The early significance of Martian Manhunter’s John Jones persona is examined in Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier series.
Darwyn Cooke’s take on the early days of the Justice League explored how Martian Manhunter came to choose his human disguise of John Jones. Although he doesn’t often turn to it in the main DCU, his New Frontier counterpart’s use of the disguise was an examination of how J’onn wanted to fit in on Earth and contribute to his new, strange home. And even more significant, it reveals his initial feelings towards humanity in general and how the Martian Manhunter became a hero to them in his own time through the experience of merely being human.
In DC: The New Frontier #2 by Darwyn Cooke and Dave Stewart, the Martian Manhunter was accidentally transported to the Earth by the experiments of Doctor Erdel. Unfortunately, the sudden appearance of the Martian gave Erdel a heart attack. He apologized to J’onn, warning that humanity was not yet ready for someone like him and that he had to hide until such a time as they were. Erdel died shortly after, but even though his time with John was brief, it was the first real interaction with humanity that J’onn ever had. In that short time, the alien saw human fear, but he also saw reason and compassion win out over any reservations.
For that reason, J’onn decided to take Erdel’s advice, using his likeness and what little money he had on him to find a place to hide out while he learned as much as he could about the Earth. His means of doing so was television. Over the course of weeks the alien absorbed as much of Earth’s culture as he could to try and understand how this world worked. It was fascinating for him, but also enlightening.
J’onn came to understand that good and evil existed on his new planet in gradients. There was no clear black and white answers to be found, but J’onn knew early on that he wanted to be a force for good. So he took on the role of a police detective, both to have a source of income and to be “one of the good guys” without scaring any humans. This decision reveals the true purpose of the John Jones persona that he continues to use from time to time in the mainstream DC universe.
The identity was created not just from the need to blend in with humanity, but also because J’onn wants to do good on Earth. Right from the start, the John Jones identity was a critique of the Earth. He became the Martian Manhunter’s way of conveying that he sees the value of this planet, even if it’s people aren’t always the most moral. He sees the good that can be.
But John Jones may also have been a stepping stone towards helping the Earth in a much greater way. As time passed and J’onn’s initial feelings about humanity were proven to be true, the need for the secret identity diminished. This is a positive thing and in no way diminishes what John Jones represented. It just means that the persona did it’s job, it kept J’onn safe until humanity was ready to accept him as he truly is.
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