The Good
AQUAMAN 0 is the tale of how Arthur Curry discovered his roots as the son of the Queen of Atlantis. All Arthur wants to do is find Atlantis in this very cinematic issue. After the opening scene of Arthur and his father, we get two pages featuring 4 panels each, and all of them are in this wide screen format with more negative space in between panels than you'd normally see. Each panel (except for one) features the name and job of a member of the creative team. That's a very creative and familiar way to present the creative team.
AQUAMAN 0 is chalk full of great storytelling. Sure, we get a lot more "tell" than "show," but it works. We feel in the moment as Aquaman meets Vulko, the advisor to the Atlantean throne. Vulko goes over a brief history of Arthur's life and we catch images of it. Again, this works well with the cinematic opening.
This issue has a great sense of adventure. It feels like an 80s adventure flick, minus a team of "go get-em, sarcastic kids" trying to save their town or community center. We get a sense of what Arthur is capable of here, powers wise.
Ivan Reis & Joe Prado do a fantastic job here with the art. Rod Reis is also here to pretty up the pages with some great color work. I could, and will, talk about how awesome the splash page is featuring a gigantic shark about to take a bite out of Aquaman. I know there probably wouldn't be any bubbles floating around like that, but it still looks really cool. There's also a fantastic panel of Aquaman, who looks epic as hell, holding up a boat to save a couple of people. While the boat, Aquaman, and even the rocks look incredibly well drawn, the water splashing around is amazing. The attention to detail here is nuts. Rod Reis does an amazing job with color here.
I'm super-pumped for Ocean Master...
As far as a 0 issue goes, this is a good issue and a good place for new readers to jump on.
The Bad
While this book lured (pun kinda intended) me in, I was a bit disappointed in the fact that by the time this issue really picks up the pace, it's over. It's so much great build up that doesn't conclude in this issue. It's quite the bummer.
The Verdict
While this issue doesn't give Aquaman fans everything they want to read in a 0 issue, it's a fantastic start. There's just too much to tell and not enough time to tell it. My biggest complaint was that I wanted more because this issue's ending is premature. I want this to go another 20 pages.
This issue has a cinematic feel to it. Many fanboys (me) would love to see an Aquaman film, but those few episodes of Entourage featuring people talking about the film, are the closest we're going to get to that. This is one of DC's best on-going series. There's no doubt. The writing and art are fantastic, as always, and I really enjoyed Rod Reis' colors here.
Overall, I loved this issue, and you will too, even if you're a new reader.