I read through Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 twice, and even after letting some of it sit with me, it’s still a hard comic to describe. That’s not because it’s a bad comic, far from it – but it is a weird comic. It’s the kind of weird that Jack Kirby was cooking up when he created the Fourth World. The kind of weird that Grant Morrison dabbles in on the regular. The kind of weird that comics need more of, and it’s a frontier that Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez boldly jump into.
Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 begins when FBI agent John Jones is caught in the blast of a explosion. Despite nearly dying, he feels anxious to get back to work…but there’s sights he can’t explain. He keeps having memories of his past life, intertwined with the thoughts of others, and witnessing bright explosions of color. On top of that, something, or someone, is deep inside his mind.
The beauty of DC’s Absolute Universe is that it manages to take these characters in new directions while keeping the core of what makes them great. Absolute Flash has a Wally West who’s on the cusp of adolescence and struggling with super speed. Absolute Superman is less the Man of Steel and more the Champion of the Oppressed due to being shaped by events on Earth and Krypton. Absolute Martian Manhunter plays into Jones’ background as an investigator. Slowly, surely, he starts piecing things together, leading to the big revelation that he’s sharing his body with an alien.
This mystery wouldn’t work as well as it does without Deniz Camp. Camp’s script begins with the explosion that nearly killed Jones, then moves from there – ever so often flickering to the past, or hinting at the Martian dwelling within Jones’ head. From beginning to end, I was hooked, and even though I saw the Martian reveal coming it still hit like a ton of bricks. Between this series, The Ultimates and Assorted Crisis Events – not to mention his grossly underrated Image series 20th Century Men – Camp has a talent for taking the comic tropes we know and love and finding new ways to tackle them.
DC
Javier Rodriguez matches the pure creative energy of Camp’s script, drawing images that have to be seen to be believed. Even then, these images defy description: the Martian Manhunter is less a figure and more a swirl of colors and shapes, all swirling together in a nod to his shapeshifting powers. Smoke is also a recurring theme in Rodriguez’s art: Jones is a cigarette smoker, and nearly every time he or someone else lights up, there’s floating colors instead of actual smoke. One sequence winds all the separate colors together into a blur of thoughts, all surrounding Jones; it’s a uniquely visual way to depict telepathy.
Finally, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou contributes to the weirdness with some of the most outlandish letter work I’ve seen in a comic. Words are flipped backwards like they’re in a mirror, thoughts become blurry and full of color, and to hammer home the point the Martian Manhunter’s voice is depicted as “green” – and that one word is lined with a bright green hue. As for the Manhunter, its thought bubbles are filled with a disjoined, yet large script that takes center stage every time it speaks.
Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 isn’t just a standout in DC’s Absolute universe, but a standout among the comics that’ve been released this year. It doesn’t look, feel or read like any other series out there, and that’s what makes it exciting. All I can say to the creative team is “keep being weird” because it’s paying off.
You must be logged in to post a comment.