Back cover blurb
"J'onn J'onzz adopts the name of deceased Denver police detective John Jones."
No, he made up the name for it's similarity to his own name. No deceased police detective was referenced in the origin story.
There is no way the stories could be set in Colorado. Issue 229 has a man who lives near the ocean demanding protection from the police. Issue 230 shows Rainbow Beach which has a derelict freighter on the beach (not the sort of ship you'd see on a lake). Issue 231 has a luxury liner docked at the city pier. Issue 247 has Jones at the shore where smugglers are getting past the coast guard. Main writer Jack Miller seemed to think it was near the shore as examples pop up through the collection.
"he joins the Middleton Police force".
Only if Middleton is the capital of a fictional state. In issue 249, The governor's mansion is based in the unnamed city J'onn J'onzz is based in.
"Also in this collection is a special tale in which Batman and Robin team up with a strange visitor from Mars in an adventure that is considered the harbinger of the J'onn J'onzz character."
Well... he's from Mars & fights crime, other than that not a lot of similarities.
The Strange Experiment Of Dr. Erdel Detective Comics #225
Dr. Erdel's experiment brings J'Onn J'Onzz to Earth, he tells Erdel that he can read his mind, but then has to ask how Erdel brought him here.
What? I thought you could read minds?
NNANJAO. Two comics on the newsstand are Detective Comics & Superman.
Caption at the end says that his first case will be "The Case Of The Magic Baseball", but the start of that story shows 2 cases he solved (between issues) before that.
The Case Of The Magic Baseball Detective Comics #226
In the first story JJ has a car pass through him on the street. This story it's explained that he can attune his molecules to those of a solid wall & walk right through.
A solid wall is one thing, but a car has multiple moving parts, how do you attune yourself to all those?
J'Onn J'Onzz uses the Martian ability to peer into the future to see that a pitcher would win a game if he wasn't being molested by criminals.
Well then it's not really the future then since he is being molested by criminals.
Frankly one wonders why he never uses this power again, it seems quite useful.
JJ uses a "little Martian molecular hypnosis" to slow down a baseball.
I would have called that mind over matter like JJ refers to the other things he does in that game.
The Man With 20 Lives Detective Comics #227
Crooks try to run down John Jones, but he becomes invisible & intangible. As the crooks drive away JJ thinks, "I switched into my extra-terrestrial form".
No, it looks like his John Jones form, not his J'Onn J'Onzz form.
JJ thinks, "I must act now as my law officials on Mars do when evidence is needed... Fisk must break down!"
In issue 225 it was explained that all crime on Mars was made obsolete in the Great Evolution centuries earlier & a shortened form of this was repeated at the beginning of this story so why would law officials on Mars need to break somebody down if all crime is obsolete. All need for Martian law enforcement "now" would seem to involve accidents or differing interpretations of the law, or dissolving of legal agreements, not criminal action.
Escape To The Stars Detective Comics #228
Had Dave Wood read any of the Martian Manhunter stories before writing this? He misspells the hero's Martian name 2 different ways. He misspells Professor Erdel's name. Previously John Jones boss was Lt. Saunders, but here Captain Harding is commanding (NNAN admittedly, but a sign of unfamiliarity with the 3 previous stories.)
The flashback to 225 is abbreviated.
JJ is worried that the teleport machine could be damaged if he tries to arrest Dunster... & it is.
So why not use his telekinesis to move Dunster away from the machine?
The Phantom Bodyguard Detective Comics #229
Opening caption describes the hero as "the earthbound master sleuth from Mars".
Makes it sound like he was a master sleuth on Mars, but issue 225 he mentions his lab implying he's a scientist & his decision to become a detective on Earth comes more from using his abilities to help put a stop to crime, not continuing an old occupation. Issue 227 indicates that he wasn't in law enforcement, although he did seem to have a familiarity with it.)
Page 5, Panel 6. The writing on the picture is much bigger here than in Panel 5.
The Sleuth Without A Clue Detective Comics #230
Flashback has JJ observing a robbery & saying, "the Earthlings have evil beings in their world too."
Too? I thought all criminal behavior was wiped out in the Great Evolution?
Also in 225 JJ noted crime from newspapers.
