Review: Martian Manhunter Vol. 2- The Red Rising

Quick Summary

Pros: The characters in the book are still a delight. The action is ridiculous in a way that makes it really fun. The entire storyline is interesting from beginning to end.

Cons: One of the book’s subplots is pointless. A number of themes are brought up but not expanded upon. The book’s ending may not be for everyone.

Overall: With the first volume providing all the setup, this book is able to completely focus on providing all the action and intrigue that fans could ask for. Here readers will learn the secret, and interesting, history of Martian Manhunter while also seeing him fight for the survival of both Earth and Mars. This volume reaffirms everything that made the first volume fun, so read it if you liked volume one.

Story

In Martian Manhunter Vol. 2: The Red Rising, Rob Williams presents a book that, while not as tightly scripted as the first, doubles down on awesome character moments and over-the-top action. All the introduction and setup from the first book allows this one to jump right into the heat of things. Meanwhile, an intense series of revelations about Martian Manhunter’s past and the immediacy of the present keep things interesting. This is a book that has its flaws but is worth reading if you enjoyed the first one, if you are a Martian Manhunter fan, or if you just want to read one of the more “out there” titles from this era of DC Comics.

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As discussed above, this book uses the introduction provided by the first volume in order to toss the reader right into the center of Martian Manhunter’s current conflict. He and the separate aspects of his personality are stranded on a future version of Mars, one with life but on a collision course with the Earth. His only hope is to shepherd the remaining Martians onto a spacecraft and safeguard them on Earth, while also finding a way to teleport Mars out of Earth’s orbit.

This is all exciting on its own, but then Williams decides to amplify it by adding in a hefty dose of action. Warriors on Mars are killing people, Ma’alefa’ak is causing chaos, and an epic showdown is on the horizon. Going into this book, I did not expect to see Martian Manhunter turn into a giant robot and fight another giant robot, but this book clearly defies expectation. The action in this book is fun and unique all the way through.

While all of this turns the book into an exciting drama of epic proportions, it is the constant series of revelations about J’onn J’onzz’s past that keep things interesting. First, we learn exactly how he was created as a weapon for Mars. This adds another layer of intrigue to his character and deepens the plot. Then, we learn about how he nearly destroyed the spirit of Mars but was unable to because it reminded him of his son. This fills in missing pieces of the Martian puzzle and gives the so-called “weapon” a little humanity.

The final revelation comes at the book’s conclusion and is a bit more controversial than the first two. After saving the people of Mars and Earth, Martian Manhunter notices everyone around him is gone. He then realizes that they were never real in the first place, all of the Martians in this story were pieces of his psyche that he split in his years on Earth. This means that this entire saga has been the result of his overactive imagination. In a lot of ways, this ending is a real cop-out and ends up being similar to the always frustrating “it was all a dream” trope across media. However, the character Alicia points out that it still all happened and J’onn was still a hero throughout. While I was not the biggest fan of how things ended, I understand why it was done and how it helps solidify Manhunter’s solitude while reaffirming him as a hero.

Talking negatives, the most obvious offender is the book’s magic heroes subplot. While all of Earth is being threatened by Mars, DC’s cast of magic using heroes gather to try and stop things from Earth. However, since they have absolutely no effect on what happens and no interaction with J’onn J’onzz, the pages devoted to this story are pointless and unnecessary.

To a lesser extent, one of the book’s other negatives is its propensity to bring up themes and refuse to elaborate on them. For example, the extinction of Mars is a clear warning about what could happen to Earth in the face of global warming, however this is only brought up once and never referenced again. This, and other abandoned themes, could have contributed well to the overall story but instead are left in a frustrating state of underdevelopment.

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Art

Readers who enjoyed the art from the first volume will be happy to learn that Eddy Barrows does a great job here as well. His work is detailed and beautiful throughout and shows off Martian Manhunter at the top of his game. Plus, his imaginative work on the Martian landscapes is a sight to behold. There is one scene in particular that I thought was specifically imaginative but I can’t talk to much about it without revealing the book’s plot (let’s just say it has something to do with robots though).

Eddy Barrows is not the only artist on this book though, as Ben Oliver and Philip Tan also do some work here. Ben Oliver continues with the same style Barrows worked on. In fact, their styles are so similar that it took me a moment or two to realize that I was looking at work by a different artist, something that is helped by colorist Gabe Eltaeb’s work. Philip Tan then concludes the book with a very different looking issue. This final chapter still looks great but doesn’t necessarily mesh well with the rest of the issues here.

Continuity

Martian Manhunter Vol. 2: The Red Rising is the second volume of the new Martian Manhunter series. It directly continues the events of Martian Manhunter Vol. 1: The Epiphany (Review). Besides this story, there are not really any references here to other books.

This is the last volume in the new Martian Manhunter series. J’onn J’onzz also takes somewhat of a reprieve from comics after this point so his adventures do not directly continue from here to anywhere else.