What Lurks Within The Mind — Reviewing ‘Absolute Martian Manhunter’ #2

Comic books. Many opinions exist about what they can do, what they should do, and what they should not do. Endless debates have filled many a message board or convention hallways, as fans of various stripes make their case.

Superhero comics and their format or desired offerings are more often than not at the center of many of these lively (for some that’s being polite) discussions. Sometimes though a book (or books) comes along to smash all that aside. To declare boldly, “Comic books can be anything and everything, deal with it!”

Say hello to Absolute Martian Manhunter from Deniz Camp, Javier Rodríguez, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

If ever there was a statement about what you can do with superhero-centric books, this would be one of them.

I’m not sure entirely what an acid trip entails, having never partaken, but I have to imagine some of what is on this page comes close. That is meant in the best way, I assure you. What this crew is creating just boggles the mind because it goes beyond what we normally see in this particular strain of comic books (those being books starring a generally mainstream/higher tier superhero).

Sure books can get weird or take a swerve, but superhero books are mostly a “you know what you’re going to get” sort of affair. Publishers have their reasons for that with status quos and marketing IP sorts of things. Not saying those reasons are solid or are right but they do exist.

So far the Absolute DC line is allowing creators to step beyond those confines. Allowing for some of the greatest creative swings some of these characters have ever seen.

Creating something that is truly outside of the box in scope and delivery is Rodríguez’s wheelhouse. There is a true sense of weight to anything on the page. Even when a character is suddenly larger than life, placed between standard size buildings for effect, it never feels outlandish or out of place.

So much of what the Martian does is mental in function and execution. It would be easy to just do some bubbles and tell us what is happening. What’s even better is to have figures entering brains, thoughts manifesting in rainbow colorful smokes and bubbles, bullets whizzing through heads as the thoughts leak out, and more. A visual language is being concocted for this series and it’s a powerful striking one.

John Jones feels like he’s slowly losing his grip on reality, and we the audience are along for the ride. We are seeing the “Martian” appear on other bodies and spaces with him, while Jones speaks openly to these visualizations. Striking colors highlight this all as the pages are coated in vibrant splashes swirled with more neutral scene setting tones, presenting a world familiar but outlandish to our eyes.

Together in this space is where the art, colors, and lettering dance hand-in-hand.

Everything the “Martian” is saying to Jones needs its own style and feeling. To stand apart from others while working with the more limited vocabulary that the being seems to use, Otsmane-Elhaou shifts the bubbles in a slight way to make them feel out of this world. Similar choices are made through the whole issue to allow tones, volumes, and emotional energies to flow freely.

Bursting words out of bubbles or expanding everything to create far more tension. Going outside of the normal at every opportunity. Once more, shifting the cases of words to allow words to have more or less presence and power on the page.

So much is learned in this issue. Conceptually it’s an overload of information for protagonist and reader alike. It’s crafted in a way where it also simple to follow and absorb- just enough on the plate so that we do not hunger but we do not end up gorging ourselves in a regretful display. Camp presents us with all of these existential questions, drips of information, and grand concepts for a reason, aimed at fleshing out this world and these character versions.

The issue eschews the tendency to fill these pages with some bold action pieces. Superheroes usually throw themselves against forces set to shake up the status quo or bring harm to the masses. None of that happens in this book. Our main threat is a man whose mind has been touched by a malevolent (“Martian”) threats, and going after the marginalized with weapons.

Something is infecting minds, bringing “bad vibes” and “brain rot” to the masses. It’s causing people’s worst influences to come to the front or be unleashed. It’s such a smoothly correct plotline to tackle with a mind-reading entity and the detective individual he’s residing within, searching reason for how ideas go from formation to creation of harm. It’s all presented in a gloriously colorful science-fiction buddy cop metaphysical wrapper.

These are questions and concepts that most mainline hero comes have no room or desire to answer, instead throwing vibrant costume wearing figures against each other till one or both drop. There is nothing wrong with those comics. I’m a lifetime comic fan, I eat many of the straight up hero comics for a snack daily.

Mixing up our diet and getting something meatier and filling here is welcome.

Much like the minor mention of the Human Flame, and old Martian Manhunter foe, Camp shows his knowledge chops here. As shared on BlueSky, Camp pulled Trigger Taylor (the aforementioned gunman) from Detective Comics #226 which happened to be 2^nd appearance (clever!) of the Martian Manhunter.

Absolute Martian Manhunter #2 is now available from DC Comics.