The flashback indicates he didn't take human form until after deciding to fight crime, but taking on human form was one of the first things he did after learning he would be stuck on Earth, sometime before deciding to fight crime.
Page 2, Panel 2. A crook is shooting bullets through JJ because he willed himself a "translucent form".
Simply being see-through is not the same as intangibility.
J'onn J'onzz loses his powers because the Blazer Comet which travels between Earth & Mars once a century for a full 24 hours has blocked the rays emanating from Mars which give him his powers.
What?
Shouldn't he lose his powers when Earth & Mars are on opposite sides of the sun, then?
Then again, if he's lost his powers then why hasn't he reverted to his Martian form?
The Thief Who Had Super Powers! Detective Comics #231
In this story JJ encounters a Martian criminal. He got to Earth from a defective "guard belt". Martians sentence criminals to terms in space & these belts take them off-planet providing some kinda force field.
In issue 225 it was established that the Great Evolution eliminated all crime on Mars & that Mars did not have space travel capabilities.
The Dog With A Martian Master Detective Comics #232
The opening caption calls him Jonn Jonzz instead of J'onn J'onzz.
Page 1, Panel 2. Caption reads "John Jones races across the city bridge"
Makes it sound like there is only one, but issue 227 had the High Gate bridge, although since that crossed a large body of water with the city in the background I suppose one could argue that it is not a city bridge just one near the city.
JJ is invisible when he is weakened by fire, too weak to turn visible.
Huh? Issue 226 established that he bends light rays around himself to become invisible so wouldn't becoming weaker cause him to lose the concentration it takes to do that?
The Ghost From Outer Space Detective Comics #233
Page 3, Panel 1. The caption spells JJ's last name as J'onz instead of J'onzz.
The Martian Convict Detective Comics #234
JJ is undercover in a prison to learn about a rumored prison break. At one point he turns invisible & intangible to spy on the suspected ringleader.
Why not use his telepathy to learn the identity of the other 2 convicts planning the break?
Page 5, Panel 3, JJ thinks, "I managed to make myself transparent and materialize on the other side of the stamping machine.
Now issues 229 & 231 have shown his ability to teleport, but the art in panel 2 shows the machine passing through him indicating he went intangible.
The World's Greatest Magician Detective Comics #235
Page 2, Panel 6. JJ's first name is misspelled as J'on instead of J'onn.
Page 4, Panel 4. Translucent instead of intangible again.
The Great Earth-Mars Mystery Detective Comics #236
JJ is underwater & trying to find an escaping crook so he uses his "mist-dispersing vision".
I think it ceases to be mist when you actually go underwater.
JJ tries to get a message to Mars & this time succeeds. Oddly enough the Martians he reaches are his mom & dad.
Surprisingly he does not reveal that "guard belts" have the ability to take someone from Mars to Earth as we learned in issue 231, & suggest that a Martian volunteer use such a device to travel to Earth with a spare belt so he can get home.
Coincidentally enough there is a crime wave on Mars similar to a crime wave on Earth & both sets of crooks used similar methods of escape.
Martians have odd system of time keeping. J'onn tells his parents to tune the view plate to the canal in "10087 meters time" & at that time he's told that the raiders struck "10024 meters ago".
Page 3, Panel 5. J'onz misspelling again. Jack Miller is listed as the writer from 229 to the end of this collection, you'd think he'd be more consistent with the spelling. (Like, you know, writing it down somewhere next to his typewriter.)
The giant carp of Mars swim by means of pilot fish attached to their bodies.
Seems like a very strange path for evolution to take.
We're told that JJ solved the crimes on both planets, but we never see the Martian crooks arrested, so while they apparently used the same method of escape as the Earth criminal there could have been important differences. For instance the Martians could have used their shapechanging abilities in their escape attempts, but it was never addressed.
The Sleuth Who Went To Jail Detective Comics #237
JJ is being held prisoner & he decides to confuse the crooks by secretly using his powers to go to a nearby restaurant & get a roast turkey.
In issue 235 it was revealed he could make objects by assembling them from atoms in the air. Why not do that here?
JJ is weakened by a fire, but he thinks bullets wouldn't affect him.
