"Swimming Partners" from Aquaman vol.7 #3 (DC, 2011) by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis and Joe Prado
Aquaman vol.7 puzzles me. In Brightest Day, DC made a big splash of resurrecting Aquaman and giving him a new direction. They restored his former look and his happy marriage to Mera, and gave him a new Aqualad. They also made him badass without having to re-pirate him. Brightest Day (and connecting events) set a number of characters up for the next phase of the DC Universe. And then they threw it all away and rebooted the damn thing. Aquaman is one of the least affected (Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, the JLI and Hawkman truly got the shaft though), but his new Aqualad seems lost at sea. But worse, the New52 Aquaman, while very pretty to look at, is as badly structured as Johns' other current series, to the point where I should really stop reading despite my resolve to support the character. The book is slow as molasses and intent on telling stories about Aquaman's former team of people we've never ever heard of, or else having everyone in the DCU make jokes I've heard a hundred times about Aquaman's powers. It's really too bad, because Johns obviously understands the character's appeal - he restored the look, uses the powers well, and even game Aquaman a place to call home - but like his Justice League, the book has become big on art and small on story.
I too miss Aqualad, he was a cool character. Although I AM glad that they decided to provide Arthur and Mera with Salty the Sea Dog.
ReplyDeleteBut gadzooks, that art is so gorgeous.
I just wish the series was more Salty and less everything else.
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