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===Silver Age (1950s–1960s)===
Martian Manhunter aka John (J'onn J'onzz) Jones debuted in the back-up story "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel" in ''[[Detective Comics]]'' #225 (November 1955), written by [[Joseph Samachson]] and illustrated by Joe Certa.{{Cref|Note 1}} The character is a green-skinned [[humanoid]] from [[Mars]], who is pulled to Earth by an experimental [[teleportation]] beam constructed by Dr. [[Saul Erdel]]. The Martian tells Erdel where he is from, and Erdel tells him that to send him back will require the teleportation beam's robot brain to be recalibrated, and that this may take years. J'onzz changes into the shape of a human to blend in until he can return to Mars. The shock of seeing this kills Dr. Erdel and leaves J'onzz with no way of returning home. The character decides to fight crime while waiting for [[Martian]] technology to advance to a stage that will enable his rescue.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schelly |first1=William |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1950s |date=2013 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=9781605490540 |page=140}}</ref> To that end, he [[human disguise|adopts the identity]] of ''John Jones'', a detective in the fictional Middletown, USA.<ref>''Detective Comics'' #322 (December 1963)</ref>
During this period, the character and his backstory differ in some minor and some significant ways from modern treatments. Firstly, as with his counterpart, the [[Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] [[Superman]], J'onzz's power range is poorly defined, and his powers expand over time as the plot demands. The addition of [[precognition|precognitive]] abilities (''Detective Comics'' #226) is quickly followed by telepathy and flight,<ref>''[[Detective Comics]]'' #227 (January 1956)</ref><ref>''Detective Comics'' #228 (February 1956)</ref> "atomic vision", super-hearing,<ref>''Detective Comics'' #231 (May 1956)</ref> and many other powers. In addition, his customary weakness to fire is only manifested when he is in his native Martian form.
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