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DC's Absolute Martian Manhunter is ending, but the finale is setting up another collaboration for Deniz Camp & Javier Rodríguez

“I love this book so much”: Deniz Camp reflects on ending Absolute Martian Manhunter.

When your favorite series ends, it can be hard. In some cases, it's due to low sales or creators disagreeing, but in other cases, it's a natural ending — the one the creators intended from day one; and in cases like that, it gives me a natural peace. That's the case with DC's Absolute Martian Manhunter.

While I have not received an advance copy of the final issues (Hey, DC! E-Mail me!), in reading each issue, talking to the creators, talking to the editors, and following along on social media, I am looking forward to the end of Absolute Martian Manhunter with May 27's #12.

While most of the Absolute DC series are ongoing, Absolute Martian Manhunter was announced as a six-issue succinct story. It was only due to critical and commercial (i.e., you buying the comics) that opened the door to DC, Deniz Camp, and Javier Rodriguez revising their six-issue plan and giving themselves more room to go deeper (no, not like the alien vivisection in Absolute Martian Manhunter #9) before they ended the story on their own terms.

But, good news: Deniz and Javier are already working on a new series, and there is an open door for the duo to return to Absolute Martian Manhunter by DC from the top down.

"We would have both liked to continue, and DC was very open to it, but they offered us something we couldn't turn down and we couldn't do both," Camp writes on X. "It was a hard decision and I'm still really sad about it. We both are very conflicted about it, but think it is for the best. And it's been made very clear to us over and over again that we can come back and do more anytime we want. That is very possible."

According to Camp, the impending end of Absolute Martian Manhunter isn't a truncated ending or a cliffhanger to an unresolved ending: it was the ending in his original pitch to DC for Absolute Martian Manhunter, back when it was a six issue series.

"This is the story I always set out to tell, that grew and deepened in the telling, and in collaborating with Javi," says the writer.

Camp confirms that his other DC ongoing series Bleeding Hearts (at Vertigo) isn't the one that is taking him away from Absolute Martian Manhunter; it's a new, completely unannounced ongoing book.

(Pure speculation (or hope) on my part is its the new Doom Patrol book DC teased recently as part of its 'Next Level' initiative.)

"There's another book coming that hasn't been announced," Camp explains. "I was always going to write it, and Javi had the option of coming with me or us continuing on with [Absolute Martian Manhunter]. He chose to come with."

RELATED: Behind the psychedelic colors of Absolute Martian Manhunter lies a deeply human story about connection and fear

Now before you read too much into that as you writhe in sadness over the fact Absolute Martian Manhunter is ending, know that Camp and Rodriguez did as well.

"I cannot stress enough how much we both agonized over this. I was genuinely depressed when we decided," says Camp. "I love this book so much. I love these characters so much. But I think it was the right decision, because the magic is us two together, above all. And we can always come back."

And if they come back, we can come back.

"If we had continued, I worried we'd fizzle out, lose some of the magic," the writer continues. "Right now I feel that every issue of this book is special -- I didn't want to jeopardize that. So part of it is a relief. And if we come back some time in the future, we'll have worked out something worthy."

Let's all join together for February 25's Absolute Martian Manhunter #9, and take May 27's #12 (and the six issues DC added to the original plan for the series) as the gift that it is.


Javier Rodriguez's art style for DC's Absolute Martian Manhunter is as alien as its lead. And that's a great thing to behold.

Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant: Chris Arrant is the Popverse's Editor-in-Chief. He has written about pop culture for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel, Newsarama, CBR, and more. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. (He/him)

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