Mark Shaw, a public defender, is frustrated in his attempts to gain justice and safeguard the innocent. His uncle introduces him to the ancient society of the Manhunters, whose arcane skills and weaponry have been employed to bring down many villains.
First appearance of Mark Shaw as he becomes the next Manhunter
Though 1st issue special was primarily DC's forum to introduce new characters and storylines, editor Jack Kirby used the series as an opportunity to revamp the Manhunter, whom he and writer Joe Simon had made famous in the 1940s.
The original Manhunter, Paul Kirk had met his demise two years earlier, so Kirby turned to Mark Shaw, a discouraged public defender who believed that the legal system had been corrupted.
Shaw's uncle put him into contact with the Grandmaster, leader of the arcane cult of the Manhunters. Swearing his allegiance, Shaw trained in the crime fighting sect's methods and weaponry, and then assumed the outfit and power baton to become the new Manhunter. Kirby's Manhunter, however, didn't gain earn a spot in an ongoing series. Instead, Shaw and the crime fighting cult played a bigger role in the pages of Justice League of America in 1977, when it was revealed that the Manhunters were the original galactic law-enforcers prior to the Green Lantern Corps.
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