Snag Your Copy Aquaman, Volume 1: The Trench Drafted By Geoff Johns Issued As Manuscript

am very sorry to report that, regretfully notsospoiler alert, Aquaman does NOT die an embarrassingly agonizing death in this book, gasping and flopping around on dry land while the other members of the Justice League laugh, point, and throw fish food on him.
Because, if that had happened, this book would have gotten at least one more star,

I tried, sitelinkAnne, I really did. I wanted to like this book and write a glowing review and tell the world that its missing out on one epically awesome if sartorially challenged subaquatic hero.
Alas

The worlds not missing out, What the world needs now, in addition to love, sweet love, is less Aquaman, please, deities of all stripes, less Aquaman,

Look, this isnt completely awful, As Aquaman yarns go, its probably tops, But, as highquality superhero tales go, it leaves something to be desired not unlike myself when it comes to being a partner in a threelegged race I am terrible at those.
First and foremost, as near as I can tell, Aquaman had a personality lobotomy at some point that has transformed him into what youd get if a celery stalk got dirty with a cucumber in heatlike, the blandest possible fregetable I think cucumbers are technically fruits, so Im hedging my bets here, though I guess we could just say “vegetable” if that factoid is inaccurate second, Johns tries valiantly to own the “Aquaman is perceived by ordinary people in the DCU to be a crappy hero whose sole power is having limited conversations with flounder” thing by having supporting characters crack wise about that perception, but those jokes are undercut by the fact that Aquaman shows himself to very clearly be an exceedingly powerful badass, which makes it just seem absurd that anyone would think hes anything other than that the main plotline, in which Old Scaly Butt and his lady friend Mera help defeat a strange race of scarylooking sea monsters intent on stealing humans to bring back to their kids for snacks is kind of underwhelming and, lastly, for an interior artist, Ivan Reis sure draws some pretty cover images in other words, his stuff looks good, but if you took away the words, Id have struggled to figure out what was going onthe visual storytelling certainly didnt blow me out of the water which, I think, is what Aquaman says when Mera refuses to get down with him on landheyoh!.


So, while Id like to say its me, not you, Aquamanits totally you,you and I realize thats not mathematically possible, but thats how much its Aquaman, You and I just arent meant to be, But, maybe Ill see you swimming through the pages of JLA sometime, I think we can still be cordial to each other, I wont even call you “Wanda” anymore, Well, maybe just occasionally.

.stars, and Ill generously round up out of respect for woebegone fregetables,

Anne, youre still awesome, though, even if Ill never understand your affinity for Arthur Curry, who Im pretty sure lists Background Mermanfrom The Little Mermaid as his only credit on IMDB.
One of the great newtitles I've read, I'm not a huge fan of Geoff Johns but he hit it out of the park here!



Edit: I'm now a pretty big fan of Geoff Johns.
Originally reviewed at sitelinkBookwraiths s

My favorite Newcharacter is Aquaman

God, I have a hard time admitting it, The words sticking in my throat like a tiny fishbone, Like so many others, Ive always looked at Aquaman as that ridiculous dude from the old “Super Friends” cartoon the one who wore a green and orange costume, talked to fish, and was basically a walking joke.
But he isnt that guy anymore, Oh, he has the same powers, wears the same colors, but now he has been transformed into a kickass superhero,



Johns begins this revamping with Arthur Curry Aquamans real name living with his girlfriend Mera Dont call her Aquawoman in Amnesty Bay, USA, where he grew up with his now deceased father.
Naturally, Arthur doesnt get any

respect from the very people he is trying to protect, Everyone making jokes at his expense, including ordinary bad guys,



Why Arthur is spending his time catching crooks, living in a lighthouse instead of sitting upon the throne of Atlantis, we dont discover in this volume, but Johns does hint that future story lines will focus on the “whys” of Aquamans situation.
What is focused on are these cool sea monsters from an Atlantic Ocean trench, who begin emerging from the sea to abduct all the humans they can carry, taking them down to the depths to feed to their queen.
Naturally, Arthur and Mera must come to the rescue!



There is just so much to gush about with “The Trench, ” Johns has crafted a story which makes everything that was stupid about Aquaman cool, All his apparent weaknesses are now his greatest strengths, Each of the ridiculous story elements are now unique twists, And Ivan Reis and Joe Prado have lovingly brought Johns story to life with vivid, dynamic art which captures the strength of this often forgotten superhero.


I just love this NewAquaman, Never, ever in a million years would I have believed this was possible, but then again, miracles do happen, Pick this comic series up and discover the new, badass Aquaman you wont regret it, because the hype is real this time,




Well, this was fun, I'd never really thought about Aquaman much before reading sitelinkBlackest Night, But he was a cool character there, And Mera was even more so, So here I am, reading an Aquaman and Mera book for the first time, and really, really liking it,

Johns made the decision, apparently for the first time, to stop ignoring the general opinion that Aquaman is lame, Instead, he's working with it, using it as a source of humor, It did seem strange to me that DC was going to acknowledge that one of their bigname characters doesn't have a great real world reputation, But at this point, the fact that Aquaman doesn't get much real world respect is kind of the elephant in the room, So instead of ignoring it, Johns is working with it in the form of a running gag, all while showing that Aquaman really can be pretty cool.
The result is much more credible, and doesn't reek of the desperation of previous efforts harpoon hand, anyone,

It's a very, very action oriented book, maybe a little too much for my taste, The stories used here are actually pretty interesting, and I like what Johns is doing with the characters, But too much is resolved using giant pretty, mind you panels of meaningless action, Some more actual story would be nice, But that's a very small complaint, really, If future installments of Aquaman are the same, I'll be very happy,reread: So I am rereading Johns' NewAquaman run to get me pumped up with Wan's film adaptation,

For better or for worse, DC's Newrelaunched several of the characters in the DC universe, making most of them adapt in the modern world.
This retelling may be effective in some, like Snyder's Batman but definitely not in others, like Lobdell's Superman,

Aquaman takes a detour from that modernization, and instead cements the King of Atlantis as a tier A superhero rather than a jokebag in sitcoms and Youtube videos.
What Geoff Johns did is to make readers know him right away, establish what he can do and what he cannot do while fully embracing the jokes thrown to Arthur Curry and translates it to some interesting conversations.


This first volume, The Trench is your answer to the question: where do I start reading Aquaman

It is also a great unofficial companion to the movie, since Johns has helped so much in the story and screenplay.
The trailers alone has some elements which are obviously pulled from this story arc, so I also recommend this to those who wanted to know more about the lore of Aquaman Mera, his parents, Atlantis and the villains.


Sans the Trench creatures, volumedoesn't really have any main villain at all, and that is good, This means that the readers can just focus on Aquaman and Mera, making the whole reading experience a nice preamble to what is there to come.


Previous review follows:

You think that Aquaman is a joke Read this, He is a badass from the trench up to the surface, Volumein New's is an actionfilled intro to the King of Atlantis, What are his powers, what are his limitations It is Aquamanwithout the lessons, It has Aquaman jokes, yes, But The Trench will make you respect him,

Volume one has a number of heartfelt and funny moments, But what made it close to my heart is that Geoff Johns created a world where Aquaman is really a joke, a target of ridicule and fish jokes.
It is a sight to see how Aquaman and Mera handles these situations,

Ivan Reis' art is a marvel, The spreads are always delicious to look at, The watery, shiny, and luminescent coloring perfectly matches the artwork,

Edit: DCEU's Jason Momoa Aquaman is not based on this Newversion of Arthur Curry, Momoa is more of as Aquaman, a badasslooking long haired bravado personified, .