Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Death-Orbit!


After reading Justice League of America #71 (May, 1969,) I had and continue to have so many questions, I heartily invite comment on the following:
  • For better than a decade, guys like James Robinson, Grant Morrison and Brad Meltzer have subverted the Post-Crisis timeline to the point where virtually nothing ever printed is out of continuity anymore. This is especially true of Justice League adventures (like this one,) so when can we expect this comic to be addressed again?
  • Why was J'onn J'onzz dressed so much like "the Stranger?" I mean the villain who fought Roh Kar, the first Manhunter from Mars in BATMAN #78?
  • Will we ever more fully explore J'onzz's role as a pre-devastation "military-science leader?"
  • What was the deal with the Blue Flame? So many questions there, I'd rather not be more specific. Well okay, for starters, how could Martians go anywhere near a perpetual inferno?
  • What all did Commander Blanx get up to on Mars during Manhunter's exile?
  • Why didn't Manhunter take his super friends back to Mars sooner?
  • Were the money men from the Antares system the Thythen, whose planet Vonn also orbits a red sun? If not, who were they?
  • Exactly how many Martians escaped in the ark? 20? 200? 2,000?
  • If the Justice League only disabled the one spaceship, who were piloting the others, and what became of them?
  • Did J'onn J'onzz's mind really "snap" at the carnival, and does that explain his erratic behavior throughout the '70s, or even his reboot in the '80s? Was it caused by an outside force, or did he just go nuts?
  • There are fourteen different pale Martians shown being beaten by the Justice League on page 16 alone, yet Blanx claims he and J'onn are the only surviving Martians. Did he mean on the actual planet, or assume the Justice League slew his men?
  • What exactly did the Justice League do with the Pole Dwellers, and were there any more?
  • Considering the tenacious nature of the Blue Flame, was it permanently extinguished in the vacuum of space?
  • There are still a number of buildings left on Mars, like the Cultural Museum, that have never been mentioned since. Any chance of a visit?
  • Did Manhunter actually kill Commander Blanx, or has it just been assumed for forty years? It's never stated that he died, and there are at least fourteen other Pole Dwellers whose fates have never been confirmed.
  • Having set up a new status quo for Manhunter, why was he able to find the surviving Martians in his very next major appearance? Did he reach them directly, or did it take years (nearly three in real time?)
  • Did the Martians settle Vonn as "Mars II," or did they spend 1972-1977 in exodus?
  • What was everyone up to in between Martian Manhunter's few appearances from 1969-1984?

3 comments:

Bookgal said...

"Will we ever more fully explore J'onzz's role as a pre-devastation "military-science leader?"

I would love to see more on this. They've changed J'onn's background so many times, but I always thought this aspect was very interesting.

"What was the deal with the Blue Flame? So many questions there, I'd rather not be more specific. Well okay, for starters, how could Martians go anywhere near a perpetual inferno?"

Right?! I was wondering about this myself.

"Did J'onn J'onzz's mind really "snap" at the carnival, and does that explain his erratic behavior throughout the '70s, or even his reboot in the '80s? Was it caused by an outside force, or did he just go nuts?"

It was the editors at DC, they pushed him over the edge. He couldnt take it anymore. :)

Diabolu Frank said...

As much as I like the idea of J'Onn J'Onzz coming from an idyllic pacifist culture, how do you explain his continuing to punch people in the mouth over the twenty years since its introduction, even when written by J.M. DeMatteis his own self?!? Not only is that very difficult to write for (see Dove) on a character people already have trouble handling well, but it fits poorly with a lot of what people like about the character. A "Manhunter" should be allowed some ominous qualities ill-suited to a hippie communist.

Superman began as a Moses figure in the '30s, then transformed into a more Messianic mold. Martian Manhunter was like Technicolor Joshua at first, then became and remained a Moses figure from the '70s on. Combining that perception with the intriguing "military-science leader" angle, J'Onn feels less like a spare Superman and more like Jor-El. He works far better as a widowed survivor than he did in the '50s-'60s as the mourned favored son of living parents, but the Martian Manhunter still needs a role amongst Martians to better contextualize his existence.

In other words, he needs his Silver Age continuity back, integrated into his Post-Crisis existence. Pretty please.

Bookgal said...

"In other words, he needs his Silver Age continuity back, integrated into his Post-Crisis existence. Pretty please."

Agreed in full!