Aquaman #1 – Jeremy Adams, Writer; John Timms, Artist; Rex Lokus, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: While DC’s lineup is as strong right now a it has been in a very long time, they have left quote a few concepts on the shelf for a while. And when they bring one of them back, they often call the guy who’s becoming known as DC’s Mr. Fix-It – Jeremy Adams. First he unraveled the tangled mess that Wally West had become and delivered an all-timer Flash run, and next his back-to-basics Green Lantern run has elevated both Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris. Now he turns his eye on one of DC’s most challenging characters, Aquaman – and he’s not starting slow, as one of the very first images is a splash page showing Aquaman going up against a Lovecraftian sea God. But it’ll be a while to get there, and we actually start by focusing on another big change in Aquaman’s life – he’s inherited Mera’s aquakinesis, making him more powerful than ever after Absolute Power. And she’s training him to use it – one plane crash at a time.
But that’s just the start of what’s going on. Aquaman is king again – and that leaves him with a lot of duties he’s not fond of. He would do anything to escape the boredom of meetings, so he’s pretty excited when Jackson Hyde brings him a mysterious pearl teeming with magical energy. He’s set to examine it – but never gets the chance, when a strange water-based monster attacks the surface. After a pitched battle, he returns to Atlantis and discovers the entire place gone, including his wife and daughter. And so begins an epic quest to find where they’ve been taken – far beyond this dimension. The ending of the issue gives a clue that something dark is waiting inside this pearl, but the issue doesn’t give us many answers yet. Adams instead keeps things moving very fast for this debut, and with only a standard-length issue that means reading this book breezes by. It’s left me wanting more right now, which is always the first sign of a strong debut.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
