...and so its come to this, yet another final issue of an Aquaman book. I can't say have I haven't been here before(many times, in fact) but every time I feel like its one more strike against the character, the concept. How many more chances will "Aquaman"(whoever he is) get before he's assigned to the trash heap of comics history, along with Sugar & Spike, Mr. District Attorney, and Space Ranger?
Anyway, as we saw last time, Aquaman, Aquagirl, Cyborg, and Cal had just defeated Krusivax and Vandal Savage. This final issue opens with Aquaman and the team rushing off to now save Keysha and Topo, who have been kidnapped by the weird, creepy doctor guy who worked for Black Manta.
He's on a quest for answers(in his own weird way) and he has Aquaman take a drug that taps him into his own subconcious, where he is escorted by the ethereal Lady of the Lake and sees his true origins.
Here we get a cameo by the original Aquaman, and we find out that Aquaman II's father duped the original into stealing some of his blood, but not for the purpose he stated--in truth, it was one last, desperate attempt to save his son.
Turns out that the original Aquaman, in his attempt to raise Sub Diego, died in the process, but a portion of his soul found its way to the body of Arthur Joseph!
So, essentially, there is a part of the original Aquman in the new one, sorta like how Spock was in McCoy in Star Trek II(I'm not trying to denigrate the concept by making a similar pop-culture reference; I'm trying to simplify and explain an idea that reads much more smoothly in the comic itself than I ever could here).
After Aquaman II saves the group from Creepy Purple Guy, he is enraged at learning the truth about himself--that he is here because of his father's deception, and that he is merely a shadow of the original King of the Seven Seas, Aquaman, who gave his life saving others.
He leaves Aquagirl and Cal behind to help rebuild Sub Diego. He and Topo head for Atlantis, their first step on a quest for Arthur Joseph to make right, and, as he says: ...I'll admit, maybe it's just because I knew this was the last issue and nostalgia immediately kicked in, but as I got to this last page, I actually stopped eternally wishing for Aquaman 1.0 to come back, and wanted to continue reading the adventures of this new one.
Setting up Arthur Joseph on this quest I think is a classic way to go, the kind of boy-becomes-a-man-by-becoming-a-hero story that gives the hero a place to go, and hopefully you enjoy watching him get there.
Don't get me wrong--deep down, I still believe that replacing the original Aquaman, the one with all the history and was--is---an essential pillar of the DCU--was a mistake. I still think DC has yet to give us a straight-ahead, classic Aquaman book, the kind of back-to-basics approach Mark Waid and George Perez are doing so well every month in The Brave and The Bold. There hasn't been that kind of Aquaman book in a long time. I'd love to see it, and I know I'm not the only one.
DC has been running those three full-page ads for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in their books for awhile now, and the subtext is that these three are classic, iconic characters--there's no reference to current storylines or even current creative teams; just the character's logo and the word "Monthly" underneath. DC is telling us these are the foundations of their universe, and they'll always be there.
I know Aquaman does not have the status of those three, yet I'd argue he's more iconic and well-known than pretty much the rest of the entire DCU. Ask anyone you meet, and they've heard of the character, even if they've never read a comic book. He's part of every toyline, because manufacturers recognize him as an essential part of any line of DC superhero merchandise.
Boy, I've gotten off track here...let me sum up by saying I thought Williams and McManus did pretty well with what they were handed. The fact that they were able to make this work at all for this obsessive Aquaman fan is a testament to their storytelling skills. When they took over I was still shaky on this new guy, but over their run I came to like him, and by the end I wanted to see where he'd go from here. I plan to buy the new Outsiders title if Arthur Joseph is indeed in it.
...but I'd still love to see Aquaman, the Aquaman, get his shot at being the cool, exciting, iconic hero I know he is.
Bonus: We'll be featuring a brand-new AquaShrine interview with Tad Williams on Monday, and a page of original SOA art by Shawn McManus on Tuesday!
I didn't get a chance to do a Comic Friday last week, so I thought I'd catch up on the newest issue of Sword of Atlantis.
When last we left them, Aquaman was imprisoned by the villanous Krusivax and we just discovered the other bad guy behind the scenes, Vandal Savage!
