Absolute Martian Manhunter, Vol. 2: The Agency

Absolute Martian Manhunter (2025) #7-12

by Deniz Camp, Javier Rodriguez (Artist)

After the mind-altering events of the White Martian’s first foray on Earth, the Agency—a shadowy group with unlimited governmental authority—comes to investigate the strange occurrences in Middleton. John must juggle his job, hiding the Martian, his expanding abilities, and his crumbling relationships, all while living out of a motel. Meanwhile, Bridget wrestles with the revelations John shared with her before his departure while single-handedly taking care of Tyler! Superstar writer Deniz Camp (20th Century Men) and Eisner Award-winning artist Javier Rodríguez ( Bring Down the House) continue their mind-bending, transcendental interpretation of the Absolute Martian Manhunter! Collects Absolute Martian Manhunter #7-12.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fantasy

Kindle Edition

Published August 25, 2026

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 3 star finish.
The art and colors were (for me) the saving grace of the second half of the run.
I know there are plenty of fans of this kind of fever-dream style writing, but I've never personally enjoyed it much.
Your mileage will certainly vary.



As with all of the Absolute universe, I found the reinvention of the characters and how they interacted with each other interesting.
Despair-The-Zero (Despair-O = Despero) plays a large role in this second act, attaching himself to John in an effort to skew everything he sees through a black cloud of bleak hopelessness.
With John's now-estranged wife, Bridget, under the control of the White Martian who has inhabited their son Tyler's body, it becomes harder and harder for the Green Martian to break through his depression and communicate with him.



For whatever reason, the fate of this universe's reality rests on John, and to a lesser extent Bridget, being able to shake off the White Martin's influence, so that John can use his powers to reset the equilibrium.
Kinda?
Just be prepared to go with it if you decide to dive into this one.



I did like the way it all wrapped up. And like I initially mentioned, this one has some of the most phenomenal panels and colors out there that really do make it worth your time.
I read this as single issues on DC Infinite, and the individual reviews are linked below if you're interested in a more thorough review.
Recommended for fans of metaphorical comics.

issue #7
issue #8
issue #9
issue #10
issue #11
issue #12

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had no idea what I was reading half the time but I dug it. The art is pretty out there and inventive, especially for a DC comic. And I had no idea that was Despero for the longest time. I'll sit with this for awhile and then need to go back and read it all again straight through to see what I missed the first go around.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

جنگی ذهنی با مهمانی ناخوانده برای بازپس‌گیری سلامت عقل.
مثل کتاب اول، تریلری روان‌شناختی

ایده‌ی اصلی داستان ولوم رو دوست نداشتم و خیلی دیگه همه‌چیز تریپ‌طور شده بود. به شکلی که به‌سختی می‌شد فهمید چه اتفاقی داره می‌افته و واقعاً تبدیل به یک head scratcherشده بود.

آرت اما چشمگیر و بی‌نظیر بود.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very sweet 🥹 I can’t wait to read it again all the way through hard cover style 😝

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should've probably reread the first volume before diving into this one, felt a little lost at times. But it's still also firmly 90s vertigo madness that I can't help but love it either way. This volume goes full on mental breakdown hallucination. Incredible art, as per usual.

[Jadyn❀ · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

Kind of hard to follow at times, but not so much that I really cared. There's something deeply moving about this series. I was nearly in tears in those last couple issues. I'm so impressed by the minds (and talent) of this creative team.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m glad a comic this experimental and psychedelic managed to get made by a major publisher. There’s some hope for writers and artists with bold visions after all.

[Siona Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the art from this series was really cool, although I think the story was a little hard to follow because of it. But also, idk if subtext or metaphor would be the better word for it, but the story had more meat on the bones than a usual DC comic.

[Person Michaels · Rating 5 out of 5]

A longer review of my thematic takeaways from this series will be coming on a proper reread. I experienced this volume monthly, and there’s no possible way that can do full justice to its brilliance.

[Maxime · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

Super, mais à lire de préférence sous LSD.