Seems to imply an invulnerability since I don't think he would have the strength to turn intangible, but issue 230 showed that bullets can hurt him when he is powerless.
Earth Detective For A Day Detective Comics #238
Once again a comet passing between Earth & Mars causes JJ to lose his powers, but this one passes annually for a two-hour period & works by radiating energy onto large concentrations of lead or iron deposits in the ground.
Course the fact that it's only 2 hours kind of nits the title since there would be 22 hours where he has his powers.
The Thirty Fathom Sleuth Detective Comics #242
In issue 236 JJ was said to have super-speed, but here he needs to borrow a fast car to catch someone in a fast car.
Here it's said that JJ can breathe the oxygen from the water, but in 236 a comment was made about his super-lungs keeping him underwater.
Now I suppose one could interpret super-lungs was an obtuse way of saying he could breathe underwater, but I think most would interpret that as holding his breath.
Page 4, Panel 1. JJ has removed his helmet & thinks. "Minus the weight of that helmet".
Thing is he's still carrying the helmet.
At the beginning of the story JJ got close to a gasoline fire & was weakened. Now that he's underwater the glow of some phosphorescent fish is affecting him because he's still weakened from the gasoline fire.
1. In issue 239 he wasn't affected by the "cold fire" of a neon tube, so why should the phosphorescent glow of fish affect him.
2. This is the day after the fire & he's recovered much faster from being to close to some fires, like in 237 when he was exposed to the coal furnace & managed to recover almost instantly after dousing it. (Although a much smaller exposure to a fire kept him weakened for several hours in 227 so there was some inconsistency in how fire affected him.)
The Criminal From Outer Space Detective Comics #243
A criminal thought control card was accidentally programmed into Tor. When confronting Tor JJ says, "Let us correct your damaged brain!"
Well, it's not really damaged it just has a wrong program running it.
A Martian bank has a sign that reads "Banking hours 9 to".
What happened to their counting time in meters as we saw in 236?
JJ lights a match & sets some paper on fire.
In issue 239 he was unable to light a firecracker because the match so weakened him.
Why would a Martian robot be weakened by fire? (Let alone a human mind-controlled from a robot on another planet.)
The Phantom Fire Alarms Detective Comics #245
In issue 232, JJ got a dog, Jupiter, as a pet . This story some crooks who learned of JJ's weakness set up a fake fire at his apartment building. You'd think that the smell of smoke might cause the dog to bark or something, but no. (True we never see Jupiter since that story, but there was no mention of something happening to him & few stories spent much time at JJ's apartment so it's possible he could have been there.)
The Stymied Sleuth! Detective Comics #250
JJ thinks, "Fire... the one and only weakness of all Martians!"
Apparently he (& the writer) forgot about those 2 comets that can take away his powers.
The Super Reporter! Detective Comics #253
A new newspaper (The Free Express) opens in town & JJ thinks it will give the Daily Clarion some competition.
Issue 225 shows a paper called the Chronicle: 230 has the Daily Gazette: 236 has the Daily Journal: 240 & 247 has the Daily Chronicle: 241 shows 3 papers, the Morning Dispatch, Evening Tribune & Daily B (& the rest of the name is cut off) so it seems like this Daily Clarion (which we never heard of before) had plenty of competition already.
And newspapers we see after this issue... 254 has the Daily Chronicle & Evening Standard; 257 has the Daily Globe; 265 has a folded over paper of which we just see Blade (the Daily B from 241?); 277 has the Daily Herald. The Daily Clarion is never mentioned again in the collection.
The One-Man Army Detective Comics #254
A criminal is using military weapons & tactics (even outfitting his troops in uniform) to commit robberies.
So why the heck hasn't the real army come in to help stop the bad guys?
Page 4, Panel 4. We see a newspaper headline over the soldier of the 'general' & it reads, "Detective John Jones In Charge Of Bank Cash Removal".
Problem is the general's shoulder hides most of the bottom line, so unless there is a big white space, there should be hidden words between Cash & Removal, but what could go there?
Big old crimewave going on & yet the newspapers print information about the bank moving a million dollars in cash.
JJ tells the Chief that even if he's captured the caravan's route is in a secret compartment in his wristwatch.
