Aquaman #1

Aquaman begins with a bunch of crazy strange deep dwelling creatures crawling out of the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean's floor while speaking in their fishy gibberish language. I'm glad I didn't have to translate this language like I translated Peraxxus's language in JLI. I could have! Because this fishy language is using a typed font instead of a letterer transcribing some alphabet. The letters in the font look like a bunch of ink blots but they're all recognizable and repeatable as letters. I wasn't sure at first because it all just looks like a bunch of spilled ink. But then the fish guy says, "Up," and there are two distinct letters and the 'U' repeats in the previous bubbles.

It seems the most important thing to Geoff Johns while writing Aquaman #1 was to set up Aquaman in a world that realizes that Aquaman has become the butt of many, many jokes. It reminds me of Shaun of the Dead and how they played a zombie outbreak among people who, for once, actually knew what a zombie outbreak was.

Page Five:


First example. The gun-toting robbers laugh at him.


Second example. The cops make a wise crack.


Third example. The cops smirking about asking Aquaman if he wants a glass of water. The line is kind of dumb but I do like this picture of Aquaman glaring at these men he realizes are not taking him seriously.


Fourth example. The cops realizing they're going to get their chops busted for this.

I'm torn by this. I get that Aquaman is a big joke. And I also get that what Johns plays up here in this bit are all the things people tend to forget about Aquaman that make him a real threat. He's probably as strong as Wonder Woman. The robbers in this scene blast him with a machine gun and the bullets mostly bounce of his pressure thickened skin (except for a small cut by one bullet to the head). He basically leaps into the city because he heard the sirens from the shoreline. And he flips the robbers truck with ease.

So I find it almost impossible for a new Aquaman comic to ignore the fact that people think he's a joke. But I also think that in a world that knows of Aquaman, robbers would be a hell of a lot more respectful of the things Aquaman can do to stop them! Especially since this is taking place five years after Aquaman has become well known since he is in the Justice League and the Justice League takes place five years prior to this story (since I'm assuming all 52 stories take place in the present unless specifically noted).

While Johns is trying to make Aquaman work to an audience that treats him like a joke, he makes Aquaman a joke in the world that he would really be anything but. If I were a robber and Aquaman just landed in the middle of the street from nowhere with a thunderous smash as he busted the asphalt his dense body landed on, I'm pretty damn sure I wouldn't try to drive my truck right through him. I get what Johns is trying to do. Get past the joke so we can once again get serious with Aquaman. But I just don't think Aquaman would be thought of as a joke in the comic book reality.

But, hey, I'll go with it! Especially because I really like the way Aquaman deals with it. That picture of the cops smirking with Aquaman is just one of my favorite panels.

Afterwards, Aquaman heads on down to a local fish and chips type establishment for lunch. And since there is a loud THOOOOM sound effect from outside the restaurant, it looks like Aquaman leaps everywhere he goes. Boston must be full of Aquapotholes.

I really like this reaction as he takes a seat in the seafood restaurant:



And this reaction by Aquaman after this guy responds to Aquaman ordering the fish and chips:



There are just so many small touches in this first issue that I really, really like. Ivan Reis and Joe Prado do a marvelous job on the pencils and inks. Aquaman's expressions say everything. Which is really important because he seems like a man who just does what needs doing and doesn't have to talk a lot about it. This Aquaman is quite a bit different from the cocky, wanna-be leader Aquaman seen five years ago (in comic time!) in the Justice League. Since Johns is writing both comics, I'm hoping we'll see how and why he changes over the course of the years.

We get a few one panel glimpses of Aquaman's past as a pushy blogger questions Aquaman at his table. He asks how Aquaman pays for things and we see a past memory of Aquaman opening a chest full of gold coins on a lone beach. The blogger asks why this restaurant which evokes a memory of Aquaman as a child there with his dad.

So the blogger says some other things that sort of clue us in on Aquaman's past and then he asks Aquaman point blank: What's it feel like to be nobody's favorite hero?

And Aquaman has had enough. He storms out, leaving a couple of gold coins for the waitress. And he leaves because of this one jerk. But the majority of the people in the restaurant seem star struck. Aquaman doesn't notice or care.

This is an Aquaman I find interesting. Johns is building a history here right from the start. He's created a character whose motivations are quickly becoming clear. He has fond memories of his father guarding the shores as a lighthouse keeper. And suspicious memories of the Atlanteans who tried to have him killed as a teenager. He is a man of two worlds. A man of the shoreline. And currently he's chosen to stay on land with Mera to live as normal a life as possible. For Aquaman.

But! That peace won't last long because remember those fish creatures from way back! They've surfaced and eaten a fisherman! Uh-oh! Next issue: Trouble!