Martian Manhunter #7
	Story: 'The Others Among Us' (Part 7) Writer: A.J.Lieberman Penciller: Al Barrionuevo Inker: Bit Colorist: Marta Martinez Letterer: Travis Lanham Asso. Editor: Nachie Castro Editor: Matt Idelson Published by: DC Comics
	Reviewed by: Bruce Logan

This miniseries has been such a rollercoaster of a ride that even at seven (of eight) issues in, I can’t quite decide how and where to place it. By rollercoaster I don’t just mean the twists and turns of the story, though there have been quite a few of them, especially the explosive cliffhanger of an ending of last month’s issue. What I mean when I call this series a rollercoaster is the quality of the story. Starting off at more than acceptable levels, it soon got lost in a downward spiral that almost had me giving up on it, and completely stopping with the reviews after #3. It just didn’t seem worth the effort. Had it been almost any other character except the Martian Manhunter (as a few others) or had it been an ongoing, I don’t think that I would have stuck out with it so far. Yet here I am, not only reading but also taking the time (at the expense of another of this week’s releases), to review it. So, without further delay let’s get on with the issue at hand.

First things first, for anyone who hasn’t read the previous issue, the first page alone of this issue is going to be a head-scratching one. How did J’onn get into his current predicament, especially given the ‘person’ he is fighting is a mystery that finds the beginning of its answer in the last few page of #6. Therefore, just in case you (the reader of this review) hasn’t read that issue and doesn’t want the (most) major part of this mini spoilt, please stop right here. STOP. From here on there will be quite a few spoilers, both for this series and others.

Out of the four remaining fellow Martians, J’onn Jones has just realized that none of them are quite what, who he thought them to be. Not only are they not of the same race as he is, they are from the race that is the only enemy of the Green Martians in the whole wide universe. They are White friggin’ Martians. Talk about a kick in the nuts, or, uh, whatever it is that them Martians dudes have. As expected, as with the outing of this secret, all hell breaks loose, hence the cliffhanger of the previous issue and the opening fight of this one. Starting off by facing and then taking down one of the White-turned-Green-turned-White Martians, J’onn rushes to find and apprehend the others. He is able to do so with two out of the remaining three but the last one escapes. This last is one is the youngest one. Then again, seeing as Martians, (both Green and White), are shape shifters, even that isn’t certain now. What is certain is that there is still at least one White Martian out there…at least one because lets not forget Miss Martian of the Teen Titans.

There is also a bit about the Ms. ‘Talia’s looks with-Amanda Waller’s personality’ Ferdinand. However, as with just about every previous appearance of this character I can’t help but not feel a connection to her and anything she says or does and unless she turns out to be the elusive mystery ‘person’ that J’onn is searching for, I don’t see that particular stand changing anytime soon.

The artwork of this series has been fairly consistent, which means although not mind-blowing in its excellence or lack there of, there is a certain uniformity to it which along for being great for TPB makes for a familiarity with the characters, their mannerisms and behaviors. That said, this has got to be one of the lesser memorable versions of a White Martian I have ever come across. I get they look as they are, evil, but come on, at least don’t make them into Shark-Men. I can almost see Aquaman bawling his eyes out over J’onn taking away ‘his’ bad-guys.

Conclusion: With one more issue to go, I am looking forward to the ending of this series (more than I was to that of the other recently ended BNW-mini, the Creeper). This is not to say that I enjoyed this one more than that (both are equal overall, especially after the Creeper lost points on the mid-story artist change and the slowing down), but with the current standing of this seemingly permanent JLA member (until now), there is a lot depending on the ending of this story. Hope that it delivers.

RATING: 8/10