, had "Slops" not wanted kitchen help. "You know my rule-- no live witnesses-- but okay-- a kid can't hurt us!"

As Starker's first lesson in the galley, Slops threw him a beating, just to show who's boss. "That's what my life became-- brutality after brutality. Orders yelled at me-- and if I didn't move fast enough-- a boot or a fist reminded me to hurry!" As his fear gave way to hate, Starker began to watch the pirates in their pursuits, learning their various skills while mourning their many victims. Petty tortures, like Slago practicing knife throws with Starker-- William Tell style-- fostered a steely nerve. Starker continued to act the coward while training in secret: surpassing Slago with the blade, incorporating a variety of fighting styles, weight training, and learning every nook and cranny of their spaceship.

After turning eighteen, Starker beat Slops and tossed him out of the kitchen, claiming it as his own. This show of dominance was respected by the pirates, and besides, Starker turned out to be a better cook. After earning their trust for another two years, Starker enacted his master plan. He disabled all the life boats to prevent escape, then set a trap to snare his first pirate. Gaining a blaster, needle gun and a knife, Starker burst in on a card game between three pirates. "Things have changed in the last hour! I've come for you, Sergio-- you were one of the killers of my father-- You others-- I've got no quarrel with you-- so stay out of this!" The other two creeps weren't about to take Starker's advice, so they died with Sergio. "That's number one, Dad!"

Warning klaxons sounded as the captain became aware of the carnage via his closed circuit cameras. The hunt was now a two sided affair, though Starker was prepared. He knocked out the lights in the engine room, then waited for investigators. "Cyclops! He's one of the five who killed my father!" Starker dropped down from an overhead pipe and silently choked Cyclops to death between his legs. In the dark, Starker knocked out another pirate, then held his confederates at gunpoint before binding them. "If you're quiet, you may still come out of this alive-- but one sound out of you..."

Phase three of Starker's plan entailed releasing paralyzo-gas into the air-conditioning system, taking down most of the crew. That left only the pair watching Starker's progress with the captain. The trio donned sealed suits and split up after the kid. Slago found him first, but missed with a knife throw. Starker pulled the blade from the wall. "Let me show you how to do it, Slago? You do it like this!" Slumped dead on the floor, Slago made three of the five to be revenged against for a father's death. Dondor made four, as he was dead before he realized he'd missed shooting the agile Starker, whose own aim was true. "Only one more-- the Captain!"

Alone, the Captain thought only of escape the life boats couldn't provide. "I knew I shoulda killed you back there on that rock!" Starker made sure the only way out was through him. The Captain wasn't up to the task, managing only to nick Starker's shoulder before perishing by blaster. "That's the last one, dad... You can rest easy now!"

"Two days later, I herded the rest of the pirates, still groggy from the paralyzo-gas into the nearest space security patrol station... and as the stunned security police gaped in astonishment... 'There's seven D.O.A. still in the ship outside in your airlock.'"

"And that's how I became the richest bounty hunter around, because the rewards on that pirate crew totaled over two million credits. It also brought me to the attention of the Brotherhood of Space-- that and the years after have made me quite a thorn in their side!"

Starker finally dropped off the girls, laying over briefly to spend some time with the father that served him well in his investments. As he departed, he was blessed. "Good luck, Starker, and Godspeed!"

Twilight Book II of III (1990)

Prologue: Homer Glint continued to futz about with his seeing-eye cat F'tatatita and reminisce about the expansion of the now immortal human race under the worship of the former Karel Sorensen. He's aided by more text pieces and transitions stolen from Alan Moore.

Tommy Tomorrow: Eventually revealed to be Tommy Parker from the "Space Museum" in an issue of Legion of Super-Heroes.

Space Museum: "An unusual series in that the only recurring characters were the narrator, Howard Parker, and his son Tommy... on every visit to the museum, Tommy picks up an object and his father furnishes him, and us, with the heroic space-faring tale behind it... With plots of unfailing ingenuity, beautiful art, and never a false note, Space Museum may well have been the most consistent product of the Schwartz stable." -Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones in "The Comic Book Heroes"

Knights of the Galaxy: "30th century do-gooders, patterned after King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table, were ready at the drop of a hat to hop into their individual spacecraft and rocket off from their base on the planetoid Gala, to right wrongs wherever they may be found... Lyle was the only Knight of the Galaxy who was at all developed as an ongoing character, and thus the only one for whom the reader had anything resembling sympathy..." -Don Markstein's Toonopedia

