Martian Manhunter Always Has a Seat At The Table

So I was watching Supergirl, because I hate myself, and for the first time I ever I had a genuine good feeling about a moment in the show. Martian Manhunter tells Supergirl "People on Earth aren't exactly tolerant of those who look different. I say that as an alien and someone's whose worn the face of a black man for the last 15 years." I lost it, I was so excited. I finally understood why white women love Supergirl so much. In fact this was one of the few cool episodes the series has had. But, this isn't about Supergirl. It's about how Martian Manhunter always Has a seat the table. I don't care if it's Thanksgiving, or the Juneteenth cookout, yeah I went there. Not only is he invited he gets to sit at the table. That's right, Martian Manhunter is sitting at the table and your cousin Jerome may be in the house, but he's not at the table.

On Twitter @Kaibutsu once said "Manhunter was the only [br]other they would allow on the League for a long time..." You know what, he's completely right. I mean, think about it. Black Lightning was turning down membership, John Stewart was only accepted after Hal Jordan made ruining everything his life's mission, Mr. Terrific was placed with the Justice Society and Vixen wasn't even around. But, you had Martian Manhunter, and you could relate to him, because he was the only one on the team who wasn't white.

If you've ever been the only black person in a class, or at a job, you notice things. Some people don't like the term micro-aggressions, but you deal with them in those situations. Off handed comments, strange expectations, never truly being a member of the team and so on. That was Martian Manhunter. Seriously think about it, Barry Allen and Wally West have both made fun of his natural appearance. Batman and The Question have run surveillance on him making sure he's not working for some alien invaders. He's been a victim of relentless pranks from Booster Gold and Blue Beetle.

However, I think the most telling is how Wonder Woman treats him. Wonder Woman has never had a nice interaction with J'onn. Most telling is a few conversations they've had. During a fight in the Injustice series he tells Wonder Woman "You never trusted me. Two aliens and you always followed the one who looked like you." I know what you're saying, that series has them acting out of character, and that's okay. But, if you look at Blackest Night there's a moment in which she attempts to fight him by stating "Go home, you stand no chance against me," and he responds "You always underestimated and distrusted me, but praised Superman," when she attacks he simply phases through her then smacks her through a building, causing it to crumble on her as he states "Nobody ever remembers, I'm just as strong as Superman." The Justice League cartoon showed them caring about each other, but comics wise, not since the silver age ended.

What about J'onn's relationship with Superman? Well, they don't really like each other. I don't know why Superman dislikes J'onn, but I know J'onn only ever wanted to be his friend. Yet Superman has constantly ignored J'onn's suggestions on anything and minimized contributions. On one occasion J'onn finally snapped after Superman apologized for ignoring J'onn's plan and thus ruining the mission. He told Superman, "No, not me Superman. It's the entire universe that will have to pay the price of your failure! I warned you that you were dealing with forces beyond your comprehension. but you were too overconfident, too egotistical, to listen!"

But here's the real reason why he gets a seat at the table. Racism literally has some black people breaking down and killing themselves because they can't take it. J'onn can read minds, he can hear the racism even when you just think it. Still however, in majority of his portrayals, he chooses to live life on Earth as a black man. Who does that? He has the ability to look like anyone in the world, and instead of choosing some middle aged white guy, the epitome of privilege in America, he chooses a black man. The only way he could choose a worse option is if he chose instead to be a black woman. Because then you get paid even less, you still get shot at by police, and then on top of that you have to worry about congress telling you what to do with your vagina. That's just a small example.

So, while Batman is hoping Duke Thomas can get him an invite to the cookout, Martian Manhunter has already received his. He'll be seated at the table and he'll finally be able to tell us what that bastard Hal Jordan said that had him pissed off. On a slightly related note, Solange has one of the best albums of the year with Seat At The Table and you should really check that out.

You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet. You can also check out his playthrough of Sleeping Dogs.
Follow @OriginalKingD