Aquaman #23.2: Ocean Master – Review

By: Geoff Johns & Tony Bedard (story), Geraldo Borges (pencils), Ruy Jose (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

The Story: Unlike the Little Mermaid, Ocean Master isn’t enamored with the idea of walking.

The Review: This is hardly a novel observation, but people in positions of power, particularly government power, must have pretty hard lives.  Without knowing anything about it firsthand whatsoever, it seems to me that folks like that must have to constantly juggle their personal judgment with their judgment as a leader.  That must wreak havoc with your identity a little bit, when so much of what you do is based on what others think instead of your own instincts.

That kind of responsibility complicates our understanding of fictional characters as well.  How much of Orm is what he feels is necessary to be leader of his people, and how much is his own personal deal?  His attempted invasion of the surface world—how much of that can be attributed to what he thought would be a proportionate response to a perceived attack on his own kingdom, and how much came from his own ruthless nature?

Aquaman #23 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), Paul Pelletier (pencils), Sean Parsons (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

With most of the DC couples in disarray post-relaunch, us romantics have to cling to the few solid relationships remaining.  It’s really a testament to Johns’ convictions that Mera and Aquaman have become one of DC’s most prominent couplings.*  Just a few years ago, we barely knew anything of Mera, yet since then, she’s experienced a resurgence parallel to her husband’s.  Now, the two of them are nearly as well-known as a unit as individuals.

For fans of the undersea lovers, I’m sure alarm bells must have gone off upon the discovery of Mera’s first fiancé, suggesting a possibly ugly confrontation over the fact to come.  What a relief that Johns makes the smart character choice, showing Arthur as nonplussed by his wife’s secret but otherwise as trusting of her as ever.  Perhaps the ladies will disagree, but I found his brusque yet sincere declaration of love rather romantic, especially since he takes the time to deliver it in the middle of a crisis:

Justice League #17 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), Ivan Reis & Paul Pelletier (pencils), Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, Sean Parsons (inks), Rod Reis & Nathan Eyring (colors)

The Story: Arthur has no choice but to force his brother to dry out.

The Review: Whether it’s just something clicking into place in Johns’ head or finding a story that really resonates with him, it’s pretty clear that he has finally found his groove on this series.  Not only does Throne of Atlantis give us his most viable rendering of the League yet, it also highlights all of Johns’ strengths as a writer: a sincere focus on the characters’ personal relationships, bold plot developments, and a pure joy in playing with the DC Universe.

While The Villain’s Journey was easily the most discouraging arc of this title, it did call attention to the fact that the League up to that point was nothing more than a band of superpowers who did their job together amiably enough, but without much personal investment.  The League’s run-in with the Cheetah exposed their bonds with each other a little bit, but only here, with Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman trying to soothe Aquaman’s guilt over Atlantis’ attack, do you get the sense that these people can and will be friends.

Aquaman #14 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), Pete Woods & Pere Perez (pencils), Marlo Alquiza, Ruy Jose, Sean Parsons, Cam Smith (inks), Tony Avina (colors)

The Story: It’s actually really hard to tell who’s the black sheep between Orm and Arthur.

The Review: Any time a comic calls an issue a prologue, I approach it with some trepidation.  In prose, prologues are expected and easier to handle because you can always breeze through it and get straight to the good stuff.  In comics, it can be a drag to have a whole month’s issue devoted to exposition and set-up.  Not only that, but a lot of writers tend to waste prologues, seeing it more as a thematic sort of chapter instead of one that can actually support the plot in some way.

While Johns does manage to help set up the Throne of Atlantis storyline in this issue, he spends most of his time telling the preachiest of tales, one that reflects and foretells the upcoming war of misunderstanding between the surface world and the world underwater.  In a lot of ways, it’s an appropriate parable, one that puts on display the vengeance and mercy of both races, but one that only has an indirect, moral connection to the conflict at hand.

Aquaman #0 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), Ivan Reis (pencils), Joe Prado (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

The Story: In time, every young man must return to the waters of his birth.

The Review: Nowadays, Johns must be riding high on the popularity of Justice League (whether all that attention or acclaim is deserved, I find more questionable), but I’d stake my claim on saying that the work he’s done on Aquaman will prove his most important accomplishment of the year.  We’re talking about a character whose existence was questionable only a few years ago and who now stars in one of the most widely-bought titles in comics.

