For those of you who don't know this character, the Martian Manhunter is a person from Mars named J'onn J'onzz who was beamed to Earth accidentally and is now trapped here.
Being a Martian gives him quite a surprising mix of powers. One of his key powers is shape-changing, which he uses to disguise himself as Earthman John Jones, a detective.
I first saw the Martian Manhunter on the pages of Justice League of America 229-230 (which I picked up on a walk to 7-11 with my grandma). In the story, a Martian armada invades our planet and J'onn J'onzz betrays his race to defend the Earth.
Space operatics ensue—the JLA satellite is destroyed, the Manhunter dukes it out with a Martian champion-general type, etc. Since then I've read lots of stories featuring the Martian Manhunter but that one remains one of my favorites.
The image above is my attempt to depict a Martian Manhunter who's ready for the kind of rollicking space action I just described, as well as some serious police work.
Oh, I gave him a shape-changing Martian dog, too. :)
J'onn J'onzz, the Manhunter from Mars, created by Joseph Samachson and Joe Certa. Martian Manhunter, the distinctive likenesses thereof, and related elements are trademarks of DC Comics.
Thats wild...
ReplyDeleteand AWESOME..
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Thanks, Pedro!
ReplyDeleteSuper cool Jon! Love ALL of it... including the MM on the belt/mirrored in the logo. The color break and shadows are a nice touch too.. You are putting together a pretty sweet line up for Saturday morning! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to hear you appreciate the details, Paul.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, my key reservation about the finished piece is the amount of text—there's too much of it.
As I was finishing it up, I wanted to omit all but the title. Try as I might, I couldn't find a central spot where the title wouldn't compete with the shadows, so the intro text remains for balance.
Love it Jon! I think the text is fine, you worry too much! I like the flip of the green and orange, eyes/skin and hair/eyes between the two, he's in there y'know? Great work!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention how AWESOME! I think the space dog is. There ya go!
ReplyDeleteOh, Rico, I wish you were wrong when you suggest I worry too much. Minor details can be a hang-up for me. :(
ReplyDeleteThanks for the color-related compliments. They mean much coming from a Farben Meister such as yourself! :)
Cheers mate : )
ReplyDeletehttp://sandwichbag.blogspot.com/2009/07/from-uloo.html
Thanks for the plug, Elliot!
ReplyDeleteIt's about time J'onn had a Krypto. Martian Manhunter looks a lot like a He-Man character when you give him that stalky build. Which in my books is a plus! Great drawing, colours and design! Do you relate to J'onn because you're Jon? I don't know any superheroes named Brian or Br'iann.
ReplyDeleteYes, MM deserves a faithful companion. I guess he did have that goofy mascot Zook in the old comics but that's not altogether the same thing.
ReplyDeleteHeh, you can take the He-Man comparison one step further if you consider the paired transformation presented both here and in the He-Man TV show. :)
You know, I tried to recall a superhero with the name Brian but couldn't come up with one, either. Huh.
OMG; that dog is genius. Incredible design, Jon!
ReplyDeleteLove the concept, and the different designs here, Jon! Something new, but definitely still J'onn J'onzz.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliments, Andy and Evan.
ReplyDelete