Dropping some recommendations for the holidays

This post is dropping the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, so I thought it might be appropriate to do something a little bit different. Instead of a single comic, trade or story arc, I’m going to briefly recommend a number of genre-related items that might have made very small posts on their own. Several are genre-related shows and films currently streaming, just in case anyone out there is looking for something to watch. I hope you enjoy them.

First up is something I recently enjoyed on Netflix with my family and can’t believe I failed to mention a few weeks ago: The Netflix re-boot of “Lost in Space.” I spent some time this fall discussing some Lost in Space comics. If you missed those posts, you can find them here, here and here.

I can’t believe I failed to even mention this latest incarnation of the Space Family Robinson’s adventures when discussing the comics. I discovered the show on the streaming platform shortly after it debuted in 2018 and, while it was very different from the original, I very much enjoyed the presentation. The third and final season of the program dropped on December 1, 2021, and the show did not disappoint. Again, the characters follow a very different path in this re-imagining, but there are echoes of the original show and a few cameos, too. I and my entire family enjoyed the show and heartily recommend it.

Next up is a fun little animated film streaming on the Disney-Plus platform right now called “Ron’s Gone Wrong.” I heard of it in a friend’s Facebook post. He said the entire family watched and enjoyed the film and laughed all the way through it. I thought it might make a good family movie night for my wife, my 10-year-old daughter and I, and we enjoyed it, too. The film took about 10 to 15 minutes to set everything up and get rolling, but then it was full of laughs. The story centers on one unpopular boy and his efforts to fit in while everyone around him is obsessed with personalized robots and the tech giant that sells them.

Another Facebook post led me to my next recommendation: “Slugfest,” a Roku channel original documentary about the lengthy rivalry between DC Comics and Marvel Comics. This 10-episode series just dropped on Christmas Eve, but each episode is only about eight- to 10-minutes long, so it runs pretty quickly. I’m a longtime comics fan myself, and there was not much new information in this series, but it was very well and entertainingly presented. Kevin Smith narrates, and a number of comics pros contributed to the series. There are also flashback segments showing the comics pros as younger men and women in past decades, and these creators are portrayed by several big name genre actors and actresses. If you’re still not sure, you can find a trailer for the series here.

My next TV recommendation is the just completed six-episode Marvel series "Hawkeye," also on the Disney-Plus streaming platform. I watched the original Marvel/Netflix collaborations on “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist,” “Defenders” and “The Punisher” as well as the more recent “Wanda/Vision,” The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “What If...?” on Disney-Plus, and I’ve enjoyed all of them. But the latest, involving both Clint Barton and Kate Bishop was a very fun adventure. I’ve never followed Clint Barton in the comics much and don’t know a lot about Kate Bishop beyond the original Young Avengers series. But this was a nice little storyline with some interesting twists, creators playing on the expectations of comics fans and more development for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But mostly, it was a fun show to watch.

Switching from one archer to another and from one medium to another, I would also like to heartily recommend the two recent 100-Page Super Spectacular issues DC Comics devoted to the 80th anniversaries of Green Arrow and Aquaman. Both issues are collections of short stories taking place at various times throughout each characters’ publishing history. They touch on a number of favorite eras in each character’s history and include a number of familiar creators and co-stars along the way. Both books are great reads, but then I’m biased when it comes to these characters.

Lastly, I want to recommend one other creator and comic title: the Collectors webcomic by Eddie deAngelini. You can find the home of Eddie’s web comic here. Eddie write about himself, his wife and his collecting habit to very funny effect. I first came across Eddie’s art several months ago, once again on Facebook. I’ve read a number of his random comics in the months since then and liked them enough to back his recent Kickstarter campaign to publish the sixth annual collection of his comics. He’s a creative and funny guy I’m happy to support, especially because I can readily see myself and my non-collector wife in some of his comics.

So there you have it: a small collection of genre-related recommendations for the holidays. I hope you enjoyed them and maybe discovered something new along the way. Come back in two weeks for a more traditional post to kick off 2022. I’m thinking something from Image that proved to be a pleasant surprise for me. See you then!

Switching from trades to comics-adjacent

Justice Society: World War II Blu-ray
DC Animated Universe movie
Creators: Jeff Wamester, Jeremy Adams and Meghan Fitzmartin
Release date: May 2021

I’ve talked about a number of trades in the past few weeks. This week, I’d like to turn the focus to the latest DC Animated Universe direct-to-DVD — or in this case, Blu-ray — Justice Society: World War II. And let me warn readers right off that there will be some spoilers in this post. Generally, I try to avoid spoilers so new readers can experience the material fresh. In this case, I can’t really address some of what I’d like to say without some spoilers. You have been warned.

I’m also going to say right from the beginning that I very much enjoyed this film. I want there to be no mistake about that despite me leveling a few criticisms of the movie in the following paragraphs. I’ve said before that I prefer to focus this blog on celebrating the good in comics, not on the bad. This movie is good despite a few quibbles.

I’ve long liked the Justice Society, and the promise of an adventure following this group set firmly in the World War II era sounded like an excellent idea to me. I enjoyed some of the brief flashbacks to this era in the Justice League cartoon, and this film goes those one better, ramping up the action and the consequences of war, as viewers would expect from a feature movie rather than a 30-minute episode. This Justice Society is led by Wonder Woman and includes Hourman, Hawkman, the Flash and Black Canary. They also are joined by Steve Trevor and a couple other cameo heroes I won’t spoil here, except to say kudos to the creative team for tying in the Showcase Short moreso than I have seen a previous DCAU film do.

