He Doesn't Talk to Fish. He Gossips with Dolphins, Though.
To probably no one's surprise, Aquaman delivers on its long-awaited relaunch as Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis give us an Arthur Curry who can easily carry his own series among the best. The creepy and well done introduction of a new threat really elevates this issue, and Reis' art is amazing throughout.
Johns and Reis have effectively already done the work of selling readers on Aquaman with Blackest Night and Brightest Day, so many are coming into this with the belief that Aquaman can be a main player. It's an advantage a lot of other relaunches don't have or had but tossed that away. Yeah, I'm looking at you Justice League International. Johns doesn't completely bank on that advantage, though. Effort is made here to welcome new readers as well. Throughout the issue, little pieces of background are given about the character to give those unfamiliar at least a solid foundation for where Aquaman has come from.
The creatures from the Trench have immediately won me over as new villains for Aquaman. This is no surprise, because Johns is usually really good when it comes to villains. One has now taken over his Green Lantern run officially, and the Rogues were the breakout stars of his original Flash run. It's too early to say whether Aquaman will turn out to be another series by Johns where the villains practically edge out the lead hero for the spotlight, but what we have with the Trench is a very good start for this book. A new, dark corner of the DC Universe has been opened up to explore, and that alone would be an excellent reason to continue reading.
Johns and Reis continue their badass portrayal of Aquaman from Brightest Day. He may not be as strong as Superman, but he's strong enough for most situations and shows that to some bank robbers. Also, this story wisely cuts Aquaman's ties to Atlantis for the time being. Characters like Aquaman generally work best when you remove them from their fictional societies, because introducing readers to the character and this entire civilization is just too much to take all at once. It really is for the best to have Aquaman around Boston for the time being and trickle in the Atlantis stuff later when the audience is ready for it.
There's not a lot from the supporting cast in this issue. Mera appears for a small scene with Aquaman, and that's about it. Johns has confirmed that we will be seeing Aqualad and Aquagirl in a few issues' time, though. Their lack of presence is forgivable for a first issue. I would have liked to at least get a glimpse of the full Aqua-family, but I don't hold it against the book for not getting that here.
No, my only real problem with this issue is Johns confronting the "joke" perception of Aquaman head on. I get what he is trying to do. I get trying to own the joke. I just don't think he actually manages that. It comes off as far too defensive. The story spends too much time dealing with it. We get both a scene with Aquaman taking from grief from some police and a scene where he takes some crap from a blogger in a diner. Just one of these scenes would have done the job fine, preferably just the one with the cops. I don't think getting that perception of Aquaman so much attention in this story is a great idea, and I know I got tired over it in the later diner scene.
Besides the minor annoyance of hammering too hard at that joke reputation, Aquaman is an excellent new series that reaches out to old and new readers alike. Both the writing and art here are just great, and it gives every indication that this series is going to have a lot of fun opening up a new area of Aquaman's mythology with the Trench. There's no doubt tha this is one of the best of the New 52 relaunches.
