Written by: Geoff JohnsA treasure trove of golden weaponry is revealed in a hidden tomb of the first king of Atlantis. The Others join Aquaman in a series of flashback moments where we learn of Aquaman’s past, with further indication that he’s simply not the man he is now. We also find Mera taking it too Manta, tooth and nail, with Manta making his get away, along with Dr. Shin. All of this and much more, culminated into one extraordinary book!
Of course, we’re still at square one aren’t we?
It’s like an episode of Lost in season six – we can learn so much about the characters and their pasts, but we still don’t understand what the heck is going on. And that’s fine! I loved Lost, but I was always in a constant state of agony because I would continually learned new stuff, which only raised more questions. Granted, Aquaman isn’t quite as unrelenting as that, but I’m still wondering when something new will pop up, furthering the story.
There is some nice character developing moments – Aquaman was once a jerk who cared very little about others, but is now a changed man. At some point in time, he deserted The Others leaving them high and dry. It doesn’t look as if the former team is too upset at Arthur, but their’s definitely some tension within the ranks. However, he’s doing his best to keep the peace, stating that going after Manta alone isn’t for selfish reasons, he simply feels obligated to protect the team he once left for dead.
The brothers Reis, as always, present an exceptional set of visuals for us to behold. However, even the most peaceful of moments in anything they do looks so intense, it’s tiring. I’m not knocking anything they do, but the amount of work they obviously put into their art is so extravagant and always leaves me in a state of fatigue. This issue is no exception, glowing with wonderful colors and lighting, and character definitions that I can only dream of producing.
The book doesn’t stand too well on it’s own, regretfully. It’s wonderfully written, but does require a certain amount of knowledge in order to really know what’s going on. It’s hard for any comic to act as a good jumping-on point as they almost always require a certain amount of following of the storyline. I don’t typically knock a comic for this aspect, but this was a bit much.
This is a fun issue with some great moments. Everyone would do themselves quite well by picking this series up. Start with issue 13 though, and purchase the trades for issues 1-12.
8 out of 10 stars
