Apex City: The Martian Manhunter Heroclix Map

As you'll remember, I had previously deduced that the Silver Age Martian Manhunter lived in Apex City, Florida, and was further committed to making an Apex City Heroclix map for him and his fans.

Why? Because it was the will of the people as determined by my poll, and I am the Slave of Duty.

At first I was worried. This isn't like making a map of Metropolis where you throw in one landmark, like the Daily Planet, and call it a day because everyone will recognize it. Did JJ's unnamed city even have any local features for a map to feature?

I shouldn't have worried! Apex City is full of recognizable features, even if the only people who'll recognize any of them are serious Martian Manhunter fans. But, then, that's who the map is for!

Naturally, the principle feature of Apex City, "America's Most Flammable City!", is that something is ALWAYS on fire. So I included many of the buildings we've seen burning in Martian Manhunter stories, like

• the Ajax Apartments, which are...
• near the Mason Mattress Co. ("The Girl-Hero Contest),
• the Jones Supermarket ("The Impossible Manhunt'),
  
• the Bijou Theater (from "The Crime Conjurer" and "The Dog With a Martian Master"),
  
• Jones Hardware ("The Impossible Manhunt"),
• the Jones Clothing Store ("The Impossible Manhunt"),
• and the July 4th Fireworks Co. ("The Impossible Messages")
  

Other, apparently less flammable, structures shown include

• Police Headquarters (under attack by a cloaked Venusian ship, as in "The Defeat of J'onn J'onnz"),
• Highgate Bridge (a hotspot of Diane Meade activity)
• Union Drawbridge (which J'onn so memorably replaced one time with his butt in "John Jones' Pesky Partner")
  
• the Apex Art Galleries ("The Crime College")
  
• the Daily Clarion (where J'onn worked as "The Super Reporter"),
• the Ace Time Company Building with its giant radium covered rooftop alarm clock ("The Menace of Mr. Moth")
  
• the City Planetarium (from "The Menace of Mr. Moth" and "The Getaway King")
  
• Rainbow Beach (from "The Sleuth Without a Clue"... I am so sure, Mary!), which sports a dangerous shark (there were sharks every single time J'onn went in the water!), a sexy cephalopod with whom J'onn can enjoy sweet sweet octopus love, and a Hot Dog Stand (which actually appeared in the story, thank you very much);
• a mosaic honoring the city's champion baseball team, the Flamingos ("The Case of the Magic Baseball").
  
• surely, you didn't think I would omit the Human Squirrel climbing the Apex Loan Company Building (just like in "The Ex-Convicts Club")
• and Apex City's most unique landmark, the Statue of Atlas Painted With Phosphorus (once stolen in "The Menace of Mr. Moth"). If that doesn't qualify as a landmark, I don't know what does.

The roadways also refer to elements from Martian Manhunter stories:

• Elm Street ("The Martian Show Off", "The J'onn J'onnz Museum", "The Ex-Convicts Club", and "Ordeal By Fire"), Shore Road, Front Street ("The Martian Show Off"), State Street ("The J'onn J'onnz Musuem"), Eastview Drive ("J'onn J'onnz vs. the Vigilantes") are all specifically mentioned in various stories. Highland Street & Union Street are not, but I'm inferring them from the Highland Bridge and the Union Drawbridge.
  
• Hey, there's the tank from the Criminal Army in "One-Man Army".
• Three fire trucks, because in Apex, that's about how many you need per city block square
• an ice cream truck so J'onn doesn't have to waste his energy creating ice cream cones from the power of the void (as he had to do in "The World's Greatest Magician")
• that crazy future car in front of Jones Hardware probably belongs criminal genius Monty Moran ("The Getaway King"), or to the professor at "The Crime College", or it could be one of "The Impossible Inventions" of wacky inventor Hiram Horner.
• a recently plummeted meteor, because, as previously discussed, meteors are the standard weather in Apex;
• and, commenting on the general aflame-edness of Apex, a pick-up with some flammable barrels in the back, a propane delivery truck, a barbecue gone bad, and a sewer fire.

