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John Webb
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 03 October 2004
Posts: 1428
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 12:27pm | IP Logged | 1
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I am with Kurt on this one. I think the bulk of the old timer fans like us, aged say between 37 and 44 never really came across the Martian Manhunter in our formative reading years. He therefore never really registered as 'classic' when he turned up in comics during the mid 80's.
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Daniel Kendrick
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3020
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 12:33pm | IP Logged | 2
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This is something that happens to a lot of
characters. I call it "drift". You start out with somebody really
interesting looking, and over a period of time they morph into much
more ordinary looking folk.
I agree, look at Rogue. OK, not as alien as the ones you stated. She started out as a square faced punk and turned into a soft-faced southern girl who just has a stripe in her hair.
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Philippe Negrin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 August 2007
Location: France
Posts: 2643
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 12:40pm | IP Logged | 3
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I daren't say mine...please bear in mind I'm not American.
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Joe Hollon
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 13737
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 12:58pm | IP Logged | 4
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I think The Martian Manhunter can pretty comfortably be lumped in with the characters that few writers (any?) have ever figured out what to do with. I'm currently reading J'Onn's earliest stories in Showcase Presents: Martian Manhunter and in the early days it is very interesting that the John Jones persona is the full emphasis of the character. He rarely appears in the stories as anything other than a normal looking human who secretly uses his Martian abilities.
A few months ago I read the Showcase Presents: JLA volume and in that one, he is only shown in his Martian form, the only power he ever seems to be able to use to benefit the team is his Super Breath and he is routinely dispatched by anyone who happens to light a candle* in his presence!
*I hate fire being used as Kryptonite for J'Onn. It would make sense (and not be so annoying) if he was simply vulnerable to fire like a normal man. I just don't like seeing him pass out and become powerless every time someone lights a cigarette.
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Joe Hollon
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 13737
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 1:01pm | IP Logged | 5
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JB: "over a period of time they morph into much more ordinary looking folk. Happened to...Kalibak..."
*******
This is probably the worst offense to Kalibak I'm familiar with:
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Thom Price
Byrne Robotics Member
L’Homme Diabolique
Joined: 29 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7592
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 1:10pm | IP Logged | 6
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I don't like the Martian Manhunter because he's too powerful and, more importantly, his powers are such a hodgepodge. He feels like a "kitchen sink" character. As if telepathy, shapeshifting, and intangibility weren't enough, he also has to be (nearly) as strong as Superman and have laser eye beams?
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Wayde Murray
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Joined: 14 October 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 3115
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 1:35pm | IP Logged | 7
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I never "got" Captain Mravel Jr. Why would Freddy ever change back into a lame boy when he could remain super permanently? Same with Mary Marvel, or indeed any Marvel who didn't change significantly from their civilian guise. Like Superman, these characters could live out their lives without anyone knowing their secret. Only Billy Batson "had" to revert to live out his life out of costume.
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Jason Schulman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2473
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 1:42pm | IP Logged | 8
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Aquaman has never interested me in the slightest.
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Bruce Buchanan
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 14 June 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 4797
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 1:43pm | IP Logged | 9
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I never "got" Captain Mravel Jr. Why would Freddy ever change back into a lame boy when he could remain super permanently?
****************
Wayde, there was a great take on this very point in Miracleman by Alan Moore.
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Thom Price
Byrne Robotics Member
L’Homme Diabolique
Joined: 29 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7592
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 1:59pm | IP Logged | 10
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I never "got" Captain Mravel Jr.
***
As to that, I don't get the appeal of any of the derivative (where a "new" character is just an existing character with an age and/or gender change) characters: the Marvel family, Superboy, Supergirl, Batgirl, Wonder Girl, Aqualad, Aquagirl, Kid Flash and the entire Green Lantern Corp. I not only find them to be creatively bankrupt characters, they diminish the appeal of the original by eliminating their uniqueness.
Marvel, at least in the past, was better at it. Spider-Woman, despite her obvious inspiration, is a unique character and She-Hulk's personality makes her very different from the Hulk.
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David Ferguson
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Joined: 17 March 2007
Location: Ireland
Posts: 6782
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 2:01pm | IP Logged | 11
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I never got Martian Manhunter but Joe Kelly sort of changed my mind a bit with his JLA run.
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Brandon Frye
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Joined: 17 November 2004
Posts: 1322
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| Posted: 30 August 2007 at 2:16pm | IP Logged | 12
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I think Venom's popularity might come from the overall attraction of the "evil twin" characters. That is, characters that are villainous versions of the hero (Bizarro, Sinestro, Black Adam, Reverse Flash, etc).
The evil twin villains seem to have a certain appeal and I think Venom was the first "evil twin" character to Spider-Man. It's kinda amusing tho that when Venom started becoming more "heroic" there was then a need to create an evil twin character for the evil twin character (Carnage).
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Topic Closed)
