Absolute Power shook up the DC Universe quite a bit on a ground level thanks to Amanda Waller’s actions, and those consequences are still being felt in major ways. That’s been shown to be the case in Justice League Unlimited in a variety of ways, but one major way was revealed in Justice League Unlimited #2,which made the revelation that a powerful member of the core Justice League team is still missing his powers, and it’s already having a massive effect on him. That person is none other than Martian Manhunter, and it seems this is only the beginning of a tumultuous journey for the beloved hero.
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In Justice League Unlimited #2, Batman and Blue Beetle get some needed reinforcements to deal with the mysterious threat found in issue #1. When the team arrives Batman is in bad shape, and the team splits up into various two-person teams to get the situation under control. One of those teams is Martian Manhunter and Doctor Occult, who are sent to find the missing children.
With the threat seeming more supernatural, Doctor Occult is the perfect fit for this particular mission, and Batman assigns Manhunter so he can use his telepathy to help find the missing children. Unfortunately, Manhunter reveals during their mission that he no longer has access to his telepathy, and no one else knows this is the case.
Manhunter tells Doctor Occult, “I’ve not yet confided this, but you deserve to know why I am following you rather than vice versa. I was…uncomfortable telling the League — in fear of being sidelined, I suppose…but after our powers were stolen, many of mine failed to return.”
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Manhunter indicates that “many” of his powers haven’t returned, but in the fight that happens later it is apparent that he still retains some abilities. Those include shape-shifting, which we see when he is able to mimic the form of the Parademon brute, and that is followed by superhuman strength, as he pummels the Parademon during their battle, only being stopped from hurting him further by Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman.
One thing we know he doesn’t have is Telepathy, but a few other powers we can assume he doesn’t have given how useful they would have been in this very encounter are enhanced vision, Telekinesis, and anything in the mind control space. He could have used any one of those to provide an edge in this battle, and with Manhunter saying “many of mine failed to return”, it’s safe to assume several of these are included in that.
Doctor Occult does tell the League about what Manhunter revealed to him, so by issue’s end they tell Manhunter they will need to talk about all this. It’s then we learn that he does have access to two other of his former powers, including the ability to phase (which he does to escape Wonder Woman’s lasso) and invisibility, as he goes invisible to keep the League from following him. The end of the issue teases that this unchecked anger and frustration is having a major effect on Manhunter, and it looks to be a problem for both J’onn and the League moving forward.
What did you think of the issue? You can talk all things comics with me on Bluesky @KnightofOA!
