Effigy is the fourth story arc of Smallville: Season 11,[1] a comic book series from DC Comics that follows the continuity of the television series. Originally digital-exclusive, the four-chapter arc features Batman and Martian Manhunter in a story independent but chronologically parallel to the story arc in Haunted.[2][3][4]
On February 8, 2013, it was announced that Effigy would be released in a collected print edition called Smallville: Season 11 Special #1 on May 29, 2013.[5]
Summary[]
From DC Comics: "Detective John Jones, the Martian Manhunter, steps into the Smallville spotlight in “Effigy,” a stand-alone adventure! A grisly murder in Gotham City sends Martian Manhunter on a quest to confront his past. Guest-starring Batman and Nightwing!"
Issues[]
- Smallville: Season 11 Special # 1 (Released on May 29, 2013)
- Smallville: Season 11 - Chapter 28: Effigy, Part 1 (Digital Release January 4, 2013)
- Smallville: Season 11 - Chapter 32: Effigy, Part 2 (Digital Release February 1, 2013)
- Smallville: Season 11 - Chapter 36: Effigy, Part 3 (Digital Release March 1, 2013)
- Smallville: Season 11 - Chapter 37: Effigy, Part 4 (Digital Release March 8, 2013)
Recap[]
Chapter Twenty-Eight[]
Construction of the Watchtower Outpost.
Five minutes prior to the events kicking off the story in Haunted, on the moon at the construction site for Queen Industries' new Watchtower outpost, Superman and Martian Manhunter oversee H.E.D. Drones from S.T.A.R. Labs assembling the structure. Clark is sharing some Double Stuf Oreo cookies with his friend and mentor when he receives an alert about an attack on Metropolis. As Superman speeds off, J'onn decides to return to his home in the city.
At J'onn's apartment building, a woman struggles to get through the front door with her groceries as her son recounts how Superman saved him from a truck thrown at him by Psimon. As the groceries spill from her bags, J'onn, now in his disguise as the human police detective John Jones, catches a bottle of milk. John helps his neighbor inside to her apartment and takes a moment to talk with her hero-obsessed son about doing his part to help his mother out. Impressed with how good with children he is, the neighbor asks John if he has children of his own. He says no.
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John seeing his race die.
In his apartment, John morphs out of his shirt and jacket and removes his dual shoulder holsters. He pulls from a glass case a red Martian stone with primitive drawings of a family: father, mother, and child. John reflects on his lost past when he hears a familiar voice in his head call out his Martian name. Suddenly, he's attacked by images of Green Martians burning. He drops the stone from the pain of the memories, cracking it in half. As he fights the images, he begins to revert to his natural Martian form and comes to a daunting realization.
Batman rescues Nightwing from the mysterious alien threat.
Meanwhile, in Gotham City, a member of the Mutants street gang races through a sewer on a motorcycle, fleeing from a robbery. An armored arm juts out and clotheslines the gang member off of the bike. He cowers as he finds himself before the Batman. Using a small Bat-taser, the Dark Knight incapacitates the gang member and radios to Nightwing in a separate tunnel for a report. The sidekick quips about using the handlebars from another motorcycle as she takes out two more Mutants. A voice calls for help from another sewer tunnel and Nightwing alerts Batman.
Pulling her charged escrima sticks to investigate, Barbara finds two dead homeless men and a third being attacked by a gruesome figure in a dark long coat and hat. As she intervenes, the figure turns to reveal itself as a large white creature. Before Barbara can react, the creature brutally slashes her. Batman arrives and quickly throws a flash bomb that stuns and frightens off the creature. He collects and comforts his injured apprentice.
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Batman and John Jones meet for the first time.
Later, in Batman's underground headquarters the Batcave, his cohort and confidante Alfred Pennyworth attends to Barbara, sedated in a recovery tank. Bruce searches through records on the Batcomputer to try to determine just what it was that attacked her. Alfred suggests that it might have been Matt Hagen, a man whose body has been transformed into malleable protoplasm who refers to himself as Clayface, which Bruce refutes. Alfred asks about a message the creature left at the scene in the sewer tunnel. Bruce says he ran it through the computer but can't find any match for the language, including Kryptonian symbols he's catalogued, leading him to the conclusion that it's an alien language. A voice from behind them informs them that the language is Martian. Bruce and Alfred turn to see John Jones.
