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Absolute Martian Manhunter (2025) #1-6

Absolute Martian Manhunter - Bd. 1: Wahrheit gegen Wahn

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JENSEITS DES MARS … JENSEITS DES VERSTANDES!
Die grandiose Neuinszenierung der Legende von Martian Manhunter, dem legendären Marsianer, der Justice League, in einem der konzeptionell und visuell ambitioniertesten Comics des FBI-Agent John Jones hat ein Problem. Nach der verheerenden Explosion bei einem Anschlag wird sein Leben als Ermittler und Familienvater auf den Kopf gestellt. Denn entweder ist er komplett verrückt geworden, oder sein Verstand ist tatsächlich von einem außeririschen Bewusstsein vom Mars infiziert. Es beginnt eine durchdringende psychedelische Reise in überwältigenden Bildern …
ENTHÄ ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER 1-6
Die geniale Neudefinition von DCS außerirdischer Ikone Martian Manhunter, inszeniert von den Ausnahmetalenten Deniz Camp (Ultimates) und Javier Rodrigues (Spider-Woman).

Kindle Edition

First published November 18, 2025

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Deniz Camp

175 books122 followers

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5 stars
3,378 (56%)
4 stars
1,824 (30%)
3 stars
552 (9%)
2 stars
128 (2%)
1 star
48 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,085 reviews
Profile Image for Anne.
4,990 reviews71.8k followers
October 7, 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
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Profile Image for Jim Ef.
469 reviews110 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 Scott.
2,436 reviews294 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 Sam Quixote.
4,896 reviews13.6k followers
December 11, 2025
FBI Agent John Jones is caught in an explosion which somehow leads to him having a martian’s voice in his brain - as you do. Is it real or is he nuts? Well it’s pretty fucking obvious what the answer is. Exciting. Then people start randomly doing horribly destructive things, that John and the martian try to stop - and then the comic just becomes this, over and over. It’s quite tediously repetitive.

DC’s Absolute range continues past their trinity of popular characters into their less popular ones with Martian Manhunter, a character I actually like but who rarely gets solo outings - for a raisin: they’re pretty bad. Case in point: Absolute Michael Mann’s Manhunter.

The story starts out with some potential. John Jones is a fed who doesn’t realise a martian’s in his head somehow and talking to him and showing him a hidden world or something. Except there’s no real plot, no sense of building up to a big bad (who just appears at a certain point), just a lot of pointless carnage that John and the martian run around in. Oh, John’s wife is also unhappy with him not talking to her. Riveting. It’s very one-note and ends in a confusing fashion. Apparently Le sigh.

I’ve been a fan of Javier Rodriguez’s art for years and enjoyed his work at Marvel on titles like She-Hulk and Spider-Woman. His art is superb throughout Martian Manhunter. Trippy visuals, colourful pages, imaginative layouts, creative panels - this might be his most virtuoso comic to date.

It’s just a shame Deniz Camp is a sucky writer that the story isn’t nearly as high quality as the visual presentation. Boring, muddled, one-note, and forgettable, Absolute Martian Manhunter fits in well with the rest of DC’s Absolute dreariness.
Profile Image for M. J..
175 reviews6 followers
November 10, 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 Diz.
1,935 reviews153 followers
June 15, 2026
Absolute Martian Manhunter strongly focuses on the mental powers of the character, and the writing and art take that concept and run with it. The depiction of these powers is trippy and mind-bending. There is also some interesting social commentary about the mental state of society and how something is out of balance.
Profile Image for Dan.
3,282 reviews10.9k 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.
7,988 reviews321 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 Benji's Books.
695 reviews11 followers
February 24, 2026
Worth the hype! Loved the art by Javier Rodriguez and story by Deniz Camp. Will have to check out volume two once it's fully released...
Profile Image for Chris Lemmerman.
Author 8 books129 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 Robert.
2,344 reviews147 followers
January 12, 2026
Trippy, man. Definitely the kind of Absolute DC Police Procedural I can get behind.
Profile Image for Scott Rhee.
2,503 reviews211 followers
October 4, 2026
Confession: for years, I have always confused Martian Manhunter with Marvin Martian, the character from the Looney Toons cartoons.



