TOMASO HA MANGIATO TUTTI I MIEI OREOS

Good morning, lovely readers. My, you look adorable. Welcome once again to my fetid and dank BARGAIN BASEMENT OF DOOOOOM, which houses some of the gems that may be mouldering, all sad-faced and unloved, in the 50p section of your local comics emporium. As regular visitors may remember, I’ve recently been wading waist-deep in a red-dirt swamp, following the relatively obscure adventures of my favourite comics character of all time – the Alien Atlas himself, the MARTIAN MANHUNTER. In today’s third and penultimate instalment of this extraterrestrial extravaganza, I’m going to look at the ongoing MM series that ran for 38 issues (and two annuals – one great, one crap) between 1998 and 2001.

While the preponderance of big guns and pouches and Leifeldian DeathBloodForceStryke atrocities made much of the ’90s a low ebb for comics in general, some great stuff was also being produced – and for me, Grant Morrison’s JLA was probably the best of its era. Among many, many wonderful things about that series, one of my personal highlights is the fact that Morrison finally gave J’onn J’onzz the respect he deserved but had so rarely been afforded. Here, J’onn’s place as one of the Big Seven of the DC Universe was firmly cemented (even if he always seemed a little out of place among his far more iconic and marketable peers), and his profile had never been higher. Following the DC One Million event, he was finally spun off into his own ongoing title, scripted by John Ostrander and drawn by Tom Mandrake (a dream creative team that had previously collaborated to great effect on The Spectre).

Despite having been around since the early 1950s, the Martian Manhunter remained something of a mysterious, inscrutable figure, a brooding background or second-tier presence in Justice League context (even as the team’s leader), and with most of his pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths solo adventures as a back-up in Detective Comics and House of Mystery seemingly too full of Silver Age silliness to be considered part of continuity. Once Morrison had rectified this, Ostrander set out to clarify and flesh out his history and character, as well as establish his position in the modern DC Universe.

Confusingly, before #1 came out, the series began with #0 and #1,000,000 – the former retells and expands upon J’onn’s origin; the latter (a DC One Million tie-in) flashes forward to his far future and foreshadows some of the events to come in the series. Under Ostrander’s pen, the story of the Martian plague that robbed J’onn of his wife, daughter and people is rendered extremely vivid and traumatic, even if elements of it are at odds with the origin provided by DeMatteis in the 1988 mini-series. The plague is revealed to be telepathic in nature – in order to survive, J’onn is forced to isolate himself from his family and from the communal Martian rapport. As he puts it in #0: ‘I had to kill myself to live.’ 

One of the more interesting aspects of the series is Ostrander’s handling of J’onn’s private life. As a shapeshifter, there’s no reason why he should be restricted to one identity. And indeed, it is revealed that, in addition to his usual human guise of Detective John Jones, he has had many over the years – from the deliberately incompetent supervillain Big Doof to the unknown pre-JLA hero the Bronze Wraith; from a Japanese businessman to an Italian cat.

 Whereas most characters in both DC and Marvel exist in a kind of rolling present – they’d have to, or Bruce Wayne would be pushing a hundred years old by now – J’onn’s history is permanently tied to the 1950s, making him the first superhero, chronologically speaking, of the post-war era. As such, Ostrander is able to insert him into various parts of DC history, retconning him into supporting roles in the back-stories of Superman, Batman and Green Lantern, like a jolly green Zelig. He also establishes close ties between the Martians and the Saturnians, bringing the obscure ’80s crimson J’onn-alike Jemm, Son of Saturn into the book as a supporting character. He even finds a neat way to incorporate and explain J’onn’s goofy Silver Age sidekick, Zook.

Ostrander also sought to establish a personal rogues’ gallery for J’onn. However, while the likes of Headmaster, Belle Noir and Antares were unusual characters, and made for interesting stories, they were, alas, destined for comic-book limbo. Only J’onn’s evil twin brother (no, really) Ma’alefa’ak (or Malefic, in a great case of convenient Earthling-speak nominative determinism) leaves any lasting impression, and would later appear in animated form in Justice League: Doom.  

Most of the issues are pencilled by Tom Mandrake, whose extremely fluid, dark and unsettling imagery is as perfectly suited to J’onn’s mutable and fiery world as it was to the grimly occult setting of the Spectre (who also makes an appearance). Just as Ostrander delights in coming up with increasingly imaginative and bizarre ways for J’onn to use his multifarious powers, Mandrake clearly has a ball with the visual possibilities inherent in a protagonist who changes shape, turning him into an armoured beast, a giant kaiju warrior, a planet and all manner of abstracted and perverted forms along the way.

 Aside from a couple of sub-par fill-ins, the entire series is remarkably consistent, and consistently good. The tone is really varied, ranging from high sci-fi to supernatural realms to pure superheroics and down-and-dirty detective work. The settings switch between the ancient past, the far future and the present, between Mars and Earth and Apokolips. Particular standouts are the #4–9 run, in which Malefic viciously takes down his brother and the whole JLA; #11 – a touching Bradbury-esque sci-fi yarn, guest-starring Swamp Thing and sumptuously guest-rendered by Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary; #17, in which we learn more about J’onn’s multiple identities; a JSA team-up and showdown with Darkseid in #18 and #19; and #24, a frankly ridiculous flashback to the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League days, in which the normally stoic J’onn experiences some literal Hulk rage when pranked by Beetle and Booster.

Despite his lengthy history, this was the first time that the Martian Manhunter ever had a solo ongoing title. But will it be the last? To be honest, the signs aren’t good… He was the only DC big gun not to get his own book in the New 52 relaunch. He didn’t even make it into the Jim Lee Justice League (possibly mercifully), instead being awkwardly relegated to Stormwatch, and later a lesser, ersatz JLA.

Grifter got his own New 52 title – but not J’onn.

GRIFTER, I tells ya. A git with guns who drapes a loincloth over his face in lieu of a mask gets a series, but not J’onn. I despair of humanity.

Next week or thereabouts: the final chapter of the Martian invasion. Arm yourself with a common cold.

(originally published on The Big Glasgow Comic Page)