Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 gets off to one trippy start, offering some fun aesthetics and a mind-bending tale.
ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER #1
Written by Deniz Camp
Art and Main Cover: Javier Rodríguez
Variant Covers: Guillem March, Marcos Martín, David Aja, Daniel Warren Johnson, Rafael Albuquerque
Page Count: 40 pages
Release Date: March 26, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 kicks off with the aftermath of a suicide bombing. One Agent John Jones is going through his recovery, and he’s ultimately given the okay to go home with his wife. All the while, there’re captions musing about why people do the things they do. John brings up a few details about his doctor’s personal life (not that those came up in any on-panel conversation between him and the doctor).
John seems to be doing better than anyone would have expected, given his proximity to the bomber. And most everyone keeps calling him a Martian simply because he comes across as a bit detached from normal humanity.
The FBI tries to put him on administrative leave to recover, but he declines, citing the stack of cases he has in-progress, and that he’d be more comfortable working (not that his wife Bridget or son Tyler would be all that pleased about him not spending time with them). Since it’s a small office, anyway, they don’t push the issue (though he is told not to investigate the coffee shop where the bombing happened, given that he’s a witness, and all).
So naturally, he heads to the coffee shop to check things out. He has some questions that’ve come up since that point, like why he’s started seeing multi-colored smoke coming from people and how it is he’s picking up on his doctors’ thoughts, and what might have driven the bomber to do what it was he did.
That third question brings him to the home of the bomber’s mother, as he asks her what might have driven her son to strap the explosives to himself. She outwardly denies that her son would do such a thing, but then he inhales the smoke coming from her and sees her actual thoughts.
He’s not sure what’s going on with the thought-smoke, or why this green entity is instructing him to breathe it in. He tries to run from this voice, this entity…
But the Martian Manhunter and himself are one being now.
Going to start off with the artwork for Absolute Martian Manhunter #1. The entire aesthetic of this comic comes across as something from the 1960s, from some of the clothing choices, to the overall designs…but especially the colors for the thought-smoke, that pop up every so often throughout the issue. The main colors are nice and clean, but when the thought-smoke comes in? It really pushes the 60s vibe of the piece, hitting the viewer with super-bright reds, greens, yellows, pinks, blues… It gives a stylized, graphic, somewhat psychedelic quality to the story that I kind of love. They’d even included a small feature that’s designed for a print copy of the issue, where holding page 25 up to the light enables “Martian-Vision”, which feels a lot like something they’d have included in a comic book back in the day.
The story itself after Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 is shaping up to be an intriguing one thus far. Of course, you have to wonder if John had always been a bit off-kilter, or if he’d started being called a Martian only after the explosion. If before, then it’s essentially become a light joke-turned-reality. If not, then someone found out before John did, himself (and given the Martian figure Tyler ends up making to represent his dad, he might have figured it out).
But the more pressing questions here: what was the reason behind the bombing? Something tells me there was more to this beyond just the one guy strapping explosives to himself and targeting one place. How deep does this thing go? And was John outright chosen by the Martian or was it more of an opportunistic thing? It’s stated that this merger had saved John’s life, but I’m curious about where things will go from there. What kinds of complications will arise from this guy sharing a body with a freaking Martian.
Final Thoughts
The 60s aesthetics of this comic are a highlight, and the story is designed to keep you guessing. The visual aspects are strong, and the story itself looks like it’ll have some fun mind-screw elements. A great start to this series.
.
