The "Manhunter" part of the name made more sense when he was a police detective, and when the word "Manhunter" was associated exclusively with the police. Nowadays the word has gone out of style due to its amusing connotations.
It seems to me that the character of J'onn J'onzz -- everything from the corny spelling of the name to the concept of a green Martian disguised as a cop -- is very, very dated and very 1950s. The character is better left in the past, IMO.
Now that I think of it, the only times I've really enjoyed Martian Manhunter stories has been twice: Once during the JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL era for the interesting twists it brought to the character (not to mention the classic Oreo gag), and the second time was in a Martian Manhunter 3-issue miniseries which was set in the paranoid 1950s and involved a conspiracy involving lizard-people. It was very retro and the Manhunter from Mars was finally once again in his element. Whenever he's portrayed in modern-day stories, he seems like a quaint relic of a more innocent time. My conclusion is still that he should be killed off -- they can always tell stories that take place during the 1950s which will be more "true" to the character than anything else being done currently.
BTW, I've read quite a few of the early Manhunter from Mars stories which appeared in the mid-to-late 1950s issues of DETECTIVE COMICS as well as some from the early 1960s HOUSE OF MYSTERY, and while some of the earliest stories were quite interesting in a 1950s way, they just got sillier and sillier and sillier as the years went on. This is one character who never really had a "classic" period. I've read the Ostrander series as well, but much of it is fairly forgettable as well. I don't hate the character by any means, but I think this is one superhero who's best put out to pasture.
