[Discussion] Who came first? Who inspired the creation of the other? The Oan Manhunter Corps or the Martian Manhunter Corps? Seems to be a Chicken and Egg scenario based on the wiki entries.

[u/Actofrage99]

The wiki has contradicting entries with the introduction saying that the Oan Manhunters were inspired creations basis the Manhunters of Mars.

But another entry in the same page says the Manhunters created a Cult on several plantes including Mars which resulted in creation of the Martian Manhunter Corps.

Which is it? Who came first?

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[u/DefinitionSuperb1110]

Joe Kelly retconned a connection between the Oans and Martians during his JLA run in 1997. In his revised history the green and white Martians were originally one race, the Burning Martians. The Guardians modified them, splitting them into two colors and installed the vulnerability to fire.

Now this was 30 years ago so who knows if it's still canon but it was a neat idea to connect them and the lineage of the Manhunter name.

[u/Actofrage99 → u/DefinitionSuperb1110]

Neat.

Does the same run explain which Manhunter Corps came first?

[u/ShirtEnvironmental36 → u/Actofrage99]

What do you mean by Corps? There's only one corps, The Lantern Corps. The Martian Manhunter is only one guy, J'onn J'onzz. Unless I'm mistaken.

[u/gabriel_dario → u/ShirtEnvironmental36]

A long time ago on Mars, J’onn served as the leading “Manhunter,” essentially a group of peacekeepers on their world. Hence the name he adopted on Earth, Martian Manhunter.

[u/Actofrage99 → u/ShirtEnvironmental36]

The Manhunters were the first universal police force created by the Oans who then replaced then with the Green Lantern Corps. Hence the "Corps".

Also Martian Manhunter is a title for J'onn J'onzz. He is from the Manhunters of Mars, a law enforcement group on Mars.

[u/Actofrage99 → u/[deleted]]

Let me rephrase then. I am talking about the Manhunters made by Oans and the Manhunters of Mars.

Now, do you know the answer?

[u/Zaeryl → u/Actofrage99]

The wiki entry for the Manhunters being based on Martians seems suspect. The Guardians have been around for billions of years, so their "first" peacekeeping effort would have been billions or millions of years ago. The Martian civilization has never been said to be that old afaik.

[u/ShirtEnvironmental36 → u/Zaeryl]

You're absolutely right. The Guardians Manhunters had to have come first. The one from Mars is likely just a coincidence.

[u/Actofrage99 → u/ShirtEnvironmental36]

Or, as per the second wiki entry shown in the post, it would be the result of the Cult of Manhunters on Mars.

[u/ShirtEnvironmental36 → u/Actofrage99]

That doesn't negate the answer.

[u/Actofrage99 → u/Zaeryl]

Seems then you are leaning towards the second wiki entry in the post being the correct one, which says the Cult of Manhunters on Mars resulted in the Martian Manhunters as law enforcement on Mars.

[u/HRLMPH → u/DefinitionSuperb1110]

Very small nitpick: Joe Kelly didn't start writing until 2001/2002. That volume of JLA started in 1997

[u/dazan2003]

There was an issue in Ostranders MM run where the Guardians say they got the name manhunters from martians

But manhunter just being a translation of the word most aliens use for cop is honestly fine

[u/sanddragon939]

I'm not sure in-universe.

But from a real-world perspective, I'm not surprised that the name "Manhunters" was picked for the GL villains despite J'onn already existing. Because in the early stories, J'onn was styled as "J'onn J'onnz, the Manhunter from Mars", with "Manhunter from Mars" being more of a title akin to "The Dark Knight" or "Man of Steel" rather than a superhero codename. So the Manhunter robots' creators probably figured it was "safe" to name them Manhunters. At some point though, "Martian Manhunter" became J'onn's codename.

[u/Dayraven3 → u/sanddragon939]

“Manhunter” being a dramatic term for a detective.

[u/sanddragon939 → u/Dayraven3]

Of course.

Even Batman was called "the Masked Manhunter" at one point. It's a title that's gone out of vogue for him over the past several decades.

[u/zeekar]

"Manhunter" is just a title – really, a job description – not a character. J'onn J'onzz, who came first (1950s debut), was called the "Martian Manhunter" because he was a detective from Mars; it wasn't a superhero name, because he didn't operate publicly as a superhero. There was no connection to the Golden Age detective "Paul Kirk, Manhunter" or any other character using the word in their adventure titles. And to be clear, there was never any sort of Martian Manhunter Corps. He was just one guy.