Tommy Tomorrow: "His partner, who shared their two-man spacecraft (The Ace of Space), was Captain Brent Wood. Tho they had officers' titles, Tommy and Brent spent their days out in the field, pursuing suspects and wearing their Planeteer uniforms..." -Don Markstein's Toonopedia

Knights of the Galaxy: Brent Wood now commanded the Knights of the Galaxy in various wars between worshippers of Karel Sorensen regarding methods by which to worship her, as well as against those who renounce her and the plague of immortality. He's one of the few knights to honor a millennium-long vow of celibacy.

Tommy Tomorrow: "Created by Schiff and Weisinger in 1947 (for their educational Real Fact Comics) as a forum for real scientific speculation, but transformed during the 1950s into a minor backup strip about an interstellar police force called the Planeteers. The stories (mostly by Jack Miller) avoided bug-eyed monsters in favor of little mysteries..." -Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones in "The Comic Book Heroes"

Tommy Tomorrow: Driven completely mad, if he wasn't already, by his immortality and lack of divinity in a universe shared with Karel Sorensen. "The scourge of a hundred planets-- the bogeyman of a hundred more... A man who had wiped all memory of all the other murderous psychopaths of mankind's illustrious history... Maybe Hitler was a monster in his time... Attila... or Nero... or Stalin... Maybe they were all Class-A horrors... but by sheer weight of numbers... by utter, gross immorality... none of them hold a candle to that monster-- period."

Star Hawkins: "From Star and Ilda's association emerged the basis for the strip, the humorous interaction between the two; virtually every story revolved around one of the two protagonists getting him or herself into some wacky jam, from which he or she was eventually bailed out by the other in some mock-heroic feat of physical prowess or cleverness. Star Hawkins was a charming and boisterous entry in the Schwartz stable..." -Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones in "The Comic Book Heroes"

Star Hawkins: "And while Tommy was microwaving Knights of the Galaxy, there were other lunatic heretics to deal with... a job handled with far too much gusto by Star Hawkins... a fellow who never quite adjusted to the idea of animals and machines receiving equal rights under Karel's benign rule..." Axel Starker was shielded from gunfire by his loving robot assistant, allowing his prey to escape. The bounty hunter let loose a litany of verbal abuse. "I should have junked you years ago... Help what-- to screw things up again... You're always sorry-- you've cost me a small fortune in bounty... If I weren't contractually bound to keep you around, I'd melt you myself... Get it through that iron skull-- you're obsolete--"

Manhunter 2070: Starker, never given a first name, was probably the greatest bounty hunter of the year 2070. Orphaned when his miner father was killed by claim jumpers, the young Starker managed to survive as a cook's helper on a pirate ship. Training in secret, Starker finally grew old and skilled enough to turn the tables on the motley crew. From then on, through bounty and wise investment, Starker amassed a sizable fortune. Though he was routinely asked why he continued in the profession, Starker's passion to defend the innocent against piracy kept him going. Starker was aided by Arky, a clunky box robot who arranged his jobs and other tasks.

Manhunter 2070: After a first issue repeatedly referred to as "John Starker," brother of Axel "Star Hawkins" Starker, it's now "Jon Starker." A shame the character was by writer/editor Mike Sekowsky, as if it were a Miller/Schiff feature, forgetting the lead's name might seem like an homage. Anyway, Jon Starker is an alcoholic drifter as in love with sexy Ilda (not to be confused with the original incarnation, whose head looked like a punch bowl) as Ilda was his hateful brother. To make ends meet, he took a job lining suicidal immortals lacking courage up against a back alley wall to shoot them for a nominal fee. "When I heard months later what Jon had been reduced to... I wept for the first time in years... I mean, how many times could he kill himself... and continue to live in torment...?" Why does Starker do it? For the unrequited love of robot booty...

Star Rovers: "The brevity of its career was just as well, for it was far and away the weakest of Schwartz's series... Gardner Fox built the entire series around one plot trick: Three space-faring adventurers experience three almost identical action-packed mysteries, retell them later to each other, and discover a single explanation for all." -Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones in "The Comic Book Heroes"

Star Rovers: With Rick Purvis dead, Homer Glint was nearly always at the side of the deified Karel Sorensen, writing her bible in her temple abode. Confronted by Tommy Tommorow's ex Brenda with the knowledge that the Methuseloids were the servants of another powerful race, and that their souls knew no rest, Karel Sorensen agreed to forsake the immortality of herself and a weary mankind to lay the Methuseloids spirits down.

