Martian Manhunter is one in all DC Comics‘ most original characters. A mixture of Superman and Batman, he’s each a robust alien and an excellent detective, even with out his telepathic powers. But he stays obscure, regardless of being a founding member of the Justice League. Nevertheless, a brand new Absolute Martian Manhunter comedian offers new prominence to the alien hero, by means of a narrative that’s equal components psychodrama and true crime thriller.
Meet FBI Agent John Jones. A member of the Stochastic Terrorism Job Drive, John is a profiler who tries “to know why folks do the issues they do.” John is sweet at his job, however his aloof nature does little to win over his colleagues. Certainly, behind his again, they name him “the Martian,” as a result of he acts like an alien.
After someway surviving a bombing, John is ordered to take a while off. Nevertheless, regardless of having a spouse and son at residence, John is reluctant to go away the workplace. What follows is a journey of exploration, as John’s expertise for getting in folks’s heads turns into one thing akin to synesthesia. Colours warp inside his viewpoint, as John comes to contemplate a horrifying reality.
Absolute Martian Manhunter visuals promote the story
Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 comes off as a twisted mash-up of Twin Peaks and Resident Alien. The script by Deniz Camp is surreal, with John Jones unsure of his perceptions. The truth that our level-of-view character is more and more unreliable in his narration solely serves to make an ordinary police procedural all of the extra gripping.
It’s the artwork of Javier Rodriguez, nonetheless, that makes Absolute Martian Manhunter superb. The self-esteem that John perceives ideas and feelings as completely different colours of smoke is a superb one. This makes his use of telepathy, the place he inhales the clouds to actually learn the room, an intrinsic a part of the art work. It additionally causes the reader to actually empathize with John’s feeling overwhelmed by his powers, as a riot of colours assault the web page.
Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 might not be everybody’s cup of tea. It’s, nonetheless, an excellent piece of labor that goes past merely being artwork for artwork’s sake. It is a prime instance of what occurs with two creators push the boundaries of illustrated literature to inform a narrative that solely the comics medium might painting.
Grade: 10/10
Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 arrives in comic shops everywhere on March 26. 2025.
