Titans Beast World Tour: Atlantis #1 – Sina Grace, Frank Tieri, Meghan Fitzmartin, Writers; Riccardo Federici, Valentine De Landro, M.L. Sanapo, Artists; Lee Loughridge, Marissa Louise, Michael Atiyeh, Colorists
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The latest Beast World one-shot takes us under the sea, with a trio of tales focusing on the Aquaman extended family.
First up is “Wild Blue” by Grace and Federici, which picks up right as the invasion begins and the oceans are overwhelmed by monsters. Arthur immediately has to fight a half-tiger version of King Shark, who is more vicious than ever, but his biggest challenge may be dealing with a combative Tempest. Arthur’s old sidekick is estranged from the Titans, and while he’s free of Brother Eternity’s control, he’s still hesitant to go back. It’s only a dramatic sacrifice from Arthur that snaps him out of his fixations. The character work here is strong, but it’s really the impressive, vivid artwork from Federici that shines here. This is a huge-scale story in every way that expands the story of Beast World.
More intimate is “Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back In The Water,” by Tieri and De Landro, a noir-style story that kicks off when a body washes up in Amnesty Bay—seemingly killed by a Ray. Jaws references ensue, but it soon becomes clear that this isn’t any ordinary stingray, and the oddball team of Captain Boomerang, Vixen, and Deadeye shows up to investigate. It turns out to be a further mutated Black Manta, who has gone completely feral—but that’s not the real threat. That’s Amanda Waller, lurking in the background and trying to manipulate things. This seems to be setting things up past the main event.
Finally, Fitzmartin and Sanapo finish things off with “Out of His Depths,” a Jackson story that has the former Aqualad working with Mera back in Atlantis to protect Andy and the city. As Jackson and Mera have a dispute over his recklessness, he makes a daring attempt to try to free some of the possessed attackers—only to have it backfire in a massive, sea-serpent-sized way. This is a fast-paced read with some great visuals, but it does seem like this take on Jackson is more immature than the seasoned hero we saw in his solo series only a year back or so. The monster effects kind of carry all three of these stories.
Overall, none of these stories are classics, but it’s good to see the Aquafam in action again.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
