Post by redsycorax on Aug 15, 2022 2:13:36 GMT
What was the backstory behind J'Onn J'Onnz's return to his native Mars in 1969? NB: This does not take place in Earth-One's standard continuity, but in one where Professor Saul Erdel's teleporter plucked J'Onn from Mars in the distant past. This story incorporates what we now know about the areological history of the red planet or what can be inferred from existing, currently available knowledge.
++
PROLOGUE:
"What you don't know is that on Mars I was a military science leader, engaged in fighting a worldwide civil war. I directed the forces of the desert dwellers- and my opponent, Commander Blanx, led the invading forces of the pole dwellers. The reason for our struggle...the prize we both sought...was a gigantic 'tree' of blue flame situated between our nations...the only source of heat on Mars...the only fire we knew. I hoped to use it to power spaceships... [...] Finally, Blanx and I met in hand to hand combat. [...] I underestimated my enemy [and]...was sent into exile. Without my leadership, my people were soon defeated..." "My time of exile was over. Using the Earth scientist's device, I returned to Mars...and found our once-mighty civilisation in charred ruins"
- J'Onn J'Onnz: "And So My World Ends" Justice League of America 71 (May 1969)
MARS: NOACHIAN ERA: 4.1- 3.7 BILLION YEARS BEFORE THE PRESENT:
Before the events outlined in this story, Mars had experienced more than its fair share of buffeting from its planetary neighbour, given Jupiter's outward migration beforehand, which had led to an inordinate amount of debris bombardment, some of which contained water ice and which became liquid water, given that the primordial sun was somewhat larger than its current diameter and its habitable 'ecosphere' was consequently more outward than is currently the case. The larger protoplanets that had become Venus and the Earth consumed abundant quantities of ice and rock debris and in the atmosphere of the primordial earth, considerable meteorological turbulence activated the amino acid sequences found in DNA throughout Terran life. Mars fared differently. It was smaller and the proximity of Jupiter deprived it of crucial matter, as well as a sizeable planetary satellite akin to Earth's moon. While Phobos and Deimos formed after a smaller planetoid impact, they did not have the mass necessary to enable its parent planet's long term environmental stability. And thus, originally, ancient Mars had a more elaborate atmosphere and an ocean that covered most of its northern hemisphere. The Borealis Ocean was a turbulent mass of water, with the volatility adversely affecting the rise of life there. However, eventually, life did arise, but not akin to that on Earth. Instead, a protozoan invertebrate became the dominant species and obtained predominantly mineral nourishment from the Martian soil. The two Martian continents, Australis and the smaller Borealis, produced two different Martian species. One was green hued, while another was alabaster white in coloration.
Mars was a different world itself then, with little atmospheric oxygen to produce its telltale red hue. Its desert and beach sands were obsidian black and as on Earth, there were 'oases'- but as Mars had no plant life of its own, momentary river valleys were carved out where water flowed, then subsided, leaching into the soil beneath it. Only in vast craters did water concentrate and form lakes, never overflowing, even in the case of the gigantic Hellas impact crater, whose sustenance nourished Areopolis, the Green Martian capital, for millennia. However, the scale of the impact led to a surfeit of volcanic activity as well, in Tyrrhena and Hadriaca Patera in the planets northeast and in the southeast and south, Amphitrites, Malea, Peneus and Pityusa Pateras. Australis was littered with the scars of the Late Heavy Bombardment as Jupiter migrated outward and caused perturbation within the asteroid belt, evident in craters such as Argyre and Chryse. But over time, as Jupiter reached its current, optimal orbital perimeters, the bombardment diminished and the Green Martian species were fed by the bounty of abundant elements from the skies above. There were still cataclysmic impact events, but the Green Martians compensated by building well inland from the shores of the Borealis Ocean. Dissolved salts, sediments and volcanic ash rained down from clouds composed primarily of carbon dioxide and water vapour. The rain was dirty and acidic, but the hardy carapaces of Green and White Martians alike were not as fragile as human skin and weathered the hostile environment around them. In fact, neither Green or White Martians were actually hominid at all- although their metamorphic abilities could simulate such appearances, as J'Onn J'Onnz did throughout his sojourn on Earth. Truth to tell, however, if one had been able to dissect either species of Martian, one would find enlarged and specialised hyperprotozoan organelles beneath.
