Review: Justice League/Aquaman- Drowned Earth

Quick Summary

Pros: The main narrative is incredibly engaging and is packed with fun. The comic does great things for both the Justice League and the Aquaman comics and leaves both on a tantalizing cliffhanger. The artwork looks gorgeous throughout the event.

Cons: Some of the opening plotlines feel a little generic.

Overall: This is a wonderfully fun comic book with the visuals to back it up. It launches readers into a unique narrative, where the action is awesome to see play out and the characters have plenty of opportunities to shine. This narrative advances the comics involved in this crossover and gives readers even more of a reason to come back for more. Fans of the Justice League and Aquaman should absolutely read this comic, especially if they are already reading the comics preceding it.

Story

I was a little worried about a crossover occurring at this point in the Justice League and the Aquaman comics. The Justice League series just came off an explosively insane opening arc and the Aquaman series is still reeling from a number of complex developments. I wasn’t sure if tossing both comics into an even more intense crossover would work out for them, either individually or together. Luckily, I was dead wrong about all of this.

Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth, by Scott Snyder, Dan Abnett, James Tynion IV, is an incredibly engaging crossover event that works out for all parties involved. It centers around a thrilling and interesting narrative that only gets better as it has time to develop. It then uses this narrative to showcase solid plotlines and characters from both Justice League and Aquaman. By the end of the book, these plotlines and characters are in an even better place than ever before. The only downside is that some elements of the book’s introduction feel a bit generic. Overall though, this is a great event that is well worth the read.

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Unfortunately, Drowned Earth gets off to a somewhat lackluster start. The concept of a flooded Earth and a plague that turns normal humans into villains feels too similar to many of the recent events from the Justice League and Aquaman. The entire event also, even from the start, is clearly designed to simply return Atlantis to its undersea status quo, which is disappointing considering that Atlantis barely did anything of interest while above water.

However, once the story gets going, it begins to improve dramatically. The concept of linking the ocean and the cosmos is fresh and interesting. It also leads to plenty of great action, a few surprising twists, and a conclusion that features a satisfying moral victory on top of an emotional sacrifice. I still would have preferred to see Atlantis above the water for a while longer, but, besides this, was generally pleased with the crossover as a whole.

The crossover also works well from the perspective of both the Aquaman and the Justice League comics. It takes the character development surrounding both Aquaman and Mera and advances it even further, particularly in the Aquaman specific chapters. It shows how deeply these two care about Atlantis, the world, each other, and their personal system of values and what they are willing to do to defend them. Meanwhile, the complex conspiracy surrounding Lex Luthor’s Legion of Doom becomes even more complex, as they kill a god, make deals with extraterrestrial gods, and appear to be closer to their goals than ever. This crossover only manages to raise interest in both series and has me dying for more.

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Art

The vast majority of the artwork in Drowned Earth is gorgeous and comes from several of DC’s highly talented creators. Francis Manapul gets the volume started with highly creative visuals that instantly assure fans that this is going to be something worth reading. The way Manapul blends undersea life with cosmic forces is beautiful and is a huge asset to this portion of the book. Meanwhile, Howard Porter’s work brings some more “standard” comic visuals to the book and works well in moments that are more focused on action. Then, a single chapter from Frazer Irving and Bruno Redondo works to highlight some of the arc’s creepier and mystic features. Alongside all of this, Aquaman tie-ins from Lan Medina do a solid job in capturing both Aquaman and Mera. The only chapter that does not impress is the Titans tie-in, where character faces and expressions come off as looking a little uninspired. Overall though, the visuals coming together here are great on their own and, together, help make this an even better read.

Continuity

Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth continues story elements from Justice League Vol. 1: The Totality (Review) and from Aquaman/Suicide Squad: Sink Atlantis (Review) (Reading Order).

The layout of the crossover will be explained in our upcoming “Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth Reading Order”.

The Justice League story continues in Justice League Vol. 3: Hawkworld. The Aquaman story continues in Aquaman Vol. 1: Unspoken Water.

This volume also references stories from other comic books, detailed below:

• Atlantis rose above water in Aquaman #38, collected in Aquaman Vol. 6: Kingslayer (Review).
• Mera was officially crowned Queen of Atlantis in Suicide Squad #45, the first chapter in the Aquaman/Suicide Squad: Sink Atlantis (Review) (Reading Order) crossover.
• Titans #25 generally continues the Titans’ journey from Titans #24, collected in Titans Vol. 5: The Spark.    
• The opening of Titans #25 references a number of recent events:
  • Nightwing was shot in Batman Vol. 3 #55, collected in Batman Vol. 8: Cold Days.
  • Something happened to Roy during the Heroes in Crisis miniseries.