Who was the 1st Manhunter (non-Martian) from DC (or Quality) you ever read about

[MajorHoy]

There was this response in a different thread:

. . . next should be the Manhunter list.

So, we'll give it a try here.

As mentioned, these are characters other than "Martian Manhunter", so basically just "Manhunter" (though I have included "Manhunter 2070").
We're also looking for the first one you read about in a comic book story, and that includes any reprints of the Dan Richards version originally published by Quality Comics (since DC made use of that character later on).

Your choices are as follows; please pay very close attention since there are multiple versions (including clones!) for "Paul Kirk":

- Dan Richards (from Quality Comics 1942-1950 / DC after 1984?)
- Paul Kirk (but with no costume: Adventure Comics #58-72)
- "Rick Nelson" (Adventure Comics #73, April 1942)
- Golden Age Paul Kirk (same costume as "Rick Nelson", just identity name change; Adventure Comics #74, May 1942)
- Starker, "Manhunter 2070" (first appearance in Showcase #91, June 1970)
- 1970s Paul Kirk (resurrected by The Council; first appearance in Detective Comics #437, Oct.-Nov. 1973)
- Mark Shaw (first appearance: 1st Issue Special #5, August 1975)
- Paul Kirk clone (pre-CoIE; first appeared Secret Society of Super Villains #1, May-June 1976)
- Chase Lawler (post-Zero Hour version; first appeared Manhunter #0, October 1994)
- Kirk DePaul (another Paul Kirk clone; first appeared in Power Company preview in JLA #61, February 2002)
- Kate Spencer (first appearance: Manhunter #1, October 2004)
- Tangent version of Manhunter (from Earth-9; first appearance in Tangent: Superman's Reign #1, May 2008)

[CRaymond]

I don't mean for this to seem snarky.

What is your purpose for these "first read about" threads? It seems as thought you're building toward some results-oriented summary, but I don't understand the relaitonships between the characters, or what your end goal is.

That said, Kate Spencer.

[MajorHoy]

I don't mean for this to seem snarky.

What is your purpose for these "first read about" threads? It seems as thought you're building toward some results-oriented summary, but I don't understand the relaitonships between the characters, or what your end goal is.

The "purpose"?

I thought they might be something that would be "fun" for some people, and maybe something to talk about.

Maybe I should stop creating these threads and let people go back to getting all pissy about which "Green Lantern" is the bestest, etc. . . .

[CRaymond]

Maybe I should stop creating these threads and let people go back to getting all pissy about which "Green Lantern" is the bestest, etc. . . .

Nooooo... I was just wondering. You're actually educating me how many of each character there is, I was sure Kate was the latest of maybe 4, max.

[CaptCleghorn]

I don't mean for this to seem snarky.

What is your purpose for these "first read about" threads? It seems as thought you're building toward some results-oriented summary, but I don't understand the relaitonships between the characters, or what your end goal is.

That said, Kate Spencer.

He might be the only person who cares, which still makes this thread a valid happening. It can evoke conversation and camaraderie. Me, I'm a Goodwin/Simonson Paul Kirk boy. And John Stewart rulez, man! Too soon?

[Chubistian]

Can't remember his name, could it be Mark? I read the first 4 issues (a complete arc), written by Ostrander,pretty neat stuff. I later encountered him in Ostrander' SS (but it was before his run by Ostrander if I remember it correctly), also he would participate in a crossover with Flash where Wally's issues were by Mesner-Loebs, sadly I don't have the whole story
image.jpg

[CaptCleghorn]

Can I fanboy complain about Paul Kirk being resurrected /cloned whatevered by the Council on Earth One when he was clearly an Earth Two character? Has there ever been an explanation for this? If there was a pre-crisis explanation I missed it.

[SJNeal]

Can't remember his name, could it be Mark? I read the first 4 issues (a complete arc), written by Ostrander,pretty neat stuff. I later encountered him in Ostrander' SS (but it was before his run by Ostrander if I remember it correctly), also he would participate in a crossover with Flash where Wally's issues were by Mesner-Loebs, sadly I don't have the whole story
image.jpg

This was my first Manhunter. Somehow I ended up with a handful of non-sequential issues from a garage sale (I think?).

The first Manhunter I ever cared about was Kate Spencer.

[Ascended]

I think the first Manhunter I ever saw was the post-Zero Hour version. I never read the book, but I saw him.

The first Manhunter I read about at all was the Kirk DePaul version in Power Company. And I didn't like him very much.

The first Manhunter I actually cared about was Kate Spencer. And I still believe it was an honor and privilege to read that book. It's quite likely one of my top ten favorite DC series of all time. If not top ten, then definitely top twenty.

[SJNeal]

^ ^ ^

It's about time DC reprint her series, isn't it? Pretty sure the old volumes are all out of print...?

