Manhunters (DC Comics)
Manhunters | |
---|---|
Justice League of America #140 (March 1977) | |
Created by | Steve Englehart (writer) and Dick Dillin (artist) |
Characteristics | |
Place of origin | Biot, Orinda |
The Manhunters are a
Publication history
The broader history behind the alien robot species covered in this article was introduced in
Fictional character biography
Interstellar police
The Manhunters are the first attempt of the
Exile
Eventually, the robots conspire to rebel against their masters, but the Guardians defeat and destroy most of them. Those that survived hide away on many planets, slowly rebuilding their forces and spreading their beliefs to others. Since then, the over-riding goal of the Manhunters has been to take revenge on the Guardians, as well as on their replacements, the Green Lantern Corps.
The Manhunters infiltrate and liberate many planets disguised as living beings and create a "Cult of the Manhunters" that trains others to be their minions. On Mars, the people of that world start a group of Martian Manhunters based on the lessons of preserving justice taught unto them by the Manhunters and even erect a temple based on the appearance of their inspiration. On Earth, most of the Manhunters' agents are unaware that their masters are robots, or that their real purposes are not noble. Some of these agents became superheroes also known as Manhunters. They wear red-and-blue costumes patterned after the Manhunters themselves. The most famous of these is a big game hunter called Paul Kirk. He is active in the 1940s, and stars in his own series. The character is brought back in a modern version in the 70s, in which he was supposedly killed years before but was in truth placed in suspended animation by a secret conspiracy. He is cloned, and when he finally reawakes, he dedicates himself to battling those who had used him. He dies in the process, but some of his clones survived.
The Manhunters are discovered by the
Millennium
Years later, it is revealed that the Manhunters not only still exist, but have infiltrated the lives of most superheroes with their agents. They even manage to infiltrate the
Post-Emerald Twilight
Kyle Rayner encounters the Manhunters not long after Hal Jordan's destruction of the Guardians and the Central Power Battery on Oa. The first of the androids encounters a still inexperienced Kyle Rayner and is almost able to defeat him using brute force until Kyle uses his wits to outsmart and destroy it (Green Lantern (vol. 3) #117). The next time, multiple Manhunters appear. They are all sentient individuals, upgraded by a passing alien ship with technology onboard that gives them a hive consciousness. They capture Kyle in an attempt to use his last remaining Green Lantern ring for their purposes. They fail and Kyle manages to escape (Green Lantern (vol. 3) #129-131).
Sector 3601
When the Manhunters are replaced by the Green Lantern Corps, they retreat to Biot, their homeworld in Sector 3601, an uncharted area of space incapable of sustaining organic life.
Sinestro Corps
The Manhunters later resurface as part of the Sinestro Corps. Some of them carry miniature yellow Power Batteries inside them which are used by the Sinestro Corps members to charge their yellow power rings while others still carry the green ones for taking powers from the Green Lanterns' rings.
Secret Origin
In the Green Lantern: Secret Origin storylines (which revises Hal Jordan's beginnings), it is revealed that the Manhunters suffered a programming glitch that caused them to wipe out all life in space sector 666, believing it to be evil. It is this event that gives rise to the Five Inversions, the only survivors of the massacre, who vow to make the Guardians pay for what their creations had done.[3]
Blackest Night
During the events of Blackest Night, it is revealed that Amanda Waller and King Faraday have a deactivated Manhunter in their possession, having recovered it from the Belle Reve swamp after the Millennium event (which the Suicide Squad had a hand in stopping). Waller sends the Manhunter to Belle Reve to assist the Secret Six and the Suicide Squad in their battle with members of the Black Lantern Corps. Waller ultimately uses a self-destruct mechanism to destroy the Manhunter, unleashing an explosion of Green Lantern energy that eradicates the Black Lanterns.[4]
Brightest Day
It is eventually revealed that the programming glitch the Manhunters suffered is caused by Krona during Brightest Day to prove to the other Guardians of the Universe that there are flaws in an emotionless police force.[5]
The New 52
During
Chant
The Manhunters have had a mixture of oaths over the years: "No evil escapes the Manhunters!", "Death to the Green Lantern Corps!", and "No man escapes the Manhunters!"
Highmaster
The Highmaster is the supreme Manhunter which appeared on Orinda in Justice League International #10.[7] He resembles a gigantic yellow manhunter and was destroyed by Hal Jordan and Superman.[8]
Technology
- Manhunter technology has been used in the creation of the OMAC drones. The Kryptonian technology was incorporated into the Manhunters by Hank Henshaw on Biot, which enabled them to use the Central Power Battery on Oa as a power source for the Manhunters.
- Originally the Manhunters used special energy pistols which were charged by the Green Lanterns which they carried.[9]
Other versions
Injustice: Gods Among Us
A Manhunter makes a cameo appearance in Injustice: Gods Among Us's prequel comic. In a flashback in chapter seven of Year Two, Sinestro is attacked by a Manhunter, though he easily dispatches it before bringing its body before the Guardians of the Universe.
Star Trek/Green Lantern
In the sequel to
Earth One
Hundreds of years prior to the events depicted in
The World of Smallville (four issue mini-series)
The history of the Manhunters is explained further in this mini-series. They started keeping track of Superman before he was rocketed into space by Jor-El. In Smallville, they discovered that human adults could not be controlled, so they mentally controlled children in an attempt to learn about Superman's growing abilities.
In other media
Television
- The Manhunters appear in the Justice League episode "In Blackest Night", with their leader voiced by James Remar. This version of the group were reprogrammed to perform other tasks due to being unable to understand morality, but secretly plotted revenge against the Guardians. They and Kanjar Ro frame Green Lantern John Stewart for the destruction of the planet Ajuris 4 and attempt to absorb the Central Battery's power, but are ultimately defeated by him.
- The Manhunters appear in Green Lantern: The Animated Series, voiced by Josh Keaton. This version of the group are initially independent villains who seek to destroy all emotions, believing them to be the source of evil, before becoming the Anti-Monitor's minions in the latter half of the series.
Video games
- The Manhunters appear in DC Universe Online, voiced by David Jennison. They assist the Sinestro Corps with their fight against the Green Lanterns. Some broken Manhunters were rebuilt into remote fear generators to boost the power of the Sinestro Corps' power rings.
- The Manhunters appear in yellow fear energythat the Guardians have kept hidden in the distant past and use it as a source of power.
Miscellaneous
Manhunters are featured in the Smallville Season 11 digital comic based on the TV series.
References
- ISBN 0-7566-0592-X.
- ^ Secret Origins #22, 1988 (Millennium tie-in focusing on the Manhunters' post-Crisis on Infinite Earths retconned history)
- ^ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #33 (2008)
- ^ Secret Six (vol. 3) #18 (2010)
- ^ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #63
- ^ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 3) #11
- Gordon, Al (i). "Soul of the Machine" Justice League International, no. 10 (February, 1988). DC Comics.
- ^ Byrne, John (w), Byrne, John (p), Kesel, Karl (i). "Last Stand!" Superman, vol. 2, no. 14 (February, 1988). DC Comics.
- ^ "The Unofficial The Manhunters Biography". Glcorps.dcuguide.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-27. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
- ^ Star Trek/Green Lantern #1
- ^ Green Lantern: Earth One vol. 1