Then you have some of the other top tier heroes, such as Green Lantern and Flash. Aquaman OUGHT to be a top tier hero, but for some reason he's not. A shame really.
And we have the next tier of characters, not quite "B" level, but not quite "A" level either. I call them the Bridesmaids. They are great characters, with cool powers, but for some reason, they can't support their own individual books, or they get messed around with, by the writers, or for any myriad of other reasons.
Premier amongst the Bridesmaids, must be J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter. He's been around for a VERY long time. He has had his power level raised to absurd levels, and changed around. He used to be able to extract gold from sea water, and make ice-cream magically appear out of the air. There IS that little thing with fire, but heck, you have to have SOME sort of weakness after all.
J'onn had a lot of fun in the Silver Age, and if you want to see more of his adventures, I suggest taking a stroll over to Scipio's Absorbascon, and going through the archives.
More recently, J'onn was performing superbly when he was the head babysitter at the old JLI. Oh Batman was a part of the group, but he really didn't show up all THAT much, and besides he really considered the rest of them to be beneath him. J'onn didn't, although he DID used to get ferocious migraines from having to deal with Booster, Beetle and Guy's antics. And there was that little choco addiction.
He continued to be a part of the various incarnations of the Justice League after that, but it seemed as though he just never had the stories told about him that some of the others did. He's is a stoic and stolid straight man, although he CAN have quite the impish sense of humor when he's being written well. He's had a few series of his own, but they've just never really caught on for some reason. Then they killed him off, which was a shame, but happily brought him back, although things don't seem to be...quite right with him, due to the lingering effects of the Black Lanterns.
I don't know that J'onn will EVER be one of the premier characters for DC...and I guess that it's ok. He does fill a much-needed role, as the one person who doesn't lose his cool when all is in chaos around him. It's always nice to see him show up. My favorite characters ARE the second, third and even fourth tiers of heroes, so it would be nice if the Powers That Be would stop killing them off.
Does anyone have any favorite Martian Manhunter Stories?
