Btp: Aquaman #1 Review
This article was submitted by Ryan Green. If you would like to submit an article, please e-mail to myself at jadams@nerdiest-kids.com or contact@nerdiest-kids.com
From animated portrayals in the âSuper Friendsâ, to short skits in âRobot Chickenâ; Aquaman is often the most ridiculed super-hero out there. Not just in popular media, but in comic books as well. Due to rapid creative team switch ups, Aquaman has been everything from a teenage pretty boy, to king, to eco-terrorist, all the way to a zombie, and has had almost as many continuity problems as Hawkman!
However, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel with this weekâs release of Aquaman #1, which is part of the âNew 52â relaunch by publisher DC Comics to bring more readers into comics and the DC Universe. Spearheaded by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, and Joe Prado; this creative team seems passionate about bringing Aquaman to the forefront and in the same league (figuratively and literally) as Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and The Flash. Such passion and love for a character is always a good sign when dealing with a new creative team, and now with Aquaman #1, out in stores, we can see firsthand just how this new take on the character works.
The beginning of Aquaman #1 is all about introducing Aquaman as a major power house and player in the DC Universe. As you can see in the images and preview below, Aquaman shows feats of invulnerability, great strength and, (not shown in the preview) the ability to super-leap. The great thing about these pages is that not only are they awesome Aquaman moments, they are also logical Aquaman moments for a character built to survive in the harsh environment of Earthâs oceans. This is great to witness as it shows that we finally have a writer taking Aquaman seriously, and showing he is a serious âheavy weightâ in the DC Universe. Johns seems so confident in this characters ability to hold his own title that, rather than use an established Aquaman villain, he has elected to introduce us to a new foe in the form of carnivorous, horror movie-looking creatures of the deep (hence why the first Aquaman storyline of this series is called âThe Trenchâ).
Thatâs not to say that this first issue is solely action. Like the master storyteller he is, Johns also manages to add a key ingredient in the recipe to make this story all the more enjoyable: Humor! Johns is acutely aware that the underwater hero has an unfavorable reputation, and is often seen as a joke despite the fabulous feats of power he shows throughout the issue. The highlight of this being a scene with a âbloggerâ in a restaurant, who constantly ridicules everything that fans have said about Aquaman for years (such as his ability to talk to fish, even though he claims he merely cajoles them to his whim) and flat out calls him a laughing stock. The reaction Aquaman has is logical, and creates a great sympathy for the character.
Blended in with plenty of action and humor, Aquaman #1 also has a great many heart-filled and compassionate moments. In the restaurant scene described above, Aquaman has a moment of reflection about his late father; later taking a moment to reflect on a lecture his father once gave him on responsibility as a child. Along with the empathy point of an adult figure from his past, we also see a great moment where he helps the citizenry in less action-star ways. It gives us two great things about Aquaman: it entrenches him in the superhero genre with a patriarch origin, and makes him unique with the lack of a secret identity and the reasoning for it. Finally, a unique part of this opening issue is the fact that the series has dual protagonists. Along with Aquaman, there is his wife Mera (refreshing to see in the land of comics: a happily married couple).
When it comes to art, it is hard to top the linework of Ivan Reis. Here, Reisâ talents are fully utilized , showing incredibly realistic facial expressions from Aquaman and all the other characters to convey personality and emotion. From the anger of the bank robbery, to the love from Mera, Reis captures the full spectrum of human emotion with his pencil. If he can and Johns can keep this momentum up, this will be a truly classic series.
No expense is spared for the details of this issue, as along with great pencils, the colors and imagery from inker Joe Prado on this entire issue stand out and hold your attention. The rendering of Aquamanâs costume, opting instead to do away with the garish orange color of Aquamanâs shirt for more of a shiny and metallic golden look instead, befits a former king! Pradoâs mastery of color isnât just for the Sea Kings wardrobe; he effectively bridges the look of a sun filled day, with the horror of the main adversaries. A fantastic and difficult feat to pull off!
After 70 years of being the butt of many jokes, and ridiculed in every manner possible, itâs good to see someone finally giving Aquaman the long overdue respect he deserves. Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, and Joe Pradoâs Aquaman #1 is a fantastic and entertaining tale, and is set not only to be another success in DCâs âNew 52â initiative but will not disappoint new & old Aquaman fans alike. Honestly, I felt more like this was the first act of a movie rather than just the first issue of a comic book storyline, and I already canât wait for issue #2!