But although the Green and White Martians evolved on a world whose environment would be considered heavily inhospitable to human life, there were factors that would ultimately lead both species into mortal combat with one another. One was the eccentric Martian orbit, which was moderately chaotic. Over time, that would prove at first inimical, then fatal to the ultimate survival of life on Mars. The other factor was the absence of a magnetic field akin to that on Earth. Without such a restraining influence, gradually, Martian surface water either leached into space or accumulated within the planetary crust and mantle. And then, over time, the immensity of the Tharsis volcanic range leached away water and diminished the retention capabilities of the Martian atmosphere. And, inevitably, the Green and White Martians came to blows over the dwindling reserves of quantum energy available to them, a legacy energy source from a time of relative plenty and prosperity before the worsening Martian climate turned against the planet's inhabitants and when technological advance was still possible. And thus, the energies of Green and White Martians alike were expended on a brutal, fratricidal war that exhausted their energies and the wartorn planet's remaining resources, as well as further compromising its already fragile biosphere, this time beyond the tipping point. And thus, the valleys of Valles Marineris lay burning. The mountain fortresses of Tharsis lay burning. The soaring metropolitan cities that clustered around nutrient-rich Chryse and Argyre lay burning. The obsidian sands and harbour cities of the Borealis Ocean lay burning. Ashea, Kadav, Ylabaast, Palle, Yvoire, Lyx, Akhrom, Aenym, Ghhas and Arjynt, the tight cluster of northern polar cities of the White Martians lay burning. The volcanic caldera energy extraction plants of Tyrrhena, Hadriaca, Amphitrites, Malea, Peneus and Pityusa Paterae lay shattered and aflame, prey to orbital mass drivers from either side of the grim global conflict. Millions died on either side. At the end of that inexorable process, Mars was all but uninhabitable. Dessicated and incinerated bodies lay aflame, gaping silently and unseeing at the underside of a crimson and obsidian mushroom cloud as it roiled and blistered above the burning, desolate and ruined crystalline shards that had once been the Green Martian capital of Areopolis.
But long before then, J'Onn J'Onnz was teleported to Earth in the distant future. Reading his inadvertant captor's mind, J'Onn J'Onnz rapidly altered his appearance to something approximating that of a Terran humanoid, but the shock was still too much for the elderly but enterprising physicist, who perished from a sudden heart attack.
Professor Erdel's death meant that many years would pass before the exiled Green Martian saw his homeworld again and when he did, it consisted of broken and desolate deserted buildings and sepulchural silence on a dead planet. However, two caveats need to be borne in mind here- J'Onn J'Onnz had not returned to present day Mars, but to a Mars that had been ravaged by the twin apocalypses of environmental hostility and fratricidal global war -but, more importantly, one that had existed billions of years before the datum present. And thus, as a consequence, the processes of environmental transformation caused the metamorphosis of its planetary surface over the intervening time span. Because the Green and White Martians were invertebrates, they left no organic fossils. Over time, the steady effects of vulcanism and catastrophic impact events caused the burial, fragmentation and dissolution of their once-proud cities and the disintegration of their artefacts. However, both species lived on- the Green Martians had long settled on "New Mars" and the White Martians had inherited a fool's chalice. Accordingly, capable of limited interplanetary travel, they cored out an asteroid and placed their entire species in cryogenic suspension. Millions, then billions of years passed as the silent asteroid orbited high above the solar system's elliptic.
And thus, by the time that J'Onn J'Onnz set out into interstellar space to find any surviving Green Martian refugees after fighting off his old, mortal enemy Commander Blanx and his minions, it was as if there had "never" been any life on Mars, for no trace remained after billions of years of areological upheaval, vulcanism and seismic reverberations from untold meteor impacts. And thus, ancient Mars became modern Mars, with no clue as to the drama and turmoil that had characterised its far distant past. When the twin NASA Viking landers touched down in 1976, they confirmed this apparent erasure.
Will Magnus, Niles Caulder and other scientists explained the origins and likely fate of the enigmatic J'Onn J'Onnz and his people as the United States celebrated its bicentennial. Before then, Superman had encountered his former Justice League associate in interstellar space and near the Green Martian colony on "New Mars" four years past, in 1972. And, in the mid-eighties, assured of his people's survival, J'Onn J'Onnz would return to his adopted planet and his old allies within the Justice League of America, but that is a tale for another time.
