Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 – Deniz Camp, Writer; Javier Rodriguez, Artist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: Every week I read a new Absolute comic and think “It can’t possibly live up to this level of quality, can it?” and every week I’m proven wrong. The latest and strangest book on the dock is Absolute Martian Manhunter, which is obviously an unconventional choice for an early-line book. J’onn J’onnz can rarely sustain a solo title on his own, but is often considered one of the most fascinating characters in the DCU. And he’s only going to get more so with this mind-bending reinvention from Camp and Rodriguez, who have taken the biggest swings of any title so far. This Martian Manhunter is an ordinary man when we meet him, a federal agent who has just survived a terror bombing and walked away mostly intact – at least on the surface.
John Jones seems to be a taciturn workaholic who has a troubled marriage and an autistic son, and he normally keeps himself closed off. But soon after being released from the hospital and given a clean bill of health, he starts seeing…things. Well, maybe colors is more accurate. Strange plumes of rainbow smoke coming from ordinary people. And when he breathes them in, he gets pictures of their past and their inner secrets. It’s enough to drive a man mad, especially one who thinks so literally. But he does the only thing he can – investigating using these trails of smoke, following the path of the man who nearly killed him and discovering the secrets of the ones who knew him best.
There aren’t any martians in this first issue, at least not any we can see. But the visuals of the species come into play into some really eerie ways, before the nature of what’s going on with Jones becomes clear. It seems like this version of the character isn’t going to be an alien masquerading as a human on Earth, but an alien intelligence that has hijacked an ordinary man’s mind and is transforming him. It’s equal parts horrifying and incredibly beautiful, with some of the best art I’ve seen in a DC Comic in some time, and two very different characters forming a symbiosis that has incredible possibilities. Camp is now officially one of the only creators out there to have A+ books going at three companies at the same time.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
