Let me give you a brief background on Martian Manhunter. His name is J'onn J'onzz he has a twin brother named Ma'alefa'ak. Ma'alefa'ak was born with a birth defect making him the only Martian that couldn't use telepathy. He grew bitter and jealous of his brother but lived a normal life as a scientist. J'onn lived a happy life on Mars with his wife and children as a Manhunter, or a Martian Police Officer. Eventually his brother created a virus called H'Ronmeer's curse. When a Martian used their telepathy they would be infected. The virus would cause a mental flame in their mind so strong it eventually turned into a physical flame that burned the Martian alive. The flames couldn't be stopped because more would just appear from the Martian.
When J'onn became effected a misfiring transport beam from Earth teleported him to the middle of nowhere on Earth. It also trapped the souls of all the dead Martians in his mind because they saw it as a sanctuary. This is also how J'onn got his weakness. Fire doesn't hurt J'onn anymore than it hurts Superman. J'onn is just afraid of fire after seeing millions of Martians die due to flames spontaneously spouting from their minds and burning them to death from inside and outside simultaneously even after they had been put out. I'd be afraid of flames too. That's a dark back story. The rest is history.
Now here's the problem. J'onn doesn't get any respect. He gets respect in the comics, but most people know the Justice League cartoon version and think they know him. This leads to them thinking he's weak since he's always the first or second person to get a two piece right next to Wally West. That's just not fair. J'onn is strong. Let me put you on game.
J'onn is the strongest telepath on Earth. He's scanned the minds of every person on Earth on three different occasions. On another occasion J'onn accidentally found out who the Spectre was because he thought he didn't look trustworthy. One of my favorite telepathic feats of his was watching the Justice League get destroyed, then stopping the threat with hallucinations. You'll notice Wonder Woman throwing talking greasy. She does that to J'onn a lot. A running thing is that he asks her why she trusts Superman but not himself. She never has an answer.
Let's talk strength, durability and regeneration now. Here he is calmly pulling The Earth while Superman and Wonder Woman struggle. They seem upset he's trying to have a conversation. Notice the ease on his face. His durability is unquestionable outside the cartoons. We've seen him regenerate limbs but how much can he regenerate? Well here he is regenerating from just his arm. He could probably go smaller than that because it was a quick regeneration. How about speed? Here he is moving at the speed of light.
Justice League cartoons opened a lot of people up to Comic Books. But it also opened up Martian Manhunter to a lot of disrespect. You've got to respect the Martian. He's just as strong as Superman, he's one of the strongest telepaths in the DC Universe. He can shape shift and regenerate. The only weakness he has is a fear of fire. Not even a weakness a fear. A fear he can turn off. The only reason he doesn't is because he wants to overcome it himself. J'onn levels the playing field by pulling punches and allowing himself to have a weakness. Where's the respect man?
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
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