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Absolute Martian Manhunter (2025)

Absolute Martian Manhunter, Vol. 1: Martian Vision

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Beyond Mars, beyond physical form, beyond human understanding...what's left is the absolute Martian Manhunter! Brought into the Absolute Universe by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez, Absolute Martian Manhunter reinvents the Justice League's resident Martian from top to bottom, taking him on a mind-bending, psychedelic journey that transcends dimensions.

An astonishing new version of DC's iconic characters is here! In the Absolute Universe, familiar heroes have been reinvented from the ground up with origin stories that completely reshape both their abilities and their circumstances but maintain the core characteristics than fans have known and loved for decades!

FBI Agent John Jones has a problem. His brain has been infected by an alien consciousness calling itself "the Martian," and its perception of reality is utterly incomprehensible to the human psyche. Now he must navigate this new status quo, all while balancing the deeply grounded and important duties of his day job! Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez take the Martian Manhunter into the Absolute Universe on a mind-bending, psychedelic trip!

Collects Absolute Martian Manhunter #1-6.

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2025

125 people are currently reading
1054 people want to read

About the author

Deniz Camp

123 books68 followers

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5 stars
952 (59%)
4 stars
463 (29%)
3 stars
135 (8%)
2 stars
31 (1%)
1 star
12 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 333 reviews
Profile Image for Anne.
4,759 reviews71.3k followers
November 21, 2025
Absolute-ly worth it.

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Is that too corny?
Yes. Absolutely! <--I can't stop. I'm trying, really.
Ok, so I actually read these as individual issues, and I've left links for those reviews at the bottom. The main thing I would stress about this volume is that it's quite a breath of fresh air. It's outside of the canonical DC Universe in some kind of crazy Elseworlds land, and Deniz Camp was able to run with an entirely different comic here. Bright colors lend to the overall mesmerizing visuals, and give the storyline the feeling of a mellow trip.
Well, sort of mellow.

description

The tension ratchets up somewhat slowly as John tries to decide whether or not he's got a brain injury that is causing him to hear a voice in his head and see people in a different way.
All this while trying to solve a rash of inexplicably hateful crimes being committed by seemingly average people. Did I mention his marriage is on the rocks, too?
Well, it is.

description

Explosions in the city and explosions at home leave John and the Martian vulnerable to the White Martian's emotional manipulations. Which then leads to darkness, chaos, shadows, and maybe one of the best big bad reveals I've read in a while.
Highly Recommended.

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Issue #1
Issue #2
Issue #3
Issue #4
Issue #5
Issue #6
Profile Image for Scott.
2,268 reviews269 followers
December 19, 2025
3.5 stars

"I was . . . I was trippin' balls pretty hard, man." -- slacker-stoner Dave (as portrayed by Bill Hader in the minor cinematic comic masterpiece Hot Rod from 2007), providing an absolute apropos quote here

Absolute Martian Manhunter ??? More like absolutely messing with my mind, and leaving me unsure of what to think about this graphic novel. Using the telepathic / telekinetic / shapeshifting green-skinned extraterrestrial - probably best known as a founding member of DC's Justice League back in 1960 - as an inspiration, writer Camp rockets off in oddball directions to present a completely new interpretation of the character. John Jones is a decidedly earthbound federal agent handling various traumas in his professional and personal lives - non-stop violent crimes and a strained marriage - who suddenly now has a super-powered martian 'assisting' him in his mind as things go increasingly sideways in the town of Middleton. While mixing the hard-boiled aspect with sci-fi was an inspired choice, some of the harsh scenes depicted and insinuated throughout the latter half of the plot were downbeat and often just downright uncomfortable. (Although Jones' shotgun-wielding wife Bridget boldly protecting the family's house from intruders while he was away was an indelibly awesome little scene.) Possibly the most memorable part of this adventure were Jorge Rodriguez's day-glo illustrations, which propel the bizarre storyline forward with vibrant and, yes, 'trippy' style.
Profile Image for Jim Ef.
442 reviews104 followers
November 15, 2025
8.6/10
This could have easily come out as a confusing, nonsensical mess. What we actually get, is a story that, sure it's a bit trippy and weird, but also compelling.

The writing is obviously good, but i have to give extra credit to the artist here. Javier Rodriguez' art is beautiful with captivating colours. What's most impressive however, is his storytelling ability.

