Feature: Shapes Shifting - pt. 3

Part III: The Manhunter from Mars

One would think the superhero genre would be filthy with interesting stories featuring shape-shifters: no special circumstances or explanations are required as shape-shifting is no more outlandish an idea than unaided flight, super-strength and heat vision. It isn’t the case. No doubt there are a decent number of superhero shape-shifters and stories that contain, but in almost every case their powers are used for infiltration or some derivative thereof.

There are other options for storytellers to choose. So far we've looked at the shape-shifter's kinship with creativity itself, and how that kinship allows shape-shifters like Merlock Jones to play tricks on the reader that a character with a concrete form cannot. In contrast to Merlock, and his creator E.C. Segar, who may not have intended the effect outlined in the previous installment, there are certain creators who not only fail to play tricks on the reader using their shape-shifter, but who make no attempt to tell a story in which a shape-shifter's presence creates a unique experience. Even if Segar didn't intend Merlock's month of haunting, he intentionally used Merlock's abilities as a master of disguise for a unique comedic effect similar to the classic mirror scene in Duck Soup.

There are several shape-shifting superheroes/villains who are complete failures judging by the above criteria, but there’s one whose track record is interestingly pockmarked. The Martian Manhunter first appeared in the iteration which fans now recognize him in the November 1955 edition of Detective Comics, #225.* In “The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel,” written by Joe Samachson and drawn by Joe Certa, a brilliant scientist named Mark Erdel wrenches J’onn J’onzz, Martian, from his home world. Erdel greats J’onn with a convenient heart attack, trapping J’onn on Earth as Erdel is the only man alive who can operate the accidently-steal-an-alien contraption. Within that same strip, J’onn decides to take the form of a human man in order not to frighten all who see him. Again, here our hero’s aim is infiltration, this time into the entire human race. This is a better use of the infiltration plot than most: perhaps because as the character grows infiltration might meld with the themes of human intolerance and the other among us. Sadly, though, from 1953 until the 1959 episode, “The Unmasking of J’onn Jonzz,” the Martian is more or less confined to his human body, and whenever he does change to his true form he stays invisible, always solving crimes unnoticed and ending every strip with a wink to the reader: the sole witness to his feats. This leaves no room for a shape-shifting theme because each episode is concerned with what crazy new power J’onn will have in order to keep them winking moments fresh.**

Eventually The Martian Manhunter’s abilities are codified to match those of Superman but with telekinesis and shape-shifting to boot. J’onn could, then, in the hands of an intelligent creator, branch out on his own and become his own character rather than a poor substitute for Superman.

For one of the best examples of how his shape-shifting abilities make him unique, we turn to issue #24 of the Martian Manunter ongoing series that began in 1998. This particular issue was written by the series’ regular writer John Ostrander and penciled, thank the sweet Martian Christ, by fill-in artist Doug Mahnke. (Tom Mandrake was the regular artist on the series, and his pages are unerringly sloppy.) The Martian Manhunter, you see, has a bit of an obsession with Oreos (chocos, they’re called), and apparently, when J’onn doesn’t get his chocos, shit gets real. Here J’onn’s partners Booster Gold and Blue Beetle not only hide J’onn’s personal stash of chocos, they buy up all the chocos in the stores immediately surrounding Justice League HQ causing J’onn to go into a comedic, choco-withdrawal induced rampage through the city.

J’onn’s shape-shifting abilities grant the story two very special features. The first and more obvious is along the lines of what was discussed in the first post of this series, namely, the changing of shapes based on whim or, in this case, blinding rage. As the rampage progresses and his rage builds, J’onn grows more and more monstrous, eventually coming to resemble The Hulk almost to the letter.*** Which leads us to the second feature of the story—parody. And not just parody, but iconographic parody more effective and natural to comics than a snarky bit of dialogue.

Taken together, these two features make the prospect of a Martian Manhunter story much more appealing: that although we know for the Martian mind and body are linked in a unique fashion, the changes he undergoes are not always what he wills. What better an allegory for the addictive process in which the subconscious mind affects so much of what we do? That part of the mind most mysterious having control over his form, what new and interesting shapes might the Martian Manhunter and his stories take?

Admittedly, a list of three is a poor census of the shape-shifting population, but the three examples do illustrate the important distinction between shape-shifting and “solid” characters: in one way or another they are possibility personified, be it in plot, theme or character, and have the ability to teach us about ourselves and the medium in which they exist simultaneously. 

-- Ian Burns

*The reason I’ve chosen The Martian Manhunter over Jack Cole’s Plastic Man, arguably the more obvious choice for a superhero shape-shifter, is that the latter is entirely too successful by this essay’s standards and an analysis of him would yield too similar a conclusion to part one of this series.

**Within only months J’onn gains “molecular hypnosis,” which he uses to fix a baseball game in order to thwart a fixer; “Martian lungpower,” which he will later use to fly; x-ray vision, the ability to walk through sold objects, and my personal favorite: “super-willpower,” which … well, J’onn should do the talking. “Through deep concentration, I can will my body to any part of the world! I want to be downtown … Downtown … DOWNTOWN!” He then appears downtown.

***Darwin Cooke uses J’onn as a walking pop-culture reference as well in his New Frontier books.

Posted in: Feature,Ian Burns