THE END [4.55 PM, August 19, 2022]
Useful Reference: Simon Morden: "Part Four: The Noachian" (pgs. 83-127) in The Red Planet: London: Elliot and Thompson: 2021.
++
PROLOGUE:
"What you don't know is that on Mars I was a military science leader, engaged in fighting a worldwide civil war. I directed the forces of the desert dwellers- and my opponent, Commander Blanx, led the invading forces of the pole dwellers. The reason for our struggle...the prize we both sought...was a gigantic 'tree' of blue flame situated between our nations...the only source of heat on Mars...the only fire we knew. I hoped to use it to power spaceships... [...] Finally, Blanx and I met in hand to hand combat. [...] I underestimated my enemy [and]...was sent into exile. Without my leadership, my people were soon defeated..." "My time of exile was over. Using the Earth scientist's device, I returned to Mars...and found our once-mighty civilisation in charred ruins"
- J'Onn J'Onnz: "And So My World Ends" Justice League of America 71 (May 1969)
MARS: NOACHIAN ERA: 4.1- 3.7 BILLION YEARS BEFORE THE PRESENT:
Before the events outlined in this story, Mars had experienced more than its fair share of buffeting from its planetary neighbour, given Jupiter's outward migration beforehand, which had led to an inordinate amount of debris bombardment, some of which contained water ice and which became liquid water, given that the primordial sun was somewhat larger than its current diameter and its habitable 'ecosphere' was consequently more outward than is currently the case. The larger protoplanets that had become Venus and the Earth consumed abundant quantities of ice and rock debris and in the atmosphere of the primordial earth, considerable meteorological turbulence activated the amino acid sequences found in DNA throughout Terran life. Mars fared differently. It was smaller and the proximity of Jupiter deprived it of crucial matter, as well as a sizeable planetary satellite akin to Earth's moon. While Phobos and Deimos formed after a smaller planetoid impact, they did not have the mass necessary to enable its parent planet's long term environmental stability. And thus, originally, ancient Mars had a more elaborate atmosphere and an ocean that covered most of its northern hemisphere. The Borealis Ocean was a turbulent mass of water, with the volatility adversely affecting the rise of life there. However, eventually, life did arise, but not akin to that on Earth. Instead, a protozoan invertebrate became the dominant species and obtained predominantly mineral nourishment from the Martian soil. The two Martian continents, Australis and the smaller Borealis, produced two different Martian species. One was green hued, while another was alabaster white in coloration.
Mars was a different world itself then, with little atmospheric oxygen to produce its telltale red hue. Its desert and beach sands were obsidian black and as on Earth, there were 'oases'- but as Mars had no plant life of its own, momentary river valleys were carved out where water flowed, then subsided, leaching into the soil beneath it. Only in vast craters did water concentrate and form lakes, never overflowing, even in the case of the gigantic Hellas impact crater, whose sustenance nourished Areopolis, the Green Martian capital, for millennia. However, the scale of the impact led to a surfeit of volcanic activity as well, in Tyrrhena and Hadriaca Patera in the planets northeast and in the southeast and south, Amphitrites, Malea, Peneus and Pityusa Pateras. Australis was littered with the scars of the Late Heavy Bombardment as Jupiter migrated outward and caused perturbation within the asteroid belt, evident in craters such as Argyre and Chryse. But over time, as Jupiter reached its current, optimal orbital perimeters, the bombardment diminished and the Green Martian species were fed by the bounty of abundant elements from the skies above. There were still cataclysmic impact events, but the Green Martians compensated by building well inland from the shores of the Borealis Ocean. Dissolved salts, sediments and volcanic ash rained down from clouds composed primarily of carbon dioxide and water vapour. The rain was dirty and acidic, but the hardy carapaces of Green and White Martians alike were not as fragile as human skin and weathered the hostile environment around them. In fact, neither Green or White Martians were actually hominid at all- although their metamorphic abilities could simulate such appearances, as J'Onn J'Onnz did throughout his sojourn on Earth. Truth to tell, however, if one had been able to dissect either species of Martian, one would find enlarged and specialised hyperprotozoan organelles beneath.
