Pleasant surprise
First off: I picked this one up mainly because I always wanted to read something with Namor in it ( other than a few X-books I've read ). The fact that this book also features the Defenders ( Doctor Strange, Lyra, Silver Surfer ) piqued my interest even more and because of it being a Fear Itself tie-in I simply couldn't resist. So I kind of went in this story without any expectations.
The story
Attuma already is one of the Worthy when the story starts ( so you won't see the change itself happening here ) and is attacking New Atlantis. Namor's forces are no match for Attuma's horde and his new powers which leaves Namor forced to retreat to the surface world and enlist the aid of a new Defenders team.
The good
You get a nice show of Attuma's power as one of the Worthy and this issue also shows the actual forming of a new Defenders team which certainly is a good thing. Even though most of this issue is setting things up, you really feel like you've actually read something interesting and that the story already has started. I also loved the fact that this issue showed Namor's fear of not being good enough and the pressure he's under as the King of the Seven Seas. The artwork was beautiful as well! This is the fourth comic book I have drawn by this artist ( the other 3 are recent issues of Amazing Spider-Man ) and darn I want to see more of this artist! A perfect fit for drawing these The Deep issues!
The bad
Two things actually did kind of bother me. One being that when Namor and Lao retreat to the surface world, there's a new broadcast playing where the deaths of sea-life and other weird ocean-related events are being reported. Of course this is to show the effects of Attuma's hostile takeover of the oceans. But this did make me wonder: why aren't there any reports of the other disasters world-wide? Attuma already has his hammer, so the other hammers obviously have already fallen as well. Yet there is no message whatsoever about these disasters. One would think that this kind of takes priority over dead fish.
The other is that Attuma seems to have a lot of control despite being one of the Worthy, while others are mindless brutes ( Which I also noticed about Titania ).
Conclusion
Even though there are these two minor points, they aren't really about the story itself, which is as wonderful as the artwork of this book. I certainly was pleasantly surprised and I'm looking forward to next issue. This time I will have certain high expectations, lets hope they will be met.
