Review: Aquaman Vol. 1- The Trench

Quick Summary

Pros: The action and story are very tight and make for an extremely fun read. It is also a great demonstration of how interesting and fun of a character Aquaman can be.

Cons: Too much of the book is dedicated to dispelling criticism and jokes about Aquaman.

Overall: This is the book to read for both longtime Aquaman fans and newcomers alike. It shows Aquaman and Mera in a way that makes them seem more compelling than ever before and also manages to tell an entertaining story while doing so. It also seems to be building for future works, giving good indication that this series is only going to get better.

Story

Geoff Johns is insanely talented at writing long character arcs that develop their personality, relationships, and mythos; this story feels like the start to that. Aquaman Vol. 1: The Trench features a very solid story and tells it in a very enjoyable way. It also clearly demonstrates how great both Aquaman and Mera are as characters.

However, despite the story being very enjoyable, it is not really anything astounding or unique right now. It ends up being a pretty standard superhero story and does not seem to be trying to be much else. This is not a bad thing as this is usually how Geoff Johns starts out his longer character arcs. They start out telling standard superhero comic things and then evolve into something that goes a little more in depth. Seeing as this arc is clearly setting up some larger stories, I’m imagining this is what is going to happen. Either way this book gives some very good reasons to be hopeful for the future with Aquaman.

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In reality this series should be titled Aquaman and Mera because of how crucial both are to this story. Their personalities drive this entire work and seeing them interact with each other and with others is a real treat. Especially because this is part of what makes Aquaman so interesting, he is a foreigner on both land and sea. This means there is a 50/50 shot that nearly everyone he meets will hate him. On the first couple pages he can be seen having a positive and sweet interaction with the waitress while also having a rather hostile one with the reporter. Everything is a dichotomy here and seeing those contrasts makes for a very enjoyable read. In addition, seeing how they handle having a dog is a ton of fun.

The biggest problem in this book is how Aquaman’s prowess and suitability is constantly being questioned, to the point where it becomes annoyingly unrealistic. Aquaman is incredibly powerful, nearly indestructible, and also was instrumental in defeating Darkseid a few years back, yet the public act like he is pretty much worthless. Minor characters in other books receive more respect than Aquaman does here. It seems strange then that people would react to Aquaman in these ways. However, it is clear that the public in this story are representative for the public in the real world, not DC’s world. This means that all of this justification is somewhat understandable; it is for new comic readers who have only ever heard of Aquaman as the butt of old Super Friends jokes.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Ivan Reis and Geoff Johns go together like peanut butter and jelly at this point in time. They have worked together often and always manage to produce spectacular results, specifically with Green Lantern, Blackest Night, and Brightest Day. It may be this partnership which helps them to produce such wonderful works time and time again. This Aquaman series is no exception.

The art has a very classic comic book feeling too it; the characters and settings look realistic but not so realistic that it takes away from the fantasy. This makes everything look like a somewhat more idealistic version of what it would be in real life. The significant use of bright and bold colors also contribute to this and help make each and every page really pop. In particular, full page spreads of Aquaman and Mera look fantastic. Overall, this fantastic art is the icing on top of an already delicious cake.

Continuity

Aquaman Vol. 1: The Trench starts at the beginning of Aquaman’s New 52 journey, so there are not a ton of connections to other works.

The story started here continues in Aquaman Vol. 2: The Others (Review).

There are also a few connections to previous works which are nice to know. These are listed below:

• Geoff Johns started seriously writing Aquaman in the “Brightest Day” event. Some of the fallout from this event is shown in this volume. To read about his make sure to check out Brightest Day Vol. 1-3.