At first I thought this was some kind of ploy, surely JJ would have had the route memorized, but no he actually did have the secret route there. *rolls eyes*
The Getaway King Detective Comics #259
A special getaway car breaks up into 3 smaller cars, however the shapes of the smaller cars are a little different than the 3 sections we see on the previous page & there are no leftover parts on the ground to account for it.
Somehow one of the policemen chasing after the crooks knows that 2 of the cars are empty being driven electronically.
The Midget Manhunter! Detective Comics #261
A criminal invents a shrinking ray to commit robberies with.
Apparently the shrinking ray also reduces the weight since he seems to carry the loot away in his pockets.
JJ recommends smashing the shrinking & enlarging rays after everything has been restored.
That's wasteful. Shrinking rays could have all sorts of uses.
The Crime Conjurer! Detective Comics #263
A scene from a science fiction film shows Martians that look like the Martian Manhunter.
While one the one hand one could consider that a cute touch, on the other hand it's an amazing coincidence.
Although one could Roy Thomas the nit away by having the Martians be based on the 'Martian army' seen by crooks in issue 256 where he allowed crooks to see his natural form, since it was on a carnival ride & he didn't think anyone would believe their story.
The Menace Of The Martian Weapons! Detective Comics #264
Page 2, Panel 2. A police officer, zapped with a paralyzing ray, says, "I--I'm frozen! Can't m-move a m-muscle!"
He'd have to move muscles in order to speak.
JJ theorizes that the Martian weapons fell out of a spaceship & floated to Earth.
Except that issue 225 established that Martians don't have spaceships.
Note: Steve Englehart, in Justice League of America #144, retconned this by explaining that General Blanx & Prof. Erdel's rebuilt transport machine was responsible for the weapons arriving on Earth.
Page 3, Panel 5. Captain Harding says, "Jones! Y-you're--you're...changing into...an invisible outer-space being! Why... you must be a Martian!"
Since Jones was turning invisible how could Harding know it was into an outer-space being?
John Jones' Farewell To Earth Detective Comics #267
NANJAO. Page 1 Panel 2. Chief Harding says, "We've got another Martian scare on our hands!"
Given that Justice League of America #144 had a Martian scare set between Detective Comics #264 & 265 it was rather amusing to read that line. There had been some other references to Martians in previous stories, but being able to tie this in with a retcon was funny.
JJ thinks, "That isn't a Martian ship, but it does come from outer space!"
According to 225 Martians don't have spaceships.
Jovians know what Martians look like, but JJ doesn't recognize Jovians.
NNAN, but it seems odd.
The Jovian security force is after a Jovian criminal, if they don't capture him before sundown they'll have to return without him since travel between Earth & Jupiter is only possible once every 399 days when the 2 planets are at their closest approaches.
NNAN, but one wonders why they can't build ships that can go farther?
The Jovian space map shows the first 5 planets lined up, but I'm not sure there was that kind of syzygy in 1959.
Since Mars is between Earth & Jupiter, JJ asks if they can drop him off, they agree, but they don't change the time to leave.
IIUC Mars & Jupiter travel slower in relation to each other than Earth & Jupiter, so wouldn't stopping off at Mars give them a slightly larger window of return. Heck the Martians might even have the ability to refuel the ship.
The Lost Identity Detective Comics #271
Flashback to issue 225 is different.
Here he calls his ability to change shape "Martian Atomic Transmutation".
What was wrong with chameleon abilities? Not science fictiony enough?
It's said that the robot brain was presented to the Cromwell Museum after Prof. Erdel died.
Erdel died in 225, in 226, some time after Erdel's death JJ seems to be staying at Erdel's place (several design elements are the same) & in 228 we find out Alex Dunster had stolen the robot brain & it got destroyed.
The Super-Sleuth's Bodyguard Detective Comics #272
Patrolman Mike Hanson is acting as JJ's bodyguard because of a gangland threat. JJ is about to eat a sandwich he ordered when Mike grabs it & says, "Better let me taste that sandwich first--just in case it's been poisoned!"
Yeahhhhhh... then you'll both die. Doesn't it take time for some poisons to take effect? And not all of them are easily tastable.
