In DC Comics lore, the Green Lantern Corps is the peacekeeping force that patrols the entire universe, taking its directives from the immortal aliens, the Guardians of the Universe. But the Lanterns were not the Guardians’ first attempt at a police force that protects the cosmos. Their first legion of protectors were known simply as the Manhunters. And they ultimately became the Guardians’ greatest mistake. And judging from episode two of Lanterns, it appears they might be the series’ principal antagonists. But who are these android aliens whose motto is “No man escapes the Manhunters?”
The Original DC Manhunters Were Human Crime-Fighters
DC Comics has had several heroes named “Manhunter,” going back to 1941. The first DC Manhunter was big game hunter and adventurer Paul Kirk, who eventually got a costume designed by comics legend Jack Kirby. That red costume with a silver mask was striking, and became the basis for the later alien android versions. Decades later, Jack Kirby reinvented Manhunter in 1975’s First Issue Special #5, now Mark Shaw, an attorney, wearing a further redesigned version of Kirby’s 1940s-era costume. Shaw was introduced as part of a centuries-old crime-fighting cult. But DC Comics expanded and tied that Manhunter mythology into Green Lantern lore, starting in 1977’s Justice League of America #140 and #141.
The True History of the Manhunters Is Revealed in Justice League of America
In this two-part Justice League of America story, writer Steve Englehart retconned the vigilante Manhunters into something far older. Readers learned that millions of years ago, the Manhunter armies were synthetic beings created by the Guardians of the Universe to patrol the cosmos and keep the peace. They carried guns that projected green energy from a power battery, something later refined for their successors, the Green Lanterns. But the Guardians failed to program their Manhunters with emotions, leading to cold and analytical thinking. And that was their ultimate downfall, although DC writers have since retconned that failure as a “programming glitch.”
The Manhunters Predated the Green Lanterns as a Universal Peacekeeping Force
Eventually, after centuries, the Manhunter’s programming glitch determined that all organic life was inherently flawed and prone to evil. So they destroyed all life, or nearly all life, in space sector 666. Trillions died, and as result, the Guardians deactivated their Manhunter Corps. They soon replaced them with living sentient beings whom they deemed worthy of the power, the Green Lantern Corps. But despite what the Guardians believed, a handful of Manhunters survived their creators’ purge, scattered, and went into hiding.
Manhunter Cults Take Root Across the Cosmos
Now existing in exile, undetected from the Green Lantern Corps who replaced them, the surviving Manhunters hid on various worlds. One of those worlds was Mars, where they influenced the Martian police force into becoming Manhunters themselves, which is why J’onn J’onzz has the code name Martian Manhunter. On Earth, they established a secret cult of operatives over millennia. This cult kept the Manhunter’s brutal code of “justice,” and programmed human sleeper agents with their directives. Some human heroes, like Paul Kirk and Mark Shaw, took up the Manhunter name as superheroes. A being known as the Grandmaster led these Manhunter cults, but the Justice League exposed him as an ancient android.
The 1980s DC Event Series Millennium Exposes a Long Manhunter Conspiracy
One of DC’s big crossover events in the ‘80s was Millennium, a series where the Manhunters reemerged. In Millennium, we learned that the Manhunter cult had several sleeper agents on Earth, some of whom were androids, and others, indoctrinated humans. The Flash Wally West’s father turned out to be a Manhunter sleeper agent. And they even replaced the Olympian god Pan with a Manhunter agent. In Millennium, the Guardians of the Universe revealed that Earth would give birth to their eventual replacements, so the Manhunters sought to destroy their plans as a means of revenge on the masters who tried to exterminate them.
Manhunters Reemerge as Green Lantern Enemies in the 21st Century
In 21st-century DC Comics, the Manhunters resurfaced. This happened during writer Geoff Johns’ seminal Green Lantern run. We learned they retreated to Sector 3601, a section of the galaxy that is inhospitable to organic life. They lived under a new Grandmaster, the villainous Cyborg Superman, who integrates their synthetic bodies with organic components. In a sense, they become a lot like the Borg in Star Trek. Especially that TNG storyline where they fell under the sway of Data’s evil twin brother, Lore. The Manhunters finally developed true emotions, although that didn’t make them any less dangerous.
Lanterns Introduces Manhunters to the New DCU
In the HBO Lanterns series, it seems the Manhunters are the key to the show’s main mystery. The aliens who infiltrated Rushville suggest that Abin Sur, Hal Jordan’s predecessor as Sector 2814’s Green Lantern, was transporting the last known Manhunter to Earth when he died. The lead alien (possibly Red Lantern Atrocitus) explains the Manhunters destroyed their entire world, and they now want retribution. They say the Manhunters can assume human shape, which isn’t exactly how they work in the comics, but it’s just another form of infiltration. So, close enough. But as of right now, the identity of the Manhunter remains a mystery. But before Lanterns season one ends, we fully expect to learn who the Manhunter hiding in Rushville really is.
Catch up on Green Lantern comics with our essential reading guide.
The post Who Are LANTERNS’ Manhunters? appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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