DC has something special here.
Profile Image for M. J. .
159 reviews6 followers
November 14, 2025
I'm speechless, still processing one of the best comic books I've read this year. More than an update for the character, this is less about superheros and more about our struggle to put into words, metaphors and comprehensive systems what is only felt, subjectively perceived. Conscious vs. Unconscious. And the dangers of nihilism, the bizarre appeal of nothingness. It sounds like a pretentious description, but this is also the coolest looking mainstream comic book out there right now, Javier Rodríguez is a revelation, his use of colors and art history knowledge makes his art not only pretty, but instigating.

The character work is subtle and efficient, despite the noir-ish tone of the narrative, the story avoids many of the genre pitfalls, effectively subverting some of them, like the misogynistic roles of the love interests and the ultimately pessimistic perspective of the main character. The alien feel of the writing is balanced by the clear art of the lettering. Everything works like in a fine-tuned orchestra.

There is a lot going on in this book, but I never felt like I was confused about the story, however this is for sure a book that can benefit from a rereading due to the amount of details in the pages and the amount of ideas packed in it. This is probably my favorite comic book of the year and that is saying a lot from all the good releases we have had lately.
Profile Image for Dan.
3,216 reviews10.8k followers
November 20, 2025
I can understand why other readers might not like this, possibly because they're more into the classic portrayal of the Martian Manhunter than me, more into straight up super heroes, or just not into this but Absolute Martian Manhunter ticked a lot of boxes for me. Psychedelic, retro-influenced art, a high weirdness factor, and a touch of cosmic horror. Absolute Martian Manhunter feels like a lost Steve Ditko project or a Vertigo take on J'Onn J'Onzz in 1994.

In this iteration, FBI agent John Jones barely survives an explosion and now has a passenger in his mind, The Martian. As John's life and career unravel, it's pretty clear that something is afoot in town and it's not friendly. I wasn't crazy about Deniz Camp's 20th Century Men but I love his writing here, part noir, part craziness. Javier Rodriguez's art and coloring do a lot of the heavy lifting to make it feel otherworldly and unsettling at times.

Bring on issues 7-12!
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,420 reviews286 followers
January 6, 2026
Visually stimulating, narratively limp.

It's always fun to look for influences/homages in current works. Tom King and Geoff Johns keep remixing Alan Moore's greatest hits from the 1980s, for instance, in their superhero books. And now it looks like this series is a retro wannabe for the 1990s Vertigo imprint, hoping to be shelved between Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol and Peter Milligan's Shade the Changing Man.

FBI agent John Jones is traumatized and losing his grip amid a wave of terrorist attacks in Middleton, USA. Is he in a mental health crisis, or is he a pawn in a telepathic alien civil war that has one side trying to invade while the other side uses him as a mental toehold to launch a resistance?

Do I care?

Nah.

It's too far removed from my favorite version of J'onn J'onzz to activate my goodwill and too much like a fever dream to be an enjoyable narrative on its own.

Nice pictures though.
Profile Image for Logan.
1,022 reviews38 followers
October 18, 2025
Disco Elysium (Martian Manhunter Edition)

So ya, like Absolute Green Lantern Vol. 1: Without Fear this book ultimately isn't for me, however I can see many people loving this one and it will probably win tons of awards. I will say off the bat, the art is incredible as it it just looks like a full on LED trip. Great use of color and trippy visuals to make something that looks like abstract art, you'd find in an art museum.

The plot is decent too even though the art can make it hard to keep track of what's happening half of the time. It reminded me of playing Disco Elysium, which for those who don't know is a detective RPG video game, that is such a hard game to describe, but this book had such a similar vibe. Great book for some, and an interesting take on Martian Mahunter, but I need something a little more digestable in my superhero comics.
Profile Image for Robert.
2,196 reviews148 followers
January 12, 2026
Trippy, man. Definitely the kind of Absolute DC Police Procedural I can get behind.
Profile Image for Maurice Africh.
Author 2 books183 followers
November 25, 2025
Astounding. The art is beautiful, psychedelic, wacky. The writing is top-notch. A little reminiscent of Watchmen (in a good way) but still very much its own thing. This story turns the story of Martian Manhunter on its head, mixes in a cosmic twist, turns the Martian into a creature of pure thought from a faroff dimension (?), and creates a touching story about the dark side of humanity. You can feel the chaotic mess of mankind oozing off the page.

Not like any superhero comic I've ever read.

Also. I'm obsessed with how the Martian looks!
Profile Image for Chris Lemmerman.
Author 7 books124 followers
November 22, 2025
Deniz Camp's take on Martian Manhunter is more focused on John Jones, an FBI anti-terrorism agent, whose home life is falling apart as his city of Middleton begins to tear itself to pieces. It's okay though, John's got an alien living in his head that lets him read thoughts and feelings.