Lorena discovers the real plan--to use some mysterious sea creatures to cause earthquakes that will sink Los Angeles, Tokyo, Shanghai, and other populated areas into the sea! The whole goal of this is to "thin the herd" as Vandall Savage calls it. A percentage of these newly-sumerged people will be bioengineered to breathe underwater, like the residents of Sub Diego. These people will become the pawns of Krusivax and he will have an empire.
Aquaman manages to talk the mastermind behind the mechanics of the plan, Gregory Jupiter, into freeing him, playing on Jupiter's guilt into being duped into helping create this mad plan. Aquaman rescues his now unconcious father, when they're discovered by Savage, who has a little experience pounding on superheroes. He almost succeeds, until the new Flying Fish sneaks up on him and knocks him out.
Just as Savage is about to kill him, Mal, Cyborg(!), and Lorena in a new, ass-kicking battlesuit break in and promise "Y'all are so busted."
Overall, a good issue, with the ultimate bad guy plot being the classic kind of supervillain tomfoolery, ratcheting the stakes up so that Aquaman is trying to save basically the whole world. I do wish Aquaman got a little more to do--he's trussed up for half this issue, then after only a page or two of fighting Savage he gets knocked out again--but I think it bothers me more because I know there's only two issues left and I want to get as much Aquaman action in before that.
McManus' art is, as always, excellent, with a nice combination of cartooniness and gritty realism. If the original Aquaman ever returns in his own series, I'd love to see McManus handle the art. The cover by Kevin Maguire is also very cool.
This new Aquaman is going to be making appearances all over the DCU in the next few months, so it certainly seems like DC is trying to establish him as the new, permanent Aquaman. But there's evidence to the contrary, too, so we'll just have to wait and see...
Ok, I had time to go to the comics shop today and pick up my weekly fix, and got right down to read the new Aquaman(I'll only be able to say that three more times...*sob*).
Picking up where we left off, Aquaman and his AquaTeam(I'm tired of writing all these names...this comic has more people in it than The Avengers on open-enrollment day) are starting to figure out why and how Black Manta is involved with the mysterious company Progene Tech, who had attempted to clone and patent the original Aquaman's DNA.
Aquaman and Lorena investigate a subsidiary company called Tri-Dent Industries, and this starts a fun sequence, since we get to Arthur be heroic and not have to share space with everyone else who is floating around this book. After kicking some preliminiary ass, Aquaman is attacked the "new" Human Flying Fish, a character I certainly didn't think we'd ever see a modern version of, since he was considered pretty damn silly even back in the sixties. But we learn he's a tool of Tri-Dent, an actually manages to hold Aquaman off long enough to knock him out.
When he wakes up, he is being held bu Krusivax, who has a very personal reason why he's orchestrating all this DNA-copying and why he wants to kill Aquaman, any Aquaman he can find! As a way to insure Arthur does what he wants, Krusivax(great bad guy name, btw) brings out another prisoner--Arthur's father! But Arthur's dad explains that this Aquaman can't be his son, because...his son is dead!
Meanwhile, we find Tempest on a mission to find a mysterious oracle-type woman, who resides in a very secluded, deep part of the ocean. He does find her--a woman named Leah--who tells Tempest she's been dreaming about him!
We go back to Aquaman, and find that Krusivax is working in tandem with someone else in his plan of revenge and world domination...Vandal Savage! To be continued!
Another fine issue, and it's nice to see the story get paired down a bit to give the new Aquaman(ooh, I still hate typing that) more to do and take center stage. He maybe gets kidnapped and lectured by the bad guy one too many times in just the last six issues, but what the hey. I have to admit--knowing Aquaman is cancelled yet again, I think I appreciate the book more, since I know its going away...
McManus does another solid job on the art, his portrayal of Lorena seems very sexy to me without dressing her like a Lady Death or 90s-era Sue Storm. I've said it once, and I'll say it again--DC, try giving an Aquagirl title a chance.
The cover, by the Dodsons, is also cool and fun and I think is actually going to be sold as a poster. It seems DC is bringing out its big(ger) guns to do the book's covers--Paul Rivoche last month, the Dodsons this month, Kevin Maguire next month--just in time to cancel it.
