A HISTORY OF MANHUNTING @ DC, I

[MattBrady]

by Troy Brownfield

Among the stronger titles inhabiting the present DCU stands Manhunter. A combination of a strong female protagonist, innovative character work and hard-edged action, the series had an under-the-radar debut but continues to build a loyal following on positive word-of-mouth. It’s not hard to understand why DC decided to go with a new Manhunter title; some iteration of the concept has been present with the company for decades, and fits in very nicely with DC’s emphasis of super hero legacies, right up there with the various Flashes, Green Lanterns, and others.

Here we’ll take a look at some of the previous versions, with information drawn from DC’s seminal Who’s Who, DK’s The DC Comics Encyclopedia (edited by Daniel Wallace) and The Encyclopedia of Super Heroes by Jeff Rovin.

The various Manhunter series certainly share a spiritual antecedent in terms of Richard Connell’s 1924 short story, “The Most Dangerous Game.” Employed as a long-standing tagline and filmed in various versions over the years (including the incredibly loose adaptation, Surviving the Game with Ice-T, and the classic 1932 version which starred Joel McCrea and Fay Wray), the piece has been a staple of lit classes without number for its simple theme: in the animal kingdom, man is both the most vicious hunter and the most dangerous thing to hunt. In fact, the big-game hunting notions inherent in the story actually figure into the origins of a couple of the later comic characters to use the name.

Two Manhunters made their bow in comics in 1942; for our purposes, we’ll go with the one that debuted at Quality Comics first. That would be Dan Richards, who first stepped up in Police Comics #8. Richards himself was a police officer, and the blue of his outfit reflected that theme. He was notably accompanied by his dog, Thor. (In these original tales, Thor is a regular dog; the Millennium crossover of the ‘80s would later reveal that Thor was a robot in the employ of the robotic race of Manhunters that we’ll cover later). This particular feature ran in Police Comics for eight years; after being acquired by DC along with other Quality characters, Manhunter was made a member of The All-Star Squadron in the pages of that series.

The other Manhunter to come along in ’42 was originally named Rick Nelson, though this travelin’ man was later renamed Paul Kirk. This is a supreme bit of irony, since DC had previously had another Manhunter named Paul Kirk (a “finder of lost persons”) that ran from Adventure Comics #58 in 1941 until #72; that Manhunter had no costumes or powers to speak of.

When the new Nelson/Kirk version bowed in Adventure #73, he was the creation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, and sported the familiar red & blue of all later Manhunter incarnations.

Following the Connell tradition, Kirk came from a big-game hunting background. After his cop buddy is rubbed out, Kirk becomes a vigilante to “hunt the beasts of civilization.” He appeared in more recent times in the red & blue garb in both All-Star Squadron (yes, they had two Manhunters on the team) and in the superlative reimagining by James Robinson and Paul Smith, The Golden Age.

Though the Paul Kirk strip only ran for two years in Adventure, the lasting concept of that particular version of Manhunter didn’t go away. He cropped up again in 1973 in the pages of Detective Comics (#437, to be precise). This is the birth of the beloved strip with Archie Goodwin scripts and Walt Simonson pencils. Kirk starts off as a man disenchanted by war and a hunter who no longer finds the thrill in the kill.

Surviving a near-fatal accident with the aid of scientist Dr. Mykros, Kirk is brought to work with The Council, a shadowy organization who purport to be saving the world. Kirk receives superhuman enhancements as he cryogenically frozen for a quarter-century and becomes the patient zero for a clone army. Disgusted by the tactics of the Council, Kirk breaks away and adopts the famous “billowy-shirt” look. At the close of his adventures, he and Mykros end up killing one another. (One of the clones turned up in Secret Society of Super-Villains, a subject that I covered earlier this year).

This Manhunter, more than many others, resonated with the readership. The fine writing and art are often referred to as high-water marks of the “back-up tale” era. A collection, Manhunter: The Special Edition is available from DC (though it’s not to be confused by Amazon orderers with the Manhunter Special Edition DVD, as directed by Michael Mann).

Just two years after the Detective strip kicked off, Jack Kirby was back doing Manhunter. This time, it was Mark Shaw donning the familiar red & blue in First Issue Special #5 from 1975. In an interesting occupational spin for a soon-to-be vigilante, Shaw was a public defender (a nice counterpoint to today’s Manhunter, herself a D.A.). Shaw becomes the Manhunter after receiving from his uncle a leonine medallion and the costume.

Unfortunately, Shaw later drifts into villainy as both the Star Tsar and Privateer. After events that spin out of the aforementioned Millennium crossover, Shaw took back the Manhunter guise as a force for good in a late ‘80s series that ran 24 issues.





As part of the tradition of spinning new titles or relaunches out of big events, DC tried out another Manhunter in 1994. Starting with a #0 issue after Zero Hour, Chase Lawler drew his inspiration from a primal huntsman that was previously only seen during the last few pages of the final issue of Zero Hour itself.

