Absolute Martian Manhunter vol. 1: Martian Vision
DC’s Absolute Universe thunders on with the release of the next wave of titles: “Absolute Green Lantern,” “Absolute Flash,” and this one written by Deniz Camp and illustrated by Javier Rodriguez. I won’t be talking about “Absolute Flash” in the near future because its writer, Jeff Lemire, has exhausted my patience regarding his superhero work. Camp, on the other hand, has only exhausted my patience for his creator-owned titles, while his superhero work (“Children of the Vault” and “Ultimates”) has been better. That trend continues here and while I wouldn’t call this first volume of “Absolute Martian Manhunter” a great debut, it may be the best thing I’ve read from the writer yet.
John Jones is a member of the FBI’s Stochastic Terrorism Task Force and he’s recovering from being caught in a suicide bomb explosion from a disturbed costumed individual. While his physical wounds are easily treated, he’s been experiencing weird aftereffects from the incident. Picking up on unspoken thoughts from the people he encounters. Strange visual hallucinations like seeing colored smoke emanating from people around him. He’s also hearing a voice in his head that’s letting him know he’s not alone in there anymore, and that they’re going to have to work together to stop the alien threat that’s about to descend on John’s hometown.
What sets this series apart from the other “Absolute” titles I’ve read is the sheer visual ambition on display. Camp and Rodriguez are committed to a take on John Jones and his “Martian” passenger that genuinely emphasizes the alien-ness of the latter. From his looks, to the way he thinks and communicates, as well as the way he interacts with the world around him. It’s an experience that tries to render the character’s traditional telepathic powers in an all-new way and I won’t lie: It’s a bit stunning to behold.
Rodriguez has always been an artist who has delivered quality work whether he’s working on superhero titles like “Amazing Spider-Man” or “Daredevil,” or mature-readers stuff like “The Dreaming.” In addition to consistently displaying ample visual style, he’s also displayed a willingness to experiment with how we see the action and that remains true here. From outright psychedelia showing John’s bewilderment at being able to read the thoughts of others to the Martian exploring the memories of a disturbed gunman and finding something surprising there, the artist delivers a visual tour-de-force while constantly showing his audience new and surprising sights in every issue. That “hold the page up to the light” trick at the end of the first and sixth issues is also pretty neat, too.
I will certainly give Camp credit for coming up with this stuff for Rodriguez to draw, and for creating a convincingly alien interpretation of the Martian Manhunter. He also finds ways to nod to the character’s history (Chocos!) and even tie things into the larger “Absolute” story being told regarding Darkseid. There are even moments where the overall story being told about humanity’s loss of interpersonal communication leading to an overall lack of empathy break through from the execution of the story itself. Which is the real problem here.
As committed as Camp and Rodriguez are to realizing alien concepts on the page, they don’t really find a way to make their story connect on an emotional level. What we get is a lot of narration from John about the difficulties he and society face, which has the effect of telling us how to feel about the story rather than letting us experience it for ourselves. We’re kept at a distance throughout this volume and there’s nothing to bring us closer to the characters or their stories. Regarding the latter, we don’t even get a satisfying done-in-one story where John and the Martian solve a case together, with each encounter either petering out by the end or explicitly setting up the next issue. Oh, and John has problems communicating with his wife that play out as bog-standardly as possible even with the inventive visuals.
I do still get what the creators are going for here and I even respect their ambition in trying to achieve it. The problem is that I don’t feel any emotional investment in the adventures they’re having and it might be for the best that this is a twelve-issue maxiseries. Extending it out indefinitely risks diluting the stylistic invention from the writer and artist that it’s the strongest part of this title so far. Yes, this first volume of “Absolute Martian Manhunter” is something that I respect more than I admire, but it also puts it ahead of just about everything else I’ve read from Camp to date.