Star Hawkins: "Like most fictional private eyes, Star had been battered by life, and his well-lined face showed it. He was basically a good guy, but with a cynical attitude brought on by years of crawling around the seamier portions of society... despite the fact that he was very good at detecting, he wasn't all that good at making a living. In fact, he sometimes, during periods of especially bad cash flow, had to pawn essential pieces of equipment just to keep the rent paid... Ilda was just like the average fictional private eye's secretary — tough, smart, good at her job, and amazingly willing to put up with the hardships that come with working for a guy who doesn't always succeed in keeping up with the bills. In her case, that meant frequent incarceration in the pawn shop. But he always redeemed her, and always promised it would never happen again — which, of course, she never believed. It was his equivalent of being late with her paycheck... Star finally (year 2092) got a lucrative case, and even made a permanent connection with the last of the many women in distress he'd encountered over his career, heiress Stella Sterling. Even Ilda got a happy ending, as she hooked up with Stella's bodyguard, an incredibly ancient robot named Automan..." -Don Markstein's Toonopedia

Star Hawkins: Alone, Axel Starker continued to hunt his bounty off-world. Guided by a cat-man, Axel found the bloody corpse of his prey, drained of life by giant humanoid vampire bats. Attacked by same, Axel used his Magnus, which now looked and functioned like a gun rather than last issue's baton. Axel killed all the bats, but faced the cat's condemnation for use of an unlicensed weapon. "You talk this 'hard world' [expletive deleted,] but when it gets down to brass tacks, it's all romance that counts-- You keep your romance-- I'll keep my skin..."

Star Rovers: Karel, Homer, Brent and Brenda were all on one big ship, part of an armada meant to take the "goddess" to the Methuseloids' distant masters to release their immortality. Just as Brenda was in the process of seducing the formerly chaste Brent, Tommy Tomorrow launches an attack. Karel was killed and Brenda wept as Tommy assumed her "divinity." Homer also saved the kitten who would grow to become F'tatatita during his escape.

Twilight: A book in which Howard Chaykin wrote a mediocre science fiction story, then plugged in the names of minor DC science fiction heroes where whatever he'd called these foul-mouthed cretins had been. He couldn't even bother to keep the professions straight.

Twilight Book I of III (1990)

Prologue: Blind Homer Glint chased his talking cat F'tatatita around the room. It acted as his "substitute retina," and F'tatatita prancing about was making Homer uneasy. Glint found an old pistol of his, and tripped on a memory...

Star Rovers: Homer Glint was a sarcastic presence, but unfailingly "printed the legend" as a journalist, which kept gods' mouths near his ear. Rick Purvis was a sports star who consistently struck first, and never bothered with any questions after. They were linked through Karel Sorensen, Glint's ex and Purvis' current, another journalist with a camera implanted in her eyes.

Through his association with the Museum of Space, Glint found himself trying to negotiate a peace with rebels in a hostage situation. These would be the eugenically-engineered intelligent simians that once served as a work force, but fought for independence.

Manhunter 2070: John Starker was the head of the strike force meant to raid the camp. He sympathized with Glint and the rebels, but would only allow a fifteen minute dialogue before going in.

Star Rovers: Rick and Karel were among the "hostages," but the latter's gonzo journalism style had made her chummy with Bruno, the rebel leader. Homer arrived to make headway with Bruno, until Rick pulled a gun.

Manhunter 2070: John Starker led his force in after the shots to neutralize the target.

Star Rovers: After everything settled, Rick expressed his displeasure at how Karel had allowed Bruno to touch her "that way." Karel accused him of secretly liking it, so Rick drew a machete and decapitated the captive Bruno. Karel caught it all with her "camera," and Homer spun the murder into a revered act of heroism. Glint hated himself for doing it as much as he hated Purvis in general, but that's just how they both handled themselves.

Tommy Tomorrow and the Planeteers: "If, as the English poet put it, vanity's name is woman-- then psychopathic ego out of control is surely called Tommy Tomorrow. Tomorrow never got over being an orphan-- never knowing whether he was born of woman-- or petri dish... it made him a xenophobic monster, obsessed with eternal life... and I made him a legend in his own time-- a hero of the first inter planetary war..." Tomorrow barely recalled the name of his fellow officer Brent Wood, who was aiding him in his search for the last of the Methuseloids, a race key to immortality.

