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philippmk's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexual harassment, Violence, Gun violence, and Death
Minor: Gore
roach's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
"Your fish aren't following us, Arthur."
"Their survival instinct is overpowering my telepathy."
"Has this happened before?"
"No."
(Quote translated from German.)
Geoff Johns' Aquaman was an earlier attempt to update the character for a modern audience by dealing with its reputation head-on. In this, Aquaman is confronted with the same opinions that people have about this DC franchise in real life. They make fun of his ability to "speak" with fish, joke about his goofy outfit, and ask him whether he's seen all the funny parodies of his online. No one takes him seriously and he deals with that.
There has been other media since then that tried to tackle this reputation of the character, like the 2018 Aquaman movie or, more successfully, the show The Boys with its stand-in character called "The Deep". But this comic came before all of that. So while its attempts at incorporating the character's reception and standing in modern pop culture into the story might be a bit on the nose now, it must have been pretty fresh back in 2011.
The actual story itself is pretty decent with some cool visuals including a bunch of humanoid deep-sea monsters wanting to feed on humans. But as with most comic book serials, the story doesn't go in-depth much and doesn't give much to hang onto afterwards. So, this compilation of modernized Aquaman comics pretty much just does what a comic does most of the time: Colorful, light entertainment for a quick read. Nothing more, nothing less.
Geoff Johns' Aquaman was an earlier attempt to update the character for a modern audience by dealing with its reputation head-on. In this, Aquaman is confronted with the same opinions that people have about this DC franchise in real life. They make fun of his ability to "speak" with fish, joke about his goofy outfit, and ask him whether he's seen all the funny parodies of his online. No one takes him seriously and he deals with that.
There has been other media since then that tried to tackle this reputation of the character, like the 2018 Aquaman movie or, more successfully, the show The Boys with its stand-in character called "The Deep". But this comic came before all of that. So while its attempts at incorporating the character's reception and standing in modern pop culture into the story might be a bit on the nose now, it must have been pretty fresh back in 2011.
The actual story itself is pretty decent with some cool visuals including a bunch of humanoid deep-sea monsters wanting to feed on humans. But as with most comic book serials, the story doesn't go in-depth much and doesn't give much to hang onto afterwards. So, this compilation of modernized Aquaman comics pretty much just does what a comic does most of the time: Colorful, light entertainment for a quick read. Nothing more, nothing less.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Sexual harassment
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