*** SPOILERS BEGIN NOW ***

The cover art for this movie offers one of the first spoilers, i.e. the inclusion of the modern-age Barry Allen Flash alongside the other golden-age heroes. Yep, this is a time-travel story, sort of. While the framing sequence of Barry and Iris West traveling to Metropolis for a picnic leads to a team-up between Flash and Superman, Flash’s unplanned trip to meet the Justice Society, and serves to inspire Flash to suggest a Justice League of heroes upon his return to his own place and time, I wish the creators of this film had simply told the Justice Society tale and let it stand on its own. The title says this is the Justice Society fighting during World War II. The framing sequence is nice, but unnecessary.

My other quibble involves the inclusion of Aquaman in this film. Again, the package art for the Blu-ray spoils this as Arthur Curry is prominently displayed on the back cover of the jewel case. I like the touch of giving Aquaman the yellow gloves the golden-age Marine Marvel is usually depicted with. I also like the fact that one of my favorites is included here when he easily might not have been. His inclusion is one of the reasons I was anxious to see this film when it was released.

What I wasn’t as thrilled to see is Aquaman’s inclusion as an ally of the Nazis, albeit a mind-controlled unwitting pawn. It’s not so much that he was mind-controlled into helping the Nazis; that kinda thing happens to superheroes a lot. They eventually shake off the mind-control and redeem themselves. Aquaman was denied this heroic turn in this film. He almost shakes off the mind control once or twice, but ultimately fails until the very end of the film. Then, instead of redeeming himself, he runs away in shame and is not seen again for the rest of the film. That hurts.

It reminds me of a couple other recent story arcs in the comics that I have enjoyed overall despite unkind characterizations of Aquaman in the process of telling said tales. The first is the “Legacy” six-part story from Justice League Rebirth Nos. 26-31. The other is Aquaman’s characterization in the Flashpoint reality from the limited series of the same name. Neither series had very flattering portrayals of one of my favorite heroes, and I hope this trend does not continue.

But again, overall, I think this film is good and well worth a watch.

It’s a solid beginning

Mera: Tidebreaker
DC Ink
Creators: Danielle Paige and Stephen Byrne
Release date: March 2019

Let me preface my remarks on Mera: Tidebreaker by saying I’m not exactly the target audience for DC Ink, the new imprint focusing on young adult original graphic novels. I’m not a young adult. It’s been several decades since I was 16 like the title character in the debut title of this new line. My 7-year-old daughter is closer to 16 than I am.

I confess that I felt that age difference a bit when reading some of the dialogue in this book. There was a bit of eye-rolling on my part when it came to some of the drama that was created by these teenagers dealing with their problems in ways that teenagers would; their solutions only created more problems for themselves, but they were solutions or reactions teenagers would likely come up with.

I will also say that this story doesn’t fit perfectly into the established DC Comics continuity for these characters or with the movie continuity, although it more closely resembles the movie casting choices. There are contradictions. But then, no comics fan is a stranger to such contradictions when dealing with characters that have been around more than a few decades. Some elements in one story contradict elements in another when you pile story after story on for that long.

With all of those caveats, this is still a pretty solid read about characters that I very much enjoy. Aquaman is one of my all-time favorites, and I have had an appreciation for Mera and what she has to offer long before what many consider her full-fledged “superhero debut” in “Blackest Night,” “Brightest Day,” and other modern stories.

Princess Mera of Xebel, one of the smaller kingdoms under Atlantean rule, resents all things Atlantis like many of her people do. They see all Atlanteans as smug, cruel overlords who seek only to keep the lesser kingdoms subjugated unfairly. Mera’s father, King Ryus of Xebel, has made a pact with the people of the Trench, another lesser Atlantean kingdom. The Trench prince, Larken, is being sent to the surface to locate and kill the rumored Atlantean prince, Arthur Curry. Once that assassination takes place, Larken has been promised Mera’s hand in marriage, uniting the two lesser kingdoms, which will then revolt openly against the Atlantean queen, Atlanna.

Mera and Larken are childhood friends who care very much for each other, but Mera resents being told who she will marry and what she must do. Instead, she wants to prove to her father that she can be a ruler and a warrior in her own right, just like her late mother, so she decides to set off on her own for the surface world to locate and kill Arthur Curry herself. But once Mera locates the future ruler of Atlantis, she finds he is not the person she expected.

As I said, Danielle Paige’s story is engaging and full of realistic teenage reactions. It also includes a number of new characters alongside the ones more familiar to Aquaman fans. And Stephen Byrne’s art shows a deceptively simple economy of line and is quite engaging. He doesn’t muddy his panels with an excess of linework, but those panels still include plenty of detail when called for. His characters have distinctive faces making it clear who each is from panel to panel.

If you’re a fan of last year's “Aquaman” blockbuster film, give this book a try. As I said, things won’t line up perfectly between the two storylines, but both are truly engaging, enjoyable tales.

This is a crossover done right

“Sink Atlantis” from Suicide Squad (2016) Nos. 45-46 and Aquaman (2016) Nos. 39-40
DC Comics
Creators: Dan Abnett, Rob Williams, Jose Luis, Jordi Tarragona, Vicente Cifuentes, Adriano Lucas, Pat Brosseau, Joe Bennett and Steve Wands
Release date: 2018

I was very pleased with how smoothly this crossover between two DC titles came together. It stems from events in a previous miniseries and one of the ongoing titles and leads directly into another major upcoming crossover event. Still, this story contains its own definite beginning, middle and end. And it also reads pretty smoothly from issue to issue.

