By: Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi (writers), Ivan Reis and Joe Prado (artist), Julio Ferreira, Oclair Albert, Norm Rapmund, Marlo Alquiza, Andy Owens (inkers)
The Story: It’s Aquaman and company against Black Manta and a school of water-breathing killers. Problem is, Aquaman has got his hand full just holding on to his baggage.
What’s Good: I loved the way Johns and Tomasi used Deadman and his white ring to frame this story and make it more important. We’ve seen superhero fights before. That’s why we buy comics. Deadman wanted to help, but interestingly, the ring says no and reveals that it freed Mera’s people attack the surface world. Why? The ring needs to see what Aquaman does when he learns the truth about Mera. Cool. Now I want to know why. This framing device elevated a high-tech brawl and transformed it into something of cosmic significance. Cool. I also like the way Johns and Tomasi write Aquaman. There’s a reason why the nerds on The Big Bang Theory make fun of Aquaman. As a concept, he’d kind of underwhelming. But Johns and Tomasi write him as a grim, tormented badass. I love it. And, while we’re on the subject of badasses, holy frak! What’s with Mera? Where did she get that kind of power? All cool. Lots of wonder factor from these writers.
The visuals are strong, especially the close ups onto the faces (check out Aquaman ordering Aqualad to cauterize his wound or Aquaman calling up all his dead fish friends). The battle scenes are verging on epic. On the beach, Mera’s people are everywhere and the violence is dynamic. Under water, the final climax of the fight is beautifully detailed, and hanging skin off of zombie fish never looked better.
What’s Not So Good: On art, I love Reis and Prado. Normally I love them more, but I noticed that this issue that most of the inking crew are unfamiliar names to me. The lines were lighter in a way that, stylistically, took away some of the stature for me. Heavier inks would have set up a darker tone for the setting that would have matched the psychological mood of the conflict between Aquaman and Mera and well as between Mera and her people. Is it a huge point? Nah. The art is still good. I’ve just seen Reis and Prado inked in styles that work better for me.
Conclusion: Johns, Tomasi and an art army have served up a good issue, succeeding in transforming, at least for this issue, a mid-list superhero into somebody important. They also succeed in expanding the Aquaman mythos. Check it out.
Grade: B
-DS Arsenault
Follow DS on Twitter.
Grade
Conclusion