Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 (2025)

The explosion rips through the building, and John Jones looks up from his coffee just before the ball of fire reaches him. A short time later, he is looking up as rescuers pull him to safety, shining a light in his eye and asking if he can hear them, but Jones isn't paying attention. He is watching a strange, shadowy creature standing before him, something dark with one red eye and vibrant colors swirling around it like smoke made of crayons, which softly tells him, "Here, listen. Comprehend me." Jones suddenly looks up at the doctor who is calling his name, says "Sorry, You were saying?" and pulls on his jacket as he gets off the examination table. The doctor turns back to the X-ray, noting that Jones is in excellent shape for someone who just survived a bombing, while images of the explosion flash in front of Jones's eyes. Jones nods and lights a cigarette, prompting the doctor to tell him he can't smoke in the hospital and ordering him to take a couple of weeks off so they can be careful that there aren't any lasting effects from being so close to the blast. Jones nods his head and stares into the vibrantly colored smoke swirling around the room that the doctor doesn't notice, seeing images inside the smoke. Minutes later, Jones and his wife Bridget are walking outside, passing by patients, nurses, and doctors who have stepped out for fresh air and are all smoking. When Bridget exclaims in shock about how he was cleared for immediate return to duty, Jones replies that the doctor was distracted because his wife is having an affair and he doesn't know what to do about it. He pauses for an instant at the fact that he knows that, not sure when the doctor told him, but Bridget shakes her head, telling him that's insane and that it is a miracle he survived it all. Jones just shrugs and reminds her that being an FBI agent is a special job, and when Bridget suddenly grabs him in a hug and continues to sob about how both she and their son Tyler need him, Jones holds her tight out of a mere reflex of a memory, feeling no real emotion. He is only half listening as he stares at the green smoke coming from his cigarette, looking down at his lighter and swearing that he can see a brightly colored desert in it, lit by a red sun. He looks at his wife and tells her he will talk to Special Agent Nelson, but reminds her quietly that this is the FBI and they don't just hand out vacations. Later, Jones sits across from his boss, who tells him he is putting him on administrative leave with pay immediately, but Jones just stares and slowly shakes his head, saying softly that he is okay and would rather work. As Nelson keeps talking, images of the bomber flash through Jones's mind alongside a voice questioning why one person becomes a cop and another a bomber, and Jones isn't sure that the voice is his. He looks around the room to see that every surface is covered in slightly misshapen and pulsing colors that the other agents don't notice, and points out to Nelson that he is working twelve active cases and a vacation would set him back months. Nelson asks if he is sure he is back to normal, and Jones, ignoring the colors swirling around him, simply replies, "Absolutely. Back to normal." Nelson finally relents, but orders Jones to work from his desk and to absolutely not try to investigate the bomber. Jones says "Thank you, sir," before leaving, but shortly after, he slips inside the blown-up coffee shop anyway and begins to search the scene. He tries to ignore the fact that he can see his co-worker's thoughts and knows his fellow agents call him the Martian because they think he's an alien, to which the voice whispers to him, "Yes." Jones keeps working, questioning the bomber's mother, best friend, and neighbor, who all概 insist the man was a good, quiet, and friendly boy who wouldn't do this. Jones doesn't tell any of them that he can see their thoughts and secrets, and returns home that night to find Bridget in the kitchen preparing dinner. When she asks "No vacation?" while chopping vegetables, Jones stares down at a strange pile of colored goop that he sees on the cutting board, ignores it, and leans in to kiss her on the cheek, telling her, "No vacation." The voice whispers to him about a memory of living music dancing in daffodil light and abstracted canyons beyond physics, and Jones pulls away from his wife to check on his son. He finds Tyler in his room painting figures that he's made from clay, and as Jones marvels at the work, he asks the boy where daddy is in the setup; without a word, Tyler points at a strange, distant green figure with one eye that looms farther away from the others. Jones lies in bed that night while his wife sleeps, staring up at the ceiling where vibrant colors swirl around so thick that he can reach out and run his hands through them. The next day, he goes to see another doctor who runs tests but explains it is probably just stress, completely unaware of the colors swirling all around him. Jones merely stares, seeing the doctor's thoughts in the swirling colors and knowing the man is tired and just wants to leave, so he whispers "That's a relief" as he reaches for another cigarette. He heads back to the bomber's mother's house and asks her if she can think of any reason at all her son could have done this, prompting her to turn, glare, and snap that it's some kind of mistake. Colored steam seams out of her ears like an angry cartoon, and Jones breathes deep, inhaling the steam into his lungs. Now he can't just hear her thoughts, he can see them, witnessing her life with her son, feeling her pride and love, and seeing the crushed look on the boy's face when he realized his father wasn't coming home. It becomes too much, causing Jones to cough the steam out of his lungs and stagger to his feet. He heads outside and begins to walk through the city, but smoke and color escape everyone and mix together, overwhelming Jones as thoughts drift all around him and form into hard substances. Jones gasps, chokes, and coughs as something seems to form directly from the colors, manifesting as a green man with one red eye who whispers, "Thought smoke. Ideas oxidizing in the open air. Breathe in. Breathe in. Breathe in." Jones shakes his head and keeps moving, feeling the green man behind him the whole way as the world around him becomes abstract and everyone appears at odd angles made of vibrant colors. Jones suddenly shouts, "What is this?" and the voice declares, "Martian vision!" Jones grabs at the side of his head and shouts to know who is talking, to which the green voice tells him, "You, me, we are talking." Jones suddenly looks up and remembers the bomb and the fire, realizing he should have died but something hovered over him—a green face smiling down at him to save his life. Jones stares straight ahead as the green man stands before him with one red eye and a small smile, and the voice whispers, "We are the Martian mind hunter."