A major story line in the Aquaman comic came to its conclusion with issue No. 38 of that title. A new monarch was named in the wake of a vicious tyrant being deposed. At the very end of that issue, due in part to events depicted in the Dark Night: Metal miniseries, Atlantis was raised partially above the surface of the Atlantic. Relations between Atlantis and the United States were somewhat strained before despite efforts to cement peace on both sides. Having the mysterious underwater nation suddenly appear above water just off the U.S. coastline has further strained relations as well as thrown Atlantean culture into upheaval.

A new Task Force X (Suicide Squad) is formed to restore the previous status quo. But tensions are high among old and new members of Task Force X even before the mission parameters begin to change mid-stream. And don’t expect the Atlanteans to make the mission go any more swimmingly.

Tensions remain high even though all-out war is averted in this crossover event, which I’m sure will lead directly into the next Aquaman/Justice League crossover, “Drowned Earth.” But “Sink Atlantis” is still a self-contained story as all plot elements raised within these four issues are also resolved within these four issues.

I have to think that is at least in part due to collaboration between the writers of these two respective titles. Dan Abnett is the regular Aquaman writer and Rob Williams is the Suicide Squad scribe. Both men are given story credits in each issue. That is not normally the case with crossovers of this kind. The writers collaborate, sure, they plan and coordinate story beats. But rarely are both writers credited with each chapter of the whole. That leads me to believe there was a greater level of collaboration in this instance. There are certainly just as many Aquaman-centric scenes in the opening Suicide Squad chapter and vice-verse in the second Aquaman chapter.

The result is a much-more cohesive narrative. Kudos to all involved!

And Happy New Year's, too

Wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year's celebration and many more comic. And in the spirit of starting the year off right, here's another comic-themed happy New Year's illustration for your enjoyment. Come back next week for more comics talk!

The long wait is finally over

Welcome back, Slacker! 

That refers to me, not you, dear reader. Why would I insult you? I don't even know if you're still hanging around after all this time without a new post. But I've missed writing this blog, and I'm going to take a stab at keeping up with it once again. 

So what do we have to entice you to come back? Just a short post this time, and one that doesn't even center on a comic. Nope, I'm going to brag a bit about the latest figure I've added to my collection, the King Shark build-a-figure included in one of the latest DC Multiverse lines from Mattel. 

I really like the look of this figure, based just as much on his appearances in Season 3 of The CW's "Flash" television program as it is on the character's comic appearances. His bulk makes him look imposing next to the other regular six-inch figures I have, and he's a nice addition to my shelf of villains, which was already quite Aqua-centric due to the multiple Ocean Master and Black Manta figures. 

Besides, what's not to love about the character when he was even a quasi-good guy during the Sword of Atlantis Aquaman run? Why, if Arthur has trouble taking this big guy down alone (perish the thought), maybe the Hulk would be more King Shark's size? 

Come back next Tuesday, and I'll tell you about the surprise I got recently reading some old Superman comics. I promise I'll try to make it worth your time.

Requiem For A Series

Aquaman and the Others 6-11
DC Comics
Dan Jurgens, writer
Lan Medina, Allen Martinez and Wayne Faucher, artists

Both work and personal demands have kept me away from the blog of late, but as I alluded to in a previous post, it is not just the time to write blog posts that has been suffering. I haven't had time to read many comics of late either beyond a stray trade or random issue here or there or what little time I have spent in the past few months trying to go through issues from my collection deciding what to sell and what to hang onto. Bottom line: Its been a busy few months, and I am waaaay behind on current issues of the comics I'm buying.

How far behind, you ask. Well, while most of the current comics-reading public is diving head-first into Secret Wars or getting ready for the very near windup to Convergence, the last "current" comics I read were the various Future's End tie-in issues DC did more than six months ago. Yeah, I'm a little behind.

One perk of being so far behind is being able to read several issues of a given series at a time. It's almost like trade-waiting, but not really; trade-waiting would have been cheaper in the long run. It's also kind of a bittersweet perk when what you are reading is the very last arc of a title canceled much too soon.

The Others were first introduced in the second Aquaman story arc in his own New 52 title. The international cast of characters came together with a common purpose before the Justice League was formed, and Aquaman served as their leader in a quest to locate and safeguard several Atlantean relics. The Operative was an American, but Ya'wara hailed from Brazil, Vostok from Russia and Kahina was an Iranian. The final member of the group, Prisoner of War, was also an American, but he contained within his own body the souls of many fallen soldiers, maybe not all of them American. That was just one of the many avenues open for exploration with these characters.

The Others showed up again in Aquaman No. 20 and the first New 52 Aquaman annual, adding new member Sky Alchesay, a Native American, further spicing up the international flavor of the group. It was also no secret that these stand-alone stories were try-out issues meant to gauge interest in the group prior to them getting their own ongoing title, which launched in 2014.

This final story arc of the very short-lived Aquaman and the Others title pits the group against a similarly diverse group of assassins and mercenaries, some of them new creations for this story, as far as I know. Mayhem brings together the New 52 versions of Cheshire and former Soviet spies KGBeast and NKVDemon. Rounding out the cast of villains is a trio of new creations of undetermined nationality — Maelstrom, Stranglehold and Braze.

I'm not saying the "Alignmernt: Earth" story arc is perfect; there are some missteps and plot deficiencies. For example, none of those three new villains is fleshed out beyond a name and a basic character trait displayed in the fighting. The one exception is Maelstrom, whose heart doesn't quite seem in the fight during the final battle, but even that glimpse of something more never goes anywhere. Now, to be fair to Dan Jurgens, a talented writer and artist whose work I quite enjoy most of the time, maybe that is because once the series had been canceled, he didn't see much point in developing the other villains more only to have them fade away.

