DC Teases Absolute Martian Manhunter’s Shaken Up Origin Story and More in New Preview

Writer Deniz Camp called Absolute Martian Manhunter a “radical reinvention” of the DC Absolute line so far, and after seeing the first preview of Camp and artist Javier Rodriguez’s first issue, we can’t help but agree. While the next wave of Absolute books are all mysterious in their own way, Martian Manhunter is by far the series we know the least about, though Camp shared a few details in an interview with CBR. We know that John Jones is now bound to an alien as a result of an explosion from a terrorist attack, and now they are both attempting to discover who was behind the attacks while also learning to live together in the same body. You can check out the full preview of the new series in the gallery below.

In the interview, Camp spoke about going back to the early Martian Manhunter stories from Joseph Samachson, Jack Miller, and Joe Cerda in Detective Comics for inspiration, bringing in some of the noir and mystical elements from those earlier stories.

“You nailed it. Because, while I do think we’re pretty radical, and it’s pretty different, at the same time, if I’m drawing from anything, I’m drawing from those early Detective Comics stories, and going back to that. And that was a version of the Martian Manhunter who was kind of mysterious and almost mystical in his abilities, in the sense that he could seem to really do anything, whatever the story called for, and his perspective on humanity was really important,” Camp said.

“I was actually a fan of when Ostrander was doing his Martian Manhunter run. And I really enjoyed the Orlando/Rossmo stuff, and the Rob Williams stuff. I’m a fan of DC, and I’ve been a fan of the character for a long time. But for this, I wanted to do something, first and foremost, really new, and then, if it’s harkening back to anything, it’s that feel of the early kind of weird detective stories. That is the model we’re going for, even though he’s an FBI agent in this story,” Camp said.

[RELATED: Absolute Martian Manhunter and Absolute Green Lantern Details Announced by DC]

Rodriguez seems like a perfect fit for this mix of elements, and that’s because it was designed with his artwork fully in mind. “So, before it was approved, Scott first told me that the big five were all taken, so he wanted to know if there was any DC character that I had a pitch for, and I took some time, and I wrote something up, and I just sent it to him, and it had Javi’s art, and I said we need somebody like Javier Rodriguez,” Camp said.

“The concept wasn’t worth doing if we couldn’t get someone like that, because it won’t work. My idea for it won’t work with just any artist. And so he’s been so important to the book. Really, his philosophy, and how to make the story be both, as you said, psychedelic and trippy, but also really clear, and not have it be confusing, it’s just absolutely essential. And he has had a big impact on how the story was made,” Camp said.

What do you think of Absolute Martian Manhunter? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things comics and DC with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!