Having given our hero a new lease on life, it seems appropriate for Johns to have the honor of giving Aquaman a new beginning.  We started this series at an odd point in Arthur’s life: only recently returned from Atlantis, new wife in tow, with the mixed status of urban legend and League celebrity.  Although it’s been hinted at, we really know nothing about the gaps between leaving the shore, meeting the Others, and his return to land.  What we do know, and what makes the heart of this story and this whole title, is it all has to do with Atlantis.

Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #3 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Agustin Padilla (penciller), Jose Aviles (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)

The Story: Anything Arthur and Diana do, Orm and Penthesilea can do better.

The Review: Batman may be a man of mystery, but Wonder Woman and Aquaman, for all their fame and stature, are easily the most enigmatic characters in the Justice League.  They have a devoted following, and no one doubts their status as icons, but you don’t really have a handle on who they are or what they really stand for.  You can know everything to know about their origins, ideals, and powers, but you still won’t catch a glimpse into their hearts, minds, or souls.

So it makes perfect sense that even with a major Event whose storyline is half-built around these two characters, it turns out their every action has been strung along by others.  In fact, by the end of this issue, you’ll know way more about Penthesilea and Orm’s goals, and the attitudes that drive them, than you do about their starring kin.

Not that getting an understanding of these Machiavellian schemers poses that much difficulty.  Both only care about preserving the traditions of their respective cultures, mostly by making sure the outside/surface world’s ridiculous ideas of progress (e.g., peace and diplomacy) never catch on.  They offer an interesting, though vastly divergent, parallel to Arthur and Diana.  The passion of their beliefs draws them together; whatever romance they feel for one another seems largely incidental, almost irrelevant.

Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #3 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Vicente Cifuentes (artist), Diana Egea (inker), Kyle Ritter (colorist)

The Story: I know I killed your wife, but do you have to act like such a jerk?

The Review: We’ve known for a while now that Prince Orm of Atlantis and Penthesilea of the Amazons have worked together since day one (see Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #1) to raise Cain between their peoples.  Even though it’s never been explicitly stated, you can pretty much deduce, especially given Orm’s character history, that power-lust motivates their partnership to some degree, but how they came to work together still remains a mystery.

Well, hold on to your britches, because here comes a spoiler that will blow your mind.  As Diana reveals to Arthur, “…[Orm’s] not dead!  It’s worse…I walked in on your brother and my aunt Penthesilea kissing!”  Bedard’s love for melodrama defeats whatever impact this “revelation” can have (which is slim to begin with), but worse, it just makes the characters look silly.  Their overblown disbelief (Arthur: “That’s…no…that’s just not—”) makes them sound like kids who can’t believe their parents made out because it’s just plain icky.

Once you get over your violent spasm of eye-rolling, you’ll also have to take issue with the execution of this scene.  It feels very soapy with its fraught fact drop and lack of substantiation.  Surely this merits a flashback of some kind, especially since it changes the entire flow of the story now that the real villains stand revealed.  Possibly we’ll get to see Orm and Penthesilea’s lip-locking in the next issue of F:WWATF, but that just seems like poor editorial planning.

Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #2 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Augustin Padilla (penciller), Jose Aviles (inker), Val Staples (colorist)

The Story: Boy, that decision to not sign a pre-nup sure takes on new meaning now, doesn’t it?

The Review: In the thick of war, neither party can claim to be innocent of wrongdoing, which is often the same case when trying to piece out who started it.  But in the Flashpoint world, with the aggressors on either side including characters we normally see as heroic to the core, you have to be a little interested to see what kind of incident can provoke them into all-out ruthlessness.

DnA do a very good job making the war a tragic chain of events beyond either Wonder Woman or Aquaman’s control, making them sympathetic figures even as they commit some fairly unconscionable acts.  On the one hand, you can’t help feeling like Diana gets the truly rough of the stick, losing first her mother, then her best friend and homeland, but knowing what you do about who’s really pulling the strings here, it’s impossible to blame Arthur.

In fact, you’ll have just as much pity for him after seeing his genuine dismay and horror at the damage inflicted upon Diana’s family and home, and his desperate attempt to make things right even his efforts are futile (“Diana!  We’re all being deceived!  Diana!”).  Again, I marvel at the difference in Tony Bedard’s totally hardcore portrayal of Arthur over in Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman, and DnA’s loving, trusting, and peaceful (at first) version of the character here.