The Unmasking Of J'onn J'onzz Detective Comics #273
Before this story JJ has mostly done his superhero work secretly performing feats while invisible. This story he's forced to go public as a Martian criminal, B'rett, exposes him to Formula Z6 which takes away a Martian's ability to use superpowers while invisible.
In 245, Lance Faber's gang learned that Jones was a Martian with a weakness to fire. True at the end of the story they thought they were set up, but still hearing about a real Martian Manhunter should give them second thoughts.
In 264, Captain Harding saw Jones turn into "an invisible outer space being" & assumed he must be a Martian. How much he actually saw is unknown, but you'd think he'd wonder at a connection, especially since the crooks & the captain's nephew saw what they thought were aliens in 256.
In 269, blackmailer Jeff Hoyt saw Jones in what he thought was an outer space costume, when he sees pictures of the Martian Manhunter...
The Crimes Of John Jones Detective Comics #276
JJ apparently has amnesia (the story never reveals if it's real or a hoax) & is convinced by crooks that he promised to reveal his Earth identity to them.
How do they even know he has an Earth identity? Was it mentioned in an unseen story? Frankly his chameleon powers should be unknown.
The crooks snap a picture of JJ as an Earthman & at the end of the story the crime boss threatens to reveal it & JJ says that is not the Earth guise he uses.
Why confirm that you use an Earth guise at all?
He further says that if he had amnesia how could he remember the exact guise he'd chosen.
Well if he couldn't remember then why pretend to show the gang an appearance he wasn't sure he uses?
The Menace Of Mr. Moth Detective Comics #277
While he's not wearing it, Mr. Moth still has his moth mask in his cell with him at the end.
The Menace Of Marsville Detective Comics #281
For charity JJ has built a replica of a Martian village in the city park under a Plexiglas dome to keep a Martian atmosphere in. In the Martian atmosphere, Earthlings gain superpowers while Martians lose them.
Say what?
1. Many stories indicate, or state, that JJ is using his natural abilities that are also present on Mars.
2. So why don't crooks just get air tanks filled with Martian atmosphere, put gas masks over their faces & go on crime sprees?
JJ has built robot replicas of Martian creatures & people.
The robot Martians look more like the fake Venusians we saw in 278.
JJ uses fire to stop the superpowered crooks from stealing his robot control device.
Oddly enough JJ doesn't seem to be affected by the fire, but fear of fire is a basic fear of Martians which would indicate that even on Mars it can affect them.
The Girl With The Martian Powers Detective Comics #282
Opening caption reads, "No one on Earth has ever been able to match the fantastic powers possessed by J'onn J'onzz!"
Except for those Martians who appeared on Earth, or last issue when the Martian atmosphere gave some crooks superpowers.
The Amazing One-Man Crew Detective Comics #283
A tramp steamer seems to be having a string of bad luck, at the end of the story the bad luck was caused by a competitor who lost out on a contract. The competitor built a fake floating island & towed it with his sub, he had a rock dropped out of the bombay of a plane, & used a giant fan on top of the submarine to create a whirlpool.
Sure sounds like he really needed the money from that contract, doesn't it?
The Menace Of The Martian Mandrills! Detective Comics #285
The Mandrills were accidentally transported from Mars to Earth by a cargo-rocket "used extensively to transport goods & passengers from Mars to its inhabited moons!"
While it's possible that lunar rockets may have existed when JJ was trapped on Earth the idea that a ship intended for a moon to end up on another planet with any animals still alive strains credibility.
Also the sizes of the Martian moons makes one wonder how inhabited they could be.
Either the writer, the artist, or the person who creates word balloons/thought bubbles really screwed up here.
The crooks ask JJ if it was the tobacco fumes that weakened the Martian Mandrills & for some inexplicable reason JJ says, "No" & in the next panel explains about the Martian weakness to fire, then in the panel after that thinks how he wanted the crooks to think it was the cigarettes & not the fire.
Huh?
Honestly answering the crooks question was just ridiculous, but then having the explanation as dialogue made no sense whatsoever. Was it supposed to be a member of the police who asked the question? Was it supposed to be a thought balloon instead of a word balloon?
His Majesty, John Jones Detective Comics #286
Four years earlier JJ was still on Mars.
