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Commander Blanx was a White Martian warlord.
History
First Appearance
In February, 1959, a panic is generated by the revelation of the presence of Martians (specifically from J'onn J'onzz and his enemy Commander Blanx and his followers) on Earth. Unable to cope with the situation alone, the Flash, then a mere fledgling as a super-hero, summons the more experienced Superman, Batman, and Robin to help out.
When Roy Raymond, telejournalist and host of the "Impossible But True" program, learns of the situation, his public disclosure of the problem instigates a gathering of heroes, including the Blackhawks, the Challengers of the Unknown, Plastic Man, the Vigilante, Robotman, Congo Bill and Congorilla, Rex the Wonder Dog, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen. The only prominent hero missing is Green Arrow, who is involved in a case that takes him and his sidekick Speedy back to the island of his origin.[1]
The assembled champions divide up into groups to search out further Martian activity: Plastic Man, Jimmy Olsen, and the Blackhawks accidentally run afoul of Rip Hunter's newly invented Time Sphere. Vigilante, Robotman, Congo Bill, Congorilla, Lois Lane, and the Challengers have a near-encounter with Adam Strange and the Zeta-Beam.
Finally, the remaining heroes discover Blanx and his men, and rescue the captive J'onn J'onzz. The successful team, with the exceptions of Robin, Roy Raymond, and Rex, consists of the same heroes who will make an agreement to unite formally as the Justice League of America some months later; even the future Green Lantern is present, having encountered the Martians in his identity as test pilot Hal Jordan.
Second Appearance
Diana Prince and her mentor Ching are taking in an circus when it's suddenly menaced by a rampaging man that is covered from head to toe. Diana fights the man but finds that he is super-humanly strong and call the Justice League for help. Batman and Green Arrow arrive and they beat the man into submission and unmask him, they are shocked to find it is their fellow JLA member, the Martian Manhunter.
Returned to his right mind, Manhunter is taken to Justice League headquarters where he tells his friends that he had recently returned to Mars where he had found that the planet was being overrun by Benn Blanx, a Martian who wished the people of Mars to return to their war like ways and had taken over the entire planet and began engulfing it in a blue flame that threatens to destroy everyone on the planet. When Martian Manhunter began teaching his people how to build a rocket so that they may escape from Mars and transported himself back to Earth to seek help, but along the way his mind had snapped. With his story complete, he asks the Justice League to help him save the surviving people of Mars.
The Justice League agrees and goes out into space to try and stop Blanx. Along the way they are struck by a beam that causes them to be trapped in a satellite orbit around the Earth. Shielded by Superman's body and unaffected, Green Arrow frees his comrades when he frees Superman who creates a giant prism to use against the alien weapon. Nearing the planet Mars, they come across one of Blanx's ships. While Flash, Atom, Batman, Green Arrow, Hawkman and Martian Manhunter go to attack the ship, Green Lantern and Superman try to find a way to douse the blue flames. Green Lantern is shocked to find that his power ring does not effect the device and soon finds his physical strength waning and falls into the fire.
Meanwhile the others are paralyzed by a ray fired from the ship, however Atom and Flash manage to use their powers to free themselves and board the vessel. Aboard the alien ship, they attack the renegade Martians and free their comrades from the rays beam. With the other League members aboard, they easily make short work of it's crew. On the surface of Mars, Superman saves Green Lantern and uses his powers to rip off the surface area of Mars set ablaze from the blue fire and throws it into space. Finding the world barren and dead, Superman and Green Lantern witness the last survivors of Mars blasting off in the rocket that J'onn J'onzz built for them.
The Manhunter tracks down Blanx in the ruins of Mars and the two battle one-on-one, and during the fight Martian Manhunter sends Blanx falling to his death. With his world destroyed, Manhunter decides to go with the survivors into deep space to find a new home and bids farewell to his friends in the Justice League.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Martian Physiology: The average Martian possesses the potential for the following power set:
- Shape-Shifting: Martians have psionic control of their physical for down to the molecular level. This allows them to a form of shape-shifting that allows them to mimic other forms, elongate aspects of their body, increase or decrease their physical size, and so on.