[DevilBat66]

1970's Paul Kirk In Detective Comics. I thought he was way cool but the stories and all the clone stuff were pretty confusing to my 8 year old brain.

[MajorHoy]

Can't remember his name, could it be Mark? I read the first 4 issues (a complete arc), written by Ostrander,pretty neat stuff. I later encountered him in Ostrander' SS (but it was before his run by Ostrander if I remember it correctly), also he would participate in a crossover with Flash where Wally's issues were by Mesner-Loebs, sadly I don't have the whole story
image.jpg

That was the Mark Shaw version, but get set for a bit more confusion:
After his one-shot appearance in that 1st Issue Special by Jack Kirby (who had worked with Joe Simon creating DC's costumed Manhunter back in Adventure Comics), Shaw's next appearance is in Justice League of America #140 written by Steve Englehart with (interior) art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin.



It was during Englehart's run that it was revealed the Manhunters were actually an army of androids formed by the Guardians of Universe as the predecessors of the Green Lantern Corps, but the Manhunters proved not to work out as the Guardians had hoped. Shaw was being used as basically a pawn/agent of the Manhunters, but once Shaw learned the truth he fought back.
Shaw next gave up the Manhunter identity and adopted the name and costume of "Privateer".


However, Shaw also was acting as a villain called Star-Tsar, and he was defeated by the League.

Eventually John Ostrander made use of the character in Suicide Squad and eventually as "Manhunter".

[SJNeal]

^ ^ ^

Thank god for Ostrander; the rest of that sounds awful!

[godisawesome]

Finally, an excuse to talk about my favorite franchise of mostly-unrelated characters!

That was the Mark Shaw version, but get set for a bit more confusion:
After his one-shot appearance in that 1st Issue Special by Jack Kirby (who had worked with Joe Simon creating DC's costumed Manhunter back in Adventure Comics), Shaw's next appearance is in Justice League of America #140 written by Steve Englehart with (interior) art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin.



It was during Englehart's run that it was revealed the Manhunters were actually an army of androids formed by the Guardians of Universe as the predecessors of the Green Lantern Corps, but the Manhunters proved not to work out as the Guardians had hoped. Shaw was being used as basically a pawn/agent of the Manhunters, but once Shaw learned the truth he fought back.
Shaw next gave up the Manhunter identity and adopted the name and costume of "Privateer".


However, Shaw also was acting as a villain called Star-Tsar, and he was defeated by the League.

Eventually John Ostrander made use of the character in Suicide Squad and eventually as "Manhunter".

Mark Shaw as Privateer and Star Tsar was my first exposure to any of those characters as individuals, though the concept of the android Manhunters was already introduced to me by the Justice League cartoon. Then I used the Internet to find out about Paul Kirk and Mark Shaw, loved both of their costumes, and eventually used EBay to get ahold of Ostrander's Shaw series and the Archie Goodwin-penned Paul Kirk TPB. They're both great action thriller stories with a hint of sci-fi and noir. Though I'm going to rant a bit about some issues with other people's handling of Shaw in a second...

Weirdly enough, considering how little the characters had to do with each other, the Mark Shaw series introduced the closest thing to a franchise villain they ever had: Dumas, an assassin in awesome samurai/knight hybrid armor, with an identity used by two characters against Shaw, then by Shaw himself undercover as a way for the writers to end the Chase Lawler series and retcon away Shaw's death in an Eclipso story, then by Shaw *again* as a villain in Kate Spencer's series who kills Lawler, Garret, and DePaul before being shaken out of his delusion.

Quite frankly, I was really disappointed when Andreyko just copied the (rather hurried and sloppy) retcon from Lawler's series about Shaw going undercover for his own series, but had Shaw go full Mr. Hyde, before going back into his already ridiculously retconned history and retconning even more stuff into it. I forget what all happened exactly, but I think Marc Andreyko may have kind of rendered the entire Ostrander series null and void, which really irritated me, as I loved the first and last arc of that series (the ones that featured separate people as Dumas.) I learned he was doing it to try and set up some scenario where the Dumas identity would be tied to the Order of St. Dumas from Batman and get Shaw in an Azrael costume, but I don't think there was really in justification for chopping up everything about an already chopped up character.

[Jim Kelly]

I'm thankful for Mike's Amazing World as I rely on it to correct my memory. The first Manhunter I probably read was in Archie Goodwin's DETECTIVE COMICS (issue 437) in 1973, the resurrected Paul Kirk. However, that might not be true, because back in 1971 - 72, I had to go to the dentist severals times and he had in his waiting room a stack of DC comics featuring Jack Kirby's 4th World--including several issues of NEW GODS. I remember distinctly reading the story of the Black Racer (NEW GODS 3) while waiting to get my teeth done, but I'm sure there's other issues that I read. And since NEW GODS 4 - 9 reprinted the Simon & Kirby Manhunter, it's possible I read some of those stories, too.