Behold, the flaming glory of Apex City,
home of the Silver Age Martian Manhunter!

Click on map for a blaze of close-up glory.

Who says Martian Manhunter lived in a nondescript urban locale? Surely, this map could only be Apex City! Believe it or not, I didn't even begin to exhaust the catalog of Apexian locales. However, one can only reasonably place so many landmarks on one tiny Heroclix map. Places I didn't put on it, but wanted to, include:

• the Apex Warehouse ("The Defeat of J'onn J'onnz"),
• the Apex Movie Studios ("The Mixed Up Martian Powers")
• the Apex Paint Company ("The One-Man Army")
  
• the Oil Cracking Plant "The Alien Bodyguard'),
• Flamingo Stadium ("The Case of the Magic Baseball")
  
• the Benton Optical Company ("Escape to the Stars")
  
• the United Oil Company ("Ordeal By Fire")
  
• Jones' Fancy Fruits ("The Impossible Manhunt" and "The Mystery of the Martian Marauders")
• the Balloon Factory near the Government Vaults ("The Crime King of Mount Olympus")
• the Mythological Museum ("The Crime King of Mount Olympus")
  
• Wilmore Flights ("The Impossible Messages"),
• the Glenwood Museum of History ("The Man Who Exposed John Jones"),
  
• water towers (they're all over the dang place!)
  
• the "Carnival of Doom",
• the Jewelers Building ("The King of the Underworld")
  
• the Yardley Toy Company ("The Crime Conjurer")
  
• the abandoned circus grounds ("Earth Detective for a Day")
  
• the Sam Jones Museum of Famous American Ships ("The Impossible Manhunt")
  
• the International Fairgrounds ("The Animal Crime Kingdom")
• the Mansfield-Cowan Company ("The Phantom Bodyguard")
  
• the Ardmore Natural History Museum ("The Crime Conjurer"),
• Marsville ("The Menace of Marsville"),
• the Jones Waxworks ("The Impossible Manhunt"),
• the Jason Warehouse ("The Hero Maker"),
• West Street ("The Crime King of Mount Olympus")
  
• the Croyden Art Shop ("The Man Who Exposed John Jones"),
• the Modern Art Museum ("John Jones' Super-Secret")
  
• Swathmore Jewelry Salon ("The Ex-Convicts Club")
• the Barnes Museum ("John Jones' Female Nemesis")
  
• the Floating Island ("The Amazing One-Man Crew"),
• the Martian Manhunter Museum (from "The J'onn J'onnz Museum")
  
• the Clang Bank (in "The Getaway King").

Apex City is FULL of landmarks. In fact, you now know more landmarks in Apex City than you can name in any other DCU city. While some of them are fairly generic, others are surely hapax phenomena. I mean, c'mon. Floating Islands? The Mythological Museum? Giant irradiated rooftop clocks? The Famous American Ship Museum? An entire building with nothing but jewelers in it? A phosphorescent statue of Atlas? Balloon factories? A life-size reproduction of a Martian neighborhood? Fancy Fruit stores? Apex is a veritable freak show; no wonder J'onn feels at home there. DC needs to bring back Apex City and put the Martian Manhunter there again to get him a chance to build up a great following for his adventures in a city that's very much his own... and every bit as eclectically bizarre as he is.

P.S. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO PLAY HEROCLIX

Red flame terrain does 2 clicks damage, and the yellow does 1 click. The rules for it are printed on the map (over on Rainbow Beach), including special rules for the Martian Manhunter himself.

• His defensive powers don't work against flame terrain (duh!);
• yellow flame turns off one of his powers, red flame two of them; as long as he's not in flame terrain,
• he can destroy it with an attack, turning it to regular hindering terrain ("I'll use my Martian lung power!")

The higher buildings (Police HQ, the Ace Time Building, the Apex Loan Building, and the Planetarium) are blocking terrain; the other buildings (including the Ajax Apartments) are elevated terrain and usually have handy fire escapes as ladders.

Yes, that is hindering terrain atop the Ajax Apartments and flame terrain atop the Fireworks Factory.
Yes, the stairs at the boardwalk are just for decoration.
Yes, the Broken Hydrant special object token can be used to turn flame terrain into water terrain.

