Absolute Batman, to no one’s surprise, is the most popular comic book in the land. I think all of us expected it to be the winner of the first three Absolute books; I even had a feeling it would be the only one that would really catch on, because of the team of Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta. Snyder is one of the most popular Batman writers ever and his return to DC has paid dividends; it was always going to be huge. Dragotta has a unique style that is heavily influenced by various anime and manga; when he’s at his best, he can produce some fantastic art (go find Ghost Cage right now). Snyder and Dragotta were able to create a new vision of Gotham City and fans love it. In fact, it’s been such a success that it’s about to get its own animated adaptation with Snyder in charge.
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There are few books that are more perfect for an animated adaptation than Absolute Batman. Dragotta has created a horror anime version of Batman and his foes, using the design language of manga and anime to create the perfect storyboards for an amazing animated series. It’s going to be fantastic, but as much as I think this adaptation is going to slap harder than Absolute Bruce Wayne slapped those racists in Absolute Batman Annual #1, there’s another book that deserves it more. In fact, it is also an Absolute book – Absolute Martian Manhunter, the 12-issue modern classic from Deniz Camp and Javier Rodrigeuz. While it doesn’t have the potential for length that Absolute Batman has, it would go a long way towards showing DC’s animation dominance.
Absolute Martian Manhunter‘s Unique Visual Identity Makes It Perfect for Animation
Absolute Martian Manhunter was amazing from the start. Camp and Rodriguez took the last popular founding member of the Justice League and reimagined him for the Absolute Universe. On this world controlled by Darkseid, John Jones is an FBI agent with a family. After nearly dying in an attack by the terrorist the Human Flame, he finds himself with a new partner – the Martian, a green alien who lives in his head, using his powerful mental abilities to help John face off against an attack from the White – a White Martian here to terminate all life on Earth, all while dealing with the shambles that John’s family life has become.
Camp does a fantastic job with the story. There hasn’t been a comic that dealt with a marriage this well in ages. As much as the scenes with the White, Despair-Zero, and the members of the Agency are astounding parts of the story, the scenes between John and his wife are heartbreakingly real. The way Camp weaves the family into the narrative gives the book an emotional heft it wouldn’t otherwise have and allows the story to go in some honestly horrifying directions (any parent who reads the book knows what I’m talking about).
The writer incorporates a lot of his pet causes into the book, as well – it can’t be a Camp book without some deft political storytelling – using the idea of a world under the control of evil to talk about the sins of the United States, giving the book perfect layers. It mirrors what we have the beautifully, telling a story on numerous levels that connects with everyone who reads it. However, none of this brilliant storytelling wouldn’t be possible without the real reason this book should be adapted – Rodriguez’s art.
Absolute Martian Manhunter is a perfect fusion of art and writing. Camp’s words and ideas are important, but Rodriguez is the one who makes it all work. His style has always been unique in the world of mainstream comics and he used it perfectly in this book. This book has the smartest telepathy art I’ve ever seen, using colored smoke to form the tableaus of the minds around John and the Martian, representing the power visually in a way I’ve never seen before. The use of color in the book is fantastic, giving the scenes a sense of movement that most artists couldn’t replicate at all, blurring the walls between the image and creating some truly unique visuals. There are some pages from this book that will draw you in, revealing hidden facets of the scene to you the longer you look at it.
I have been reading comics since 1991 and have hunted down the greats of the medium. I’ve seen a million different styles and examples of smart page layouts, but I’ve never seen anything like Absolute Martian Manhunter before. Rodriguez’s pages took Camp’s story and actually brought it to life. There’s a sense of life and movement to every single panel and that’s part of what makes it such a perfect book to adapt. To see how all of this would work in action would be fantastic. DC Studios has no problem allowing the comic creators power over their own stories’ adaptations, so Rodriguez could be there in the room, helping them bring it to life. The book was already mindblowing and giving it the SuperJail treatment (some of you know what I’m talking about; the Adult Swim show had some of the wildest animated sequences ever) would make it a legend.
Absolute Martian Manhunter Could Change Superhero Animation Forever
I think getting an animated Absolute Batman is an amazing idea because that book is basically already storyboarding the best anime you’ve ever watched. I also wouldn’t mind if Absolute Wonder Woman got its own animated series. However, as great as Absolute Batman will be and Absolute Wonder Woman could be, Absolute Martian Manhunter is the perfect book to adapt as an animated series. The book’s unique visual identity would make for some of the greatest animated scenes you’ve ever seen, but more importantly, it could show the potential of superhero animation in a whole new way.
This book isn’t some big action-packed epic, but a deep story about the sadness at the core of people and learning to let go of the trauma of the part to embrace the future. It tells this story with some of the most mindblowing visuals you’ve ever experienced. One of the things I love the most about comics is the way the different visual styles tell the same kinds of stories in very unique ways. However, oftentimes, animated superhero adaptations have become somewhat pedestrian when it comes down to it. There’s too much house-style and not enough unique visual identity. Absolute Martian Manhunter can show how awesome it is to use the exact visual style of the book in these adaptations. It’s a masterpiece that we need to see it on screen.
DC’s Absolute Books, Ranked
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