Along Came J'onzz

[MatterEaterLad]

That's a good question, and I wasn't a reader of many of his Detective or House of Mystery comics...but I assume that when he gave up John Jones persona and adapted lots of identities depending on the story that he was becoming wider ranging in his interests and then he got more involved with doings on his homeworld...so I could be wrong but I figured that it would be hard to go back when everyone wondered what happened to John Jones and that it might be harder for someone to have a normal life when they appeared so different that they had to assume the look of another race of beings.

[Permanus]

Given his limitations, I'm tempted to say he couldn't adopt another identity because he couldn't come up with a better name than "John Jones".

[JulianPerez]

Given his limitations, I'm tempted to say he couldn't adopt another identity because he couldn't come up with a better name than "John Jones".

Nothing says I'M NOT AN ALIEN! than a perfectly ordinary earthling name like "John Jones." What, was Hugh Mann taken?

I bet the reason that John Jones has so many problems is because he has a million I'M NOT AN ALIEN! moments.

CO-WORKER: Wow, that new composer is pretty great, huh?
JOHN JONES: Indeed. Almost as extraordinary as your Mozart.
CO-WORKER: Uh, 'your' Mozart? He belongs the world.
JOHN JONES: I'M NOT AN ALIEN![/list]

[DoctorZero]

Yes, and that shows how amorphous the character is: he starts off hiding in the shadows alone and friendless, then seamlessly becomes the shill for the most prominent team on earth.

The thing I think is most interesting about this is that there's a REASON Jones goes from being a detective to being a full-fledged superhero, at least in terms of the story: at one point, John is exposed to a chemical that means that he can't use his other super-powers while invisible (a Martian way to make sure their prisoners don't escape). So in other words, he has to start operating in the open.

It's very unfortunate that DC has thrown out so much of their character's histories.  J'onzz really did have an interesting history.  A martian standed on earth who had to hide who he was.  Then he couldn't hide anymore due to an accident.  He also pioneered the idea of the disposable secret identities.  First he was John Jones, detective.  Then he had no secret ID, then Marco Xavier during his final House of Mystery run.  

DC's current version is bland, and the newest MM series doesn't strike me as especially interesting at all.