Weather Week: Apex City

Weather Week at the Absorbascon wraps us with the weather in Apex City, hometown of the wacky Martian Martian.

Well, really, what can I say about the weather in Apex City that I haven't already said before?


It's always summer in Apex City because, as we know, Apex City is Florida.  But that doesn't mean it doesn't have seasons; they look roughly like this:

Weather for J'onn's Funeral Services

"Hello, everyone. I'm meteorologist Misty Hazen, joining you, my colleagues here at station WFLA, and all citizens of Apex, as we mourn the loss of our treasured hero, J'onn J'onzz, the 'Martian Manhunter'.

"Services will be held for Mr. J'onzz all this week throughout Apex, so that everyone can find time to attend. Let's take a look at the forecast for the week so you can plan accordingly...

"Today the weather will be normal and seasonal, with large earthward meteors expected all over town.


"Tuesday, falling planes are anticipated in the morning,


but in the afternoon, those should taper off...

..and completely disappear by the late afternoon.


"Wednesday should be lovely in the city, with falling meteors,


but prepare for scattered crazy bullets in the countryside.


"Thursday, look for both sudden giant and freak waves in the area of Rainbow Beach.



"Friday could see some serious falling safes...


particularly in Toontown.

"Saturday should be clear, with the possibility of an automotive tornado in the Gawking District.


"Sunday, the weather should return to normal with flaming meteors exploding over mid-town."

"Wishing you all safe mourning,this is Misty Hazen, saying, 'Look to the skies! Keep watching the skies!'..."

Where does Batman vacation...?

In Florida, of course, like everyone. But Batman always goes to...

APEX CITY.

While in Apex City, Batman was asked to be a judge in

the annual Gertrude Stein Memorial Poetry Slam...

but he declined.

Probably goes there because he likes the weather in Apex. Hangs out with his pal, the Martian Manhunter, having lots of glum together. During the day they lurk about casting ominous shadows on sunbathers and handing out leaflets on skin cancer: "It isn't my job to judge them," Batman tells J'onn, "just to stop them." Sometimes the Phantom Stranger drops in, just to get together and prevent some laughs.

They stay up at night watching CSI: Miami reruns with the sound turned off, while they take turns riffing film noir voiceovers: "It was a hot and sticky night in the City of Flamingos, hot and sticky like a overweight drag queen's dress shields at Aqua."

Anyway, like any sensible man, I pattern my life as much as possible after Batman's (WWBD?)

So I, too, am in South Florida/the Keys this weekend with my very own manhunter. Catch you when I get back.

IF I come back!

Meteorology in Apex City

"Good morning! I'm meteorologist Misty Hazen, with the seven-day forecast here in the Apex area, home of the Martian Manhunter. Which is located in southern Florida, you know.


"Today, expect meteors, particularly in the center of town.


"Tuesday, no change, with continuing meteors.



"Wednesday, the meteors should turn to falling missiles from space,


with possible gusts of flying saucers.


"Thursday, things should be clear most of the day, but plan for a possible whump of flaming meteor from space in the late afternoon.



"Friday looks to bring falling bombs...

but that'll be mostly off the coast,
turning late in the day...

"...to meteors again.

"Saturday will be lovely and warm, so you can get some great sun, with only scattered floating objects.


"Sunday, the weather will return to normal, so be prepared for...


a whump of meteors.

"This is Misty Hazen, saying,
'Look to the skies! Keep watching the skies!' "

Apex City Travel Poster

How does one design a travel poster for Apex City, home of the Martian Manhunter? How can you hope to capture the craziness? The bizarre landmarks, like the Statue of Atlas? The ludicrous weather, like the weekly meteor showers? The strange threats like the ubiquitous flying saucers? The seaside location and the Miami-like towering buildings? And if can you do all this, how do you then manage to subtly incorporate the city's hero, the Martian Manhunter himself, into the mix?

Well, I don't you know how you do it. But I do it like this....


Although I may have to do another version, just to see whether I can hang the Human Squirrel off the side of one of those buildings...