Martian Manhunter #2

Let's get this out of the way right off the bat: In this issue, Martian Manhunter remarks, "Of all the human emotions I have observed . . . revenge is the only one not foreign to my people." The only one. Which means Martians do not feel love, hate, anger, joy, sadness, or even, say, ennui. Funny, because I've seen J'onn J'onzz himself express at least some of these over the course of these first two issues. I'm just saying. Also, revenge? Not an emotion. So I'm gonna come right out and call that lousy writing. I mention this not just to point out that A. J. Lieberman is a lousy writer, but also to question Matt Idelson's editing. See, most of this review will be heavily biased by my own opinion, and the book's team may simply share vastly different views of the character from myself, but that line is just plain stupid and honestly should never have seen print.

Now here comes the heavily biased part of the review. Which is to say, I absolutely hate this book. Honestly, nothing good to say about it. I suppose the art isn't terrible, but that's neatly offset by the densely unimaginative re-imagining of DC's Martians' true Martian forms. Frankly, I can only assume this book is insulting to any long-standing Martian Manhunter fans, and at best disappointing to newfound ones. It reads like a dour '90s Image comic featuring an angry, miserable protagonist fighting a faceless, unscrupulous, government-esque agency. Still, I like to have a positive aspect to my reviews, so I'm going to forget about it and guide you in the direction of some good Martian Manhunter comic books.

Sadly, the best one is currently out of print, but if you can track down all three issues of Martian Manhunter: American Secrets by Gerard Jones and Eduardo Barreto you shouldn't be sorry. Easily some of the best work of both creators, it's a deft blend of hard-boiled detective, cold war paranoia, and science fiction, with a dash of comic book history for good measure. If, however, you can't locate that one, there are trade paperbacks available of both Justice League: A New Beginning and Darwyn Cooke's The New Frontier. Both of these are fantastic comics, and both prominently feature everyone's favourite Manhunter from Mars. I couldn't possibly recommend either of them highly enough. And hopefully this will tide us over until the next six issues are done and J'Onn can get back to his old quietly affable, cookie-loving self again.

Next up, I'll be taking a look at Green Lantern Corps #4 as well as Dark Horse's War of the Worlds sequel Scarlet Traces.