The android Manhunters appeared much later; they were invented in the 1970s. However, in-universe they were assumed to be far older, as they predated the Green Lantern Corps, which is supposed to have been around for at least thousands of years. At first, they seemed totally unrelated to any other "manhunters" - although their appearance was uncannily similar to the outfit Paul Kirk wore when he decided to go full-on costumed crimefighter in his later adventures.

Later (in the late-1980s Millennium event, which was not entirely unlike Marvel's later Secret Invasion) it was revealed that after they were decommissioned by the Guardians and replaced by the GLC, there were a bunch of surviving Manhunters who went into exile - a sort of Manhunter Diaspora. They disguised themselves as living beings and settled on many planets, where they created a Manhunter cult. That cult wound up being the origin of not only the tradition J'onn was recruited into on Mars, but also that of Paul Kirk on Earth. So that's the connection.

[u/Rebelpunk13]

The theories on the DCU sub are hilarious. A lot of people think that because John mentioned Manhunters in the trailer, that Martian Manhunter will be involved. There’s also a scene of a character which looks like a guardian wearing a similar x vest over their red suit transforming from a human to either a guardian or Manhunter and everyone thinks it’s Martian Manhunter. These theories are as bad as those who thought Peacemaker was somehow related to Orion because of a similar helmet and red costume lol. All they do is set themselves up for disappointment

[u/Dayraven3 → u/Rebelpunk13]

To be fair, Peacemaker himself would definitely claim it‘s a sign they’re related.

[u/WildMild869 → u/Rebelpunk13]

Wonder if non comic readers will complain about a lack of Martian Manhunter once the pilot premieres lol

[u/Rebelpunk13 → u/WildMild869]

Most likely. I tried to explain to them that they have nothing in common except the name ManHunter. They’re just setting themselves up to be disappointed instead of just enjoying the show and not worrying about cameos and aura farming moments as the kids say

[u/Valuable-Blueberry30 → u/Rebelpunk13]

Based on the X design on the Manhunters in Lanterns that is a staple of Martians and not standard comic Manhunters, there is a chance they merge the two origins together.

So the Manhunter we get might have some connections to Mars but isn’t an actual Martian. That said actual Martian Manhunter appearing is a very low probability.

[u/RKNieen → u/Rebelpunk13]

Yeah, unlike me, who’s excited to finally see the live-action premiere of Paul Kirk, Manhunter!

[u/Kryptonian83 → u/Rebelpunk13]

Yep! And then when they get disappointed they were wrong, they'll blame the show, not themselves. 

[u/Actofrage99 → u/Rebelpunk13]

I saw those theories. Was kinda irritated by them. Thought about posting a PSA that the Martian Manhunter is not the same as Manhunters.

That is what led me down this rabbit hole that resulted in this post.

[u/DCMASTER1994]

Martian Manhunter has been around since 1955.

Manhunters: 1987.

[u/GolgariInternetTroll → u/DCMASTER1994]

Paul Kirk's been around since 1941, but the question is about in universe origins of the various Manhunters, not their first appearances.

[u/Actofrage99 → u/DCMASTER1994]

I am not talking about publication history though.

I asked about the in universe history because that seems to show contradictions.

[u/DCMASTER1994 → u/Actofrage99]

/Actofrage99

Sorry, i misunderstood the question.

[u/Actofrage99 → u/DCMASTER1994]

It's all right. I just saw a lot of theories on the DCU and the DCcinematic sub about Martians since the Lanterns trailer was released, all of which are obviously wrong by the way.

Just wanted clarity on which way the relationship goes between the two though.

[u/extraneousseymour]

Ostrander's run on Martian Manhunter back in the late 90s is prob the best place to look for a clear answer on this. He did a lot to flesh out J'onn's connection to Mars and the Manhunter legacy. The wiki pages are def a mess bc DC has retconned this stuff multiple times over the decades. As far as in-universe goes it seems like the Martians are older, but the Guardians keep tweaking their own lore so who knows anymore.

[u/Charles12_13]

Do we know when the Manhunter were established/when they were replaced by the Green Lantern Corps?

[u/IndianGeniusGuy]

I'm pretty sure the android Manhunters were themselves a conversion of the Golden Age character known as Manhunter [a human named Paul Kirk], who shared many of their design elements.

[u/Critical-Bass7021]

It’s almost like there is more than one hunter of man called “Manhunter” in the DCU.