Review - "Absolute Martian Manhunter" #1
The Absolute Universe continues to yield incredible results with what may be the best series of them all.
A Little Background
DC’s Absolute Universe has been a resounding success and there may not be a better example than Absolute Martian Manhunter which hit shelves on March 26. Within a day of release, series writer Deniz Camp announced that DC had extended the mini-series from it’s planned six-issue arc up to 12, with the entire creative team returning with no fill-ins. This is on top of DC’s announcement that Issue #1 had received over 120,000 preorders.
Clearly the hype and the interest were there which makes it even more embarrassing for me to say… I had no idea this was even coming out. I have a very minimal background when it comes to Martian Manhunter and outside of a few Batman comics, I don’t typically read many DC stories to be honest. But while in my local shop this past weekend, I heard a man and his girlfriend walk into the store.
“Do you have Absolute Martian Manhunter here?!” the man was asking almost unable to contain his excitement. After being told they did have it in stock, the man went over and began sifting through looking for as many variant covers as possible and telling his girlfriend how excited he was to finally get to read this story.
So after he had bought his copies and left, I said “why not” and opted to grab a copy for myself to see what had him so excited.
And I’m so thankful I decided to because it exceeded even the wildest expectations I could’ve had.
Review
“Why do people do the things that they do?”
This quote pops up all throughout Issue #1 as Agent John Jones tries to return to work following a near-fatal explosion in a coffee shop. But despite telling his wife, his boss, and anyone who asks that he’s fine, Jones is plagued by visions of vibrant colored smoke that only he can see. When he sees it while visiting the coffee shop bomber’s mother, he experiences memories of when the bomber was a child. As he continues to look into the bombing and try to return to work, he begins to realize that something has changed in him.
Like I said before, I’m not super familiar with Martian Manhunter outside of his appearances in the DC animated films but I think this characterization here is going to be something special. A large part of the Absolute line is twisting the origins/motives of beloved characters and here, Manhunter doesn’t seem like he’s going to be a shapeshifting martian in disguise. I know it’s easy to say that art steals the show but here, Javier Rodriguez’ art is unbelievable. It’s not just vibrant, bright, and striking but it’s directly related to the story as it unfolds. The last page is such a striking image, I can’t imagine anyone reading it and not being sold on the rest of this series. Deniz Camp does an incredible job of detailing the life of John Jones as well, in this first issue we’re given a clear portrait of the man nicknamed “The Martian” by his colleagues and who would rather lie to his wife than take a vacation with her and their young child. Clearly he is an isolated character and I can’t wait to see how further issues explore Jones’ character as he presumably learns more about the alien living within his head.
This is one I will absolutely be reading again, it practically begs for rereads with the subtle choices and hints scattered throughout the pages. Not to mention I found myself hooked by things like the identity of Mike Miller, the coffee shop bomber and Jones’ son, who inexplicably knew to make Jones look like an alien when building the family out of clay.
These are just some of the mysteries introduced here and I can’t wait to see what Camp and Rodriguez have up their sleeves for the rest of this run.
TLDR: Absolute Martian Manhunter may be the best of all DC’s Absolute series. Packed with an intriguing story and eye-popping, dynamic art, this story will have you hooked from the second you pick it up.