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Post by HoM on Apr 18, 2017 16:54:12 GMT -5
‘ Martian Manhunted’ was the name of a story I wanted to write during time spent on the website David Charlton and I first met on. It involved a PI by the name of John Jones, his memories fuzzy but his sense of justice all-encompassing, investigating a curious, monstrous noir-ish crime while also dealing with the fact that he keeps receiving these flashes of memories of an otherworldly life he couldn’t possibly have lived. Elements involved a fiery redheaded love interest (standard, I was probably 14 at the time), an evil twin brother, and generally just the idea that the most powerful being on the planet was all too human at the end of the day. Well, eleven years, twelve years later, that story never got written, did it? I mean, I checked and can’t find a copy of anything resembling it anywhere, so if I did work on it, it’s now lost over the past decade or so of computers breaking, new computer buying, etc, etc… I thought it would be cool to pay homage to this thing that didn’t happen by trying to smash some of those themes into this story, combining that with a story that Roy and I both agree on is one of the gold standard in JLA canon. ‘ Trial By Fire’ was one of the first JLA stories I actually purchased, back when the title was winding down on Joe Kelly’s run on the book. The title, I remember vividly, was shipping bi-weekly, and I found an issue in a bargain bin. I immediately fell in love with the issue-- Superman on the cover, somehow beaten and bonded to the team’s meeting table-- and devoured all the other issues. And now, however many years later, here we are. The final issue of a story that I’ve been wanting to tell a version of for bloody ages. Roy has been my partner-in-crime on the art duties, and I’m psyched to get it out there. I hope you're enjoying the ride!  |
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Post by HoM on May 24, 2017 4:17:17 GMT -5
Next week...  |
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Post by oblique on Apr 25, 2018 12:54:25 GMT -5
Great finale to a solid five part series, Charlie. Making Martian Manhunter (rather, Ma'alef'ak) the villain created an intimidating challenge for our heroes. His formidable abilities and ruthless, nay, malicious, telepathic powers set up one hell of a challenge. There were your trademark elements of creeping dread, even horror, in this run, tempered by some awesome "SUPER-SCIENCE!" I loved Kord and Booster, and that was a sad, touching way to go at the end there. Blue Beetle's headed for a dark place! I really liked the scene when Beetle just sat down and talked with a villain, reminding me of Batman and Flash's finest moments in the Justice League Unlimited, like "Flash and Substance" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl91v2Mvv94).
The ending was tough, but I really enjoyed seeing more of Bruce and Diana. Good denouement!
P.S. The Tooth fairy almost too good for a backup! Feels like a great Batman story. Great reveal of Jones' new identity.
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Post by HoM on Apr 28, 2018 5:31:57 GMT -5
Great finale to a solid five part series, Charlie. Making Martian Manhunter (rather, Ma'alef'ak) the villain created an intimidating challenge for our heroes. His formidable abilities and ruthless, nay, malicious, telepathic powers set up one hell of a challenge. I've been waiting over ten years to tell this story, and I'm really pleased with the version that came out. I think I mentioned it in the afterword at the top of this thread, but I actually found the original document containing scraps of this story from when I initially wanted to write it, and, yes, I'm glad this is how it ended up. I think that Martians have such vast powersets that they are quite terrifying as a species, and also as part of a story. Fire's a great weakness and all, but at the same time... psychic-adaptive-warfare and all that jazz is legitimately hard to defeat. So in bringing back J'onn (and Ma'alef'ak) I also had to bench them by the end of the arc, because you can't have a malicious Martian at full power kicking about, and there wasn't room in the roster for another high-powered super-being, especially considering my attempts to keep the gender balance somewhat even. There were your trademark elements of creeping dread, even horror, in this run, tempered by some awesome "SUPER-SCIENCE!" High praise, thank you haha I loved Kord and Booster, and that was a sad, touching way to go at the end there. Blue Beetle's headed for a dark place! I really liked the scene when Beetle just sat down and talked with a villain, reminding me of Batman and Flash's finest moments in the Justice League Unlimited, like "Flash and Substance" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl91v2Mvv94). Around this time, Mark commented that I'd allowed Justice League to become very Blue Beetle-heavy, but it was a means to an end, and I knew this story was going to put him on a different track, away from the main title for a big chunk of time. I think that people forget he's so competent, and smart, and dedicated, and lean hard into the sense of humour, but he's also the most human of the team, and that's a really interesting avenue to explore. Fracturing the Blue and Gold is a big thing that is going to roll into the future in a big way come 2019. Did I mention I've planned a Blue Beetle miniseries in place of the December to April scheduled issues of Justice League? And it won't be a throwaway, it'll be in the vein of the Wonder Woman-centric J ustice League Special, " The Beginning of the End". We're about to enter a seismic shift in the history of the DC2, and I can't wait to get to work on it. I've been planning the Justice League arc that starts in 2019 since I returned to the title in 2013. Yikes. I gotta see this through! The ending was tough, but I really enjoyed seeing more of Bruce and Diana. Good denouement! Thanks, that was another scene I was really happy with. The clash between Diana being the embodiement of the virtues of truth, and Bruce being a vigilante with a secret identity is so interesting to me, and the realisation that this pair will never be able to truly go out into the world together as a couple unless they're disguised is one that continues to gain traction moving into the present day run of issues. See you there! P.S. The Tooth fairy almost too good for a backup! Feels like a great Batman story. Great reveal of Jones' new identity. Interesting story: I was going to have a GCPD back-up serial running throughout this entire arc, eventually revealing that the main detective on the case was John Jones, and it was set in the present day. I couldn't figure out how to do that without tipping my hand that the main serial J'onn was clearly not the real J'onn, so utilising Nightwing as a bridge between the main story and the reveal was my next big bet. I'd love to do a crime serial, but I'm realising that I need to stay the course with all my other commitments and story taking other stuff on! And yes, the Tooth Fairy as a villain was one I was really pleased with when it came to me. Thanks for reading, O! |
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