Created by writer John Ostrander and artist Tom Mandrake, the character first appeared in Martian Manhunter (vol.

The character appears in the animated film Justice League: Doom, voiced by Carl Lumbly, and the live-action TV series Supergirl, portrayed by Phil LaMarr.

Following a failed attempt to find the Anti-Life Equation, Ma'alefa'ak's memories, pyrophobia, and telepathy are removed and he is made to believe that he was born lacking the latter.

[2] In The New 52 continuity reboot, Ma'alefa'ak is reintroduced in a 2015 storyline in which the Earth-born survivors of the Martian extinction build a weapon to infiltrate and help enslave the Earth.

[volume & issue needed] Although Martians can be weakened by fire and suffer from pyrophobia ("H'ronmeer's Curse"), Ma'alefa'ak did not share this weakness due to the removal of his telepathic abilities.