In-Page Links
The Martians * The Greens
The Pale Martians * The Reds * The Whites
How To Navigate In Here
If you click on the pictures on the left-hand side of the screen, it will take you to a larger version. But unlike the other pages, clicking on the titles of the subsections (the underlined ones) will take you to a page with more information on the critter of your choice.
It may not be perfect, but it's the only way I could think of keeping all this stuff in order, without making a contents page from heck.
Yeah, I know - make a "navigation tree". I'm working on it.
In the meantime, just bear with me. Thanks. |
![]() |
The MartiansThere are two "sentient" races that sprang from DC Comics Mars: The Greens and The Pale Martians (sometimes -erroneously- called White Martians). From these two - I hesitate to use the word "races"; more like "species" - were derived two sub-species: The Red and The White, also called The Children of Saturn. These were not naturally occurring beings, but were artificially created in a laboratory by The Greens and The Pale Martians respectively.
Below are some images and a brief physical description of each kind of "Martian".
|
![]() ![]() |
![]() |
The Green MartiansProbably the best-known sort of Martian, Martian Manhunter - or "J'onn J'onzz" to his friends - himself is a Green. They're also probably the only kind of Martain that you'd ever want to meet in a dark alley. They're also my favorite Martian. (MY FAVORITE MARTIAN?! GET IT? Oh, I just love my own jokes!)
As of 2001 A.D., there is only one known member of this species left.
All Green Martians could change their shape at will, and look like just about anything they wanted to. However, all Martians, regardless of their sub-species, have a "natural" form - a sort of default shape that they revert to at certain times.
The Green Martians were a tall, slender people with deep green skin and ruby eyes. Males could grow to as tall as eight and a half feet (apparently - it varies depending who's drawing the comic) ; females averaged at about six and a half to seven feet in height. Both genders had heavy brow-ridges (probably to help cut down glare from the Martian sun). Their fingers terminated in sharp points not unlike claws (some artists draw them AS well defined claws, others as claws that practically meld into the fingers, and others as the points described here. My money is on the "points": the claw being part of the last finger joint; a horn-like projection rather than a talon or fingernail). All Greens (in their natural forms) have three fingers on each hand with an opposable thumb. Some DC artists (especially Tom Mandrake) draw them with four. I prefer the look of the three fingered hand, but to each his own.
According to DC writer J. M. DeMatteis Greens were "of avian ancestory" (although these weren't terrestrial "birds" certainly). This explains the high degree of "sexual dimorphism" - that is, cosmetic differences between males and females - they posessed.
Male Greens had a high "crest" on their heads, arcing towards their backs and ending in a blunt point. Beneath this was a second and smaller point, not unlike a horn. Three similar and larger horns projected at regular intervals along the spine: the first and largest emerging from the base of the neck, and the smallest at the bottom of the ribcage (some artists bunch these horns together with the smallest one sprouting out just below the shoulder blades).
Female Greens were shorter and had less impressive, blunted crests, typically without the secondary horn (again, some artists draw this horn on both genders). They also lacked the horns that ran along the spine of the males.
Some members of the Green population sported exaggerated points where the forearms melded into their elbow joints. Most Greens exhibited this trait to some degree, but in a few (most often seen in males) these points were fairly sharp and vicious looking. Less common was a similar pointed growth along the back of their calf muscles, giving their lower legs a shape similar to a reversed arrowhead (with the point of the arrow facing downward) just below the knee.
|
![]() |
![]() |
The Pale MartiansThe best known members of this species of Martian are the infamous Hyperclan. 80-odd members of this race are known to exist, scattered throughout the human population. Their memories have been altered so they have no idea of their Martian heritage. Pale Martians grow to about the same height as their Green cousins but have at least twice their physical bulk (if not more). They share the same "beetle-browed" foreheads and ruby eyes, but their two-fingered hands and feet terminate in sharp claws. Their feet and hands are also webbed. All Pale Martians have long prehensile barbed tails that terminate in a nasty set of claw-like spikes. Their teeth are sharply pointed, set in pit-bull jaws.
The skin of a Pale Martian is an ivory-white shade, laced with bright blue-purple spider veins.
The most striking difference between the Pale and Green Martians is that Pales have a second mouth - and set of teeth - over their stomachs. A sphincter-like opening can be seen through these teeth (probably leading to the stomach directly). The second greatest difference between the two is in the shape of their legs (if you can ignore the tail, that is). Pales have an elongated "heel joint", giving them a dinosaur-like stance, forcing them to walk hunched over with the head pointing foreward. Greens have more human-style legs and walk upright.
Like the Greens they have three "horns" along their spines, although on Pale Martians these look more like the plates on a stegosaurus than true horns. Both male and female Pales have these horns/plates.
Male and female Pale Martians are virtually identical, except for a few, ah, "feminine attributes" that the males lack. Males tend to be heavier and have larger "tusks" (some of these are just larger canine teeth, while others are drawn with a set that a wild boar would be proud of) on their lower jaws (both sets).
|
![]() |
![]() |
The Red "Martians" (Red Saturnians?)The Red "Martians" were created by the Greens during an ill-fated attempt to colonize Saturn. Apparently there's still a thriving population of Reds living on orbiting stations around the ringed planet. Jemm, Son of Saturn is a Red "Martian". Technically not Greens at all, although built from Green DNA (no "Mr. Green Genes" jokes, please!), the Reds lack many of the features found in their genetic parents. Actually, they tend to look alot like Martian Manhunter in his JLA "business suit". They all have dark red skin and pale eyes.
School is still out on the number of fingers these guys have. Jemm, Son of Saturn has been drawn with two fingers and one opposable thumb, but in the latest Martian Manhunter series (which, as I've said before, I don't like all that much), every Martian has the human four-fingers-one-thumb configuration.
Reds do not have claws or crests, and males do not have the horns found on the backs of their Pale and Green relatives.
|
![]() |
![]() |
The White "Martians" (White Saturnians?)Identical in almost every way to the Reds, Whites were created by the Pale Martians for the same reasons that the Greens created the Reds. Again, I don't know how many White Martians/Saturnians still exist. The latest reports suggest that a viable population still lives near the remaining Red colonies. The two are still carrying on the war started by thier Green and Pale creators.
White and Red Martians share virtually identical body structures. White Martians however, obviously, have bright white skin.
|