But although the Green and White Martians evolved on a world whose environment would be considered heavily inhospitable to human life, there were factors that would ultimately lead both species into mortal combat with one another. One was the eccentric Martian orbit, which was moderately chaotic. Over time, that would prove at first inimical, then fatal to the ultimate survival of life on Mars. The other factor was the absence of a magnetic field akin to that on Earth. Without such a restraining influence, gradually, Martian surface water either leached into space or accumulated within the planetary crust and mantle. And then, over time, the immensity of the Tharsis volcanic range leached away water and diminished the retention capabilities of the Martian atmosphere. And, inevitably, the Green and White Martians came to blows over the dwindling reserves of quantum energy available to them, a legacy energy source from a time of relative plenty and prosperity before the worsening Martian climate turned against the planet's inhabitants and when technological advance was still possible. And thus, the energies of Green and White Martians alike were expended on a brutal, fratricidal war that exhausted their energies and the wartorn planet's remaining resources, as well as further compromising its already fragile biosphere, this time beyond the tipping point. And thus, the valleys of Valles Marineris lay burning. The mountain fortresses of Tharsis lay burning. The soaring metropolitan cities that clustered around nutrient-rich Chryse and Argyre lay burning. The obsidian sands and harbour cities of the Borealis Ocean lay burning. Ashea, Kadav, Ylabaast, Palle, Yvoire, Lyx, Akhrom, Aenym, Ghhas and Arjynt, the tight cluster of northern polar cities of the White Martians lay burning. The volcanic caldera energy extraction plants of Tyrrhena, Hadriaca, Amphitrites, Malea, Peneus and Pityusa Paterae lay shattered and aflame, prey to orbital mass drivers from either side of the grim global conflict. Millions died on either side. At the end of that inexorable process, Mars was all but uninhabitable. Dessicated and incinerated bodies lay aflame, gaping silently and unseeing at the underside of a crimson and obsidian mushroom cloud as it roiled and blistered above the burning, desolate and ruined crystalline shards that had once been the Green Martian capital of Areopolis.
But long before then, J'Onn J'Onnz was teleported to Earth in the distant future. Reading his inadvertant captor's mind, J'Onn J'Onnz rapidly altered his appearance to something approximating that of a Terran humanoid, but the shock was still too much for the elderly but enterprising physicist, who perished from a sudden heart attack.
Professor Erdel's death meant that many years would pass before the exiled Green Martian saw his homeworld again and when he did, it consisted of broken and desolate deserted buildings and sepulchural silence on a dead planet. However, two caveats need to be borne in mind here- J'Onn J'Onnz had not returned to present day Mars, but to a Mars that had been ravaged by the twin apocalypses of environmental hostility and fratricidal global war -but, more importantly, one that had existed billions of years before the datum present. And thus, as a consequence, the processes of environmental transformation caused the metamorphosis of its planetary surface over the intervening time span. Because the Green and White Martians were invertebrates, they left no organic fossils. Over time, the steady effects of vulcanism and catastrophic impact events caused the burial, fragmentation and dissolution of their once-proud cities and the disintegration of their artefacts. However, both species lived on- the Green Martians had long settled on "New Mars" and the White Martians had inherited a fool's chalice. Accordingly, capable of limited interplanetary travel, they cored out an asteroid and placed their entire species in cryogenic suspension. Millions, then billions of years passed as the silent asteroid orbited high above the solar system's elliptic.
And thus, by the time that J'Onn J'Onnz set out into interstellar space to find any surviving Green Martian refugees after fighting off his old, mortal enemy Commander Blanx and his minions, it was as if there had "never" been any life on Mars, for no trace remained after billions of years of areological upheaval, vulcanism and seismic reverberations from untold meteor impacts. And thus, ancient Mars became modern Mars, with no clue as to the drama and turmoil that had characterised its far distant past. When the twin NASA Viking landers touched down in 1976, they confirmed this apparent erasure.
Will Magnus, Niles Caulder and other scientists explained the origins and likely fate of the enigmatic J'Onn J'Onnz and his people as the United States celebrated its bicentennial. Before then, Superman had encountered his former Justice League associate in interstellar space and near the Green Martian colony on "New Mars" four years past, in 1972. And, in the mid-eighties, assured of his people's survival, J'Onn J'Onnz would return to his adopted planet and his old allies within the Justice League of America, but that is a tale for another time.
THE END [4.55 PM, August 19, 2022]
Useful Reference: Simon Morden: "Part Four: The Noachian" (pgs. 83-127) in The Red Planet: London: Elliot and Thompson: 2021.