Star Hawkins: A.K.A. Axel Starker, a cold, hypercritical private investigator only willing to see rules bent when they suited him. This included carrying an illegal, concealed Magnus device to lethally bridge the gap between human ability and the superior strength of robots and other species. This was used in the robot-dominated Mexico to enter a cybernetic brothel in which humans were prohibited, killing a robot and a human, as well as alerting police.

Manhunter 2070: Found in bed with four robot whores by his brother Axel. "I'll be easier on you when you outgrow this disgusting obsession with robot sex..." The pair had to sneak away to escape arrest.

Space Museum: John and Axel Starker cooled off at the memorial for war heroes. A display devoted to "Captain Thomas Tomorrow & Lieutenant John 'Manhunter' Starker, Heroes of the First Alien War" triggered another flashback...

Manhunter 2070: A cease fire was in effect until morning, as the Methuseloid camp had taken prisoners, including Tommorow's wife Brenda. Starker called it a night, and Tommy Tomorrow waited until Starker was out of earshot, then made up a pretext to attack. In the aftermath, "He lost three officers-- including his pregnant wife-- and wiped out the remains of a race that was antique when man was... baying at the moon... but Homer Glint made him out to be a hero on the inter-link-- and it stuck-- What stuck for me were those shots of me with that robot in church... They court-martialed me... and I was a forgotten man in three months..." The same only made Tomorrow more of a public champion, using private contributions to fund his own private militia.

Star Hawkins: Axel Starker didn't care about his brother's self-pity, or for his emotional attachment to a piece of his property. Still Axel needed John to retrieve the stolen/kidnapped Ilda, his robot assistant. "She" was crestfallen when it was fat, loutish and often drunken John Starker negotiating for her release, rather the her beloved owner-- regardless of John's affection and Axel's clear contempt for "her." It probably didn't help John was trying to haggle over Ilda's price with "her" current holder.

Tommy Tomorrow and the Planeteers: Decided to investigate what underhanded business his old comrade John was getting up to in his jurisdiction. Flabbergasted to learn John was in fact bartering with Brenda, Tommy's presumed dead spouse, who gave him such a slap. "Back off buster-- and stay backed... I don't look or feel any older-- but you had me declared legally dead eight years ago--" Though Brenda miscarried, she and her cohort Broome managed to escape the battle in a Methuseloid ship. It took fifteen years to learn to properly operate the craft and navigate it back to known space. In the meantime, they reverted to piracy, and though Broome died five years back, neither had aged a day. "They were right all along about the Methuseloids... but it wasn't some secret formula-- it was eating the little crits." For a price, Brenda gave Tommy "the cross co-ords" of the last Methuseloids they knew of.

Star Rovers: The trio had stumbled upon the Methuseloids first, and became collateral when Tomorrow and Brent Wood launched an unprovoked assault. Rick Purvis was killed in an explosion, which also caused Karel Sorensen's essence to merge with that of many Methuseloids at once. Sorensen ascended to a sort of divinity, which Homer Glint refused to look away from. Through her eyes, worlds watched the rebirth of Sorensen, while Brent Wood was the first person on hand to begin devout worship. Tommy Tomorrow was preoccupied with tearing apart Methuseloids with his bare hands and eating them raw. Though now blind, Homer Glint drew his pistol on Tomorrow to insure there would be no more hostilities. "You're just destined to forever be present at those focal points in history, Tommy... like now, for instance... Simply put-- you're going to live forever-- but Karel got to be God..."

Epilogue: Homer Glint held the pistol again, and considered his many sins. The Methuseloid corpses were used to grant everyone eternal life, with Karel receiving all the credit, as Homer was on hand to write her bible. Glint cursed himself for not having killed Tommy Tomorrow when he had the chance, instead of allowing him eternity to stew in Karel's shadow.

