Martian Manhunter #4 Review

Writer: Steve Orlando / Artist: Riley Rossmo / DC Comics Martian Manhunter #4 renewed my already overflowing love for this book. Among all of the adjectives there that would accurately describe this series, the one that rises to the top of the foam is Bold. This book knows what it is, and it isn’t afraid to show us every aspect of itself. One of the strongest instances of this is the Martian spelling and pronunciation of words and sounds. As you know, so much of this book takes place on Mars in J’onn’s flashbacks. And while a great deal is translated into English for us to understand, I’d say a good 20% isn’t. That may not seem like a lot, but as you read and you stumble over foreign words as often as I do, you’ll start to see just how alien the language is. At times, this book isn’t easy to read. It isn’t easy to understand, but that’s one of its greatest strengths. We shouldn’t understand the intricacies of Martian society in relation to our own. It should feel different, and it should feel unique. What this book does so well is that it trusts its audience to be willing and able to welcome something of foreign tradition into their own space. Just like in real life, learning other cultures that are very different from our own can be jarring at times, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t want to learn, that we shouldn’t be open. We just have to accept what lay in front of us as authentic to someone else. That’s all that matters. The deep Martian culture conveyed by Orland…