I’m … well I’m not sure. This comic was pretty widely regarded as one of the best releases in 2025, won a bundle of Eisner awards (mostly for the art of Javier Rodriguez, but it also won Best Limited Series). It felt right that this was my first foray into DC’s new Absolute line. It’s well worth the read for the page count, but I’ll need to finish the series to see if it can stick the landing. What I saw here wasn’t quite enough to cement it into my favorites list.
The Premise:
FBI Agent John Jones has been seeing things, reading minds, and all sorts of other strange phenomenon. As his personal life begins to fall apart, his work is consumed by more and more bizarre crimes. Middletown is beset by synchronized arson, widespread impulsive violence, and people lacing hamburgers with glass. At its heart is the White Martian, who seeks to bring an end to earth. And John hosts the Green Martian, who seeks to protect it.
Read if You Like: experimental art, metaphorical warfare, eldritch investigations, light horror elements
Avoid if You Dislike: cohesive plots, unhealthy marriages, emotionally detached characters
What Worked For Me:
In case I buried the lead too much, it’s the art. This book is gorgeous and disturbing and interesting and colorful and flat and all the things. Rodriguez plays with color and contrast in such fun ways. Some of it isn’t particularly novel, such as John’s depression and home life being painted in grays, and supernatural events in prismatic colors – see The Incredibles for a famous example of of this. However, the way Rodriguez splashes these two opposites against each other is delightful and psychedelic. I just couldn’t look away.
Sometimes in this comic you’re not sure exactly what you’re looking at. What is this rainbow blob representing? Why is the book asking me to hold a page up to the light and see what shines through? However, the emotional core of the story always resonates, and Rodriguez manipulates your attention in ways that make the comic incredibly readable. The whole story is a feast for the eyes, a mashup of Andy Warhol and Alan Moore. It’s exhilarating when it needs to be, stressful in all the right moments, and disturbing as you watch a buzz-saw slowly make its way towards John’s eye. This comic succeeds at both capturing rapid motion and slowing down time to a standstill. Everything about it is excellent, experimental in a way designed to be accessible and approachable.
Another victory for the art – and no, I won’t shut up about the art – is how well Rodriguez captures emotion. John himself reads as emotionless. Certainly he’s in the midst of a depressive episode, his wife feels disconnected and frustrated, and his kid barely knows who John is anymore. Page after page of blank looks, resigned pragmatism, blunt edges forms a dam that is very intense when the waterfall of feelings finally breaks through. Rodriguez succeeds with the more emotive characters as well, but nobody gets as much screen time as John – and the Martian, but the Martian is more an eldritch being than anything recognizably emotive to humans.
What Didn’t Work for Me:
So what’s holding this back? Honestly, it’s the story. There’s some cool stuff (the metaphorical battle, John’s characterization), but ultimately the story doesn’t hold up beyond Rodriguez’s art.
Now, there’s an argument that separating art and story in a comic is fundamentally impossible, and there’s some truth to that. Certainly Camp’s writing impacted the art in significant ways (in some partnerships, the writer dictates each panel and image’s content. Just sort of depends), but the structure of the story didn’t satisfy me. In the end, each issue involved a different string of gruesome crimes, the Green Martian’s attempt to rectify the issue, and some time devoted to John’s slowly crumbling marriage.
I never really felt like the story was pushing forward until the very end. This volume ends with some indications that Volume 2 will have a bigger sense of direction and drive. On its own, Volume 1 feels a bit aimless, and that holds it back a bit.
Conclusion: visually arresting, but the episodic structure (so far) has held it back from its full potential.
- Characters: 4
- Setting: 3
- Craft: 5 (art), 3 (story)
- Themes: 3
- Enjoyment: 4
