Martian Manhunter #3 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Rob Williams
Art By: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Gabe Eltaeb
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 19, 2015

The Martian Man-Eater!

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Holy shit, did I enjoy the last issue of Martian Manhunter!  Not only has Rob Williams begun telling a tale that re-imagines our favorite Martian in new and interesting ways, but the motherfucker is doing it with heart.  I damn near wept at the end of last issue when Martian Manhunter, not wanting to be a weapon for the White Martians, sacrificed his life in front of the Justice League.  Speaking of the Justice League we had Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Flash go up against J'onn in what was one of the coolest fights that I've seen in a long time and just when I thought it couldn't get any cooler, Rob Williams raised the veil and showed us that Martian Manhunter only made the Justice League think they were fighting him as a distraction so he could set up machine to vaporize himself.  I've never been a big fan of J'onn J'onzz, but Rob Williams really made me a believer last month and I can't wait to see where he takes us next.  Let's jump into this issue and find out.

Explain It!:

Our story begins with four White Martians sitting around their "psychic war room", contemplating what they're going to do now, since their "weapon" just went and killed himself.  It's at this point where we find out that the master goal of this invasion is resurrecting Mars to it's former glory and it's also at this point that we meet the Martian that's still going to get shit done.  That's right, we get the re-imagined Ma'alefa'ak and even though he knows J'onn killed himself, he also knows that he's still out there in the world and he plans on putting him back together to form the weapon he was created to be.  In order to do this though, he needs something that can stand up to a weapon of Martian Manhunter's caliber and he accomplishes that by betraying his White Martian comrades by using some Martian Black Magic to fuse them all together into a hideous four faced giant monster that he calls the Martian Man-Eater........ and I just love the hell out of that name.  

Now that we know that Martian Manhunter is still out there in the world, we get to find out where and if my theory about Martian Manhunter separating himself into different beings in case of his demise.......... and you know what?  I'm right the fuck on!  We jump to Agent Wessel babysitting that murderous handicapped kid we met in the first issue in the hospital and after the kid does his best Hannibal Lecture impersonation, we find out something interesting.  It turns out that the kid killed his mother because she was a Martian and urges Agent Wessel to go down to the morgee and burn the body to see the truth.  Obviously that's crazy and Wessel isn't about to do that, but after calling in his relief, Martian Manhunter....... or the ghost of Martian Manhunter, appears before him and blows Wessel and our minds.  Apparently everything Wessel knows about himself is a lie and his fellow agents are actually White Martians that are on their way to kill him.  Well, with that knowledge, I guess it's time to get a little crazy because to prove to himself that what he just saw was true, Wessel goes down to the morgue and burns the body....... and you know what?  Total Martian.  

In the end, Wessel kidnaps Hannibal Lecture Jr. and flees his fellow agents in a stolen ambulance, but no one escapes the Martian Man-Eater!  The ambulance flips on it's side and just when it looks like Wessel is going to get all Man-Eaten, Mr. Biscuits appears and fights off the Martian monster.  As our issue closes, Mr. Biscuits rights the ambulance and this new team make their escape and further add to my theory when Mr. Biscuits takes off his mask and reveals that he is Martian Manhunter........ or at least a part of him....... apparently the part that watched "The Elephant Man" over and over again because goddamn is he a hideous fuck.

That's it for this issue of Martian Manhunter and Rob Williams continues to keep your intrigue with this installment.  It wasn't the heartbreaking issue that we had last month with Martian Manhunter's supposed death, but it got this story going and really began showing us what's going down on Earth and what the White Martian's ultimate goal is.  I love the fact that we got Ma'alefa'ak introduced so early into this story because even with everything else going on, it's nice to actually have a face to put to the threat besides for the entire White Martian race.  This continues to be a great series overall from Rob William's incredibly new take on our favorite Martian to the entire art teams awesome mood setting environment.  Got any Martian in you?........ Want some?

Bits and Pieces:

Why the hell isn't Rob Williams doing more at DC?  Everything that we've seen from this series is incredible and I could stand to have a little bit more incredible coming from other titles as well.  Martian Manhunter is definitely a title that everyone should be reading because it is really on point, from it's intriguing story to it's excellent art....... and this is coming from someone who was never really a Martian Manhunter fan.  Rob Williams has made me a believer and I think he could do the same for you.

8.8/10