Martian Manhunter has found evidence of more Martians on Earth. As he thought he was the last of his kind, he is overjoyed that he’s the last no more – and anxious to find them fast, as it looks like they’re in trouble. He finds and rescues five Martians from their imprisonment. Soon, they find themselves tailed and targeted by the organization who captured and experimented on the Martians in the first place. They’ll do anything to get them back, to weaponize them against Manhunter. J’onn’s fellow heroes are concerned he’s going too far to help them – but when you find someone you’ve given up all hope to find, will all he’s doing even be enough?

I hate to say it, because I love Martian Manhunter’s character and this is the first comic of his I’ve read, but it was easily the worst comic I’ve ever read. I’m surprised I even came up with a coherent summary for this book. The story was so convoluted and incoherent I had a lot of trouble following it.There were a lot of time skips as well, adding to the confusion. To top it off, when the villain behind the whole plot is finally revealed, it’s 4 pages from the end of the book, and nothing is resolved by the end. The villain just disappeared from one page to the next! I actually checked my library copy to make sure a page hadn’t been ripped out! Just… what??? Who actually does that???

The art was atrocious to boot… cartoon noir is how I’d put it, and not at all in a good way. The resulting figures were overworked, too masculine (even the women looked like men), with shading that was much too harsh.

If I didn’t know anything about Martian Manhunter going in, I would easily swear off all MM comics after reading this book. However, I’m determined to find a book that does a much better job. Stay away from this book and stay tuned for a better one!

– Kathleen

Lieberman, A.J., Al Barrionuevo, and Bit. Martian Manhunter: The Others Among Us. 2007.