Hapless humans are quite defenseless and quite tasty. A deputy calls upon Aquaman, but other investigators fail to relish the former Sea King’s involvement. That will change when a horde of Piranha Men attack.
Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado and Ann Reis, return Aquman to his roots. By doing so, they rescue the Justice Leaguer from the stand-up comedians that so ruthlessly turned him into a pop culture joke. We see many sides of Aquaman in this issue.
Basing Aquaman in a lighthouse is inspired. The lighthouse keeper is a traditional guardian of the seas, the ships and the coasts. Thankfully, Aquaman’s lighthouse is not the drafty old, creaky, desolate setting of B-movies. Instead, Aquaman’s lighthouse is a warm, inviting place where he and Mera can be at ease.
Aquaman looks better than he has in years. Ivan Reis, Joe Prado and Ann Reis combine forces to give Aquaman teeth. He comports himself as a hero, and his traditional hues look great on that sweet armor. Mera is a boon to Aquaman. She’s a warrior in her own right and helps Aquaman re-establish himself as a hero to all. The art team follows the waves created by Jim Aparo and Don Newton, and their Mera is far better than either of those gentlemen could muster. Granted, it takes three to match one grandmaster, and they have been given more freedom with regards to the Sea King’s spouse, but still that’s no mean feat. When it comes to the fighting, Aquaman and Mera give as good as they receive. In other words, these creatures are monsters that prey upon human beings. They’re as mindless as Doctor Who’sVervoids, carnivorous plant beings inimical to human life. The Atlanteans show as much mercy as the Doctor did. Monsters do not have the same rights as intelligent beings. The heroes of the New 52 take not only names. They take heads. That’s how it should be.
Ray Tate’s first online work appeared in 1994 for Knotted. He has had a short story, “Spider Without a Web,” published in 1995 for the magazine evernight and earned a degree in biology from the University of Pittsburgh. Since 1995, Ray self-published The Pick of the Brown Bag on various usenet groups. In the POBB, as it was affectionately known, Ray reviewed comic books, Doctor Who novels, movies and occasionally music. Circa 2000, he contributed his reviews to Silver Bullet Comic Books (later Comics Bulletin) and became its senior reviewer. Ray Tate would like to think that he’s young at heart. Of course, we all know better.