When Absolute Martian Manhunter first debuted, it surprised me. Compared to the rest of DC’s absolute comics, it was there, and it doesn’t look or read like most of the comics on the stand. Dennis Camp and Javier Rodriguez continue to push the boundaries of what you can do with printed pages, while Absolute Mars Manhunter #4 shows what happens when people’s emotions boil.
A massive heat wave grabbed Middleton’s city, spiked in temperature and temperament as well. John Jones is competing to solve crimes, but thanks to the existence of Mars’s heart, he knows that the cause is more than fever. He doesn’t realize that he is putting a huge strain on his marriage and is competing to solve the case…and things are about to get worse than he imagined.
Once again, I must point out how wonderful Rodriguez’s art is. From the first page, there is a picture of the heart melting figuratively (a figure with a pure white orb for the head takes off his head and puts it in the sky, slamming the rays into the middleton), literally climbing smoke from people’s ears. That smoke is a repeating visual, adding a white ominous cloud to everything, leading to a literal explosion of emotions that ultimately fill the page.
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These explosions appear in vibrant colors, making it feel like Rodriguez has thrown a bucket of buckets into a particular scene. However, his best use of colour must be with John’s wife. On one of the first pages, he says her emotions are written all over her face, and they are literally like that. Rodriguez’s lettering is combined with Hassan Ottomane Elhau’s colour, giving each emotion a special colour. Words like “absence” and “single” are rendered in dark orange, while “not happy” stands out because it is a vibrant pink. In fact, Otsmane-Elhaou’s lettering continues to change throughout the problem. One continues to think of “literal-metaphor” as he walks by a donut shop, his ideas take the form of circles and show how our environment can shape us.
Absolute Martian Manhunter #4 does not work without a scripted camping pressure cooker. Through this issue he shows a series of incidents escalating with fever. The spilled coffee leads to a bloody boxing fight, and bowling alley debates escalate into armed standoffs as pins and balls are thrown into people’s faces and controversy over the property line escalates into armed standoffs. There are extraterrestrial moments in play, but camp is also not afraid to point out how the small, petty things we have can boil if given a push. It rather well and the tension between John and his wife, and the result is an ending for the emotional jugular vein.
Absolute Martian Manhunter #4 was captured in a way that only the creative team could pull apart. It keeps me surprised when I think I’ve seen everything this book can come. Camp and Rodriguez are pulling away something special here, so if you haven’t added this cartoon to your pull list, what are you waiting for?
“Absolute Martian Manhunter” #4 literally explodes with emotion
Absolute Mars Manhunter #4
Absolute Martian Manhunter #4 was captured in a way that only the creative team could pull apart. It keeps me surprised when I think I’ve seen everything this book can come. Camp and Rodriguez are pulling away something special here, so if you haven’t added this cartoon to your pull list, what are you waiting for?
The camp spins the story of a disbanding marriage with a deadly heatwave covered in extraterrestrial plots.
Rodriguez’s art raises temperatures and temperament equally, leading to truly shocking images.
The literal explosion of colour introduces the swirling emotions to so many people, including John’s wife.
Lettering continues to be an integral part of the book, shifting the whole thing to represent John’s mental state.