I also think the conflict between the Operative and Prisoner of War in this arc could have been resolved much more quickly than it was. But again, maybe Jurgens initially had more in mind with some of his moves here that the cancellation cut short.

Obviously, I was a fan of this series and was willing to continue to support the ongoing adventures of the Others. Now that the book has been canceled, however, I am reminded of an oft-repeated refrain on the Internet that some characters just aren't meant to support an ongoing series. Some characters, commentators say, are better suited to a miniseries or series of recurring finite stories.

I hope that at the very least, DC opts to go that route with these characters. They still show much promise, much potential for great storytelling. And I like how they interact with each other and team leader Aquaman. If the Others can't have an ongoing title, I hope Jurgens and company will at least trot them out from time to time with guest appearances or even their own mini, as time and inspiration allow. If I can't have a monthly dose of these characters, I at least want to visit them frequently.

Please DC, make it so.

He Slept For How Long?!?

Aquaman 23
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Paul Pelletier and Sean Parsons, artists

This issue of Aquaman continues the "Death of a King" arc, and the story is getting more and more crowded with potential kings the title could be referring to. Aquaman and Mera have been reunited and flee the other-dimensional kingdom Xebel before they can be taken prisoner again. They are fleeing from the Dead King, possibly Atlantis' first king, and Nereus, the current king of Xebel and Mera's former beau. The couple manage to escape back into the Atlantic Ocean, knowing that Nereus and his troops aren't far behind, but once they arrive back at Atlantis, they find the city under the sea beseiged by the Scavenger.

As if that wasn't enough going on, there are still the three rogue Atlanteans -- Tula, Murk and Swatt -- making their way to Belle Reve prison to free Ocean Master, another former monarch, who they feel is unjustly imprisoned by the surface world after the "Throne of Atlantis" story arc.

Cutting back to Atlantis, Aquaman's forces are taking a beating until he summons the underwater beast Topo to deal with the Scavenger's forces. The effort Aquaman puts forth to summon and direct Topo is costly, but before he passes out, he sees that Scavenger's forces have been routed just in time for the Dead King and Nereus to arrive. And then Aquaman takes a powder.

This was a pretty intense issue with all of the nonstop battle. Unfortunately, we have to wait two months instead of the usual one to find out how this storyline is going to be resolved because next month is Villains' month and both Black Manta and Ocean Master will be getting their own issues. Also, if Aquaman has been unconscious for six months, how exactly does this all fit in with the events of Trinity War and Forever Evil? I try not to worry quite so much about continuity between books like I used to when I collected more stuff, but this arc started before Trinity War, which Aquaman is very much a part of. If Trinity War and Forever Evil take place after this story, which involves Aquaman being out of commission for six months, what have all the other heroes been doing all this time? And if this story takes place after Trinity War and Forever Evil, that kinda gives away that Aquaman will live through that story. (Not that I ever doubted that he would, but still ...) Oh well, I'm just enjoying the great stories Geoff Johns is giving Aquaman, and I'm sorry to hear he will be leaving the title after issue No. 25.

This Is A Spin-Off That Should Happen

Aquaman 20
DC Comics
John Ostrander, writer
Manuel Garcia, artist

This issue of Aquaman is a fill in -- it interrupts the main storyline and subplots, and another writer and/or art team step in to give the regulars a break or allow them to catch up if they're behind. Fans tend not to like fill in issues simply because they are an interruption. This fill in is no exception in that it interrupts the flow of the story being told in Aquaman in the issues before and after this one. But Ostrander is a skilled enough writer that he takes pains to ease the interruption a little bit.

Aquaman appears on two pages of this issue that instead features the surviving members of the Others, the team Aquaman belonged to before the formation of the Justice League. In the recent fight with Black Manta, two of the team's members, Kahina and Vostok, were killed. The remaining Others -- the other Others, if you will -- are the Operative, Ya'Wara and Prisoner of War. Aquaman gathers these three to help track down one of the missing Atlantean artifacts -- a power glove -- lost in the Arizona desert, not a place easily accessible for Atlanteans. The search for the other missing artifacts is part of the main story being interrupted.

This issue also introduces Sky Alchesay, a young Native American woman of undetermined age, possibly Apache, although that also is not specifically mentioned in the story. Sky is a medicine woman with the ability to converse with the dead and some other unspecified abilities, as well as apparently being the inheritor of Kahina's former talisman, an Atlantean seal. It turns out that when the Others join forces with Sky and track down the missing power glove, it is in the possession of an evil skinwalker using it to try to break down the barriers between the Living World and the Ghost World.

Along with Sky, we are also introduced to her brother, Victorio, a local law enforcement officer on the Fort Apache Reservation in Arizona. There is also Sky and Victorio's grandmother, also a shaman, and the person who taught Sky most of what she knows about being a medicine woman. We also get to meet Sky and Victorio's mother, although she died when Sky was small. Sky's abilities allow her to regularly converse with her mother, and we as readers could see the woman's ghostly image, although her words were not visible to us. Victorio doubts Sky's abilities are real and does not approve of their grandmother teaching the younger woman. We also hear a little about Sky and Victorio's grandfather and an uncle, both of whom prefer to follow Anglo ways to prosper in a white man's world.

Much of this issue is devoted to Sky and the people around her as she is the newest element and likely a new member for the Others, but Ostrander also fleshes out the individual personalities of the Others, especially Ya'Wara and the Operative, a bit more. When the Others first appeared, in the second story arc in Aquaman, there was some Internet chatter about a possible spin-off series featuring them if they proved popular enough. Here they are again, featured prominently in this fill in issue, and again in October's Aquaman annual No. 1, the story is supposed to center around the possible return of Vostok and feature the Others yet again. Rumor has it that sales on that upcoming annual will help determine if an Others ongoing series is in the cards.

