The Case For Aquaman
Aquaman shouldn't be an underdog. Not only is he wealthy royalty from a lost civilization, he also has superpowers. But far from being the man who has it all, Arthur Curry is more like a man without a country. He doesn't feel at home in Atlantis, but as this book shows, the surface world he wants to embrace and protect seems determined to push him away. As a result, Arthur Curry may have just become the most sympathetic character in DC's new universe.
This first issue in the new series focuses less on setting up what's to come than simply showing us the kind of crap Aquaman has to deal with on any given day. He thwarts a robbery by flipping the crooks' van over his head, and the cops respond by snickering at him. He tries to stop for lunch at a restaurant his father used to take him to, and gets harassed by a snarky blogger. In the face of it all, he keeps his cool and continues to treat people with the respect almost everyone he encounters fails to show him.
Sure, it's a bit of meta-commentary on Aquaman's perception in pop culture, but it's not gratuitous. Geoff Johns isn't just arguing that Aquaman is too cool; he's coaxing us into reconsidering Arthur as a character with emotional depth. In that department, he gets a lot of support from Ivan Reis, who skilfully portrays Arthur's pride and determination through his facial expressions and bearing. At a glance, it may not seem like there's much variation to Arthur's moods, but look more closely and you'll see the subtle and telling changes that Reis has worked into each panel.
If there's any cause for concern here, it's that Johns and Reis almost seem too excited about getting fans to reconsider Aquaman. In this issue, that translates into pacing that's a bit uneven. There's not much in the way of transitions between the action and character-building scenes, and while both work on their own, they don't come together as well as you'd hope. That might just be a symptom of enthusiasm for a new book, but some of what happened here felt like it could have waited until a future issue in order to give a bit more time to developing the major threat Aquaman will have to deal with in the first story arc.
Still, that's a relatively minor gripe about what is, overall, a really good issue. This feels like a good, fresh start for a character who has a lot to prove. If Johns and Reis can both maintain and temper their enthusiasm, there's no reason Aquaman can't be one of DC's must-read titles.
