DC Needs Another Horror Series, And They Have the Perfect Character For It

DC is obviously best known for their superhero comics, but while they of course excel at the traditional superhero genre, they also love to break that down further into subgenres like mystery, romance, and horror. Back in the day especially, DC was known for its incredible horror comics, with classic and beloved runs like Alan Moore’s Saga of the Swamp Thing and John Constantine, Hellblazer. These mainline books were also released alongside dozens of horror-themed Elseworlds and imprints. These horror stories showed a new perspective of the DC world we all knew and loved, and scratched plenty of itches for those that wanted darker or creepier stories while keeping classic superheroic elements.

In recent years, however, the amount of horror comics we see from DC has definitely decreased by a huge amount. I love standard superhero comics more than I can express, but it’s about time that we see a revival of the spine-tingling, monster-filled pages of DC’s horror genre once again. Of course, even the most horrific monsters and mysteries can only stick around if they have an equally well-equipt lead, and DC just so happens to have the perfect character for superhero-horror comics. Martian Manhunter is the best hero DC could ask for, and I can prove it.

Nobody Escapes This Manhunter

J’onn J’onzz started his journey in Detective Comics #225, an alien detective who would work in the shadows and secretly use his powers to help him solve crimes. He’s no stranger to the dregs and darkness of humanity, having solved plenty of murders in his tenure before becoming a mainstay of the Justice League. Mystery and horror often go hand in hand, with much of the fear of horror being about what the audience doesn’t know, and slowly revealing to them the magnitude of the evil they face. Just look at John Constantine, who is as much a magic detective as he is a trickster sorcerer. Martian Manhunter’s status as a great detective already sets him up to dive into horror, and his nature gives him another edge. J’onn is naturally an outsider, being one of the last Martians left, and always shapeshifting to try and blend in with normal society. The best horror is about things that shouldn’t exist in normal society, and J’onn being someone that lives physically in but emotionally outside of society makes him the perfect person to find what doesn’t belong.

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This horror-mystery style of storytelling with Martian Manhunter has already proven to be majorly successful with Absolute Martian Manhunter. This reimagining of the classic hero sees him as a disembodied consciousness working with a human detective as they solve mysteries and battle the darkness inside of humanity’s heart. While a series about the original Martian Manhunter would probably be less esoteric, his psychic powers and loneliness can still provide the exact type of existential backdrop that horror stories thrive in. Heck, J’onn’s first appearance on Earth involved his appearance being so terrifying that it gave a man a heart attack, and that alone sets the stage for such a terrifying dissection of humanity and our perception.

A Man Who Can Battle Monsters

In normal horror stories, it’s common for the protagonist to be physically weak in comparison to the antagonist, as a lot of fear is naturally generated from being constantly in danger. However, superhero-horror comics often have protagonists that are just as, if not more powerful than their adversaries. Martian Manhunter is one of DC’s heavy-hitters, so coupling his Superman-like abilities and the fact that he’s also a detective on the same level as Batman, designing tension in his comics can be rather difficult. Shifting him to be more of a horror character would instantly fix that problem, as it frees up the villains he would be dealing with to be far more insidious and ethereal in nature. A single serial killer whose mind can’t be read could be even more terrifying than a world-eating serpent, but if the story gave proper atmosphere to both, they could be equal in all the ways that matter.

Despite being such a popular and prominent character, it often feels like Martian Manhunter doesn’t have his own niche. Shifting him to exploring more of the things that go bum in the night in the DC Universe could be just the reinvention he needs to break through that stagnation. He has the perfect mix of inherent angst, detective skills, and absurd powers to be the perfect superhero horror character, and I would absolutely love to see him take that mantle and investigate this side of things alongside people like Swamp Thing and Constantine. Who do you think could be DC’s next big horror character? Let us know in the comments below!