Action Figure Overview: Super Powers Martian Manhunter (Kenner, 1985)
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| 1985 Wave 2 Kenner Super Powers Martian Manhunter |
Martian Manhunter's first appearance was in Detective Comics in November of 1955. This is considered by some to be the beginning of the Silver Age of comics (although the redesign of The Flash from Showcase #4 in October of 1956 is the more common starting point for the Silver Age). In March of 1960, the first appearance of the Justice League of America included Martian Manhunter as one of the seven original members (along with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and The Flash) in issue #28 of The Brave and the Bold. Throughout the Silver Age, Martian Manhunter and his alter ego, Detective John Jones, appeared regularly as the backup story in Detective Comics. Martian Manhunter was also often a featured character in the Justice League of America comic book. He appeared in several other DC comic books throughout the years as well. However, when Kenner released this figure in 1985, Martian Manhunter hadn't appeared outside of the comic books in movies and TV shows like many of the other characters had.
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| Kenner Super Powers Martian Manhunter action figure |
Many of his powers are similar to Superman's powers such as incredible strength and speed, flight, and heat vision. However, in addition to many of Superman's powers, Martian Manhunter also has a genius level intelligence that rivals Batman. Plus, he's a shape shifter with telepathic and telekinetic powers who can turn invisible and even shift his body to walk through walls or let a punch (or a bullet) go right through him. In other words, he's one of the most powerful super heroes ever. Still, despite being a powerful superhero who had appeared in numerous comic books over the 30 years prior to the action figure's release, many people had never heard of Martian Manhunter when he appeared in the second wave of Kenner's Super Powers figures in 1985.
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| Martian Manhunter on one of the standard Super Powers cards |
Each Super Powers action figure featured a "Power Action" gimmick. For example, if you squeeze Aquaman's arms together, his legs kick. This feature was called his "Power Action Deep Sea Kick." The Joker figure can hold a giant green mallet in his right hand. When you squeeze his legs together, his right arm comes down. This feature was called his "Power Action Madcap Mallet." It would have been difficult to create a Power Action for Martian Manhunter to shape-shift or shoot a heat beam from his eyes, so Kenner gave him a "Power Action Martian Punch" which was basically the same action as Superman, Batman, and Firestorm. When you squeeze their legs, their arms "punch."
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| This Super Powers comic book was in the package with Martian Manhunter and the Bio Card was printed on the card back |
Each figure in waves 1 and 2 came with a comic book. Martian Manhunter was no exception. His comic book was number 14, but it is also fairly common to find this comic without a number. On the back of each card, Kenner printed a clip-and-save bio card for each character. The comic book and the bio card gave kids an idea of who these super heroes were, even if they were unfamiliar characters. Although most kids knew the characters from wave 1, there were many characters that might have been new to them released in wave 2.
There were several variations of packaging for the Martian Manhunter figure. Most of the variations were simply different special offers available on very similar cards (one offer was for a Superman Cape while another offer was for the fan club), but there was one package that was very different from the rest. Often referred to as the "Narrow Card" package, eight of the Super Powers figures from waves 1 & 2 were released on smaller cards as part of a Canadian Gas Station promotion. The eight figures were: Superman, Batman, Robin, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Firestorm, Red Tornado, and Martian Manhunter. These figures did not come with a comic book or bio card. An example of the Martian Manhunter in this package can be seen on the far left of the top image.
Did you have Kenner Super Powers figures as a kid? Do you collect them now? Did you ever have the Super Powers Martian Manhunter figure? Which character is your favorite?
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