The first JJ story was cover dated November 1955, this story is cover dated December 1960. NNAN just Comic Book Time.
J'onn J'onzz's Kid Brother Detective Comics #287
NANJAJoke. JJ's brother is T'omm J'onzz, singer of What's New Pussycat?, Delilah, It's Not Unusual...
Flashback show JJ with his current look & not the heavy browed look he had originally. His parents also lack the heavy brow look they had in issue 236 (and they look much, much younger.)
JJ has managed to repair Dr. Erdel's Robot Brain, but it can only operate once in both directions.
NNAN but Alex Dunster did a much better repair job in issue 228, although it was smashed at the end.
In issue 271 it was said to be at the Cromwell Museum.
JJ accidentally pushes the button in instead of pulling it out.
What? Who designs a button to be pulled out?
He accidentally brings his kid brother to Earth, T'omm doesn't seem to know where J'onn went all those years ago.
You mean his parents didn't tell him after being contacted by JJ in issue 236?
Lights, Camera-- And Doom Detective Comics #290
Policewoman Diane Meade has been assigned to take the place of a stunt girl on a film experiencing sabotage.
What?
What training has Diane had that made the Captain think she was qualified for this? It's especially interesting when you know that Diane is also the Police Commissioner's daughter, so if anything happens to her... bye-bye Captain Harding.
The Ex-Convicts Club Detective Comics #292
JJ has formed the Ex-Convicts Club, a group for those who want to go straight.
Nowadays there are laws against ex-cons congregating, but I don't know if this was the case in 1961.
Given that one of the ex-cons was a villain known as the Human Squirrel, complete with costume that made him look like a giant squirrel... you can certainly see why this guy wants to go straight.
One of the ex-cons, Tom Trent, was known as The Trickster.
No apparent relation to the Flash villain The Trickster (James Jesse).
Oddly enough the Flash villain appeared a year earlier (Flash cover date June-July 1960 - Detective cover date June 1961).
JJ is questioning Trent & finds tar on his shoes (the roof of the building had been tarred recently) Trent says he had crossed Elm street which had recently been tarred. JJ says, "Well--I can't prove otherwise".
Ummm... what does that have to do with anything? At the very least, shouldn't the shoes be taken to be examined by the lab?
The Girl-Hero Contest Detective Comics #293
A car's brakes aren't working, so JJ flies under the car and slows it down, convincing the patrolwoman that the brakes are suddenly working.
Given how high off the ground the car is drawn that's a rather stupid assumption to make.
Patrolwomen Diane & Sally & a little girl are trapped on top of a burning building. To get them down JJ borrows mattresses from a mattress company to create a stairway of mattresses for them to bounce down on.
... 8-/ What...?
Couldn't he just use his Martian powers to scoop up a bunch of water & dowse the fire so he can get close enough to fly them to safety?
How many of those mattresses will be resellable now? Fire, smoke & water damage to some of them is most likely & the drawing show a virtual pyramid of mattresses, so at minimum he used at least a hundred, probably more.
The Alien Bodyguard Detective Comics #296
Opening caption reads, "Patrolwoman Diane Meade, J'onn J'onzz' pet nemesis".
That's a little harsh. While she has occasionally suspected John Jones of being the Martian Manhunter (twice in her seven appearances, so far) most of the trouble comes because JJ wants to protect her.
Diane gets amnesia so to help restore her memory faster the doctor returns her to active duty.
… 8-o Can we see your medical license, "doctor"?
Walking Diane goes farther than she intended & decides to take a short cut across the tracks back to town.
Was that short cut something she remembered???
NANJAO. In contrast to all those stories which restore a person's memory with a blow to the head, Diane's memory actually returns by itself.
J'onn J'onzz vs. The Vigilantes Detective Comics #297
Opening caption. "Thus, for the Martian Manhunter, it means double trouble when... J'onn J'onzz vs. the Vigilantes.
Seems like there should be an 'it's' between When & the title.
The irony of the title is ignored of course.
NANJAO. The vigilante committee gets a "Mr. Lee" to invent unusual weapons for them.
You don't think Mr. Lee's first name is Stan by any chance? ;-)
To bring down a helicopter, JJ runs on the blades, then slows down his gait forcing the coptor to land gently.
