Aquaman #27 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Paul Pelletier & Netho Diaz (pencils), Sean Parsons & Ruy Jose (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

The Story: Aquaman proves that size really doesn’t matter.

The Review: Parker didn’t quite establish a clear voice for himself when he took over this series last month, and this issue shows he’s still figuring out which direction to take Aquaman.  While Geoff Johns’ run can be divided into its early superhero period and a later mythic period, Parker tries to blend the two with the Karaqan, whose origins are part of Atlantean lore but whose effects mostly call upon Aquaman’s superhero experience.

Actually, this would be a pretty good way to balance the different elements of Aquaman if only the Karaqan was more interesting as a concept.  Aside from a few observations about the monster’s physiology, we learn nothing more about the Karaqan that wasn’t already alluded to in the last issue: its role as Atlantis’ legendary protector and its supposed loyalty to Atlantis’ king.  In fact, the only reason you can think of for why Parker repeats this information at all is to fill in Arthur, who didn’t get the benefit of Neol’s speculations last time around.

Aquaman #26 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Paul Pelletier & Netho Diaz (pencils), Sean Parsons & Ruy Jose (inks), Wil Quintana & Andrew Dalhouse (colors)

The Story: It’s a bird.  It’s a plane.  It’s Aquaman!

The Review: Whenever a writer leaves a series I’ve particularly enjoyed, my first inclination is always to follow his lead.  Even if his successor has a sterling reputation, I simply don’t believe a person can truly emulate another person’s successes.  If it wasn’t for this gig, I’d probably follow through with those instincts.  But since I’m duty-bound to give most things a fair chance, I’ve instead come up with some criteria for evaluating the writer who steps into the old one’s shoes.

The biggest rule: don’t trample over your predecessor’s hard work.  If you want any hope of retaining fans of the last run, it’s best to respect and incorporate what has already been established.*  In the case of Aquaman, this task is crucial, but also easy because Parker can’t afford to abandon anything Geoff Johns created without carving out whole slices of the hero’s shining-new canon.  Even so, you get the distinct feeling that Parker doesn’t quite leverage the inventory left for him as well as he could have in this issue.

Aquaman Annual #1 – Review

By: John Ostrander (story), Geraldo Borges & Netho Diaz (pencils), Ruy Jose, Allen Martinez, JP Mayer, Mariah Benes, Oclair Albert, Julio Ferreira, Jay Leisten (inks), Rod Reis & Hi-Fi (colors)

The Story: The Others must race to stop a witch from saving the world.

The Review: Here’s a fun fact: Ostrander nearly shares my mother’s birth year, month, and is just shy of the day.  That definitely funks up the way I think of his writing.  I mean, do I really want someone my mother’s age to be writing comics for ostensibly a new generation of readers?  Not that it can’t be done.  Jim Shooter did a bang-up job on the Three-boot volume of Legion of Super-Heroes, and he’s only a couple years younger than Ostrander—and my mother.

On the other hand, I haven’t been all that impressed with Ostrander’s recent DC work, which makes me all the gladder that it’s only occasional.  While the premises of his stories are usually solid, his heavy-handed execution definitely reveals his age, or so it seems to me.  Under his pen, Aquaman and the Others seem a little too prone to theatrics; they’re blunter, louder, more melodramatic than their introverted personalities would support.

Justice League #23.1: Darkseid – Review

By: Greg Pak (story), Paulo Siqueira & Netho Diaz (art), Hi-Fi (colors)

The Story: This is the rags-to-riches story of a little fella named Darkseid.

The Review: It’s been a while since the Fourth World had anything like an ongoing series, but they remain one of DC’s most important properties.  Its cosmic mythology weaves in well with the science fiction of superheroes, yet also has an epic, high-fantasy quality that makes the DCU seem that much more profound.  The mystery of the New Gods’ goals and their very nature is what keeps them above the comparatively petty going-ons of the rest of the universe.

So it’s kind of a double-edged sword when writers start delving too deeply into the Fourth World mythos.  It might satisfy our hunger to know more about them, but it also risks reducing them to just another plot device for the DCU.  Indeed, characters like Madame Xanadu, the Phantom Stranger, and the Guardians of the Universe all devolved into less impressive figures as a result of revealing too much about them.  For that reason, it was probably a mistake to force Pak to explore the origins of Darkseid, which is obviously tied to the origins of the Fourth World itself.