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A review by kashila
Aquaman, Volume 1: The Drowning by Phillipe Briones, Stjepan Šejić, Dan Abnett, Mirko Colak, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Brad Walker, Riccardo Federici, Rob Williams, Philippe Briones, Scot Eaton
2.0
2.5 actually. I really wanted ti give it 3 stars but...
(Spoilers below)
The first issues are alright. They are not stellar, but they are ok. I was hopeful for a good story with a slow-ish but consistent beginning. The fight with Black Manta was maybe a little too sentimental and the writer went for an easy argument, but he did it just fine. But after this, it all goes down.
I usually like reading a more political side to things. But the whole political part in this comic was terribly carried. As an international affairs student I could only see flaws and overall none-sense, both in the way the characters approach politics (Arthur, you are a terrible diplomat, but so is that guy from the White House and don't get me started in the girl from the Royal Navy), and in the way the writer approaches it. It was way, way too simplistic. Here's the thing: if you are going to add an element into your story (politics, in this case) then at least /try/ to do it fine. The politics were a huge part of the whole plot but they were terribly carried.
Even with all this, I guess one could forgive because this is not about politics really, right? This is not House of Cards, this is Aquaman. I get that, I was ready to forgive these flaws, even the mention to certain international convention that was kinda out of place.
BUT then we have the ending. Issue #6 was terrible. Superman's intervention only added more to the political mess and overall none-sense, and the whole fight felt stupid, forced and incredibly out of character, especially for Arthur. Also, the rhythm in the issue was not too good. The cut to show Black Manta and this NEMO thing felt out of place.
Oh, and talking about characters, Mera felt pretty badly written at times, especially since about issue 4. Her arguing with Arthur in issue 5 was terrible and pointless.
Arthur was okay, but he lacked some depth, honestly. The writer used the "pariah of two worlds nobody really wants oh poor Arthur" argument way too much. Done it in a different way, it would have felt genuine, but as it is written, it feels false and un-genuine as a bad soap-opera.
One thing I did enjoy was the subtle but constant reminder that Atlantis also has constant inside problems, that Arthur has a huge legitimacy problem, that the monarchy is not that great always, that Atlantis is no utopia: it has a class system, political and social struggles beyond a brother trying to be king instead of the other.
Now let's talk the art. I really liked all Walker's contributions. Briones was okay-ish. Eaton was not bad, but it left no real impression in me. The problem here is the art is not consistent at all. All three pencillers' styles are quite different so they just don't work that well together inside the same volume. The covers were very pretty.
Anyway, overall, you should waste your time in another story. This is not terrible itself, but it has too many big ugly flaws that make what would be an ok and entertaining reading into a very "meh" comic that, even if not the worse, doesn't really make justice for it's title hero. Especially if your last Aquaman reading was something big and flashy like Throne of Atlantis.
(Spoilers below)
The first issues are alright. They are not stellar, but they are ok. I was hopeful for a good story with a slow-ish but consistent beginning. The fight with Black Manta was maybe a little too sentimental and the writer went for an easy argument, but he did it just fine. But after this, it all goes down.
I usually like reading a more political side to things. But the whole political part in this comic was terribly carried. As an international affairs student I could only see flaws and overall none-sense, both in the way the characters approach politics (Arthur, you are a terrible diplomat, but so is that guy from the White House and don't get me started in the girl from the Royal Navy), and in the way the writer approaches it. It was way, way too simplistic. Here's the thing: if you are going to add an element into your story (politics, in this case) then at least /try/ to do it fine. The politics were a huge part of the whole plot but they were terribly carried.
Even with all this, I guess one could forgive because this is not about politics really, right? This is not House of Cards, this is Aquaman. I get that, I was ready to forgive these flaws, even the mention to certain international convention that was kinda out of place.
BUT then we have the ending. Issue #6 was terrible. Superman's intervention only added more to the political mess and overall none-sense, and the whole fight felt stupid, forced and incredibly out of character, especially for Arthur. Also, the rhythm in the issue was not too good. The cut to show Black Manta and this NEMO thing felt out of place.
Oh, and talking about characters, Mera felt pretty badly written at times, especially since about issue 4. Her arguing with Arthur in issue 5 was terrible and pointless.
Arthur was okay, but he lacked some depth, honestly. The writer used the "pariah of two worlds nobody really wants oh poor Arthur" argument way too much. Done it in a different way, it would have felt genuine, but as it is written, it feels false and un-genuine as a bad soap-opera.
One thing I did enjoy was the subtle but constant reminder that Atlantis also has constant inside problems, that Arthur has a huge legitimacy problem, that the monarchy is not that great always, that Atlantis is no utopia: it has a class system, political and social struggles beyond a brother trying to be king instead of the other.
Now let's talk the art. I really liked all Walker's contributions. Briones was okay-ish. Eaton was not bad, but it left no real impression in me. The problem here is the art is not consistent at all. All three pencillers' styles are quite different so they just don't work that well together inside the same volume. The covers were very pretty.
Anyway, overall, you should waste your time in another story. This is not terrible itself, but it has too many big ugly flaws that make what would be an ok and entertaining reading into a very "meh" comic that, even if not the worse, doesn't really make justice for it's title hero. Especially if your last Aquaman reading was something big and flashy like Throne of Atlantis.