Do you like
cop shows? Who doesn’t? And the Martian Manhunter is nothing if not a cop in
alien form. So the familiar ground of an outsider cop and his partner is a
welcome change from the usual super-hero content floating around the DC
Universe these days. Not that we don’t get to see the Big Mean Green do his
thing; we do. But this is rapidly becoming more of a police story.
Being a cop is a world you
have to live in to understand. I won’t pretend to know what it’s like, I don’t.
But I respect the sensitive nature of it. This series tries to convey that,
with super-hero overtones as J’onn’s partner Diane Meade comes to terms with
his extraterrestrial nature.
I was unsure of Riley
Rossmo’s artwork at first, but it has grown on me. It may not be suitable for
some titles and/or characters, but it works quite well here. This series could
easily serve as the Martian Manhunter’s “year one,” setting the mold for the
character moving forward and elevating beyond simply a stand-by Justice
Leaguer.
The series is scheduled as
a 12-issue maxi-series. It could easily return as an ongoing, or as a second
series. I’m fine either way so long as the storytelling retains the high
quality established here.
Rating: 8/10