Blackest Night #1 is an odd beast. Usually with reviews and most certainly with crossover epics, writers who review these things feel compelled to give a lengthy explanation of what exactly this story is about. Who the main characters are, why the story exists, and most importantly, what the hell is going on.
This can prove frustrating perhaps to older readers of DC Comics, but I also found it refreshing to see how well this writer knows the universe he is writing in. Nothing feels forced, no one acts out of characters. In fact, thats one of the many complaints of characters IN epics, is that they seemed shoehorned into the story. One of the main complaints in Civil War was of supposed character derailment of a variety of Marvel characters. Not so in Blackest Night, in fact I would say the characters are distilled into their purest iteration to make each character viable to new and old readers alike. The artist too managed to make each character look their iconic best, and used expressions and little artistic flourishes to really immerse you into the world. Look on The Atoms desk after his talk with Hawkman, feel the anguish that Barry Allen feels after receiving a bit of news.
The other major factor is the idea of resurrection. Be it Hawkman and Hawkgirls constant reincarnation, to the Death of Superman, to the return of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, the comic doesn’t shy away from the idea of people coming back from the dead. It fully explores the idea, and probably will continue to do so. This along with death and the very emotions of the characters will be a major theme in the event. Emotion, this is the third and most important theme to the book. You wouldn’t expect emotion to so highly influence an action adventure superhero comic that is about death and zombies. It does, and does so so effectively you will wonder why events don’t play on emotions moreso than they normally do.
The comic was by far the best start to a summer event I have seen in awhile. The fact that it has been building steadily for almost 4 years definitely helps that perception, but there is a feeling it has been starting for far longer than that for the steady DC fan, even the casual comic fan. Blackest Night is confronting head on the idea of how ethereal death is in the various comic book universes, and how bringing people back from the dead seems to have pissed off somebody. Make no mistake, people will always come back from the dead in comics, its the nature of the beast. It is refreshing to see the topic explored along witht he fact that the story seems to have been progressing for so long.
In the middle of the eighties, a phenomenon hit the comic book world of superheroes. A number of titles came out that challenged the conventional wisdom of what exactly constitutes a superhero comic, even what a superhero is. It wasn’t simply that the comics had to be deeper or more complex. It wasn’t that the characters were well rounded. We were treated to heroes interacting with a world not all that different from the one of the 1980’s. We were afraid, we were paranoid, and the world looked to be heading to the big nuclear war that we all feared. The thing these comics did was it showed us how the heroes we revered would grow up, and interact with our world. The truth hit us hard, so hard that we have been affected by these stories since then. Now one of those stories has come to the big screen. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s masterpiece Watchmen. Spoilers and a review after the cut.It’s so hard to think after just seeing the movie. I guess the best way to go through it is to explain the basic story. Watchmen is the story of Earth 1985 that has taken a turn for the worse then the one we all have lived or seen in our history classes. The obvious thing is that Richard Nixon is still the President of the United States. Vietnam has been won and declared the 51st state of the union, and superheroes really do exist. The major divergence in both the story and the movie from our world is that the comic books of 1939 inspire real people to don costumes and masks and fight crime with similar dressed people. Then in 1959, Jon Osterman, becomes Dr. Manhattan. The world forever changed as the United States and Russia were still in the cold war, but America had a real life Superman. Compounding things, the police get fed up working due to the costumed adventurers of this world and riots break out. The United States passes the Keene Act that outlaws costumed vigilantes. Some retire, some do not, and some work for the government as sanctioned agents. This brings us to the real story as one of the original costumed adventurers is murdered, and the investigation in why he is killed, along with flashbacks to the past, detail why this world is not only more horrible then our own, but also how far some people will go to save it.
When I saw the movie, it’s best to come out and say that I had read the graphic novel beforehand. I am wondering if perhaps me reading that gave me an edge in terms of understanding what the story I am watching constitutes of. I will say that the director truly tries to let the film breathe and explain what is going on, or for that matter show what is going on. Often he succeeds, but the films only loss that I can see is the lack of supporting characters, and the lack of subtlety. That and the way Richard Nixon is portrayed, that kinda bugged me.