Flashpoint: Deathstroke and the Curse of the Ravager #2 – Review

By: Jimmy Palmiotti (writer), Joe Bennett & Tony Shasteen (artists), Rich & Tanya Horie (colorists)

The Story: One can never tell what lies under the sea…mayhap a dude in a fish mask and high-collar cape.

The Review: Here’s the thing about pirates: expect a lot of hacking and slashing, but don’t expect much in the way of what can be called depth.  Aside from a fickle fealty to their captain and volatile camaraderie with their crewmates, the majority of these ship-dwellers usually never grow as individuals or in their relationships.  It’s one of the hazards of being a genre character.

On the plus side, there’s never a dull moment in a pirate’s life, especially if the pirate in question is Deathstroke and he’s just wandered into Atlantean waters.  We get a grand showing from Aquaman and Ocean Master, who haven’t come off this competent in ages.  If you ever made fun of Aquaman’s League membership, now would be a good time to reconsider that position, since he and his bro pretty much wreck the Ravager’s crew without breaking a sweat.

Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #2 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Vicente Cifuentes (artist), Diana Egea (inker), Kyle Ritter (colorist)

The Story: Think Little Mermaid, but with a lot more drama and stabbing.

The Review: In almost every kind of traditional storytelling, a strong narrator is essential to detailing a scene and giving us insight into the characters’ minds.  In a visual medium like comics, since the art pretty much takes over most of the expository duties, narration can actually become cumbersome and redundant, especially with a strong artist on hand.  In this case, the narrative must frame the scene, highlighting details the art and dialogue wouldn’t by themselves.

In this issue, Bedard demonstrates the merit in the old adage, “Less is more,” only he does so by showing what a drag excessive narration can be.  Almost at no point does his voice help the scene; oftentimes, it just tinges everything with melodrama (“History is littered with the corpses of the complacent.”), and it almost always reiterates the facts that are in plain sight to you.  Not to take it personally, but I find that kind of storytelling almost patronizing.

Perhaps Bedard felt pressed for time so he found it easier to just gloss over certain details rather than take the time to show them, but by doing so, he actually undermines the impact of his own story.  If he really wanted to convince us that “Arthur Curry returned to the deep too young to understand the virtues his father had tried to teach: patience, kindness, humility,” then Bedard should’ve given us more scenes of Tom trying to teach his son exactly those things.

Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #1 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Ardian Syaf (penciller), Vicente Cifuentes (inker), Kyle Ritter (colorist)

The Story: If this deal doesn’t go through, we’re sunk.

The Review: In my mind, there are actually few truly bad writers in the comics biz—just writers who do certain things well and other things not so well.  Certainly you have your top all-rounders who can pretty much write the phonebook and make it a page-turner, and you have your hacks that can’t produce anything readable no matter the genre.  But don’t overlook the writers who, when they can play to their strengths, offer some pretty worthwhile goods.

I’ve often criticized Bedard for his clear limitations as a writer, which we’ve seen in his runs on R.E.B.E.L.S. and Green Lantern Corps: he can’t seem to manage an ensemble cast very well, nor can he give credit to a plot with much complexity.  But we shouldn’t ignore the points where he excels: straightforward, uncomplicated storylines with take-charge, bold personalities.  This makes Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman the ideal grounds for him to work with.

The principal cast consists entirely of characters of noble origins: Emperor Aquaman, Queen Mera, Prince Orm (who you may know as the Ocean Master), and King Brion of Markovia (Geo-Force).  If they come across a little too narrow-minded, pretentious, and unrelatable, well, they are, after all, royalty.  They can pull off the tinge of melodrama Bedard lends to all his dialogue: “You must take a few risks, after all, when you extend the hand of peace.”

For the most part, Bedard engagingly delivers the grim hows and whys of Western Europe becoming a casualty of war between Atlantis and New Themyscira.  But you still get overwritten moments, like the heavy-handed narration in the intro distracting from the already powerful imagery.  And important as it is to get the necessary exposition across, it’s always painful to have it done through characters explaining things to other characters who should already know that information: Orm recalling to Arthur the details and consequences of a plot Arthur himself masterminded is a perfect example.