Another confession: I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THE MARTIAN MANHUNTER IS.

So, imagine my surprise when I picked up, merely for shits and giggles, Deniz Camp's Absolute Martian Manhunter and loved it. Like, totally loved it. I won't even bore you with a synopsis. Just read it.

Also, big round of applause to artist Javier Rodriguez. Absolute awesome!

Profile Image for Logan.
1,024 reviews37 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 Maurice Africh.
Author 2 books392 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 Sjgomzi.
418 reviews172 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 Raul Reyes.
757 reviews6 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 John Wiswell.
Author 63 books1,253 followers
August 20, 2026
Javier Rodríguez's art is on another level. This deserves to be praised in the same breath as Dave Gibbons's art for Watchmen.
Profile Image for Alex.
751 reviews12 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 Zydeco Lamaze.
153 reviews3 followers
March 14, 2026
This shit kicked so much ass!!! THAT’S NOT TELLING A STORY IN A CONVENIENT MEDIUM, THAT’S UTILIZING THE MEDIUM TO TELL THE STORY BABY!!!! What comics should and could be, a conscious effort to think about the abilities of the medium rather than tell the story through comics because that’s just how it’s been done, this shit rocked so hard. Thank you Deniz Camp thank you SO much Javier Rodríguez I love you and I haven’t even read a single Martian Manhunter before this
Profile Image for Hakim.
567 reviews30 followers
October 10, 2026
FINALLY a breath of fresh air. This has got to be one of the most original, weirdest, and most imaginative reinventions of an established character I have ever read. Oh, and the art. The art... is magnificent. The creative team has knocked it out of the park, truly. I am not entirely certain how I would describe the genre even... it sits somewhere at the crossroads of sci-fi, noir, and weird fiction. The Absolute universe, or what I have read from that line anyway, has been nothing short of amazing.
Profile Image for Jiro Dreams of Suchy.
1,576 reviews11 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 Julian.
80 reviews
August 23, 2025
Consistently one of the best comic books you can pick up on any given week.
Profile Image for Laika.
276 reviews100 followers
August 26, 2026
This was my comic for August, read as a bit of a shorter palate cleanser between halves of Umineko. I normally stay well away from any Marvel or DC series, especially those that are part of a sprawling interconnected Event, but my one comic-loving friend IRL wore me down on this one. Having finished it, I’m very glad they did – this was a delight, and not at all what I was expecting. And, thankfully, only part of a wider interconnected universe in the most technical sense.

Set in the anytown of Middleton, the series follows FBI Agent John Jones and also the psychic alien symbiote that becomes attached to his consciousness after he miraculously survives a suicide bombing. The Green ‘Martian’ exists in the realm of ideas and concepts more than physical reality, and through it John begins to see both the minds and emotions of people around him and the malevolent interference that his partner’s nemesis (the White ‘Martian’) is carrying out as part of their grand artistic and ideological contest – while Green sees life as a beautiful and hopeful thing, White sees it mostly as raw material for sublime tragedy. While dealing with that, John is simultaneously forced to deal with the dangerous interest of some of his superiors and the American government writ large, and (for most of the run) expertly avoids dealing with both his failing marriage and increasingly theoretical relationship with his son.

The series feels equal parts Twin Peaks, True Detective and Disco Elysium. Which is (mostly) to say that it takes the basic chassis of a rather generic police procedural and uses it as a foundation to rush off in strange, abstract and philosophical directions. Also that the protagonist being an empowered officer of the law (and a paid-up member of the professional middle class who at first glance seems to be living the white-picket-fence dream) is something of a thin facade over both what an incredibly strange mess he is and how poorly he meshes with the mostly venal, small-minded and self-interested institution around him.

