 |
| Anger, monsters and BUBBLES!!! |
Writer: Geoff
Johns
Artists: Ivan
Reis and Joe Prado.
Collecting Aquaman #1-6
Background
Information:
If you’ve watched Robot
Chicken or Family Guy, you’re
probably a little bit familiar with Aquaman. For years he’s been the unwanted
middle child of the DC universe. So far as most of us knew about the sea king,
his abilities began and ended at talking to fish; which is great for the The Little Mermaid, not so much for a
guy who’s supposed to be an A-list superhero.
Okay, so he does have other abilities, all of which spring
from his upbringing; the son of a suface-dweller and the queen of Atlantis,
Arthur Curry possess psychic control of marine life the ability to breathe
underwater and superhuman strength.
But for some reason, this guy has never been popular. This
is mostly because there’s been a lot of assumptions made about him; he’s
probably a sea-locked character, and talking to fish is probably a useless
power.
Review:
In my mind, people drew straws to find out who was going to
bring Aquaman into the New 52 universe. I can’t picture anyone actually wanting
to take on the least-loved member of the Justice League. If that was the case,
then it’s lucky that the short straw was pulled by Geoff Johns. Geoff Johns is
a master at reviving characters and making them suddenly relevant – it’s why we
now have five different titles set around the Green Lantern family (and for those wondering, I’m including Larfleeze) – and it’s a mastery that he
brings out again for Aquaman, giving
readers all the reasons why the king of the sea is still alive and kicking, as
well as some reasons to give the character the respect he deserves.
And respect ends up being a major theme of The Trench. See, in the New 52, Aquaman
spends most of his time on land amongst people who must have seen that one
episode of Big Bang Theory where the
group decided to cosplay as the Justice League, because nobody- and I mean
nobody- takes him seriously. When Aquaman stops a robbery by flipping an
armoured car over his head, the cops are shocked that Aquaman’s so far away
from water. When he eats fish and chips for lunch, he is harassed by a punk
blogger. When he stops monsters from attacking, he’s patted on the back and
commended on his “good effort”. It’s amusing to see so much of real-world
prejudice reflected in Johns’ writing.
But it’s not the humour of this public perception that is so
ingenious about The Trench. Rather,
it’s the message that Johns is trying to convey. The jabs at Aquaman aren’t
just fun jokes. More often than not, it’s Johns saying “I know what you think
about this guy. I know what you think you know about this guy, but give him a
chance- I guarantee he’s better than you give him credit for.”
By the end of the book, you may still find yourself not
crazy about Aquaman, and that’s okay. Johns even recognises this towards the
end of the first story arc, when an onlooking cop remarks “I still don’t like
him.”
As great as this public perception of Aquaman is, it’s
almost an afterthought when compared with Johns’ reworking of the Aquaman
character. Aquaman has plenty of emotional depth along with a supporting cast
to let that depth shine. He’s got a very relatable personality and has to make
some very difficult decisions throughout the book. It’s Aquaman’s ability to
relate to the reader that reminds us just what a master storyteller Geoff Johns
is.
Johns resists the urge to bring in the more prolific
Aqua-villains at this stage, instead giving us a group of monsters from an area
known as The Trench. This was a smart move, as not giving us a “main” bad guy
allows for Johns to establish the status quo of the book before letting
characters like Ocean Master of Black Manta loose on the world. The creatures
are still fun, however- they’re fierce, freaky-looking, and interesting enough
to keep the story going.
The artwork by Reis and Prado is fantastic. Reis does an
amazing job at conveying Aquaman’s emotions and as a result, you normally don’t
need any text to communicate what he’s feeling. The designs here are great.
Aquaman looks much better than his Justice League design (the necklace is gone,
as is the Wolverine facial hair), his wife,
Mera, looks equally dangerous and regal, and the Trench creatures look
as scary and alien-like as they are meant to.
My on complaint about The
Trench is that for all it’s great
world-building and status-quo-establishing the actual plot is fairly thin.
Aquaman doesn’t seem all that challenged by the Trench and not much happens
outside of that storyline. The final two issues are a fairly interesting look
at Aquaman in the desert and Mera when on her own, but they feel tacked on to a
story with very little suspense in it.
Long story short, though is that Aquaman is relevant again.
Geoff Johns brings the character back to its former glory and makes it clear
that the king of the sea should be considered a major player in DCs new
universe. It gets a four and a half out of five robot chickens.
**** ½
+ Status-quo is interesting and entertaining.
+Artwork is brilliant.
+Aquaman is finally relevant.
-The story is sorta thin.
Alternate Option: Green Lantern: Sinestro
More work by Geoff Johns, because... Geoff Johns.
No comments:
Post a Comment