A review by brandonadaniels
Martian Manhunter: Identity by Steve Orlando

4.0

Pleasantly surprised by this. I was familiar with the character, but far from a fan. I checked this out for Riley Rossmo’s art, and I’m very glad I did. Its the best his art has looked, in part because it feels like a more natural fit than some of the stuff I have read of his, but largely because of the colors by Ivan Placencia. The story is solid, and probably the best thing I have read from Orlando. It’s a retelling of Martian Manhunter’s origin, and it reminds me a bit of Bendis’s Ultimate Spider-Man in the way it’s able to really let what seems to have historically been very compressed and messy origin breathe and stand in its own as a complete story. The Mars stuff in particular is very cool, much cooler than the little I have seen of ancient Mars in other DC stuff.