This Manhunter was further divorced from the other main line of the characters, but it did still retain elements of the color scheme. Lawler was shuffled off into cancelationville about a year later, the character’s career cut short by health problems.

With two short-lived series in quick succession, were the Manhunters doomed? Of course not. It would take a few years, but a new series would indeed debut to critical praise with a completely new take on the nature of the eponymous protagonist. And it came in the pages of The Power Company.

In Part Two, we’ll step back into the history of the Manhunter robots and the Power Company, and do a “story so far” on the present Manhunter series.

Troy Brownfield writes lots of stuff for Newsarama. And yes, he thinks DC Direct should make with a full-on Manhunter assortment.

[algertman]

Simonson/Goodwin MANHUNTER rocked!

[gredenko]

The collected Simonson Manhunter strips makes a great book, but I've never really followed much else. I had the Millenium books as a kid, but I don't remember much other than the Manhunters were trying to kill everyone. This is all unfortunately what you get with 5 decades of continuity with which to keep up.

[Nightdawn]

Very cool feature; Manhunter is one of my favorite DC characters, and I love hearing about those that came before her.

[holtom2000]

I'm almost ashamed to say I knew most of this...
My knowledge of little-known DC lore is pretty much useless in everyday life, but is great for this forum, LOL.

[BlueThunderArmy]

Not a big fan of the pseudo-judo outfits, but it is interesting that this character has resonated enough with fans to cause the concept to be revisited over and over. I've heard good things about the current series, maybe I'll check it out.

[eh_ver]

Yeah, I am consistently intrigued by this book. The main thing keeping me from it, sadly, is its seemingly heavy involvement in the whole Infinite Crisis thing, which isn't a strike against either property, I'm just wary of HUGE crossovers. But the current Manhunt arc is impressive so far, in story and damn good continuity recognition. Also, Cameron Chase, who, I think anybody who read her book can say was an overlooked character, showing up? Cool. Plus, Andreyko. How can you argue that the guy who co-wrote Torso with Bendis isn't worth checking out, at least?

[willyd]

Very good wrap-up...really looking forward to part 2

(and yes, I don't think the similarities between the Manhunter robots and the OMACs is a coincidence...interesting timing how Geoff Johns has also reintroduced the Manhunter robot race in Green Lantern just in time for Infinite Crisis...)

[O.J. Flow]

Nice job, Troy. The story of Manhunter is clearly a challenging one to follow, yet you navigated this nicely. I look forward to Part Deux.

[fistofkhonshu]

I love these history lessons I just wish the old covers pictured linked to bigger versions of the covers.

[RAB]

The Mark Shaw version of Manhunter remains a favorite of mine, especially with Doug Rice on art. I even rememer subscribing in middle school so I could get the free "Manhunter mask" that was offered! I had always hoped that Mark Shaw would return along with the Suicide Squad at some point...sigh. Looking forward to part two!

[Spaz_Monkey]

I just picked up The Golden Age , and I love that Paul Kirk was one of the main characters, even tho he wasn't Manhunter til near the end. Terrific job writing him.

[Kolimar]

Great article. I love History lessons.

I've been a Manhunter fan since Millennium and the first Manhunter series.

Originally posted by fistofkhonshu
I love these history lessons I just wish the old covers pictured linked to bigger versions of the covers.

Don't be lazy and look them up.

http://comics.org/search.lasso?type=...ter&sort=alpha

[Mr Prince]

Interesting history on the Manhunters. The current MANHUNTER series is great - Kate is a complex character and the art is beautiful. I'm really enjoying it and look forward to Kate becoming more and more incorporated in the DCU hero/villain community. She a true anti-hero, so I'm curious as to various characters reactions to her. Also, I get the feeling that she feels outside the hero community, despite her vigilantism. So, I can't wait to see those worlds collide an her feelings on it.

This is the first time I've followed a "Manhunter", but I did read POWER CO, sporadically.

For sure, it'll be interesting to see what they have cooked up for MANHUNTER in the OYL scenario.

All the best...

Scott

[kcekada]

Sadly,

DC will never produce another Manhunter as good as the Goodwin/Simonson series...

However, the new Manhunter series is excellent and worth checking out.

[Wright Blan]

Saying the Manhunters were members of the All-Star Squadron is a tad bit of a strech. While technically members (as all WWII heroes were susposed to be members), as far as I remember, they only appeared in a Millenium x-over of the Young All-Stars series. I think Plastic Man played a bigger role in both series thn they did, and he didn't show up much.