Camp's plot builds to a superb crescendo over these first six issues, tying into the whole idea of the Absolute universe itself neatly, while examining the human condition and how easily we can be manipulated, and keeping John and his family front and centre the entire time.

Javier Rodriguez's artwork also does a lot of heavy lifting, with some psychedelic layouts and spreads that sell the mindscape stuff, and even the interactive Martian Vision pages, which are a little gimmicky, work to give two of the six final pages an extra punch.

Another massive swing and a home run for the Absolute universe.
Profile Image for Sjgomzi.
367 reviews164 followers
November 23, 2025
My kind of weird! Insanely inventive and trippy as hell. The page layouts are spectacular, and the creativity exhibited throughout is on a whole other level. Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez really craft something special here!
Profile Image for Jiro Dreams of Suchy.
1,386 reviews9 followers
January 22, 2026
A high rating for a high read- really feels out there and weeks, for being a main line DC book, it allows a ton of unanswered questions and just overall insanity to take over the pages. It reminds me of Doom Patrol, where the actual book itself is a piece of the story.

This is a great FBI detective story, trying to figure out why these random (but extremely horrible) crimes are happening, and getting a difficult answer (aliens). I have high hopes for this series, the art is a standout- some of these new DC absolutes are just gorgeous to look at. They’re stepping up their game, allowing books to look and feel different.
Profile Image for Viktor Logi.
143 reviews1 follower
December 8, 2025
Such a cool comic!

The story is quite interesting and moves at a clip but the real star is the art by Javier Rodríguez!

The basic concept of this comic is that an alien being that calls itself "Martian" that's sort of incomprehensible by humans infects an FBI agents brain and he starts seeing people's thoughts and memories and it's all shown through a bunch of trippy, psychedelic art and it's absolutely gorgeous!

The visuals are so incredibly striking and most of the time I just spent looking at each frame catching all kinds of little details.

The story is fun, though I hope that the next issues or next volume gives a bit more time to smaller more emotional moments like John's marriage as that was a big part of this story that I felt could be expanded upon.

If at all possible, I'd reccommend buying a physical copy of this comic simply for the little "Martian Vision" thing that this comic does. It's simple but such a fun little detail. I don't know if that effect works on digital versions.

Very excited to keep reading more of this story when the next volume comes out!

4,5☆
Profile Image for Alex.
708 reviews11 followers
January 12, 2026
An absolute BONKERS book! The most trippy of the new Absolute books, so much throughout you'd think it was deliberate. Now when I read my comics, I like to understand most of what's happening. when I don't it tends to dampen some of my enjoyment.

This book has a incredible range of colors used, and very stylized art throughout. I loved how it looked throughout, especially when visuals would come up you'd only see in a comics. Takes the cake for most interesting looking book going.

The actual plot feels a tad scatter shot. John and the Martin tend to jump from crime scene to crime scene with less connective tissue than you'd expect, and in the miasma you lose character development. Thematically it's also a much darker book than you'd expect, between violence, theft, assault, persecution, and arson. For all the colors and panels taking you for a ride, it's a rough one that could stand to maybe make a little more sense.
Profile Image for Paul W..
454 reviews13 followers
January 7, 2026
It's very abstract. The art is wonderful and evocative but the story is too meandering. It's not for me but I can see it being amazing for someone.
Profile Image for Lashaan Balasingam.
1,489 reviews4,622 followers
January 9, 2026
By far the best Absolute series that I've read. From the character study to the abstract artwork, the originality of this retelling of the Martian Manhunter's lore is brilliant ! I need more !
Profile Image for Hannah Call.
274 reviews13 followers
January 5, 2026
The artwork is absolutely gorgeous but I sadly couldn’t connect to the story. I had been looking forward to reading this with the hype surrounding it but sadly ended up disappointed. I do, however, understand that this type of story may just not be for me. I do also love to see a title like this being loved and appreciated by such a large audience especially with its unique style and take on Martian Manhunter.
Profile Image for Raul Reyes.
654 reviews5 followers
December 7, 2025
This series is way too overhyped. It spends 5 out of its 6 issues just spinning in circles around its plot, without exploring anything in-depth, just to have an incredible basic conclusion. It never looks at from different angles, and I just don’t think the writing was that clever. It just vignette after vignette of violence, and we never get to know and care about John and his family, something incredibly odd considering how important they are in the 6th issue The art is obviously gorgeous, but I truly do not understand what has made so many people give this 5 stars.
Profile Image for Julian.
79 reviews
August 23, 2025
Consistently one of the best comic books you can pick up on any given week.
85 reviews
September 26, 2025
beautiful art, but fundamentally a story that spins it's wheels and you end up feeling like you never went anywhere.
Profile Image for Kelly.
201 reviews1 follower
October 7, 2025
This was fireeeeeeee I def like Wonder Woman more than this but wow was this excellent
Profile Image for Pruett.
287 reviews
October 15, 2025
THE trippiest comic series I’ve ever read. The artwork is amazing, even if I’m not ever going to be high enough to entirely understand what’s going on in the story.
Profile Image for A Serious Firefighter.
61 reviews1 follower
November 23, 2025
Completely blown away by this. I heard great things about the series all year and I finally decided to grab all of the single issues and catch up. Really wish I would have been reading this month to month. I think it would have been reminiscent of the feeling when I was reading Mister Miracle as it was coming out (probably the biggest compliment I can give to a comic), slowly gaining an understanding of the book’s distorted reality. There are quite a few parallels to Mister Miracle (Dark Side Is 👀) however it’s such its own thing that I will stop with the comparisons now 😅