This week's Comic Friday brings us a new issue of Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis, decked out with a beautiful cover by Paul Rivoche. It's a poster-ish cover, but also one that tells a story, sort of referencing some of the themes of the issue. Very cool.
This issue opens with Manta and his team attacking Aquaman II(or is it III? oh, I don't even know anymore), Lorena, and Mal. Our heroes fight valiantly, but are overcome by Manta's high-tech firepower.
They wake up with Manta attempting to take samples of their blood, and when he makes a crack about the "real" Aquaman sending an understudy in his place, Arthur lets it slip that the original Aquaman that Manta knew is dead.
In a nice bit of murderous characterization, Manta becomes enraged that he is not the one who perfomed the act. He then decides to truss up Arthur and Mal and execute them in the city square(having recently taken over Sub Diego), and its here we finally get a moment for the new Aquaman to take the lead--he uses his powers in a totally credible, yet inventive, way to help get them out of their predicament.
I've said before that while I've been enjoying the book more since Tad Willams took over, I've felt that this new Aquaman's presence has been a bit indistinct from all the other characters populating the book. And while its only for a moment, this new Aquaman does get to do something cool and be, you know, heroic. Hey, Tad--more of this!
Aquaman's buddy King Shark--whose been kept out of Sub Diego due to some security measures by Manta during the story--eventually finds his way in and does what he promises Topo he'd do; namely bite Black Manta's head off. Well, almost--he does get in a satisfyingly horrible chomp in. Though Manta does escape, he's severely injured and (probably) disfigured. Now he's got a reason to be mad at this new Aquaman, too.
Meanwhile, back in Atlantis, Mera discovers that her late husband's dead body has turned entirely into water. Hmm...
Like last issue, this one was inked as well as pencilled by Shawn McManus, and he does a fine job. He has a loose, almost rough inking style that at times almost looks Kubert-esque, and it gives the whole book a looser feel that I think helps fit the story. And I think the story is picking up speed, as well--I'm more into where this is going than I have been since this whole Sword of Atlantis thing started.
Rumors abound that ASOA is going to be cancelled soon. I hope not, for the obvious reasons, but also because I think the book is getting better and better and I'd like to see it given the chance to find an audience.
When last we left them, Aquaman mk.2, Tempest, Lorena(aka Aquagirl), Sub Diego Mayor Cal Durham, Topo had just arrived in the underwater city only to find it's been taken over by Black Manta.
In this issue, they actually confront Manta, who is confused as to who this new guy is and why he calls himself Aquaman. They rescue their sea creature/human hybrid friend Alonzo, and then are ambushed by Manta's minions but manage to escape, not before Aquaman gets one good shot in at Manta. They drop off Alonzo for medical treatment, and then Aquaman, Lorena, and Mal continue on to find out the reasons behind some of what Manta's been doing.
As I've stated before, while there were definitely some parts of Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis that I liked, I couldn't really get past that this wasn't Aquaman, or at least the one I knew. But for some reason, this issue really kicked it up a notch for me. The storyline seemed clearer, more focused, and the characterizations sharper.
One thing that helped is the artwork--since there's no inker credit for this issue, I assume artist Shawn McManus inked his own pencils this time. As much as I liked Walden Wong's inks, I think McManus inking himself is a vast improvement, at least at capturing the right tone--McManus' line is rougher, looser, less rounded edges, making the whole book look a little more rough shod, and I think that matches the storyline very well. Black Manta even wears a new suit at the end and the design looks like its right out of a Nick Cardy-drawn issue of the original Aquaman series.
Another thing that caught me off guard with this issue was the tone. This book is settling into a fun adventure, full of danger, something for us overgrown fanboys and fangirls(hey, Laura!), but yet there's nothing in here that a younger reader couldn't handle.
In fact, I've found that Aquaman:SOA is managing to capture a tone I wish more mainstream superhero comics would try for--an all ages appeal, but not necessairily written just for little kids. And even though that's something I've been looking for, I initially had the opposite reaction when I saw this panel:
...I saw this, and went "aw, come on. This is so silly." And then just a few seconds after that, I caught myself and said "No--this is exactly how the DCU should read." Sure, it's an incredibly goofy image, but writer Tad Williams just throws this in and moves on, like the classic DC books used to. He doesn't distance himself from this ironically--like he, as the writer, is complimenting the readers for knowing how silly this is--rather, the approach is just unapologetically fantastic, like the world of superheroes is meant to be. This is a world where there are women with animal heads that talk like Lindsay Lohan; let's move on.
