From being blown up to having the world melt around him, it’s safe to say that Agent Jones has had an interesting couple of days. Your Major Spoilers review of Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 from DC Comics awaits!

ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER #1

Writer: Deniz Camp
Artist: Javier Rodriguez
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Editor: Hatie Hubert
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: March 26th, 2025

Previously in Absolute Martian Manhunter: Agent Jones is an FBI agent working for a special task force. He knows his coworkers think he’s weird, he knows they call him “The Martian”. After a bad encounter on the job though, things begin to get a whole lot stranger.

WHERE THERE’S SMOKE

Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 opens up with the aftermath of a bombing in which Agent Jones barely survives. At the hospital, he’s told that he’s mostly okay, but he starts noticing that colorful smoke is hovering around him. His wife pleads with him to take some time off to heal up and spend time with her and their son. The next day, Jones requests not to be put on administrative leave so he can keep working cases. Against orders, Jones visits the site of the explosion, which came from a suicide bomber. He then goes to talk with people who knew the bomber. Along the way, he realizes he knows things about the people that he shouldn’t know. At home, things get progressively distorted for Jones. While talking to his son, he shows Jones a clay figure he made of him, and it’s a Martian. Things deteriorate even more the next day as another voice pushes into Jones’ head even more, until reality completely falls apart.

ABSOLUTELY PERFECT FOR THIS CHARACTER

The experiment that is the Absolute line for DC has proven that it’s the place to take big swings when it comes to re-envisioning classic characters, and this might be the biggest and most appropriate of swings to date. Taking a character that is known for shapeshifting and being outside of society and turning him into two distinct beings in one mind works great. Tonally, this is steeped in neo-noir flavor. The competing narration between Jones and the voice that is taking over his mind creates a compelling tension that doesn’t rely on antagonism, giving it depth and has the reader questioning exactly what is going on. While it’s a cool trick to make the reader unsure of what they’re seeing, some of the ways this is set up are a little cliché. In particular, having the main character recovering from a traumatic accident comes off as sort of convenient, and without more issues to flesh out this plot point, it doesn’t feel like it’s an integral part of the story and that the details of it could have been anything.

MIND BENDING

There are going to be some people who definitely will not enjoy the art in Absolute Martian Manhunter #1. The issue is shaped by a mid-century styling, with a touch of retrofuturism, which is portrayed in deep saturated colors and minimal details. This is then paired with surrealism and influences of pop art to create this whirlwind of styles and colors. As the issue goes on, this gets more and more disorienting, until it gets to a point where it possibly breaks the fourth wall. It’s an effective way to create empathy for Agent Jones in a visual way, but I think that by the end, it might have been just a touch too much.

BOTTOM LINE: THE BIGGEST DEPARTURE YET, BUT A SUCCESSFUL ONE

So far, the Absolute comics have given readers some big changes to their favorite characters, but for the most part, the comics themselves have been fairly straightforward. Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 goes even further. Not only do we get a re-imagining of the character, but we also get a visually wild and narratively playful comic that seems to relish its place in the Absolute Universe. A couple of missteps here and there keep it from being perfect, but anyone looking for something experimental and mind-bending, or simply different, should give this a look. 4 out of 5 stars.

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