(OT: I really miss Roy Thomas' version of Plastic Man. He wasn't an off the wall goofball as he is written these days. I always wondered how a slightly more seriously done Plastic Man would work. Not Watchmen serious, but mabye more like a PAD-style in the manner of his writing on The Hulk)

[Jim]

Shouldn't the Manhunter from Mars (J'Onn J'Onzz) also be given a reference in here? He's got the costume color scheme (well, with green skin), the name, and he was published in an era without another active user of the name.

[googum]

I liked the Mark Shaw Manhunter, although the art on his book started great (where is Doug Rice?) and kinda went downhill. Cool costume, looks like a pain to draw.

[2000 Flushes]

The only other Manhunter I'd followed was the one borne out of Zero Hour, which wasn't that great.

However, this new series is one of the best on the racks today.

To the poster worried about Infinite Crisis-connectedness:

So far, very little has been directly tied to the "big events," I would say. I mean, there's fallout from Identity Crisis that drives most of the last year - the trail of the Shadow Theif. But it's written in a way that you didn't have to read IC - I mean, Shadow thief is on trial for the murder of firestorm. That's all you really need to know. The current arc, Manhunted, has been great, but the last issue was an OMAC tie-in, as we're given hints that the OMAC project might be related to the Manhunter Project, whatever that is. And there's manhunters popping up in the current GL series.

I read most of DC's stuff these days, so it's hard to judge Manhunter based on its stand-alone-ness. I'm pretty sure enough is explained to enjoy this book by itself, though. So far, at least.

2k

P.S. Hey Newsarama - why not follow up this Manhunter expedition with an Andreyko interview?

[Grendel Prime]

Every time DC tries to "reinvent" or relaunch Manhunter (1994, Power Company, the new series)... I die a little bit inside. This was an excellent article.

For me, Manhunter will always be Paul Kirk. And yes, I realize this is just a personal preference to that character because he was the original/first that I experienced. But, my feeling is that DC above all other things (to me) represents super-heroes as legacy. And yet, whenever DC re-does Manhunter, it is always a complete break from what has come before. It just doesn't "feel right" to me.

On one hand, Paul Kirk is dead. Archie and Walt killed him, and he should stay dead. On the other hand, it would be easy enough to pass the title to a "descendent" (philosophical if not biological), someone with a connection to the original.

Paul Kirk was such a great character, I would just like to see the mantle of Manhunter treated with a little more sense of the history behind it. "The Golden Age" did an excellent job of that, as did this article.

[ShadoJakk]

Originally posted by algertman
Simonson/Goodwin MANHUNTER rocked!

I agree with that. I still re-read these stories and get goosebumps. Mr. Goodwin was on top of his game here,and is very very missed.

[BriGuy]

Cool article. I really enjoyed Power Company and the current Manhunter series so I'm anxiously awaiting Part II!

Anyone looking to jump on Manhunter, #15 is a self contained issue featuring the origin of her costume and weapons with art by Rags Morales and Steve Sadowski (among others)! Preorder yours today!

[Neuromancer]

Originally posted by Wright Blan
(OT: I really miss Roy Thomas' version of Plastic Man. He wasn't an off the wall goofball as he is written these days. I always wondered how a slightly more seriously done Plastic Man would work. Not Watchmen serious, but mabye more like a PAD-style in the manner of his writing on The Hulk)

Not wanting to digress at all (me love Goodwin/Simonson Manhunter too, after all!), but that's the main problem with almost all takes on Plastic Man after Jack Cole: aside from stretching into bizarre shapes, Plastic Man was sometimes the only sane element in an insane world. Most creators zoom in only on the humor, without taking this into account.

Count me in as also looking forward to the second part of this very well researched, interesting article.

[SerbsInSpace]

DC will keep trying with all their trademarks until something clicks. Goodwin's series was fun, action packed with great art. Current series is entertaining and modern, I dislike the art but still have hopes for Marvel Max's Alias-like origin.

This is a fun Spiderman homage cover the Mark Shaw series ended with
http://www.comicspriceguide.com/cover.asp?cid=732/24

[khuxford]

Originally posted by holtom2000
I'm almost ashamed to say I knew most of this...
My knowledge of little-known DC lore is pretty much useless in everyday life, but is great for this forum, LOL.

You and me both, brother. Manhunter (the Goodwin version) was one of those characters that I actually really learned about in the WHO'S WHO books. My best friend and I would use WHO'S WHO books to brainstorm what would be kick ass team book combinations...and MANHUNTER was always one of my picks. I was out of comic books when the post-Millenium version Manhunter series launched, I think...or else I would have been owner of all 24 issues, I'm sure.

I'm one of those people who, back in the day, gave practically every #1 issue from DC a chance...even when I was at an age that picking up LORDS OF THE ULTRA REALMS probably wasn't a good idea. I was still doing the "every DC #1 issue" thing, for the most part, after Zero Hour...unfortunately...because I rather not have had the any issues of that MANHUNTER or FATE or...well...you get the idea...