Manhunter (comics)

converted	y
character name	Manhunter
publisher	(All) DC Comics (Richards) Originally Quality Comics
debut	(Kirk) Adventure Comics #58 (January 1941) (Richards) Police Comics #8 (March 1942) (Shaw) 1st Issue Special #5 (August 1975) (Clone) The Secret Society of Super Villains #1 (June 1976) (Lawler) Manhunter (vol. 2), #0 (October 1994) (DePaul) The Power Company: Manhunter #1 (March 2002)
creators	(Kirk, Shaw) Jack Kirby Joe Simon (Lawler) Steven Grant (writer) Vince Giarrano (penciler)
alter ego	– Paul Kirk – Dan Richards – Mark Shaw – Clone of Paul Kirk – Chase Lawler – Kirk DePaul – Kate Spencer
alliances	(Kirk) Justice League (Richards) Freedom Fighters (Richards, Kirk) All-Star Squadron (Shaw) Suicide Squad (DePaul) Power Company (Spencer) FBI DEO Birds of Prey Justice Society of America
aliases	(Shaw) Privateer Star-Tsar
powers	Various, see below
cat	super
subcat	Quality Comics
hero	y
sortkey	Manhunter (comics)
addcharcat1	DC Comics superheroes
addcharcat2	DC Comics supervillains

Manhunter is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and Quality Comics.

Paul Kirk, Rick Nelson, Paul Kirk

"Paul Kirk, Manhunter" was a crime series that ran in Adventure Comics #58–72 (Jan. 1941 – March 1942). In this original incarnation, Kirk was a non-costumed investigator who helped police solve crimes. The word "manhunter" in the title was merely an epithet describing Kirk's role and was not a name, nickname, or alias used by Kirk in the stories.

The final issue of Adventure Comics to feature a "Paul Kirk, Manhunter" story was #72. The following issue replaced it with a new Manhunter, by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. This was Rick Nelson, a former big game hunter turned superhero. After a few issues, the name Rick Nelson was replaced by the name Paul Kirk, despite being a completely different character. The Simon/Kirby team left the feature after #80 (November 1942), though this Manhunter appeared in Adventure Comics until #92 in June 1944. This version was later brought back by Archie Goodwin in the 1970s.

Dan Richards

The second Manhunter's first appearance was in the Quality Comics

Kate Spencer

Kate Spencer, like Mark Shaw, is a lawyer, but instead works as a prosecutor. Outraged by the ability of supercriminals to escape justice, Spencer assembled a costume from a variety of devices left over from various heroes and villains. A Darkstar costume and Azrael's Batman gloves give Spencer enhanced strength, agility and resistance to injury while Mark Shaw's power staff allows her to fire bolts of energy. Spencer has taken on several minor league supervillains including Copperhead and the Shadow Thief.

Recently Spencer fought her father, a minor league supervillain who erroneously claimed to be the son of Al Pratt – the Golden Age Atom. Kate is in fact the granddaughter of Phantom Lady and Iron Munro. Al Pratt allowed Sandra Knight (the Phantom Lady) to use his contact information in order to enter a home for unwed mothers, which led to the mix-up.

Most recently Kate Spencer, in her heroic identity as Manhunter, began working with the US government's Department of Extranormal Operations, headed by the former criminal Mister Bones. The new Manhunter series in which she appears began in 2004. This current series has featured appearances by Dan Richards, Mark Shaw, Chase Lawler, and Kirk DePaul.

Manhunter was initially slated to be cancelled due to low sales, but a massive and organized fan campaign, along with support from DC Comics' management, allowed for another five-issue arc to be commissioned. The series was given a second reprieve from cancellation.[16][17] It was meant to be restarted in July 2007, but was put on hold until several issues have been written and drawn before the title resumed publication.[18] The series returned in June 2008 with issue #31, written by co-creator Marc Andreyko and pencilled by Michael Gaydos[19] and ended again in January 2009 with issue #38.

Kate Spencer eventually joined the Birds of Prey, and her teammates were subsequently featured in a number of issues of the Manhunter series.

Kate Spencer briefly relocated to Gotham City where she took up a position as the new District Attorney. Her first adventures in Gotham were chronicled in a back-up feature in Batman: Streets of Gotham. She later appeared in Justice Society of America, which saw Kate move to the city of Monument Point and join the JSA.

Manhunter (comics)

Paul Kirk, Rick Nelson, Paul Kirk

Dan Richards

Mark Shaw

Clone of Paul Kirk

Chase Lawler

Kirk DePaul

Kate Spencer

Ramsey Robinson

Manhunter 2070

Other versions

In other media

External links

References