Subtlety has never been Zach Snyder’s strongest suit. I understand why Zach has such a fondness for slow motion as it gives you the illusion of a panel from a comic, or really feeling the impact of whatever emotion or action you are seeing. I never felt he overused the device, but he did overuse the depiction of violence in the film. It is what I refer to as the ‘Sin City effect’, basically meaning that we don’t feel like these people are human, but truly superhuman in the amount of damage they can inflict and take. Not only that but the wholesale destruction of a human body that martial arts does to people in this movie detract from the realism of a fight that I believe was the original intent of the author. Now I also understand that this was to emphasize the point that these people do enjoy damaging other people, it takes extreme personalities to don a costume and fight crime. But the over the top fight scenes took me out of the film, it shocked me, not immersed me.
Heroes die. Legends live forever. The day evil won. This is what Final Crisis was described to be. DC Comics has finally wrapped up their mega multiverse-spanning event, which also brings to a close the Crisis Trilogy. Not only does Final Crisis end the plot points presented way back in Crisis on Infinite Earths, but also closes the gap on fan favorite and industry legend Jack Kirby’s creations during his time at DC Comics. In typical Grant Morrison fashion, he has split the internet in half. Fanboys on each side of the fence, one side scratching their heads and saying “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?” and the others understanding and completely adoring Final Crisis. Many new fans argue Final Crisis is hard to comprehend and has incredible amounts of references, which makes it difficult to just jump into the story, which to high degree is true. Being as Final Crisis is the last in the Crisis Trilogy, it is only fair to give a nod to long time fans of the DC Universe and also pay tribute to the stories, artists, and writers that came before. Before we delve into Final Crisis we must go back to the beginning. This is your Final Crisis counseling.
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The repercussions from Infinite Crisis changed radically for the survivors of the multiverse. Superman of Earth-2 and his wife both dead. Alexander Luthor viciously murdered by New Earth’s Joker. Power Girl, finally with a clear and present origin, is established as a survivor of the original crisis and is in fact Superman of Earth-2’s cousin. Superboy Prime becomes the ultimate villain. Hailing from a world much like our own. If given the chance, he would have became the greatest hero of them all, but this was not the case. Instead, he has become one of the DC Universe’s biggest threats. Last but not least, Infinite Crisis established the Earth the heroes and villains inhabit as New Earth and the return of the Multiverse.
Final Crisis is in fact just that… FINAL! This is the final crisis of superheroes, the final crisis of the New Gods, and importantly, the final crisis of The Monitors. Grant Morrison weaves in all of Jack Kirby’s unfinished stories and concepts into a cohesive (some will say arguable) story.
Sonny Sumo, another Kirby creation and friend of the New Gods known as the Forever People, is recruited by Shilo Norman, the current Mister Miracle master escape artist, to help defeat the threat that Darkseid is bringing to Earth. Granny Goodness, a New God and follower of Darkseid, is in the body of the super space cop Alpha Lantern Kraken and attempts to murder John Stewart, frame Hal Jordan for the murder of Orion and the attack on John Stewart, and manages to kidnap Batman. Dan Turpin shows up to Bludhaven and is given a tour of the now taken-over Command D. Evil New Gods Mokkari, Mr Simyan, and Glorious Godfrey are gene altering men and animals into beastmen hybrids, recruiting and spreading anti-life among man, and enslaving those still left in Bludhaven to serve Darkseid. Batman, imprisoned by Darkseid’s henchmen, warns Turpin to resist the Anti-Life Equation, but is too late. Dan Turpin has been corrupted and his body now is inhabited by Darkseid.
Superman still remains bedside by his wife, who he is keeping alive with his heat vision, when he is recruited by a female Monitor that ties into the events that lead into Superman Beyond (recommended reading which ties into Final Crisis). Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern, issues Article X and drafts any and all Superheroes to form an army, exactly how Roosevelt recruited and formed the All Star Squadron during World War 2. Wonder Woman travels to Bludhaven to come into contact with Mary Marvel. Mary Marvel, possed by the New God Desaad, infects Wonder Woman with an Anti-Life disease which puts her under the will of Darkseid. Mokkari spreads the Anti-Life equation through every form of digital communication possible: radio, tv, internet, etc.
Batman escapes from his torture device and confronts Darkseid. Darkseid, still claiming victory and pulling the Earth with him to his death, is shot by Batman with the same bullet that Darkseid used to kill Orion. As the shot fires, Darkseid uses the Omega Sanction, two streams of unavoidable energy which transports the victim through time or transports the target through a series of worsening lives. Superman returns to his time period, only to find his friend’s corpse in the rubble.
