The best part about reading is that it isn’t relaxing. If the story is good, you will feel stressed or nervous the entire time. That’s how it feels to read any comic in the Absolute Universe of DC, but it is very apparent in the Martian Manhunter issues.
Releasing in October of 2024, the Absolute Universe plays on certain aspects of superheroes as we know them. For example, we all know Wonder Woman, the Amazonian Princess, but what if instead of her being from Themyscira, she was from actual Hell. Original Martian Manhunter was a Martian whose home planet of Mars was destroyed, and he was transmitted to Earth by a scientist who tried to communicate with alien life. Martians have way too many superhuman abilities, but most notably, they can read minds and shapeshift. When Absolute Martian Manhunter released in March 2025, instead of being a Martian by the name of J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter is an alien conscience that infects FBI agent John Jones, and now Jones can see people’s emotions through colorful auras and hear their thoughts.
The Absolute comic run is such a different way to write these characters, and the author of Absolute Martian Manhunter, Deniz Camp, did a phenomenal job of showing the initial fright John Jones feels when his alien abilities kick in and how he sorts through it to his benefit. The alien voice is a very depressing subtitle in Jones’s head, which is very different than the upbeat and hopeful philosophy of the normal Martian Manhunter.
The art style of this comic also contrasts with how Martian Manhunter is normally depicted. Normally, the comics are duller in color and try to seem more rooted in reality (or as rooted as they can get), but the Absolute version, illustrated by Javier Rodriguez, is very bright, and the panels have the same LSD effect as shown in drug PSAs from the 80s. The bright colors and the constant thoughts from background characters add to the overstimulating feeling of the comic (which might not sound like a good thing, but it is).
Overall, this comic run is one of the best of Martian Manhunter, and the best of the entire Absolute Universe due to how different of a perspective it gives on Martian Manhunter and his abilities. You can find this comic and any of the other Absolute heroes being sold in almost any comic bookstore due to the success of the series. You feel what the main character feels (which is a lot, all of the time). Reviews on ComicBookCo.com and ComicBookRoundUp, sites where readers and critics alike can give reviews, give an average rating of 9.1. I would give it a 10/10 – and would strongly recommend reading, but before diving into the Absolute Universe, one should familiarize themselves with the normal versions of the characters since the Absolute Universe isn’t fully accurate to the nature of these characters.