Chapter Thirty-Two[]
John Jones proving to be a formidable threat
Alarmed at Jones' presence in the Batcave, Bruce throws Batarangs at the detective. John phase shifts and the Batarangs fly through him and past Alfred. He attempts to reason with Bruce, explaining that this fight with the White Martian is not his. With Barbara hurt and people dying in Gotham, Bruce begs to differ. John puts a hand to Bruce's head and begins to tap his mind, trying to alter his reasoning. Always prepared, Bruce tells Alfred to enact a safety protocol called "Babel Five," based on information he learned of Jones from Checkmate's files.
Alfred retrieves a flamethrower from a weapons locker and fires it in Jones' direction. With his fear of fire, Jones recoils and severs his connection with Bruce. Things returned to relative calm, John apologizes for the mind intrusion and offers a hand to help Bruce off of the floor. Wayne slaps the hand away and gets to his feet on his own. Putting on his Batman cowl, he steps to the Batmobile and tells Jones he has a crime scene to show him.
In the sewer tunnel where Batman and Nightwing encountered the White Martian, the place is crawling with Gotham City police detectives, commanded by police commissioner James Gordon. Stepping from the shadows, Batman tells Gordon he needs the cops out for the time being. Gordon is initially reluctant and Jones tells him this is a bigger problem than what's occurring in the city. Using a portable projector, Batman explains how he ran the Martian glyph through federal databases and revealed multiple locations where it has appeared over the past eighteen months. They identify it as a message and John tells them that the Martian got his attention with it: the symbol for his Martian name. Gordon clears the room of the detectives.
Batman and John discussing Barbara and the White Martian.
John confronts Batman about Gordon being unaware that his daughter is serving as the Dark Knight's apprentice and says that as a father he has a right to know that she was attacked. Batman explains that the solution she is suspended in at the cave will heal her wounds within hours. Other than some anxiety when she first emerges from the tank, Barbara will be fine, Batman assures John. He mentions John's vision and guesses that White Martian is hunting the Manhunter. When Batman addresses the fact he lives alone with no one to be harmed, it dawns on John that there are those in his building that might be. He flies off quickly.
Batman contacting Watchtower and Alfred
Batman radios Chloe Sullivan at Watchtower in Metropolis. He alerts her that something might be going down in the city and asks about Superman's location. Chloe says he's away on a mission in Utah. Yet, before she can suggest someone else to help, the Dark Knight breaks contact. He buzzes Alfred and, like a well-oiled machine, Alfred notifies him that he's sent the Batwing to his location.
In Metropolis, in the apartment of John's neighbor, the boy from earlier hears a loud noise from John's apartment. He runs out to check on the detective and finds a cloaked being in the apartment, holding the cracked Martian tablet and watching a TV news report about the art raid by monkeys in Paris and dead bodies caused by "speed storms." The boy asks where Jones is and the cloaked being attacks, revealing itself to be the White Martian. Chasing the boy downstairs toward his mother, the Martian is nearly upon them when John intervenes. At the building's front door, Batman orders mother and child out for their safety.
John fights with the White Martian. The creature identifies him by his Martian name, "J'onn J'onzz," and calls him a "murderer." As John unholsters his guns, the creature jumps on him and tries biting him. John struggles as Batman tosses a flare near them and orders John to roll away from it. The flare goes off, scaring the White Martian. It crashes through a window and escapes into the city. Batman helps John to his feet and asks why the creature accused him of murder. Staring out on the city, John admits to it.
Chapter Thirty-Six[]
J'onn during the war.
The Martian Manhunter reveals to Batman about "The Martian Holocaust" caused by the misunderstandings and the hate between his people and their twin race: the White Martians. He explains that in order to protect his family he joins the battle and kills many of the White, however at the end of the conflict he remains the sole survivor of Mars.
Jor-El and J'onn partnership.
Devastated, J'onn finds a new purpose in his life thanks to Jor-El, who asks his help to hunt down, capturing and imprisoning the criminals of Krypton and the rest of the cosmos, casting them into the Phantom Zone; allows to him of create his reputation as an intergalactic bounty hunter.
