Martians DC

#1 Posted by Skunkstein (554 posts) - 1 year, 3 months ago - Show Bio

I dont know much about Martian Manhunter and i know a whole lot less about martians as a race and about their history. So today i wanted to make some detective work online and figure out differences on Green Martians, White martians and co. About that war there was on Mars, why the Martians went extinct. And another thing i never really understood was how anyone extincts a whole race with the powers of Superman and more. But man, theres a lot of material out there, so i thought id take another way.. is there any Martian Manhunter fans out there who could explain a little about his race, planets and his own history?

#2 Posted by Adnan (1037 posts) - 1 year, 3 months ago - Show Bio

John Ostrander's Martian Manhunter would be a good place to start, or so I hear. It hasn't been released in TPB format though...

#3 Edited by majestic99 (8638 posts) - 1 year, 3 months ago - Show Bio

@Skunkstein said:

I dont know much about Martian Manhunter and i know a whole lot less about martians as a race and about their history. So today i wanted to make some detective work online and figure out differences on Green Martians, White martians and co. About that war there was on Mars, why the Martians went extinct. And another thing i never really understood was how anyone extincts a whole race with the powers of Superman and more. But man, theres a lot of material out there, so i thought id take another way.. is there any Martian Manhunter fans out there who could explain a little about his race, planets and his own history?

Martian Manhunter= Superman+telepathy, telekinesis, invisibility, density alteration/phasing/intangibility, mind control, astral projection, shapeshifting, stretching, size alteration, and force field projection.

P.S. His heat vision is called "Martian" Vision and his super breath is called "Martian" Breath

The difference between the Green and White martians(obviously other than the color) is their philsophy. Thousands of years ago, the Guardians of the Universe saw vast potential for the martians. Fearing that they would use their untold power for galactic conquest, the Guardians split the Martians into two separate species: the Green Martians(Who were peaceful philosophers) and the White Martians(Who were Savage War-Mongers) and instilled in them a psychological fear of fire(Martains reproduced asexually via fire, and the Guardians didn't want that).

The story of their fall would begin with the birth of two twin brothers: J'onn J'onzz and Ma'alefa'ak.

Both brothers grew up to be Manhunters (Policemen), but Ma'alefa'ak was a sociopath, and soon found himself committing the most heinous crime in the Martian society: Mind rape. For this transgression, the Martian assembly removed his telepathic abilities, an act he did not understand and the source of his hatred towards his race. Now basically a cripple and branded a freak by others, Ma'alefa'ak turned to thoughts of vengeance. He soon created a deliverer of his wrath: a telepathic plague he called "Hronmeer's curse," after the Martian God of death and art. A plague which, as the only non telepathic Martian, only Ma'alefa'ak would survive.

Like fire, the plague sweeped across Mars, killing every Martian it came in contact with. And being immune, Ma'alefa'ak was enjoying the fruits of his labor, until finding out of another Martian who survived the plague: his brother, J'onn.

The brothers fought, and in the aftermath Ma'alefa'ak was supposedly killed, and J'onn was left as the last surviving Martian.

#4 Posted by mathematicscore (154 posts) - 1 year, 3 months ago - Show Bio

There have been a couple of different versions of mars; the various Crises affected the history of Mars greatly. Originally he was stranded on earth but Mars was still populated. There was a war in the 70's that left mars un-populated and barren, with the Martians taking off for another planet. After Crisis '85, this was no longer so. Mars was struck by a plague (later revealed to be the doing of Ma'alefa'ak, as detailed by majestic99) which wiped out most of the martian race.

More to the meat of your questions, I have to go into my own fan fiction territory. I postulate that Martians have to develop their abilities, just like humans have to practice and exercise to accomplish certain feats. Consequently, not all Martians are created equal. Some are better at shape shifting, others at energy manipulation and telepathy, and still others at flight. Manhunters, the planetary defenders, are vigorously trained and J'onn himself is exceptional at all those things, hence his surviving the plague. Also, the Martian population was likely not large since their high survivability means they didn't have to reproduce as much; they could literally evolve themselves to adapt to almost any situation, rather than counting on natural selection through generations. The quick acting, telepathic nature of the Plague meant devastation to the smaller population.

If you're looking for "canon only" explanations, especially relating to Malefic and JL: Doom, follow majestic99's suggestion and track down Ostrander's run, particularly the 0 and 1million issues, Malefics Arc (4-9) and "In My Life" (33-36)

#5 Edited by majestic99 (8638 posts) - 1 year, 2 months ago - Show Bio

@mathematicscore:

Agreed.

#6 Posted by Skunkstein (554 posts) - 1 year, 2 months ago - Show Bio

@majestic99: Ah, yes... okay, right. Thanks for info! Just what i was looking for.

@mathematicscore: Okay, makes sense... a good theory.

You see thats why its a good idea to reboot comics once in a while, i mean man... there is SO many different origin stories, bios and such.

Martian Manhunter

Decades ago, J'onn J'onzz was teleported to Earth from Mars and stranded here. Since then he has used his extraordinary abilities to protect and serve the people of Earth. He has been affiliated with Stormwatch and the Justice League. He now leads the Justice League of America.

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