This may just be my having an unjustifiably low opinion about mainstream superhero comics, but I really was (pleasantly) surprised by just how philosophical a story this was. Take away the aliens and special effects and this is basically one big existentialist manifesto. As in ‘why exactly is life worth the hassle when suicide is quick and easy?’ is one of the main subjects of the entire back half of the run. The thesis statement of the entire series – first said in the first issue and repeated quite often – is that ‘what happens in your head also happens.’ In a literal sense for the psychic mindhunter, but also in the most broad and thematic way. The story doesn’t really argue against the idea that reality is full of suffering and loss, or that from a sufficiently cynical view most of the reasons to think otherwise are at best cousins to delusion and self-deception: it (or, at least, the Green Martian) just thinks they’re good ideas to have anyway.

The idea that solidarity, compassion, selfless heroism and truly understanding those you love are delusional fictions is, I gather, not really one that most big interconnected superhero settings would endorse. But – and this is one of exactly two ways this feels like part of a larger project, and the one of the two that works – the whole Absolute line takes place in a fundamentally maltheist universe where God is real, and God really does hate you. This is treated as a bit of a cosmic horror revelation, and as a simple fact to be dealt with and worked around rather than a problem which can even theoretically be solved – aside from a few pages of ominous cosmic starscapes showing the big angry looking guy himself there’s not even really any indication it should be anthropomorphized at all.

Beyond that, the series’ connection to both the wider shared universe and the existing character and supporting cast of the Martian Manhunter feel a bit analogous to one of those pre-MCU superhero movies that seems vaguely embarrassed to be a superhero movie. Well, ‘embarrassed’ isn’t the right word, but if you made this an entirely original property with no connection to an existing IP all you would need to do is remove a few (literally one-panel) cameos and change a few names for it to be entirely unrecognizable as a legacy series. If you came into this a huge fan of the character and his rogues’ gallery (really if you come into it a huge fan of superhero comics and the DC style in general) I imagine it might be a bit of an alienating read. Thankfully I instead have no exposure to Jones except fond childhood memories of the old Justice League cartoons, which are so utterly and entirely different from this that trying to compare them feels like a category error.

Though in fairness the art and formatting set this apart from its sibling lines and most other DC comics almost as dramatically as the narrative, so hopefully everyone had at least some sense of what they were in for as they opened it. I do not really have the necessary vocabulary to properly describe the art, but it’s immediately striking and distinct from everything around it, absolutely bursting with style and character, and very well-suited to the surreal and dream-like (or nightmarish) story it’s being used to tell. It uses a fairly restricted palette and simple character designs to achieve a sort of intentionally retro, 20th century aesthetic that’s used to great effect in a few fourth-wall breaking moments where one or another Martian instructs the reader to overlay pages or tear off a section to see things through their special vision. Using tricks that are clearly reminiscent of stuff marketed to children in the ‘80s (‘60s? I’ve got no idea, honestly) for tragic, horrifying or transcendent revelations is hardly original at this point, but I do think it worked well.

I wouldn’t have been nearly as struck by how distinctive the series’ style was if not for how awkwardly it fit with the ancillary text and general structure that came with being a mainstream DC comic. Each issue is, to begin with, a good bit shorter than my usual – to a slight degree in terms of pages of actual story, but much more painfully in the total lack of back-page reader mail, notes and essays from the creators, concept art and trivia or worldbuilding notes, or really anything at all. Instead each issue was just slightly thinner than I expect, with maybe half again more space dedicated to ads, showcases, and utterly soulless marketing interviews for other DC comics. A couple of which did at least catch my eye, but which had the overall effect of making Manhunter seem entirely unique and distinct from any other series they are currently releasing.

Between this and 20th Century Men Camp has fully ascended into the hallowed ranks of comics writers whose names I bother to remember (laudatory). I’m told he’s writing like eighty different things right now, and I’ll need to hunt another one of them down as soon as it wraps up.
Profile Image for Lashaan Balasingam.
1,546 reviews4,621 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 Keiralika.
195 reviews14 followers
October 8, 2026
Oh, how I love Absolute Martian Manhunter! Why I chose this comic as my first DC series is because I found the artwork speaking through a liberal-psycho-igniting way. Yes, the art is so amazing it feels like my head is getting penetrated by green lasers. Forcing me to remember how I used to jump around talking about superheroes. Batman, Spiderman, X-Men, and sometimes Joker, the original Red Hood, this factor X, the villain, the heroism, it's amazing.