- Size Alteration: As an extension of their shape-shifting abilities, Martians can easily alter their size, shrinking or growing to gigantic size.[2]
- Invisibility: Martians can cause the biopolymers in their bodies to lose their ability to reflect light, making the Martians invisible to normal light and human sight.[3]
- Phasing: Martians can go through solid matter.
- Superhuman Strength:[3] Martians possess vast levels of superhuman strength and are among the few races that are able to match Kryptonians in terms of raw strength. Martians can easily shatter reinforced concrete and steel, lift and carry hundreds of tons with ease and deliver incredible damage with their blows.[4]
- Superhuman Stamina
- Superhuman Durability: Martians possess high levels of durability that make them nigh-invulnerable to all forms of damage. Martians can withstand high-caliber bullets, powerful energy blasts, and kinetic impacts without suffering damage.[5]
- Superhuman Speed: Martians can process thoughts, move, and react at incredible speed, being able to cover vast distances in little or no time, catch bullets in mid-flight, run on water and create afterimages as they run.[6]
- Regeneration: Martians have powerful regenerative powers that enable them to regenerate their entire body from a severed limb, they can further enhance their regenerative powers by drawing mass from nearby sources.[7]
- Flight[3]
- Extrasensory Input
- Longevity[7]
- Super Hearing[7]
- Heat Vision[8]
- Martian Vision: Martian visual acuity greatly exceed human norms and allows for a wider range of information to be observed. This includes the following:[3]
- Infrared Vision[citation needed]
- X-Ray Vision[9]
- Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision[citation needed]
- Telescopic Vision[10]
- Microscopic Vision[citation needed]
- Telepathy: Martians have the ability to read the minds of others and project their thoughts to varying degrees. They can also project their mental essences into a gestalt community known as the "Great Mind". Through this, the community can enhance the telepathic strength of other Martians. This power can also enable them to reverse the effects of amnesia or psychological brainwashing. [3]
- Illusions
- Possession
- Astral Projection
- Mind Control: As an extension of this, Martians can also use the ability to alter a psychological profile of a target, enabling them to manipulate, and in some cases, outright control that individual. This practice is greatly discouraged however, and only rarely used. [11]
- Telepathic Relay[11]
- Telepathic Assault
- Telekinesis:[12] Martians have mind-over-matter abilities and can lift and move objects with their minds. They can also employ their telekinesis in an offensive way by discharging telekinetic blasts capable of great concussive power.[13]
- Shape-Shifting: Martians have psionic control of their physical for down to the molecular level. This allows them to a form of shape-shifting that allows them to mimic other forms, elongate aspects of their body, increase or decrease their physical size, and so on.
Weaknesses
Notes
- This version of Commander Blanx, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
Related
- 2 Appearances of Benn Blanx (Earth-One)
- 1 Images featuring Benn Blanx (Earth-One)
- Quotations by or about Benn Blanx (Earth-One)
- Character Gallery: Benn Blanx (Earth-One)
Footnotes
- ↑ Justice League of America #144
- ↑ Martian Manhunter (Volume 4) #1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Detective Comics #225
- ↑ Martian Manhunter (Volume 4) #2
- ↑ Martian Manhunter (Volume 3) #3
- ↑ JLA #3
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Martian Manhunter (Volume 2) #8
- ↑ Martian Manhunter (Volume 2) #3
- ↑ DC Comics Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded
- ↑ Who's Who: Update '88 #2
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Martian Manhunter #4
- ↑ Detective Comics #226
- ↑ Martian Manhunter (Volume 3) #8
  This character, team or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of Martian Manhunter. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Martian Manhunter Villains category." |
 This character is or was primarily an enemy of the Justice League, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Justice League Villains." |