I hope the team makes the cut. I know it is hard to make a new team of characters stick and find an audience sometimes, but these characters have proven themselves popular in the pages of Aquaman. Rather than the usual America-centric cast, this team offers a potential international flavor. Ya'Wara is from South America. While they are dead now, Vostok was Russian and Kahina was of Middle Eastern descent. Hopefully, they can be replaced by new members from other countries and cultures, as seems to be the case with the likely addition of Sky. That makes them unique enough to deserve a spot on DC's publishing schedule. There is still much to be explored with these characters.

Sowing The Seeds Of More War

Justice League 17
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis and Paul Pelletier, artists

For anyone who hasn't already read the "Throne of Atlantis" story arc crossing over between Justice League and Aquaman the past couple issues, things wrap up here and the conflict among all three sides in this battle is mostly resolved.

I don't want to reveal the identity of the mastermind behind the battle for anyone who hasn't read the issues yet, but it wasn't Ocean Master as past incarnations led me to first believe. In fact, I honestly feel a little bit of sympathy for Aquaman's half-brother as he was duped just as much as the heroes were, and he was only trying to protect and defend his people. When Orm surrenders to Aquaman, you almost expect a degree of leniency for him despite the many deaths Orm has caused on the surface. The real culprit here is the individual who caused just as many Atlantean deaths as human ones.

But these stories don't exist in a vacuum, so while the attack on the surface by the Atlanteans is halted and the Trench are sent back to their underwater domain, this isn't exactly the end of the story. Aquaman is set up to be the new ruler of Atlantis, but they rejected his leadership in the past, so they likely don't really want him now. Also, Mera refuses to go with Aquaman to Atlantis because of her people's history with the undersea kingdom, so they are at least temporarily separated over this issue.

Orm has been imprisoned on the surface for his role in the attacks on Boston, Gotham and Metropolis. As I said, I was pleasantly surprised to see he wasn't the mastermind behind all this, and was kind of looking forward to a reality where Orm and Arthur could be on good terms with each other, but I'm not sure that sentiment will last after his imprisonment. Likely, he will come out of prison with the hatred for his brother readers are used to from before The New 52.

And to top it all off, the general public is unsure of exactly what Aquaman's role was in the Atlanteans' attacks. His attempts to prevent Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman from retaliating against the Atlanteans when he was still trying to get those two sides to talk rather than fight were televised by surface media outlets. Many people fear Aquaman was behind the Atlanteans' attacks. And this comes at a time when some of the general public are uncertain if they can trust any members of the Justice League. All that distrust and fear is furthering the moves by Steve Trevor and Amanda Waller to form their own alternate version of the League.

And lastly, we get more hints that someone is forming a third team, this one composed of villains. We saw the first hints of this in the Cheetah Justice League arc, and saw more evidence of it when Cheetah spoke of recruiting Black Manta. It looks like the next name on the villains wish list is going to be Scarecrow. Could this be the formation of this incarnation's Legion of Doom?

The war with Atlantis is over, at least for now, but tensions are continuing to build.

Whetting Our Appetites A Bit More

Aquaman 14
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Pete Woods and Pere Perez, artists

This is the prologue to "Throne of Atlantis," the big Aquaman/Justice League crossover, but we go waaaaaaay back for our beginning. All the way back to 1820, where we see an Atlantean who looks a lot like Aquaman harpooned and captured by a sailing vessel's captain and crew. The captain of the ship taunts the wounded mer-man, describing how he had earlier captured and slain the Atlantean's mate. But the final, killing blow from the captain is interrupted by the arrival of many more Atlanteans.

From there we jump to the present day with a brief bit of detail about another Atlantean famous in the old DC Universe. The current king of Atlantis is sitting on his throne issuing his decision in the case of a young, purple-eyed boy named Garth, who has caused some fear among the more superstitious Atlanteans. In the old DCU, Garth was taken from his parents because of his purple eyes and legends that they were an evil omen. Garth's parents, lesser rulers in a kingdom of Atlantis, were killed and the child left to die alone. Instead, the young boy was found and raised by Aquaman. He grew to join Aquaman's adventures as Aqualad, helped found the original Teen Titans group, and later, like many of his original Titans peers, adopted a new identity as he neared adulthood, Tempest.

Here in the DCnU, the current king of Atlantis, Aquaman's half-brother, Orm, decrees that the child be returned to his mother, unharmed, and those who threatened him be held for trial. A small gathering of fish interrupts further court duties, bringing a message that Aquaman wishes to meet with Orm.

Next, we have a small interlude to check in on Black Manta, newly incarcerated at Belle Reve prison. Manta is offered a chance to have his sentence commuted by joining Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad, a team of former villains used in suicide missions in exchange for their eventual freedom, if they survive. Manta turns Waller's offer down by slaying one of the guards while still shackled and with one wrist and the other forearm in casts.

Much of the remainder of the issue is the meeting between Orm and Aquaman at the site of the sunken remains of the sailing vessel from the opening segment. It seems the mer-man captured in that segment was Arthur and Orm's great-grandfather. Both he and their great-grandmother were killed by the men of the vessel, and the ancient Atlanteans exacted a stiff revenge for those acts.

Aquaman asks Orm directly if he was in league with Black Manta's recent activities and if Orm is planning to attack the surface world. Orm denies both charges, but there is definitely something sinister in his bearing and the fact that he is almost always depicted in shadow. Obviously, more is afoot here.