This comic speaks to me through so many levels. I'm confident enough I'm a child at heart, and I miss the nostalgic feeling of getting sucked into another world and becoming a savior alongside the hero. What I find unique is the Martian in this comic isn't a material being, it's not a subject as of a person, it's a manifestation, an idea, it's a metaphor. The concept is more psychedelic; it makes me butterfly; my stomach turns into a garden.

It's so good I feel like I have placed the Absolute MM on top of my heart. I can't get enough looking at every page, this comic's art is weird, works like a reminder that I'm a colorful being. So bad a human can only perceive a very little range of colors, that makes most humans not be able to decipher most of the colors they have experienced. But knowing we're more than the thing we're able to comprehend is a miracle. It works every time, it makes our hearts soft.
Profile Image for Sharon.
1,896 reviews17 followers
August 25, 2026
Javier Rodriguez deserves all the awards. Wow.

I went into this with no grounding of Martian Manhunter, so no expectations or cannon in the smoke-- and maybe it's all the better for that. The art is sublime, leading and misleading the reader all over the page in the most wonderful way. Trippy yet violent and dark. I absolutely loved this, and need to get my hands on the rest of the story RIGHT NOW.
Profile Image for Rory Wilding.
844 reviews32 followers
November 25, 2025
Since his comics inception in 1955, J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter has been one of the most beloved characters in the DC Universe, starting as one of the seven original members of the Justice League of America, to appearing in various DC media projects, most notably the Justice League cartoon during the 2000s, voiced by Carl Lumbly. Even though he has made the jump to live-action film and television, J'onn J'onzz has never really gained popularity for an audience outside the DC mindset, and based on the first volume of Absolute Martian Manhunter, that might still be the case, but that’s okay.

Released as part of DC's Absolute Universe, the story centres on FBI Agent John Jones who miraculously survives a suicide bombing. To the dismay of his wife Bridget, John decides to continue working, investigating the case of the bomber, only to realise that his brain has been infected by an alien consciousness calling itself “the Martian”, giving John the ability to see inside the thoughts and memories of the people around him.

Usually when it comes to Martian Manhunter, when he isn’t hovering around the Justice League Watchtower, he is the alien walking among us as he shapeshifts himself as a human in order to understand us. However, writer Deniz Camp shakes up the mythos by presenting John Jones as the human who shares this mental bond with this otherworldly consciousness, conceptualised in John's head as the familiar imagery of a green alien from Mars. Considering that some of DC’s most iconic characters are otherworldly beings trying to understand humanity, Camp seems to be taking cues from Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing about the human become less humane is a world that is drenched in psychological and supernatural horror.

As well as currently writing The Ultimates as part of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe, Camp embraces how to radically reproach well-established superheroes, especially in how they are adapted into a world that feels more oppressive and not about the bright optimism of heroism. We've seen that in The Ultimates, which is about a superhero team in conflict with the world that they are trying to save, and in the case of Absolute Martian Manhunter, John investigates a series of cases that makes him question why do people do the things they do, despite the eventual reveal of another conscious being with heavy ties to DC history.

Right away, what will capture readers’ attention is the art by Javier Rodriguez, who had previously established his visual motifs at DC with Zatanna: Bring Down the House. Considering the trippy visuals he achieved on that book, Rodriguez pushes them further here and in doing so, pushes the boundaries about what you can do in a comic book. Due to some of the surreal ideas that Camp presents, most notably the concept of “Martian Vision”, Rodriguez experiments with panel layouts and psychedelic colouring to create pages where characters and locations blend together that you don’t know where one ends and the other begins. While the horror and violence are present, the abstract artistry gives it a look that isn’t gratuitous or for the sake of edginess.

Considering there is still a semblance of a superhero comic in some of the Absolute titles like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, Absolute Martian Manhunter has zero interest in feeling like one, with a surreal tone that blurs the line between genres, whether it is noir thriller, domestic family drama and multiple forms of horror. Halfway through the series, it’ll be interesting to see how Camp and Rodriguez will wrap things up.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,085 reviews