DC COMICS – @DCComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
WRITER: Rob Williams
PENCILS: Eddy Barrows
INKS: Eber Ferreira
COLORS: Gabe Eltaeb
LETTERS: Tom Napolitano
COVER: Dan Panosian
VARIANT COVER: Eric Canete
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (August 2015)
Rated “T+” for “Teen Plus”
“Weapon!”
The Martian Manhunter a.k.a. J'onn J'onzz is a DC Comics superhero. This sci-fi hero was created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa and first appeared in Detective Comics #225 (cover dated: November 1955). J'onn, a native of Mars, is also one of the seven original members of the Justice League of America.
Now, with the advent of the “DCYou” publishing event, J'onn J'onzz has a new ongoing comic book series. Martian Manhunter is written by Rob Williams, drawn by Eddy Barrows (pencils) and Eber Ferreira (inks), colored by Gabe Eltaeb, and lettered by Tom Napolitano.
Martian Manhunter #1 (“Weapon!”) opens with a prologue wherein a group of children visit a strange man named Mr. Biscuits. Meanwhile, the Martian Manhunter is trying to save an airliner from crashing, all the while unleashing a psychic call for help. At the Justice League Watchtower, Superman, Flash, and Cyborg are having a little difficulty believing what they are witnessing, while war zones erupt and terrorists unleash multiple attacks. An alien invasion begins.
Martian Manhunter #1 is another of those DCYou launches that I avoided reading even though it was in my reading slush pile. I regret that now, as the second issue has already arrived in comic book shops, and I might not be able to get a copy. Obviously, I enjoyed reading this first issue, and it could be the start of a tremendously good title.
I might be wrong. Perhaps, I should wait to read another issue, but it seems to me, after only one reading, that series writer Rob Williams has unleashed something big. If the rest of this story arc is as good as the opening chapter, it will be the kind of big, event story that should launch something. You know: the way Flashpoint launched The New 52.
I love, and I do mean love, the art by the team of Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreira. It is old-fashioned and textured, not relying on the colorist to provide texture, such as “feathering.” Still, colorist Gabe Eltaeb manages to shine anyway, with a color palette that establishes a dark mood, the sense of a world under siege by things not of this world.
Wow! I want more Martian Manhunter.
A
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux
The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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