She's A Calming Influence

Aquaman 13
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis, Joe Prado and Julio Ferreira, artists

After the detour of this title's Zero issue, discussed here, we return to the action of "The Others." Black Manta has stolen all of the Atlantean relics from the members of the Others team Aquaman used to be a part of -- all of them, that is, except for Aquaman's trident. Along the way, Manta has brutally murdered two members of the Others, Vostok and Kahina. Understandably, Aquaman is out for blood, and none of the surviving members of the Others is able to dissuade him from pursuing and exacting revenge on Manta. Aquaman's wife, Mera, however, is another story.

Mera has been learning about Arthur's past with the Others for the first time as the events of this arc unfold. She has also seen Aquaman grow more and more enraged with each clash. She forces Arthur to acknowledge that he really doesn't blame Manta for his father's death anymore. With time has come the clarity that the heart attack that killed his father would likely have happened even without Manta's attack. That realization only makes Arthur feel worse about his subsequently, mistakenly, taking the life of Manta's father. Mera gets Arthur to admit his shame, then reassures him that he is no longer the man he was six years ago when these events took place. Mera talks Aquaman down so that the final confrontation is not a one-on-one bloodfest, but rather a decisive but non-lethal take down of Black Manta by Aquaman, with Mera and the Others as backup.

On the negative side, this issue also reveals that Manta did not steal the Atlantean artifacts for himself. He was working for someone else who, at this point, remains in the shadows. Nice wrap-up to "The Others" saga, but Aquaman's story is far from over.

Now That's An Interesting Change

Aquaman 0
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, artists

This Zero Issue falls in the middle of "The Others" story arc currently playing out in this title. But since that story arc is serving to give readers a glimpse of Aquaman's past in the DCnU, a Zero Issue doing more of the same seems to fit nicely. So far, "The Others" story arc has shown readers how the dynamics of the bitter feud between Aquaman and Black Manta have changed with this new reality. This Zero Issue focuses on another Aqua-villain, also setting up things to come in the next story arc.

The issue begins six years ago with a younger Arthur sitting by his dying father's bedside. This is before the Justice League, even before the Others. As Tom Curry pushes his son to seek out his mother, the lighthouse keeper's home is surrounded by reporters and curious onlookers. The mob has been drawn to the Curry home seeking confirmation of the public statements about Atlantis and Arthur's origins made by Dr. Stephen Shin, as revealed elsewhere in "The Others."

Tom Curry dies, and a deeply distraught Arthur storms out of the house, past the mob and dives into the ocean. Months pass as the young man searches in vain for the lost continent of Atlantis. Until one (forgive me) dark and stormy night when he happens upon a small two-person vessel in trouble. Arthur saves the father and daughter from crashing onto a reef in the storm, and the next morning, after sharing with them the details of his futile search, the father tells Arthur of someone else who claims Atlantis is a real place -- a man named Vulko.

Arthur seeks out Vulko, and to his astonishment, learns that Vulko has been looking for him. Arthur's mother, Atlanna, the Queen of Atlantis, is dead. Vulko explains that she had fled Atlantis when Arthur was born so she could take him to his father, Tom Curry. But then Atlanna had to return to Atlantis to prevent Tom and Arthur from being discovered. Upon her return to Atlantis, Atlanna was forced to marry and later conceived a second son, Arthur's half-brother, Orm. On Orm's 12th birthday, his father was killed, and shortly after, Atlanna died as well. Vulko believed that Atlanna died at the hands of her son, Orm, and when he spoke up, he was driven from Atlantis by loyalists of the new king. After sharing all of this, Vulko is insistent that Arthur return to Atlantis with him as the rightful heir to the throne of the undersea kingdom, a not so subtle nod to the upcoming Aquaman/Justice League crossover "The Throne of Atlantis."

Vulko has been a part of Aquaman's story for a long time as a friend and adviser to the throne. This version of Vulko appears considerably younger than the white-haired man often depicted in old DC continuity, but among his confessions to Arthur is the fact that he has been adviser to the ruler of Atlantis since the reign of Arthur's grandfather, so he must be older than he looks.

The big change is the introduction and origin of Orm, Aquaman's half-brother. In the DCnU, Arthur and Orm have the same mother, and being a full-blooded Atlantean, Orm has taken over the throne of Atlantis, quite possibly through the heinous act of patricide. In the old DCU, Orm Marius and Arthur Curry are still half-brothers but because they have the same father, Tom Curry. Some time after Arthur was born and Atlanna died, Tom Curry had another son with an Eskimo woman. Orm was always jealous that his mother was not his father's first love as well as envious of his half-brother's Atlantean heritage and abilities. That jealousy drove Orm to adopt the villainous identity of the Ocean Master, one of Aquaman's deadliest foes, second only to Black Manta.

It's not hard to imagine these two coming to blows in this reality over the right to rule Atlantis, especially if Orm is responsible for the death of their mother. I am curious to see how Vulko and Arthur's trip to Atlantis will factor into the formation of the Others. Obviously, since Arthur did not stay in Atlantis, one can assume things do not go well there. And surely Orm will play a role in the upcoming crossover between Aquaman and Justice League.

Please Help Peter David

For any of my readers who don't already know him, Peter David is a very prolific writer of not only comics, but also prose novels, television scripts, and I think even a few movie scripts. If you like comics and/or science fiction, odds are you have read or seen something of his. But his work is not limited to those two fields.

Peter David recently suffered a stroke, and while he is recovering, the various medical and recuperation-related bills are mounting. The family continues to update Peter's fans about his condition through his blog at http://www.peterdavid.net/

The family has also suggested a number of ways that Peter's fans can help, either through direct donations or by simply buying his books, most available in either print or e-formats. And they've asked that any of Peter's fans with a blog help spread the word. Hence this extra post.

For more information on how to donate or links to many of Peter's books, just go to this post from Peter's site. If you are looking for some of Peter's comics work, he had a very lengthy run on Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk in the 1980s and '90s and is the current writer of Exiles. Some of my favorites of his are also DC Comics' Aquaman in the 1990s and Young Justice in the early 2000s, as well as Fallen Angel, begun at DC, and later resumed at IDW Publishing.

Thanks for your time and attention for this special announcement.

To The Death

Aquaman 10-12
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis, artist

This book is getting intense as one might expect from the subject matter.

Previously we have learned that Aquaman was part of a group called The Others before joining the Justice League. We also learned that all of these heroes had run-ins with Black Manta and that much of the Aquaman-Black Manta antagonism stems from the fact that these two men each killed the other's father. That's all pretty grim.

Aquaman gets some small measure of redemption in these issues as we learn that he did not mean to kill Manta's father -- he thought it was Manta he was lashing out at. The Marine Marvel was enraged at the death of his own father at the time. His father died of a heart attack during a previous assault on the pair by Manta. In a rage, Aquaman tracked Manta to a vessel at sea and lashed out at the vessel's sole occupant. Unbeknownst to Aquaman at the time, Black Manta was diving below the boat, and it was his father who remained aboard.

We also learn the "secret origin" of Aquaman's trident. It is one of six Atlantean relics discovered by The Others. Each member of the team took one of the artifacts, which once belonged to the first king of Atlantis, the individual responsible for the sinking of that ancient continent. We learn that there was actually a seventh relic and that this piece is what Black Manta is now hunting, along with Aquaman and his Others comrades. That seventh item is the Dead King's scepter, the very device that was used to sink Atlantis, and thus more powerful than the other six items. And Manta manages to uncover the scepter before Aquaman, Mera and the remaining Others can stop him. Along the way, Manta manages to slay another member of that team, Vostok.

Also, I'm certain it is no coincidence that the Dead King's scepter looks identical to the weapon Aquaman's half-brother, Ocean Master, used to wield in the old DC Universe. I think it very possible that we will see the debut of the DCnU version of Ocean Master before this arc is concluded in issue No. 13.

But before we get to that issue, it is time for DC's Zero Month. We'll have the first of those books to look at next time.

Who Are The Others And Why Do They Make Arthur So Angry?

Aquaman 7-9
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, artists

We're back around to this wonderful title today for the first three chapters of The Others arc. As "off" as Johns' portrayal of the Justice League feels to me right now, he is firing on all thrusters on this title, and Reis and Prado are turning in some truly marvelous artwork that just makes me smile. I will be sad to see this art team leave this title in a few months, but they definitely deserve to go on to bigger and better things if they can't stay here.

About the story: We start off seeing the vile evilness that is Black Manta hunting down and killing people, especially an Iranian woman who has visions of the future. After those brutal scenes, we switch to Aquaman and Mera going to consult with Dr. Shin about the Atlantean relic Aquaman found during the Trench story arc. Shin is the world's foremost authority on myths and lore concerning Atlantis, but he also has some ties to Manta that make Shin's and Aquaman's relationship strained. Talk of the Atlantean relic is interrupted, however, with the sudden arrival of a panther and its mistress, Ya'Wara, bringing news to Aquaman of the Seer's death at the hands of Black Manta.

It seems that both of these two women, the Seer and Ya'Wara, along with Aquaman and three others formed a team of sorts named the Others before the formation of the Justice League. (On a side note, it seems that some of the DCnU timeline is very muddled, even for chief creative officer Johns. Some of the flashback information provided in this arc takes place six years ago, which would place those events just one year before the formation of the League. Yet other events, chiefly Aquaman's time with the Others, are revealed to have happened one year after the events which were six years ago. Unless Aquaman helped form the League almost immediately after spending a fairly short amount of time as one of the Others, these time clues are not going to line up correctly.)

Getting back to the story, Manta is hunting down and slaying all of the members of the Others, presumably ending with a final confrontation between himself and Aquaman. While Ya'Wara and Aquaman go off in search of the other members and Manta, Mera stays with Shin and learns what she can about these events in Aquaman's life before her arrival. The reader, along with Mera, learns that when Aquaman began displaying signs of his powers, his human father, Tom Curry, took him to Dr. Shin, who helped the boy master his abilities. Shin also learned what he could from the pair about Atlantis and tried to cash in on that knowledge. We also learn that Aquaman blames Black Manta for his father's death. Tom Curry died of a heart attack while intervening on his son's behalf during a fight between Manta and Aquaman. Out of revenge, Aquaman killed Manta's father!

We are getting quite a grisly picture of the younger Aquaman through the course of this arc, which is an interesting contrast with the more calm man he was depicted as in the first issue of this series, walking away silently as he did from the taunts and jeers of some of the people in the crowd. There has also been no mention so far in this series about Aquaman and Mera's son, Arthur Jr., who was slain as a child by Black Manta in the previous DC Universe. We're not yet sure if that is still a part of the character's continuity in the DCnU, but the part about the deaths of both men's fathers certainly adds deep roots to the animosity these two antagonists have always felt for each other.

