| White Martians | |
|---|---|
 Interior artwork fromJLA: Secret Files and Origins #3 (December 2000), art byDale Eaglesham. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Created by | Dennis O'Neil (writer) Dick Dillin (artist) |
| Characteristics | |
| Place of origin | Mars |
| Notable members | Miss Martian |
| Inherent abilities | List
|
TheWhite Martians are one of four fictional extraterrestrial races native toMars in theDC Comics'shared universe. White Martians, also known as Pale Martians, appear in thecomics of theDC Universe, chieflyJLA,Martian Manhunter, andSon of Vulcan. They first appeared inJustice League #71 (May 1969).[1]
As a race of shapeshifters, physical appearance has little meaning for Martians, and the Greens and Whites are only separated by underlying psychological differences and philosophies, with the former being more peaceful and the latter more violent.[2] The White Martians' preferred form is that of angular, hairless humanoids with chalky white skin with bony, armor-like ridges or plates.[3][4]
It was eventuallyretconned that the White Martians andGreen Martians were part of the same race, known as "The Burning". This race was belligerent and used fire to reproduce asexually. TheGuardians of the Universe, fearing the Martians, split them into two species, gave them an instinctive fear of fire to prevent either from accessing their full potential, and altered their powers so neither could overcome the other. The timeframe for this genetic tampering was given as 20,000 years ago, contemporary with the early life ofVandal Savage on Earth.[5]
While the Green Martians were peaceful philosophers, the White Martians were savage warriors. A lengthy civil war between the two races ended when the few surviving White Martians were exiled to the Still Zone, a dimension that is similar to, yet distinct from, thePhantom Zone.[2]
White Saturnians called Koolars are descended from an underclass of worker clones created by ancient White Martian explorers. Green Martians clonedJemm's people, the original Red Saturnians, from themselves, and the White Martians cloned the original White Saturnians from themselves. The Reds were treated as equals by their creators, but the whites were treated as slaves by their masters. The enslavement of the white clones led to a civil war on Mars.[6]
The Hyperclan is a White Martian vanguard for an all-out takeover of Earth who masquerade as alien superheroes with the intent of displacing the JLA in the affections of the people of Earth.[7] The Hyperclan members are known as Protex, Fluxus, A-Mortal, Züm, Primaid, Tronix, Armek and Zenturion, using the array of natural Martian powers to give each "hero" a seemingly different set of abilities; for example, Züm was a speedster, Armek was a massive armored figure with superhuman strength and could change color, and Fluxus was a shapeshifter. Their initial attack results in the destruction of the League's satellite and the death ofMetamorpho and is preceded by a sickness that strikes all fire-based heroes and villains, such asFirehawk andDoctor Phosphorus, causing them to lose their powers. With the use of mind control and public relations, they nearly succeeded in brainwashing all of Earth into seeing the new Justice League as the villains, creating the illusion that the League were jealous of Hyperclan's pro-active efforts to eliminate villains and improve crop development in formerly barren areas. Despite the heroes scoring some victories in later confrontations, such as theFlash knocking out Züm with a punch at near-lightspeed orGreen Lantern taking out Armek by exploiting the fact that they thought hisring was still vulnerable to yellow, Hyperclan eventually managed to capture all of the Justice League, keepingSuperman tortured with a mental illusion ofgreen kryptonite while trapping Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman in the 'Flower of Wrath', a device that would kill the heroes in hideous agony when it closed, withMartian Manhunter having apparently decided to betray the others out of recognition of the fact that he would never be accepted.