My only complaint about the book is still the same one I said last time--that the new Aquaman is still a bit indistinct amid all the other members of the cast. You can get away with that in a Batman comic, since everyone knows who Batman is and he doesn't need to say or do much to make the point. But since you're still trying to sell the audience on the concept as "Aquaman" as the main character, I think he needs to be more defined. But this is only Williams' third issue, so maybe that's down the line.
Ok, actually, I do have one more complaint, but it has nothing to do with the book itself. While reading this delightfully multi-generational-appropriate story, I came across this ad:
Great Guardians! What a hideous, violent, gory, grotesque ad. I'm no prude, but if I saw this ad in a comic book my kid was reading I'd rip the page right out of it. Five Green Lanterns, crucified, with blood splattering out of their chests?? Ugh. Ultra-violence in superhero comics doesn't make them cooler, it just makes them stupider. Where's a Hostess Cupcake ad when you need one?
I've decided to cover the newest issue of Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis for each week's Comic Friday, that way I can feel like I'm keeping people who might not be reading the book (and that's most of Humanity) up to date.
This is the second issue by the new creative team of Tad Williams, Shawn McManus, and Walden Wong, this time with a niiiice cover by master Michael Wm. Kaluta. It picks up shortly after last issue, so we have the JLA (or at least some of them) attending the "funeral" of the Dweller, aka the original Aquaman.
Any superhero's funeral needs to be put in quotes since it's so rarely final. That's even more the case this time, since Aquaman's death last issue was done so off-handedly, so perfunctorily, that I didn't believe for a second it was The End. That feeling is reinforced with this issue, where members of the JLA themselves doubt it really means Aquaman is gone forever. Maybe Tad Williams is trying a classic mis-direct, and Arthur really is dead. I don't know--this approach seems lose/lose to me--if he's isn't dead, then all this talk about it really undercuts the drama. If he is, then DC has allowed a writer to unceremoniously bump off one of their most durable characters for a cheap, instantly-forgettable plot twist (that can't be it, since of course DC would never do that).
Anyway, the new Aquaman, Tempest, Cal Durham, new comic relief Topo, and holdover from the previous Aquaman incarnation, Lorena (aka the new Aquagirl) and a few others head out to find one of these mysterious "hatches" that work like wormholes under the sea. When they do, they run afoul of a whole gang of bad fish/human hybrid bad guys, and a fairly bloody battle ensues. They finally reach their destination--the underwater city of Sub Diego--and they discover its been taken over by...Black Manta!
I don't want to be too negative when I talk about a comic, since I try to keep the Shrine a happy place, and I just don't feel right about slamming creative people who are obviously trying to do good work. It's just a comic book, for Neptune's sake. And I have to keep in mind that we are only two issues into Williams' run.
But so far, I feel that the new Aquaman is becoming a co-star in his own book. At this point, we've got him, Mera, Tempest, Cal, Topo, Lorena, an evil duplicate Aquaman, and the bad guy who created the evil duplicate. The book is so crowded that Aquaman really isn't making much of an impression.
If anything, it's Lorena/Aquagirl that resonates the most. Back when she was introduced in the earlier incarnation of this book, I thought she was a great character, a great counterpoint to the self-serious Aquaman. It seemed like they were grooming her to become his new sidekick and I thought to myself, if they did want a new Aquaman, DC could do worse than replace him with Lorena. I'm glad Williams has brought her back, and I only hope that over time he pares away the rest of the ever-growing AquaFamily and gives Lorena more to do.
The art by Shawn McManus is still very nice, but I'm still not totally sold his cartoony style fits well with all the blood and guts this new Aquaman's world consists of. The little dots-for-eyes characters are cute and all, I just don't know whether they work in this context.
Of course, I'm still going to buy Aquaman--it's Aquaman. I have nothing but high hopes for the title and that Williams and McManus are given the chance to really do something with the book.