Absolute Martian Manhunter #11 – Deniz Camp, Writer; Javier Rodriguez, Artist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: The penultimate issue of the most mind-bending Absolute book comes with the biggest status quo change yet. John Jones was barely keeping sane with having one martian riding along in his head, and now he has two. While the Green Martian, as always, tries to maintain a positive equilibrium, the twisted Despero is instead busy funneling bad memories into his head, twisting happy ones, and trying to push him into despair. With the entire city increasingly in the clutches of the White Martian, this has life-or-death consequences, and the issue does an incredible job of putting us in John’s head as the darkest chapters of his life are dredged up. Even more surreal, Despero interacts with the reader as well, trying to tempt us into damaging the comic at one point. Given what Camp is doing on his indie book, Assorted Crisis Events, it’s no surprise that reading this book requires a lot more attention and interaction than your average comic.
Of course, while John’s been dealing with his own shared space, his wife has been going through her own trials interacting with her son, whose behavior has become more odd and more disconnected over previous issues. As the White Martian’s reach continues to expand over the city, she and John find a way to reconnect – of sorts. But as the issue gets closer to the end, both of them start to realize that something isn’t quite right. The issue ends with a massive gut-punch that upends everything we’ve known – if we can trust the person saying it. That’s the thing that really makes this issue stand out. It’s not just that the art is surreal and the narrative is complex. It’s that it makes us question everything we’ve seen until this point, because not even our own senses can be trusted. I have absolutely no idea how this will end next issue, but I know I’ll be heading right for a re-read before it comes out.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
