Aquaman #33 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Paul Pelletier (pencils), Sean Parsons (inks), Rain Beredo & Rick Magyar (colors)

The Story: Arthur wants to shake things up in Atlantis—but not like this!

The Review: Again, sorry for the lateness, but Bar Exam calls. It’s nice to know, however, that no matter what happens with this ridiculous test, I will always have Aquaman. Nice, and a little depressing. But just to make it clear, the depression has nothing to do with the quality of this series itself. While it’s lost some of the epic tang of Geoff Johns’ run, Parker has positioned the series to be a dependable hitter, churning out one action-packed issue after another.

It’s not all underwater chaos, though. This issue in particular is remarkably balanced, splitting time not only between pure superhero hijinks and Atlantean domestic dramas, but also between Arthur’s surface and oceanic connections. They don’t all mesh together, exactly (nor do they need to), but they stand side-by-side in a seamless whole, with Arthur as the appropriate unifying force. You can hardly ask for anything more, except maybe for our hero to get some real studly moments.

Aquaman #18 – Review

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

The Story: Heavy is the head that wears the crown—oh, wait.  He doesn’t have a crown.

The Review: Johns has always said he likes working with the B and C-listers of the DCU because they all have the potential for just as interesting a history and world as the top class heroes.  He’s right, of course.  Basically he’s touching upon a point that applies to all fiction writers: every character, even the ones with the smallest roles, deserves to have some kind of life that gives them dimension, and when they do, it makes the story that much richer.

So when Johns explores Aquaman’s Atlantean roots, what he’s really doing is adding a huge piece to the DCU mosaic.  Even if Johns ends up doing little with it himself (which I highly doubt), it’ll always be there, ready for any other writer to pull out or add to when the time comes.  For the moment, however, Atlantis is going through a pretty exciting development period where Johns is reimagining classic parts of its mythos and giving it new flavors as well.

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.

Young Justice Episode 8 – Review

By: Kevin Hopps (writer)

The Story: They say lost Atlantis holds many secrets.  No one says anything about Starros.

The Review: When the producers of Young Justice let on their show takes place on a parallel Earth, they opened up literally a whole new world of story possibilities.  They have the double-benefit of using DC canon for their source material, but molding it to their imagination.  It’s been fun exploring this universe little by little through the team’s missions, but the more you see, the more eager you get to really tramp about its locales to see what’s familiar and what’s all-new.

Aqualad’s sabbatical to Atlantis could not be a more ideal locale for seeing just how much creativity the writers will put into their world-building.  Hopps gives us everything you expect in Atlantis: the exotic, almost extraterrestrial marine life, the neo-classical architecture, the melding of ancient magic and advanced science, even its own Tolkienish language—the show’s brilliant animation brings it all to life, jumping an even higher bar of quality than it already has.

The reimagining of the Aqua-family is also stellar.  Some people wondered at the choice of Kaldur’ahm as Aqualad, but Hopps cleverly shows both Garth and Tula having chosen the Atlantean conservatory of magic as their vocations.  Guest stars include Aquaman’s wife Mera, half-brother Orm (kudos for making him actually look Inupiat), and royal science advisor Vulko.  Even Lagoon Boy and Letifos make cameos.  If you’re an Aqua-fan, this episode is practically catered to you.

Easter egg fun aside, Hopps writes an altogether sound episode, opening right in the middle of a mission gone awry, and Batman chalking it to Kaldur’s homesickness.  It’s not great we don’t see how Kaldur is supposedly responsible for the whole deal, but the scene itself works (note Bruce Greenwood’s excellent voice work as Batman) and the trade-off is we get to Atlantis that much sooner.  Kaldur’s interactions with his ocean friends and family give him some much needed personality, but I think we all just have to accept he’s the strong-and-silent type of the team.

Hopps also brings plenty of underwater action with Black Manta and his forces facing off against the Atlanteans and the Aqua-family (minus Arthur).  The melding of blaster guns, hydro-kinesis, and spell-slinging makes for visually and physically spectacular fight sequences.  It’s also good to see that writers are really embracing the tough broad Mera that’s popularized in Brightest Day. Manta comes off smart and formidable sparring versus both Aqualads, and his quest for Starro is marred only by the fact that we don’t get to see the alien starfish in action—not yet, anyway.