Mind blowing paneling, some of the best use of color in any comic I’ve read, expertly reflects on the spreading nihilism of living in our troubled modern world, I could go on. Very glad this series got an extension. Will be reading the second arc monthly when it starts coming out in December 🫡
Profile Image for Axel.
39 reviews
October 5, 2025
Incredibly innovative, both from an artistic and a narrative point of view. I truly love art that is so intrinsically connected to it's medium. This story could not work any other way. The art is amazing and so is the story. Despite its name, this is story about humanity. About a breaking marriage and people hurting and helping each other. truly gorgeous, made me tear up. I can't wait until the second volume. In the meantime I'll recommend it to all my friends.
Profile Image for ir.
276 reviews50 followers
December 23, 2025
this is what i feel being on a psychedelic trip would be like. love the art in this. read this like wtf is going on?? but, in a good way. read up till issue 6 and a strong four.
Profile Image for Bertazzo.
366 reviews3 followers
November 20, 2025
It's crazy that the most chaotic and Picassoesque Absolute story is the one that explains this universe better. Every book has a Darkside mark: Batman's has violence, Superman's has injustice, Wonder Woman's has monsters... and Martian Manhunter's has madness.
Profile Image for Andrew A.
137 reviews
January 20, 2026
mind blowing high concept stuff. the sort of metaphysical psychological madness comics are the perfect medium for.

twisting turning mind bending brilliance
Profile Image for Roman.
203 reviews1 follower
November 23, 2025
Абсолютний Марсіанський Мисливець є серією другої хвилі коміксів Абсолютного Всесвіту від DC. Зав'язка полягає в тому, що агент ФБР Джон Джонс переживає теракт в наслідок якого у його свідомості з'являється неочікуваний гість, який називає себе Марсіанином, попри те, що не є представником тієї планети. В результаті між нашими двома героями утворюється певний симбіоз в якому Джон отримує здібності марсіанського бачення, що дають йому змогу читати думки інших людей.

Сам же сюжет розповідає про те як наш дует бореться з Білими Марсіанами, які вкладають у свідомість людей погані ідеї, як наприклад, спалити людей заживо чи почати просто відстрілювати їх посеред вулиці. Також важливою складовою історії є напруженні стосунки Джона з його дружиною, які впродовж історії досягають своєї точки кипіння.

В результаті Деніз Кемп видає досить непогану бадді коп історію, яка по ходу сюжету підкидає певні сюрпризи (взагалі не очікував побачити тут камео одне персонажа, а також ��ого як цей сюжет в результаті закінчився), в обгортці просто неймовірно шикарного і місцями досить таки сюрреалістичного малюнку Хавєра Родріґеса, який місцями для мене місцями все-таки аж занадто сюрреалістичним, але тим не менш не насолоджуватися ним просто неможливо. Так і хочеться затриматися на деяких сторінках під час читання.

Перша арка Абсолютного Марсіанського Мисливця є гідним представником нового Абсолютного Всесвіту, можливо він зайде не кожному, але це однозначно серія яку варту прочитати. Сам комікс на відміну від інших Абсолютних серій є ліміткою, яка початково повинна була мати всього 6 номерів, але через успіх отримала розширення до 12 і я дуже чекаю на те, що ж буде далі.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 333 reviews

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