Aquaman #5
Summary
Although the previous arc finished last month, it would appear all is not over yet. After scientists find an Atlantian relic in the roof of the old vessel discovered in the previous issue things go from bad to worse. What is the relic and what does it have to do with Aquaman’s heritage? Also... why is Aquaman stranded in the middle of a desert? Read this issue and find out!
What I liked
· The Geoff Johns Treatment: I like Geoff Johns’ writing for several reasons, but in particular I appreciate how he can take old characters or series’ that aren’t as prominent as they once were, and give them a whole new mythology. This, in turn, makes them feel new and interesting – whilst keeping everything we used to love about them still intact. We’ve seen it be done to Green Lantern and we have seen it be done to The Flash. It seems that now it is Aquaman’s turn to have a complete mythology-makeover and become the part of a new Geoff Johns epic.
· The Art: I’ll say right now, as I do every time I mention artwork, that I am no art critic and rarely mention art unless it is really good or really bad. In this issue it is the former. A main contributor to Geoff Johns’ writing style is beautiful, colourful, glossy art. Johns likes to tell a large vibrant story and therefore the art needs the same. Just think, would Johns’ Green Lantern or Blackest Night have been nearly as good if it wasn’t for the amount of detail and colour in the art, of course not! It is also cool that Aquaman’s hallucinations are done in a completely different art style to everything else in the panel, little touches like this go a long way.
· The Aqua-jokes: This is issue #5, so by now you probably already know about how Johns is dealing with the common misconception that Aquaman is a bit of a joke by making the civilian characters crack such jokes only to be corrected or seem like complete jackasses. This strategy seems to be working (although I’ve never really disliked Aquaman) in making Aquaman a more credible hero once more, while at the same time giving us readers a little bit of light humour.
· Aquaman: I think I have been dancing around this point long enough; Aquaman is a genuinely cool and respectable character. Despite being one of the best superheroes in the DCU he rarely has the support of the townsfolk and nobody really likes him – yet he continues to be a hero anyway. It is nice to see a hero who is completely unmotivated by being his ego but is still as good, if not better than some of the more showboating superheroes.
What I didn’t like
· The Desert Stuff: The scenes in the desert were some of the best scenes in the book, with Aquaman hallucinating his father and thus giving us a deeper insight into Aquaman’s psyche, but they were done with too quickly. I would have preferred if the issue had devoted more time delving into Arthur’s subconscious in favour of not progressing his drastic situation, but unfortunately the plot moved on and the situation is resolved by the end of the issue.
Verdict
This issue promises so much. Although the previous arc was good, it seemed like a very small, self-contained incident, this issue, on the other hand, is a whole different ballgame. Not only does it begin to show us part of a much bigger picture, it also makes the previous arc more relevant too. Geoff Johns certainly knows how to make a character popular again, with this being one of the best series’ of the New 52.
9/10