Uhhhhh, yeahhhhhhh, surrrrre... Wouldn't it just be easier to use your power of telekinesis, or increasing the pull of gravity on the coptor?
Bodyguard For A Spy Detective Comics #299
Diane thinks Princess Cassandra is a spy & follows her intending to arrest her.
Diplomatic immunity, anyone?
Of course the Princess was working with Detective John Jones to find the head of a spy ring.
"Gee, Princess, want to risk your life uncovering a spy ring?" "Sure, why not?"
I wonder what the Princess's bodyguards (assuming she had any to begin with) thought?
The Mystery Of The Martian Marauders Detective Comics #301
Diane comments to John Jones that he's been temporarily transferred to the Missing Persons' detail & JJ asks if she would like to help him look for Dr. Reeves (his assignment.)
Wouldn't that have to be cleared with her superior (she's a patrolwoman) first?
A group of Martians use their combined lung power to blow the brick exterior of a building off.
... Yeahhhhhhhhhh...
First off they're in front of a plate glass window which should smash from the gale.
Secondly this hurricane plus windpower would probably smash the brick exterior & the interior as well, not pop it off the foundation, almost neatly.
JJ discovers that Dr. Reeves has rebuilt Dr. Erdel's space brain.
Last we saw (issue 287) it was in JJ's possession & mostly intact (once he sent his brother back it could no longer transmit.)
Page 5, Panel 4. JJ's thought balloon has a line break on the word Earthling, but is missing the hyphen to indicate that Earth & ling are supposed to be one word.
Dr. Reeves, on Mars & leading the Martian criminals, is using matches & torches to keep Martian security at bay while the criminals loot.
1. Why not use fire hoses or some such? Given the Martian fear & weakness to fire you'd think they'd have all kinds of ways of putting out fires.
2. What's to keep security from going in back entrances to buildings to capture some of the looting Martians?
3. Why doesn't Dr. Reeves have superpowers from the Martian air as we learned in issue 281?
The Crime King Of Mount Olympus Detective Comics #302
A crime boss who thinks he Zeus?
I wonder if this was the inspiration for the character of Maxie Zeus in the 1970s Batman titles?
Zeus, riding a winged horse, zips close to the open-cockpit helicopter piloted by Diane & snatches her out.
While admittedly the character is crazy enough to do it, I do wonder how he managed to avoid hitting the copter blades.
The Great J'onn J'onzz Hunt Detective Comics #303
Criminals shoot at a plane JJ is in. Page 9, Panel 6 shows the explosion somewhere around the nose of the plane. Page 10 shows the left wing broken.
To preserve his secret identity, JJ turns invisible to get out of the plane unseen.
How he does this is problematical. In issue 273 he lost the ability to use his other powers while invisible. So he would have to open the cockpit, however the cockpit is shown closed when brought down.
Page 11, Panel 1 does show some open bombay type doors, but why would a police plane need bombay doors & can a pilot get from the cockpit to the bombay if they have such a feature?
Page 9, Panel 4. The plane appears to be an open cockpit model, but later shots show a closed cockpit & where there should be a line at the front is solid.
The Crime College Detective Comics #304
Crooks use a tank-like machine with a saw on it to slice a bank building completely in half, both parts start to fall until JJ throws a girder through them to hold them together.
1. The saw blade doesn't look big enough.
2. Why would both halves fall to the sides instead of just collapsing?
3. The girder looks too big (in relation to the building it's pierced) to be real.
4. Isn't it just lucky that the girder both pierced one side of the building & pushed it back up without shattering it or passing through it?
5. It is said that both sides were falling, however when the girder pierces both sides the far said is still standing up in, more or less, the same position. There doesn't seem to be any kind of sag or lean on that side.
6. Isn't it just lucky that the girder pierced the far side & held it up rather than pushing it farther over.
JJ reveals he learned about the crime college by walking through the wall of the cell of two crooks he stopped earlier & listened to them, they couldn't see him because he was invisible.
Wait a minute! He lost his ability to use other powers while invisible in issue 273. He couldn't walk through the wall while invisible.
Additionally JJ could have used his telepathy (last used in 227), his chameleon abilities, or his superhearing, but didn't.