However,Batman managed to evade capture after Hyperclan shot down theBatplane by taking advantage of their belief that he wasn't a threat because he was only human, deducing their true natures by their unwillingness to investigate his crashed and burning Batplane. Sneaking into Hyperclan's base, Batman knocked out one and then later three Hyperclan members by trapping them in a ring of fire. Putting the pieces together about Hyperclan's true nature, Superman eventually managed to throw off the Kryptonite illusion and free the rest of the League, aided by J'onzz, who had in reality realized Hyperclan's true nature when their base was revealed, pretending to betray the League and then posing as Armek to infiltrate Hyperclan. After Superman issued a public broadcast to the world that warned them of the threat and Hyperclan's weakness, the invaders were captured, and each of them was telepathically brainwashed by J'onzz andAquaman to believe themselves to be human. Given strong mental blocks to inhibit their powers, the Martians assumed normal Earth lives all over the globe, although they were kept under observation by the League.[3]
InJLA series 2 #4, Hyperclan leader Protex tells Superman how the White Martians came to Earth in ancient times before humans existed and performed genetic experiments on terrestrial animals which crippled the evolutionary potential of the human race, resulting in them lacking powers. This was another reason for the war between the White and Green Martians, who were outraged by such biological vandalism. According to the storylines inMartian Manhunter (#25 - 27) byJohn Ostrander, andSon of Vulcan (#5), the White Martians performed experiments that altered the metagene, enabling only a select few to developmetahuman powers. As punishment for this, the White Martians were exiled to the Still Zone.[8][9]
On subsequent occasions, the White Martians succeeded in breaking free of their psychological imprisonment. The first time, a single White Martian briefly believed itself to beBruce Wayne due to the trauma of being caught in a flaming plane crash which erased the memory of its original human identity as an employee ofWayne Enterprises.Green Lantern,Steel,Big Barda,Orion andPlastic Man defeat the Martian and restore its original programming. The heroes make certain that the other Martians remain brainwashed, although Batman expressed some concern about their current strategy with the Martians.[4]
The White Martians are resurrected after theCathexis grants Martian Manhunter's wish, intending to cure his loneliness. The Martians capture various humanpsychics to expand their own mental abilities while simultaneously ridding Earth of oxygen, killing all humans. After traveling to the Phantom Zone to formulate a plan without the Martians learning of it, the Justice League returns to their dimension to face the Martians on the Moon. The Martians are forced to accept being banished into the Phantom Zone — a common punishment for DC's most dangerous super-villains — or dying on the Moon. Martian Manhunter is prepared to sacrifice himself life to defeat the Martians, but is teleported to safety at the last second.[10]
The White Martians created ametavirus, ametagene that could be passed between hosts via touch. This metavirus was responsible for the empowerment of the very firstSon of Vulcan. The Sons of Vulcan passed the metavirus down in an unbroken line from then onwards, sworn to hunt and kill "the pale ones", i.e., the White Martians.[11]
With the help ofFunky Flashman, anoviparous White Martian named A'monn A'mokk creates five human-Martian hybrid children named Sapling, Buster, Silhouette, Quaker and Blur, using superhuman DNA from unrevealed sources. The five hybrids all have a latent fear of fire.[11]
When the Martian Manhunter overcomes his fear of fire, he inadvertently releases Fernus, a member of theprimeval Martian race. Fernus - the manifestation of J'onn's racial memory of the Martians' original race identity - takes possession of him and exterminates the White Martians. Fernus is eventually defeated byPlastic Man in a last desperate confrontation.[12]
Miss Martian, the White Martian known as M'gann M'orzz, is a member of theTeen Titans who joined the group during the year between the events depicted inInfinite Crisis and theOne Year Later stories. She initially disguises herself as a Green Martian until being exposed byBombshell.
In thisminiseries, several beings who appeared to be Green Martians were found alive on Earth. They were eventually revealed to be White Martians, under mind control and disguised as Greens; a Green Martian named "Cay'An" had brainwashed them to believe they were Green Martians. All of the White Martians had been killed in one way or another before the series' end, except for a juvenile named Till'All. Till'All became friends with J'onn J'onzz, and was introduced to the Justice League at the end of the story.
In theBrightest Day storyline, Martian Manhunter states that there are no other White Martians,[13] although Till'All and Miss Martian are still in existence.
Like the Green Martians, White Martians have numerous superhuman powers, including superhuman strength/speed, flight, invisibility, telepathy, shape-changing, phase-shifting (sometimes called variable density) which allows them to be either invulnerably tough or completely immaterial, and "Martian vision", but they also share the Green Martians' vulnerability to fire. One of the White Martians disguised himself as the Hyperclan member Zum and had superspeed, though not on the level ofthe Flash. InTeen Titans vol.3 #41,Miss Martian was shown quickly recovering from the effects ofBombshell's neural scrambling powers as well as reforming after apparently having her head shot off. She was also shown in this appearance breaking a pair of handcuffs by waving her hand near them.
The phase-shifting ability is not depicted in their first post-Crisis appearance.[3] Also, their power of flight initially seemed limited to within an atmosphere: a White Martian is defeated byWonder Woman after succumbing to asphyxiation in outer space; however, the White Martians are later shown flying from Earth to the moon apparently without technological assistance and fighting the JLA in a vacuum.[10]
An entity calledthe White Martian appears inAbsolute Martian Manhunter. This version is a otherworldly consciousness that is the embodiment ofAnti-Life. Its goal is to bring violence, chaos, and fear to all of humanity by controlling their minds and feeding them negative emotions and "Bad Ideas". It is opposed by another alien being, "The Martian" and FBI agent, John Jones, from bringing Jones' hometown Middleton into chaos.[21]
The White Martians appear inSupergirl.[22] Throughout the series, they battle the Green Martians, withM'gann M'orzz forming a resistance against the latter.
The White Martians appear inBatman: The Brave and the Bold #18.
