Manhunter
Detective Comics No. 437
October-November 1973
Story: "The Himalayan Incident" (Chapter 1; 8 pages)
Editor, writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Walt Simonson
Feature Character: Manhunter (Paul Kirk; last chronological appearance
in flashback in issue #440)
Supporting Character: Christine St. Clair (first appearance)
Intro: Dharmata (first and only appearance)
Villains: Manhunter clones (first appearance; some die in this story),
the Cult of Thieves (first and only appearance)
Comment: Story continues in next issue.
Synopsis: Christine St. Clair, an Interpol agent, seeks a mysterious
vigilante called Manhunter, aka Paul Kirk, a former big-game hunter.
She learns from a man in Nepal of how Manhunter protected an idealistic
anti-tyrant from assassination by a group of clones of Manhunter's, and
then leaves, not knowing that the man she spoke to was Manhunter himself
in disguise.
Detective Comics No. 438
December 1973 / January 1974
Story: "The Manhunter File" (Chapter 2; 8 pages)
Editor, writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Walt Simonson
Feature Character: Manhunter
Supporting Character: Christine St. Clair
Intro: Dr. Raoul Salazano (in flashback; only appearance)
Villain: Damon Nostrand (first appearance), Manhunter-clones (some
of whom die in this story)
Comment: Story continues in next issue.
Synopsis: Christine St. Clair learns more about the mysterious Manhunter
from her Interpol boss, Damon Nostrand, and gets the assignment to find
him.
Detective Comics No. 439
February-March 1974
Story: "The Resurrection of Paul Kirk" (Chapter 3; 8 pages)
Editor, writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Walt Simonson
Feature Character: Manhunter (origin retold with details revealed;
also appears in flashback, chronologically between ADVENTURE COMICS #92
and flashback in next issue)
Supporting Character: Christine St. Clair
Cameo: John F. Kennedy
Villains: Dr. Mykros, the Council, Asano Nitobe (first appearance for
all), Manhunter-clones (some die in this story), Damon Nostrand
Synopsis: Christine St. Clair catches up to Manhunter, learns of his
origin and the existence of a mysterious group called the Council which
brought him back to life after his death through cloning, and sees the
mysterious hero strike at her boss, who is secretly working for the Council.
Detective Comics No. 440
April-May 1974
Story: "Rebellion" (Chapter 4; 8 pages)
Editor, writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Walt Simonson
Feature Character: Manhunter (origin details revealed; also appears
in flashback, continuing from flashback in last issue; next chronological
appearance in issue #437 after flashback)
Supporting Character: Christine St. Clair, Kolu Mbeya (first appearance;
next appears in issue #443)
Villains: Damon Nostrand (dies in this story), the Council, Dr. Mykros,
Asano Nitobe, Manhunter-clones (some of whom die in this story)
Comment: Story continues in next issue.
Synopsis: After Manhunter has to kill Christine's former boss, he reveals
to her that the Council had him cloned to head their enforcement branch,
and that he learned Nostrand was one of their pawns when he failed to assassinate
him. Later, she discovers that Nostrand had made both Manhunter and
herself fugitives.
Detective Comics No. 441
June-July 1974
Story: "Cathedral Perilous" (Chapter 5; 8 pages)
Editor, writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Walt Simonson
Feature Character: Manhunter
Supporting Character: Christine St. Clair
Intro: Henry, Emma, Nico (only appearance for all)
Villains: Dr. Mykros, the Council, Manhunter-clones (some of whom die
in this story), St. Clair (first appearance)
Comment: Story continues in next issue.
Synopsis: Manhunter and Christine invade a cathedral in Istanbul to
confront the Council and gain evidence that they murdered one of their
directors.
Detective Comics No. 442
August-September 1974
Story: "To Duel the Master" (Chapter 6; 8 pages)
Editor, writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Walt Simonson
Feature Character: Manhunter
Supporting Character: Christine St. Clair
Villains: Dr. Myrkos, the Council, St. Clair (dies in this story),
Manhunter-clones (some die in this story), Asano Nitobe (no longer a villain
by the end of this story)
Comment: Story continues in next issue.
Synopsis: Asano Nitobe, the martial artist who trained Manhunter, now
goes against his pupil in a fight to the death.
Detective Comics No. 443
October-November 1974
Cover: Batman and Manhunter vs. Dr. Mykros and the Council's hoods;
vignettes of Robin, Spectre, Manhunter, Creeper, and Green Lantern of Earth-2
//Jim Aparo (signed)
Story: "Gotterdammerung" (20 pages)
Editor, writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Walt Simonson
Feature Characters: Batman (last appearance in BRAVE AND THE BOLD #115;
next appears in BATMAN #259), Manhunter (last appearance in Manhunter story
in last issue; dies in this story)
Supporting Characters: Commissioner Gordon (last appearance in BRAVE
AND THE BOLD #115; next appears in BATMAN #259), Christine St. Clair, Asano
Nitobe (last appearance for both in Manhunter story in last issue; last
appearance for both), Kolu Mbeya (last appearance in Manhunter story in
issue #440; last appearance)
Intro: Ndele Kshumbo, a Dan Kingdom clone (both die in this story),
Mole (only appearance)
Villains: The Enforcer (Dan Kingdom; first appearance; dies in this
story), Dr. Mykros, the Council, Manhunter-clones (all die in this story)
Comment: One Manhunter-clone survives, and appears as Manhunter II
in SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS #1.
Synopsis: Investigating the apparent death of a friend, Batman encounters
Manhunter, and becomes intertwined with his last desperate crusade to bring
down the Council.
First Issue Special No. 5
August 1975
Cover: Manhunter Prime and Talking Head //Jack Kirby / D. Bruce Berry
Story: "The Electric Head" (Chapter 1; 4 pages)
Chapter 2 (7 pages)
Chapter 3: "New Warrior" (7 pages)
Editor, writer, penciller: Jack Kirby
Inker, letterer: D. Bruce Berry
Feature Character: Manhunter III (Mark Shaw; intro and origin; next
appears in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #140)
Intro: Manhunter Prime (next appears in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #141),
Bradford Shaw (only appearance), the Grand Master (next appears in JUSTICE
LEAGUE OF AMERICA #140)
Villains: Chopper, Joe Burk (first appearnace for both; both die in
this story), Al Beefer (the Hog) and his gang (first and only appearance
for all)
Comment: The story of Manhunter's battle with the Hog goes unrecorded,
but after that Manhunter meets the Justice League in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF
AMERICA #140-141, becomes the Privateer in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #143,
and appears as both the Privateer and the Star-Tsar in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF
AMERICA #149-150.
Synopsis: Mark Shaw, a public defender, is frustrated in his attempts
to gain justice and safeguard the innocent. But his uncle introduces
him to the ancient society of the Manhunters, whose arcane skills and weaponry
have been employed to bring down many such villains. Mark Shaw becomes
a Manhunter, taking the mask and costume from his predecessor, and begins
a war against a gangster nicknamed "the Hog".