[Anthony Lacroix]

is so weird.

[Cody Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

What the hell where did all these tears come from?

Maybe liked it better than the first?

[Amir Momani · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Loving this. What do you mean you're fighting the concept of the American gun

[Lucille · Rating 4 out of 5]

J’adore l’ambiance de ce comics mais j’avoue que c’est parfois un peu compliqué quand même et manquait un peu de réelles avancées dans l’histoire ici je pense ! Sinon toujours aussi magnifique

[Eva B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful acid trip

[Josh J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deniz Camp is sitting so firmly amongst my favorite authors at this point and Javier Rodriguez translates this story into the visual medium in a way I’ve never witnessed before. A must read series that’s left me beyond impressed.

[Aidan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly haunting and beautiful tale, the first volume covered societal despair. This covers personal. Yet again i wish i could give this a higher rating.

[Dairian H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply enjoyed! Definitely has moments where the constant stream of sensory information (wordplay, vibrant coloring, disjointed panels, words covered up, smeared, obscured and also battles that are metaphorical, and emotional rather than purely physical) can kind of slow down or obscure the story more than necessary. The first has its fair share of more psychedelic bits but this one turns everything up to ten. If you’re able to slice through the noise there really is a very beautiful and poignant story about the messiness of forming and sustaining lasting connections with others. Cannot wait to revisit these comics again.

[Zachary Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art in this book is worth reading it for alone, but oh man, the story hits so good. I was tearing up through the entire last issue.

You can analyze this book and connect with it in so many different ways, but at its core, it’s a story about people struggling to connect in a world where connection can be so difficult.

It’s touching. It’s heartbreaking. It’s completely out of this world and cosmic, while somehow still feeling incredibly human.

Overall, it’s just amazing.

Check out Absolute Martian Manhunter. It’s absolutely worth it.

[Connor Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Same great colors, maybe even better, from the first volume. Get a little heady at the end but I still really enjoyed it! Martian Manhunter forever !

[Trevor ComicFan · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

75

Pretty heady and meta. I liked vol one more.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The gorgeous art and the unique point-of-view can only take the comic so far, and unfortunately V2 is largely past that point. The biggest problem is that it kicks off with a couple of muddy, hard-to-follow issues in which very little happens. It regains some of its mojo by the end, with an ending (to the series?) that actually feels meaningful, but it felt like a bit of a slog to get there. A pity.

[Bertazzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about a forced connection that, beneath explosions of color, concealed a story about reconnecting with those we love - "with help, despair becomes delight."

It's Absolute, but it's a Vertigo classic.

[Dizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute Martian Manhunter on Semiotics, Abstract Art, and Making Meaning

"This isn't a gun. It's the idea of a gun."

Where do I even begin to begin on Absolute Martian Manhunter? I'll start with simple quality stuff before I get into analysis. I don't think I'd be wrong to say this is one of the greatest comics ever conceived. Everything about it is stunning beyond belief and if you are reading this simply wondering if it's worth the read the answer is a resounding and passionate yes. Camp and Rodriguez have visibly put their whole hearts into this book and while they were at it, stole mine. Ok preface over let’s go.

Semiotics is the study of symbols and how we construct meaning around them. When I first saw the panel of the Agency yelling “this isn’t a gun. It’s the idea of a gun, America’s idea.” I did in fact squeal. This feels like such a direct reference to the famous semiotics art piece “This is not a pipe” or “Ceci n’est pas une pipe.” In case you’ve never heard of it, the piece depicts a pipe, well not a pipe but a drawing of a pipe, with the aforementioned words scribed underneath. It is known for calling attention to the disparity between reality and simulacra, the difference between what is a pipe and what is a representation of a pipe. We see especially in the first volume how the Martians fight in concepts rather than reality, the fear of the atomic bomb (rather than the bomb itself) and faith of military incompetence (rather than dismantling it and making it a dud). In fact, the depiction of the Martians as a whole are merely symbolic representations of beings we cannot comprehend.

