CSBG Archive
The Greatest Martian Manhunter Stories Ever Told! – Voting
Here’s the latest of the daily voting threads for The Greatest ____ Stories Ever Told!
Our next character up for voting is Martian Manhunter.
J’onn J’onnz, the Martian Manhunter, was one of the rare superheroes DC had in the years between the Golden Age and the beginning of the Silver Age (although he was not really much of a “superhero” to start – more of a science fiction character). One of the founding members of the Justice League, Manhunter served with the team in most of the incarnations of the League, taking on a higher profile on the team during the 1980s. Manhunter had an ongoing feature for a number of years in Detective Comics and House of Mystery and had a solo title during the late 1990s/early 2000s. He currently is a member of Stormwatch.
You have until 11:59 PM Pacific time, November 13th to vote for your top ten favorite comic book stories starring Martian Manhunter! Your choices will be revealed on November 14th. I will leave what “starring” entails up to you.
You vote by sending your top ten choices to bcronin@comicbookresources.com (make the subject heading clear that it is about The Greatest Martian Manhunter Stories Ever Told Voting) by that time (you send your votes by e-mail, not in the comments to this piece).
Be sure to first click here to read about the rules and guidelines for the voting (so you don’t vote for stuff that is ineligible, like you can’t vote for “John Ostrander’s Martian Manhunter run” you have to pick a specific story or story arc).
I’d prefer you not share your votes in the comments section – please let’s keep it a surprise until the results go up. You can share your votes then if you’d like!
Have fun voting and be sure to check back November 14th to see the results!
13 Comments
ehver
November 8, 2011 at 10:06 pm
“Revelations”- issues 20-24 of Ostranders run. great series of one shots, showcasing John’s history, capped off with just about the funniest comic I have ever read.
issue 17 of Ostranders run. after 16 solid issues of John’s most diffcult battles, he comes home to discover a life-changing threat from the DEO. what happens and how he deals with it is just pure Martian Manhunter.
issue 36 for tying the great series up in a nice little bow.
I wish I could place American Secrets in here, as I love Gerard Jones’ writing, but, well, I haven’t read it……a small problem when rating a comic. I’m sure its great, though!……just hard to find.
Joe C
November 8, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Am I the only one stoked about this list? Love me some J’onn J’onnz. It was hard not to pull the entire list from Ostrander’s brilliant, underrated series, but J’onn’s also had key parts in some excellent Justice League stories. Just recognizing that makes me deeply upset that they replaced him with Cyborg as a founding member in the New 52 continuity. I’ll quit while I’m ahead, and hang onto being stoked.
Cole Moore Odell
November 9, 2011 at 6:57 am
While not revealing where it would place on my own list, ehver, I will say that you really, really, really really ought to read American Secrets. Enormously fun, loaded with nearly every famous cultural marker of the 1950s, and great artwork from Eduardo Barretto.
Anthony Strand
November 9, 2011 at 7:23 am
Joe C – Agreed about the Ostander run. I have a list of 11 written up right now, and 6 are from that run. One of my favorite comics ever.
Rex
November 9, 2011 at 8:18 am
Criminally underused and underrated character. I also would’ve put “Revelations” as number 1 (and the one with Despero and the mayavana a close second).
I’m with you, Joe. J’onn’s integral to the JLA, he’s the one member that should always be around the group, not the big three. There’s an anecdote about that I once read about. I think it was Morrison who said the Martian Manhunter was the member most likely to betray the League. Paul Dini counter-argumented that such answer means Grant didn’t know anything about the character. When asked the question Who would most likely betray the League, Dini’s would’ve been “Everyone else”.
Omar Karindu
November 9, 2011 at 9:23 am
Morrison said quite the opposite in interviews around 1998, and his stories in JLA never reflected the opinion ascribed to him here.
Mark Waid, on the other hand, did something a little like this in JLA: Year One.
T.
November 9, 2011 at 9:36 am
I was wondering the same thing as Omar. If he believed such a thing, it really didn’t show during his JLA run.
Cole Moore Odell
November 9, 2011 at 10:13 am
I just hope someone stands up for the Joe Certa-era original stories–I always loved the crazy Silver Age fun of the Idol Head of Diabolu sequence, and I’ve got a soft spot in my head for Zook.
BigSoph
November 9, 2011 at 11:45 am
Justice League International Annual number one – you got to see J’onn cutting loose against the rtest of the league and his strength of character
JLA 84-88, Trial by Fire
Captain Comet
November 9, 2011 at 3:12 pm
I just read the entirety of Ostrander’s run. So great, makes me wonder how many non-Ostrander stories will make the list. Just got the first issue of American Secrets today, looks pretty good so far, I only hope I can find the other two. Also, I own the middle two issues of the Demetties mini but the art makes it a little hard to focus.
Oh and if the 52-era Martian Manhunter mini makes the list I will lose all faith in these people. Those 8 issues perfectly captured everything wrong with comics at the time.
Mike Loughlin
November 9, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Argh, I forgot about that Justice League Annual. Oh well, I’m satisfied with my (Ostrander, Mandrake, & Co. heavy) list.
The DeMatteis mini would have been so much better with another artist. It didn’t make my list, but the writing had heart. I feel Mark Badger did a great job inking & coloring Mike Mignola’s art on Dr. Strange & Dr. Doom, but I don’t think the super-hero genre suited his art.
JohnC
November 9, 2011 at 9:24 pm
I always found it so amazing how Jonn was pretty much nonexistant in the satelite era. There was a two parter in which he was forced to play chess against Despero and issue 200 which really introduced me to him.
Darren
November 13, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Huh, I just completed my list and it’s surprisingly varied. There are two series that have two storylines each represented, and then a bunch of outliers. I hope people don’t forget the great Mark Verheiden Secret Origins story, which had a pretty direct influence on how the character was portrayed in Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier.