Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It shows just how good an idea it was that the people behind D.C. Comics came up with the concept of the New 52. A re-branding or re-imagining, which ever you wish to grasp onto, of their super heroes and the way that they were looked upon, from the casual interloper that may have been a staunch fan of their bitter rivals Marvel or the mass and gratefully received comic books and graphic novel fans who had shifted their purchasing power of the independents such as Dark Horse, it was a change that they could get on board with.
None so much was the change perhaps more greeted wildly at than that of Geoff Johns’ writing on the updated and highly imaginative Aquaman series.
Aquaman had been arguably a hero that was paraded as nonsense in the early years, not really taken to heart by the vast majority of comic book aficionados, especially those that read D.C.’s output of titles such as Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman. Yet Geoff Johns, alongside artists Paul Pelletier, Pete Woods and Ivan Reis have made Aquaman a title in which you really cannot wait to find out what will happen next. He is a character that strangely you do feel a certain amount of care for and it is because he is drawn with heart and written with a complete stroke of honesty and depth. The same type of writing afforded to the Batman series.
In Throne of Atlantis, the third volume to show just how far Aquaman, Arthur Curry, has come since being a comic you would pass over in favour of almost anything else on the market. The story continues, the mystery of what or who is stirring up trouble between the people of the land and those of the lost realm of Atlantis is written with the right pace and use of language but also with a nod to the realism one has to suspend in order to really get under the skin of the writer, to comprehend his desire to see a creation rise to its proper elevated standing in a world full of heroes.
What could be seen as cynical crossover ploy in which to get readers of the other big D.C. Comic titles on offer to indulge in the work, the appearance of Superman, Batman, the superb Wonder Woman and a plethora of other would be Justice League, the D.C. equivalent of Marvel’s Avengers series but somehow lacking the same kind of warmth and cohesion, is one that could divide opinion sharply. However not to take anything away from this particular volume, it works well and shows Aquaman to be just as much an integral part of Humanity’s saving force as the Man of Steel or indeed the crime fighting ability of The Dark Knight.
The overwhelming sense of responsibility when you are fully aware of the cost it will bring to your own life is paramount throughout the third volume and the dichotomy facing Aquaman/Arthur Curry. To take on his own brother who plans to destroy either Boston, Metropolis or Gotham City in retribution for Atlantis being attacked is one that strikes a chord with the reader as they consider the moral implication of pitting brother against brother in many a civil war throughout history, especially in the last 100 years when mechanisation in warfare has seen an exponential rise in the ease of death in war.
On this series alone, and because film adaptations have done Superman and Batman to death and Wonder Woman never seems to get the proper cinematic airing she deserves, Aquaman, if penned properly, or if they allow Geoff Johns to write the screenplay, would surely be a worthy superhero film to capture for posterity.
Visually stunning, Aquaman: Throne of Atlantis is present from upon high to wallow in for hours.
Aquaman: Throne of Atlantis is available from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.
Ian D. Hall