By: Ian Churchill (writer, art, colors), Alex Sollazzo (colors), Richard Starkings, Jimmy Betancourt & JG Roshell (lettering & design)
The Story: A big revelation about Steve Ocean (a.k.a. Marineman)! Surprise…he isn’t just a dude who likes the water.
What’s Good: Everything that was great about issue #1 is still present here. The biggest thing that grabs you is that this is such a happy story. It does get into some more serious topics in this issue, but it does not lose the fact that this comic is essentially a big SMILE. It is very hard not to really like Steve Ocean. He reminds me of those people you meet in your life who are successful, intelligent AND good looking who cause you to think, “Ugh…. I’ll bet this guy is gonna be a real prick.” and then you meet them and it turns out that they are a world-class nice guy on top of that: friendly, kind to friends, self-depreciating, etc. Steve is a very admirable character who doesn’t have an obvious character flaw.
[SPOILER Warning] The big reveal in this issue is that Steve isn’t exactly a standard-issue human being. We learn this during a scene where he saves his best friend’s life from certain drowning and shark attack. The first issue was very technically sound on its diving terminology and lingo, so at first I was surprised that Churchill didn’t have Steve and his friend start to buddy breathe (Steve had no tank/regulator when he went in after his friend) or at least have the friend whip out a pony bottle. I was actually kinda disappointed to see this lack of realism as we were reading. Then as the duo are ascending to the surface, Steve is making his buddy go slow to avoid the bends and I was wondering, “Huh? How long has the friend been down and how deep? Why would he need to decompress? And how long has Steve been in the water? Is he holding his breath?” As you can probably guess, Steve has a power having to do with surviving in the water and had to reveal his big secret to save his buddy.
The art is what sets the tone for this title. Sometimes it is fun to imagine what a title would look like if it were drawn differently. For example, if Jock drew this comic, it would be gritty and have a very different flavor, but the look of this book is what makes this comic book such a smile. Steve just looks huge and heroic, the water is that brilliant blueish/green that you only see when you’re diving in some topical paradise on a gorgeous day when there is a calypso band playing back at the bar and the fruity drinks are chilling for you. It is just beautiful. I also need to learn more about what exactly the Comicraft guys are doing when they are credited for “design”. They got a similar credit for Bulletproof Coffin and that was another book that was very visually unique.
What’s Not So Good: I’m sure it’ll become important now that Steve’s secret is out of the bag, but the more serious storyline with his father and the military just isn’t as interesting to me (yet). I say “yet” because I know that we’ll need some drama in this story and it’ll have to get dark so that we can appreciate the light, but I’m not sick of the “light” yet. That’s mostly a testament to how great of the job the creative team has done with these first couple of issues.
Conclusion: This is a real gem of a comic book. I don’t think a comic has made me smile this much since…well…. never. It is just an intensely happy story with glorious art. Jump on now and don’t miss and issue!
Grade: A-
-Dean Stell