J'onnverse Canon Notes

Martian Manhunter

We are using the 1988 mini as a defining moment of J'onnverse continuity and almost everything in which J'onn appears post 1988 is probably incorporated into the J'onnverse somewhere. Where there are conflicts between the 1988 mini and the later ongoing Martian Manhunter series, we have tended to go along with the later series (so, for example, J'onn's vulnerability to fire is both psychological and physical, no matter what weird things started going on after "the Obsidian Age" in JLA).

JLA

Probably the messiest continuity we are working with. We are taking "JLA: Year One" as canon and are largely ignoring the first 200 or so issues of the first Justice League series. We pick up canon again toward the end of that series with the events that led to the formation of the Detroit team. We continue following that line of continuity into the Justice League International days (the BWAH HA HA era) and stick with that through the "Break Downs" arc. We are picking and choosing from the Justice League Task Force. "Midsummer's Nightmare," "Paradise Lost," "DC One Million" and "Foreign Bodies" are definitely in J'onnverse continuity. The current JLA monthly is included through issue #65. From that point on we might pick up parts of story lines, but obviously stories like "The Burning" do not fit into what we're doing.

Other DCU

The further the J'onnverse unfolds, the more of the larger DCU gets pulled into the story. Some canon stories, like the "Zoom" storyline and the aftermath running in "The Flash" from issues #196-206, hit after we had written beyond the events depicted there. We are gleefully incorporating JSA storylines with the same sort of tweaks we are putting in everywhere. "The Power Company" is sadly mourned, and we'll try to keep it alive here.

Among the big canon changes not happening in the JV - the whole "Graduation Day" mess with the Titans, YJ, and the Outsiders left us cold. Our Donna is still alive. We are trying to be a little more realistic about the "kid hero" situation than DC has been. We recognize an audience issue; of course teens and younger would read comics as fantasy, and wouldn't it be cool to not have to worry about parents and go have a headquarters in San Francisco, etc. We aren't writing for kids. If the Titans and YJ require adjustment to more fully address the needs of the heroes in both organizations, we won't just "reboot."

General note on canon:

Throughout the J'onnverse, the stories will have canon notes included, letting you know what particular issues are actually referenced in the stories. Any canon events happening after the year 2001 are subject to a certain amount of picking and choosing on our part. Some canon stories no longer make sense if J'onn and Bruce are together, others appeared after we had already dealt with the same material in the J'onnverse.

Must Reads: 1988 Martian Manhunter Mini (DeMatteis) JLA: Year One JLA #55-58

J'onn/Bruce (in canon) 1989 JLI Annual JLA: Midsummers Nightmare MM #22 JLA: Paradise Lost

Worthy Stories (canon)