“What is it Lowe?” “It’s a metaphor, sir.”

Abstract art is nothing if not visual semiotics. A collection of shapes and splats that is given so trustfully into the hands of you, the viewer, to make your own meaning out of. People say abstract art confronts you in a way no other style does. Meta-examining your own reactions and decipherings of abstract art like a Rorschach ink blot can give you a very honest look into yourself the same way the townsfolk of Middleton descend into shame after the initial euphoria of being known. After all, what is scarier than being seen? There are many people in the world who hold much distaste for abstract art whether they are afraid of that confrontation with themselves or because they think it is meaningless and therefore worthless. That if there is no point then there can never be a point, so what’s the point of it all? And oh how that mirrors Despair-The-Zero and his nihilistic, philistine view on life.

In the same vein, The Green Martian is abstract art incarnate. A being of confusion, a voice that is green, forming concepts to be understood from a collection of words more akin to a vibe than a depiction of something. Despair asks us why waste time to be beetles mating with shards of broken glass trying to find meaning in a world devoid of it. In response, the Green Martian, being of abstract art, stands that if the world is innately meaningless then the meaning of life is to CREATE meaning for ourselves. A kind of meta-existentialism, not just that “existence precedes essence”- that humans through our consciousness determine a meaning for our lives because we do not possess any inherent meaning- but that the act of seeking meaning is meaning itself. “Human world = beautiful delusion”

Identity is nothing if not societal semiotics. After all what is an identity if not a symbolic representation of yourself that you present. Think of the persona you project to the internet. That identity isn’t the pipe, it’s not even the drawing of the pipe, but a homage piece referencing the drawing of the pipe. Repeated often through the book people are described as “meaningless accumulations of nothing” that have convinced ourselves of our complexity. “Why do people do the things they do?” John speculates again and again. Despair-The-Zero detests John’s speculating, again asking him to consider what is the point if you could never truly understand another person. The truth is, he’s partially right, John can assume and speculate, he can even have the mystical ability to read minds. But true understanding of full capacity could only possibly be achieved by living that person’s life the way that John and Bridget do at the end of the story. But the point is not to truly understand motivation of people, the point of trying is to drink in your fellow humans, to bathe in their beautiful complexity and try to grasp our ever-curious hands around smoke.

More times than I could count this book left me confused. I didn’t know why a line was included, or how it was supposed to fit into the overall narrative or themes. I yearned to know exactly why Camp included every word, why Rodriguez painted every color. But I didn’t need to understand exactly what was being said to get what it meant to me.

[Rory Wilding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading all the titles from DC's Absolute Universe, which presents radical interpretations of the publisher's iconic characters, there is the semblance of a superhero narrative, even when the storylines can get dark and twisted, since Darkseid has left an influence in this universe. However, Absolute Martian Manhunter by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez has zero interest in embracing the super-heroics and instead focuses on being a surreal psychological horror about a man losing grip of his own reality, let alone his family, after psychologically bonding with a green Martian.

Three months have passed following the events of the previous volume, in which John Jones and the Martian have prevented the White Martian's attack on Middleton. However, John is now living alone in a motel, after his wife Bridget believed him to be insane and kicked him out of the house. Unbeknownst to John, the White Martian's defeat proved to only be temporary as it has retreated into his son Tyler's body, while he and his alien companion are targets of The Agency, an organisation which claims to protect America from alien ideas.

If you liked the first trade for its trippy visual storytelling, you will be on board with this concluding volume, showing how John tries and fails to balance his family, his work environment and even his complicated relationship with the Martian. There was a point reading this that I was reminded of the somewhat comedic chemistry of the Venom movies, especially during a key moment where John in a drunken rage, shouts at the Martian to leave him alone for one night, which he reluctantly does. And this is where the drama intensifies!