Later, after the explosion of Krypton, J'onn follows Clark on Earth and begins to vigilate on him; when the boy grown up however, the Martian realise that the planet needs his services more than the Last Son of Krypton, so he chooses to became a vigilante.
John and Batman at Checkmate's Headquarters.
Shortly after the conversation, Batman calls the Batcave and is informed that Barbara is fully recovered from the White Martian's attack. Later the two detectives connects all of the creature's victims at the Watchtower and finds out that the trail of corpses began in Colorado, where it was situated Checkmate's Headquarters.
Batman and Martian Manhunter discovers Faraday's tape.
Here the duo found a rocket's launch project and discover that the White Martian was kept prisoner in it. While look around J'onn finds the body of an agent who remains locked inside the facility with the creature; as Batman note however, it seem that he died under natural circumstances and, before to did it, he recorded a message on his cellphone where he claims that his name is King Faraday and he begs the person which find his body to take care about his daughter.
While Batman and the Martian Manhunter listens at the tape, the White Martian watches them lurking in the shadows.
Chapter Thirty-Seven[]
M'gann reveals her story to J'onn.
At that moment the White Martian leaps down from the shadows and attacks J'onn J'onzz, While Batman goes to the nesting spot of the Martian where he finds an ID card with a photo attached to it which he knows would be useful. Returning to the conflict between the two martians, Batman tells the White Martian to cease fighting as he knows her secret. He shows her the photo of Faraday's daughter and she manages to calm down and reveals her history telepathically to John Jones.
During the battle, M'gann sets out the reasons for her behavior: the distrust of the other Martian and the fact that she attacked human beings only because she was afraid or felt them as "evil." Shortly after, Batman threatens her with a firebomb and forces the young White Martian to tell her story to them.
M'gann as J'onn's protege.
After she performs the request, the Hound of Mars, moved, realizes that everything that the young White Martian has known in her life is hate and, realizing that she is the only family left to him, decides to take her under his wing and make her his protege, a proposal that M'gann accepts with gratitude. Batman ceases action as well and Jones offers him his gratitude for his help.
After returning home, Bruce returns to the Batcave and has a sparring session with the now healed Barbara.
Main Characters[]
Recurring Characters[]
Cameo[]
- Clark Kent/Superman
- Matt Hagen/Clayface (mentioned only)
- James Gordon
- Zod (flashback only)
- Jor-El (flashback only)
- Aldar (flashback only)
- Doctor Fate (flashback only)
- King Faraday (flashback only)
Title[]
- Effigy refers to the Martian Manhunter's experience with White Martians.
Notes[]
- Antagonist: Megan Morse
- First appearance of Alfred Pennyworth
- First appearance of the Batcave
Continuity[]
- Batman and Nightwing were last seen in Detective
- John Jones was last seen in Salvation.
Discontinuity[]
- King Faraday is seen holding an IPhone 5 but, in 2009, when he was trapped down there, the IPhone 5 was not created.
- Megan said that she felt John presence for the first time after King Faraday died but John had regain his powers before the destruction of Checkmate.
- When Batman contacts Chloe, Lois is seen in the background at LexCorp and Chloe tells Batman that Clark is in Utah but he doesn't go to Utah until after he meets with Lois which happens after she sneaks into LexCorp, not during.
Locations[]
- Moon
- Metropolis
- John Jones' Apartment
- Watchtower
- Gotham City
- Sewers
- Batcave
- Colorado
Quotes[]
- “Welcome to Earth”- John Jones to Megan Morse
- “I like you John, But I'm NOT Kent. Or worse, Queen”- Batman to John Jones
Variant Cover[]
Trivia[]
Coming Soon
References[]
- ↑ Parallel Story #1: "Effigy" KryptonSite Spoilers
- ↑ Smallville Season 11 Comic Book Features Impulse and Expands its Universe TVGuide
- ↑ Smallville Season 11: Building the Justice League IGN.com
- ↑ Smallville Season 11: Release Schedule Blue Sky Bricca Braq - BQM's Blog
- ↑ 2/8/13: Smallville Season 11: Release Schedule (Updated) BlueSkyBriccaBraq (Bryan Q. Miller's Blog)
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