Do you like cop shows? Who doesn’t? And the Martian Manhunter is nothing if not a cop in alien form. So the familiar ground of an outsider cop and his partner is a welcome change from the usual super-hero content floating around the DC Universe these days. Not that we don’t get to see the Big Mean Green do his thing; we do. But this is rapidly becoming more of a police story.

Being a cop is a world you have to live in to understand. I won’t pretend to know what it’s like, I don’t. But I respect the sensitive nature of it. This series tries to convey that, with super-hero overtones as J’onn’s partner Diane Meade comes to terms with his extraterrestrial nature.

I was unsure of Riley Rossmo’s artwork at first, but it has grown on me. It may not be suitable for some titles and/or characters, but it works quite well here. This series could easily serve as the Martian Manhunter’s “year one,” setting the mold for the character moving forward and elevating beyond simply a stand-by Justice Leaguer.

The series is scheduled as a 12-issue maxi-series. It could easily return as an ongoing, or as a second series. I’m fine either way so long as the storytelling retains the high quality established here.