While there is acknowledgement of the wider Absolute Universe, Camp writes this like one of his creator-owned works that again, feels closer to psychological horror. Even aspects like the Agency – an organisation that Amanda Waller is associated with in the main DC continuity – is presented more like a shadowy organisation with little interest in introducing other DC characters. However, we do get a new version of Despero, who was originally a humanoid extraterrestrial with three eyes and psychic powers that battled the Justice League, but is now Despair-the-Zero, an otherworldly consciousness who plans to corrupt John through despair and nihilism.

Considering aspects of the story feel like a domestic family drama, such as a chaotic scene between John and Bridget going into therapy, as well as the psychological themes of how emotions can be manifested, it is surprising how much a visual treat this series has been. No stranger to drawing superhero comics where there is an element of convention, Rodríguez is at his best when unhinged through experimenting 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 Camp has never been an action writer, John has a confrontation with the Agency, leading to the most insane and dazzling gun fight I've seen in comics.

As previously stated, the bizarreness will be too much for some readers and while you can make the argument that Camp is more interested in pushing the boundaries with what you can do in comics than telling a coherent narrative, Absolute Martian Manhunter brings out the best in both Camp and Rodríguez that it makes me so excited what plans they have with their upcoming Batman book.

[☽｡⋆ Shells (jlreads_) · Rating 5 out of 5]

– 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩.... 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

▪︎●▪︎●▪︎●▪︎●

This volume, following [obviously] the events and aftermath of the previous one [ the rising and drowning of trauma, further retreat on oneself]. This volume—Absolute Martian Manhunter Vol. 2 has become a psychological, social, and cosmic warfare.

It technically manifests on the danger of [ isolation] and [ unchecked or unhealed trauma] not just to the self and basically the people around you if it becomes a [violent one]. I personally liked how the comic delved into these themes.

A lot of things happen here that are deeply [triggering] for me. I did get overwhelmed and had to literally take a fee minutes break because IT IS THAT HEAVY [torture, manipulation, descent to madness in a sense as the Green Martian & White Martian deploy their influences, self harm].

This is definitely a powerful storytelling for me. Meaningful in its timely themes and message and equally compelling. I would say this has become one of my favourite Absolute run. 5⭐️.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series remains one of the trippiest most psychedelic comics running full of darkness, violence, and hope as the rules of reality themselves shift across the pages. There are more threads to the wider DC universe and no shortage of fascinating art as John and the others face the fallout of the white martian's attack on earth and the appearance of a shadowy government agency with powers that defy comprehension.

[Luka · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’avais adoré le premier tome, mais la c’est sûrement le meilleur comics que j’ai lu de ma vie, j’ai ressenti tellement de chose, été touché par tellement de thèmes, en seulement 6 chapitres.
J’abuse même pas quand je dis que j’ai passé 75% de ma lecture avec des larmes aux yeux car je vous jure que j’ai jamais eu l’occasion de lire quelque chose d’aussi fort, d’aussi sensible, d’aussi humain dsl mais wow

[Polis Stavrou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow,the whole bizarre concept,the story,the illustrations,the unique reading techniques that as a reader you interact with the story,makes it a wonderful piece of work that you should read it immediately. I consider a masterpiece of modern storytelling, one of the best titles of Absolute Universe and you can read ot in one day, because you will never let it out of your hands. Well done to Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez of bringing such a wonderful story in a comic book format.

[knightdotcom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am yet again falling in love with Deniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez’s Absolute Martian Manhunter. I mentioned it in my review of vol. 1, but I just have to talk about the colors and the Martian Vision pages again. They keep getting so creative and they’re just the absolute coolest. Respectfully, I couldn’t bare the idea of marking my comics with any pencil/ink for the connect the dots segment, or cutting along the dotted lines to remove a comic panel, but the creativity in this series just keeps one upping itself. The way the topic of mental health was portrayed in this was so incredible to read and see as well.
The inclusion of all the other Absolute heroes being tied in with this story was such a fun and exciting thing to see. Camp and Rodríguez are such an incredible creative team and I love what they’re doing with our beloved Martian Manhunter. I can’t wait for vol. 3!