Review: I'm a fan of Howard Chaykin's art and innovations, but I generally can't stand his stories. At one point, Karel explained to Glint, "I dumped you as soon as I saw through that shallow facade you call a personality, Homer," and I like to imagine Chaykin had a similar conversation with one of his own girlfriends. I feel as she does. Chaykin seems to be exactly like his Glint, dispassionately relating stories of cruel, petty, stupid, and vapid individuals without serving any purpose beyond wallowing in their sordid nature. I can't imagine Jack Schiff, a proud social progressive who edited many of the adulterated here, would be anything but repulsed by this series. Schiff hated science fiction anyway, intending his books to educate and entertain children. Then again, I'm not sure who this series was for, beyond Chaykin fans. The characters are completely unrecognizable, yet stand poorly without the tawdry perversion of pre-existing properties. Finally, coincidence runs a bit thick here. How exactly did the Star Rovers find the Methuseloids, I ask you?

Meanwhile, José Luis García-López, Steve Oliff and Ken Bruzenak waste some of their finest effort on an overheated "Heavy Metal" magazine lead story.

Showcase #91 (June, 1970)

"2070-- In the short space of one hundred years-- man has conquered space! Planted his colonies on the planets of his own solar system-- and with the invention of the Bridwell Space Drive has reached out to other galaxies... And soon fat-bellied freighters are plying back and forth between our solar system and others-- bringing the riches of other planets and cultures in their holds... But where there are riches-- there are those who covet them-- and soon the lifeless husks of burned out freighters float dead in space... Victims of pirates-- history repeating itself-- but the time is 2070 not 1670... And for every pirate caught by the space patrols or the private security police of the giant mining and freight corporations, a dozen take their place... Soon, as in the old American West, a new breed of free lance bounty hunter springs up, some are successful, and collect the huge rewards offered by the United Federation of Planets and private corporations... Others are not so lucky... or good enough... Their reward is death! But as with the pirates, the lure of wealth overcomes fear and there are always others to fill an empty spot in their ranks-- many others...

Such a man is Starker, Manhunter 2070! This is his story-- and it begins on the Olympus 7, a vacation and pleasure satellite orbiting around Jupiter..."

...and in that future, now even closer to our present, sentence structure is a thing of the past! Oy.

Surrounded by a pair of pretty Vince Colletta-inked ladies, Mike Sekowsky's Starker made a killing-- at the casino! Gathering his winnings, Starker passed his dealer a sizable tip, and credited the rest to his account. Starker needed to settle up, as a signal device on his ring finger had alerted him to pressing business. Hopping into his Jetsons space car, a.k.a. Flyer S-2424, Starker took the call and the job on his way to his luxurious house satellite, also in Jupiter orbit. The girls protested, as Starker had promised to take them to the Jovian Bowl, but "Business before pleasure, honey! ...I know I promised your father I'd chaperone* you on your vacation-- but Arky will take you!"

Arky was Starker's robotic personal assistant, without whom he would likely be lost. Arky detailed the job-- a break out of Deimos Maximum Security Prison by three convicts, involving the deaths of two guards. "Jamal Kry-- Jovian-- Frank Lester-- Earth-Man," and "Slymor-- Planet Donos, Andromedan Galaxy! All three are killers, many times over. Approach with extreme caution!" Starker's young charge asked why, even at 750,000 credits, he needed to take on more work. "You've got more money than you can ever spend!" Starker explained, "Thanks to the way your father has handled my investments... As to why I do it-- If you've ever seen a gutted freighter or a passenger liner... No survivors-- no witnesses! That's part of it-- If you'd ever met these killers or their like at close range as I did-- then you'd understand!"

Arky took out all the guess-work. The three fugitives had stolen a food and fuel delivery freighter and jettisoned the crew. Based on their profiles and other factors, Arky deduced that they would set down on the planet Pheidos, where they could hide out at a pirate stronghold. "I will recommend-- Disinto-Blaster-- Exposi*-Needle Gun-- Electro-Knife-- Rifle-- Cannon-- and Full Space Armor--" Starker was surprised by that last bit. "Sounds like it'll be rough out there! Okay, Arky-- you've always been right before-- Anything else?" Arky explained that the planet Pheidos itself would be a threat, "For it is a killer planet-- and so is everything on it-- mineral, vegetable, animal--" Starker chided, "You're a regular mechanical bundle of cheer, Arky! I'll be careful! And what do you recommend for transportation?" Why, "The TR-40 with the new 10-750 Space Drive-- I'll get it--"

In our modern era of the comic book Übermenschen, it's refreshing to see the hero of our more likely future so utterly dependent on technology for every single thing. I'm surprised Starker didn't have arms come down from the ceiling to dress him. Suited up, Starker returned to say goodbye to the girls, as he would be gone for about a week. The daughter gave the "big boob" a kiss on the cheek for luck. "Don't you know knights in shining armor haven't been in for centuries?"