There's No Denying The Man Can Draw

Batman: Odyssey 1-6/Batman: Odyssey 2 1-7
DC Comics
Neal Adams, writer and artists

I was very eager to get my hands on this series when it was first announced. This was to be the triumphant return of one of the great Batman artists with his vision of the definitive Batman story. Neal Adams and Jim Aparo are probably the two most easily recognizable and iconic Batman artists out there. I already own all three hardcover volumes of Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams, so here was my chance to add a new Bat-tale to my collection by this luminary in the field.

And, of course, the art does NOT disappoint. Adams' Batman is muscled and powerful while retaining a realistic athletic appearance. His layouts allow the eye to easily follow the action across the page, and his graphic storytelling is also spot on. This story is rather complex, so it might be hard to literally follow everything without words, using just the pictures alone, but Adams' panels are not hard to figure out.

As I said, the story is pretty complex, epic even, taking Batman on a true odyssey that stretches the imagination. In fact, this story would almost have to be called an Elseworlds tale because of its scope. The epic moves from Gotham City to a number of underground, hidden societies and incorporates gnomes, trolls, dinosaurs, ancient godlings, henchmen and giant bats -- not your everyday Batman fare! At least not since the late golden age or early silver age!

The main villains of the story are Ra's al-Ghul (naturally, since Adams is the character's co-creator) and Ra's' son, the Sensei, the leader of the League of Assassins. It also involves a handful of other DC characters including Deadman, another character Adams is known for illustrating. Some of the lofty concepts the tale is woven around include Batman's staunch refusal to ever kill his adversaries and his aversion to guns. Another central concept is the theory that Ra's al-Ghul is really the only villain Batman ever faces, that many of the other famous Gotham rogues are merely obstacles occasionally thrown in the Dark Knight's path by Ra's to keep Batman occupied and less likely to uncover other, more sinister plots. This theory helps explain how so many of these rogues are locked in a revolving door of scheming, capture and escape, as well as playing off Batman's refusal to kill his opponents.

Like some of Adams' scientific theories, this story is deep and takes a little effort to unravel completely, but again, it is a very imaginative and highly entertaining journey.

Side note: One more reason this tale would likely be considered an Elseworlds story by most readers is a guest appearance by one of my favorite characters -- Aquaman, or at least, I believe that's Aquaman even though I don't recall anyone else ever drawing him even remotely this way before.

Don't Call Her Aquawoman

Aquaman 6
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Joe Prado and Ivan Reis, artists

This issue is a solo Mera story focusing on her activities while Aquaman had the solo adventure depicted in issue No. 5, and boy, was she busy. Mera steps out alone to get some dog food for the couple's new companion and finds herself immediately exposed to the dregs of humanity. First, she runs into a lecherous store manager. Then, that leads to a confrontation with the police who are both condescending and aggressive toward the former queen of Atlantis. While battling the officers who refused to listen to her explanations, Mera overhears a call for backup on their radios. She cleverly defuses her own situation and intervenes in a deadly domestic dispute, none of which redeems humanity in Mera's eyes. That moment comes when one person who witnessed the initial altercation between Mera and the store manager performs a simple act of kindness for Mera and offers a hand in friendship. The issue finishes up with Mera arriving back home shortly after Aquaman's return at the end of the previous issue, and the pair are set to investigate the mystery he uncovered in his own adventure.

Interspersed within the contemporary Mera story are some key flashback scenes to her DCnU history. As revealed in the earlier Brightest Day series, Mera's history has been subtly altered. She no longer came innocently from another dimension filled with water-dwelling inhabitants, but instead was sent here to kill Aquaman. She ultimately fell in love with the aquatic hero and betrayed her mission. These flashbacks reveal more of that back story and change in attitude.

All in all, a well-done, done-in-one tale well worth the time and cost. Kudos, gentlemen!

More Cliches Burst

Aquaman 5
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, artists

This issue starts out smack in the middle of another derisive dismissal of Aquaman as a hero: What good is he without water? Our hero is falling from the sky only to crash land alone in the middle of the desert. What's a water-based hero to do now?!?

Flashbacks are used to fill us in on how Aquaman came to find himself in this dire situation. Military scientists have discovered an Atlantean artifact and call in Aquaman to answer some questions about it. Armored individuals show up to take the artifact, Aquaman gives chase, and ends up falling out of their airship during battle. While trying to survive on sheer determination alone, Aquaman recovers the artifact and discovers many more questions related to Atlantis and its history, before being rescued by a military helicopter.

All this ends with a teaser for a Mera solo story next issue.

Fun stuff!

Plumbing The Depths

Aquaman 1-4
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, artists

This was the title I saved for last because it was going to hold the least surprises. I get too much Aqua-info from almost daily visits to Rob Kelly's Aquaman Shrine (and am typically behind enough in my reading) that sitting down with these four books brought little new information. They've all already been reviewed on the Shrine.

That doesn't mean these four books weren't a joy to read. Johns "gets" Aquaman in a way true fans have always appreciated the character. What's more, with his writing, Johns is not just showing why Aquaman isn't just a lame hero who talks to fish; he's taking those jabs and dealing with them head-on by including them in his narrative. This is a hero who lives in a world where many common folk DO think Aquaman is a joke and aren't shy about telling him that to his face. And Aquaman gets back at them not by fuming or shouting, but by showing them just how awesome and inspirational he can be.

Johns is crafting some truly original, highly imaginative stories that still manage to incorporate what other creators have done and build upon that foundation, much as he has done with other characters in recent years. It's no wonder Johns is the chief creative officer at DC. And Reis and Prado are doing simply beautiful work illustrating what Johns is writing.

If you aren't picking up this book, do yourself a favor and get it in back issues or trade. You'll be glad you did.