Three days later, Starker found the wreckage of the freighter on Pheidos. This was a lucky break, as it meant the escapees were on foot until they could reach the stronghold. "Looks peaceful as a grave yard. Arky may have slipped up this time!" Starker mounted his Jet-Rider. "They're somewhere in the jungle-- be easier to spot them from the air-- and less tiring--" Just as he was about to rev his sky cycle, he was beset by creatures and animated plants wishing to end his life! "Godfrey Daniel! Now I know what Arky meant by a killer planet!" Filling his hands with weapons, Starker slashed and blasted the monstrosities away from his body! Everywhere he turned, Starker faced a vile menagerie out for blood! "A poisonous thorn-snake! ...Hairy Harry! These things look like the piranhas on Earth-- but here they have wings! ...Move, feet... Chow call on Pheidos!" Also, Glider-Cuda! Python Vines!

"Meanwhile, in a hidden underground chamber, not too far away-- Three figures stop in the process of arming and refitting themselves from one of the pirate arms and food caches scattered around the planet..." Using an Eye-Spy, they watched our hero fight his way out of one attack after another. "It's Starker... Just about the best of the bloody bounty hunters! Too many a good lad's in jail-- or dead because o' 'im! Nothin' stops 'im-- Not until 'e gets 'is man-- or men!"

A dead "winged-crocodile-like creature" later, Starker finally managed to return to his Jet-Rider and make tracks on Ol' Hoss! Starker tried scanning for heat radiation, but the pirates' own space armor covered that trail, allowing them to lie in ambush. Lester managed to blast the scanner and Jet-Rider out from under Starker, sending him on a crash course near some rocks. The pirates lay on Atmo-Sleds and flew off in pursuit. Using shoulder rockets to enhance his agility, Starker dodged their continued fire. The bounty hunter took cover, only to find a wave of Spider Rocks coming up from behind! "Howling Hounds of Hades! Did I say safe?" Shoulder rockets carried Starker out of reach, but he had to hit the ground running to evade the Atmo-Sleds! "Better find a hidey-hole! Here's one-- but it's already got a tenant--" As Starker blasted its head to pieces, "--Here's your disposess* notice, pal!"

The escapees passed overhead in search of Starker, until Lester finally spotted him, only to have his Atmo-Sled take the same punishment he'd dealt Ol' Hoss! "Never could stand a tattle-tell!" Lester used his downed Atmo-Sled for cover while his sharp-shooting blew the rifle right out of Starker's hand. Temporarily blinded and disarmed, it looked like Manhunter 2070 wouldn't live to 2071! A tear in Lester's space armor proved otherwise...

"ARRR-- No! Cannibal Ants! No!" One of the problems with Sekowsky editing his own script is that there was no one to catch the spelling errors, or point out that he probably meant "flesh-eating ants" instead. "With a terrible shriek, Lester leaps to his feet and tries to race away from his doom... but to no avail-- and a moment later, a near empty suit topples to the ground..."

Starker utilized his shoulder rockets to find a new safe place to plot ambush, but of course, there was no such thing on the surface of this planet. Tiny dragons began to climb Starker's legs, which he smashed with the butt of his handgun. A giant flying dragon-lizard howled its disapproval. "Oh-oh! Momma! And roaring mad about her babies!" In her fury, the saurian swatted Kry and Slymor off their Atmo-Sleds. Low on the only ammo that could potentially pierce its hide, Starker decided on a risky gambit. Manhunter 2070 claimed a sword and Atmo-Sled from a fallen escapee, then charged the dragon, stabbing it through the eye!

"Towing two Atmo-Sleds, one carrying a skeleton-- the other-- two unconscious outlaws-- Starker... fights his way back toward his ship..." He hoped nothing had eaten it, and his prayers answered, blasted off the "Planet of Death!" A few days and a medical inspection of Lester's remains later, Starker was promised his reward was in the bank. The day after, the bounty hunter returned to the company of his lovely lady-friends. "We still have a week, Starker, and you're going to make up for that week you deserted us! Arky's cute-- but-- You're not going away again--"

"Except on business-- if any comes up?"

(* sic)