jessiswhelmed's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
ayoung720's review against another edition
4.0
This was one of the first comics I ever read when I really started getting into them around 2015 and I absolutely loved this introduction to Aquaman. Just reread it for the first time since then and it holds up just as well... It's very fast paced and can read through in one or two sittings, so for anyone looking for a "light" intro to Aquaman/comics in general, I highly recommend this story.
wisecraic's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
daniel61793's review
5.0
I love all the color and art work that has went into this trade back. Most important LOVE the storie such a great one, I could really relate to it but also just a fantastic comic trade. I will be continuing the series
gohawks's review
3.0
I read this because I generally like Johns, but Aquaman is hard to craft a great story around. Johns does his admirable best, but the story isn't bursting with humor as NY Times blurb suggests. Reis's pencils are just fine, not amazing.
jonathonjones's review
2.0
It's hard to believe that the same person who wrote Batman Earth One wrote this book - it's so bad. Everything happens way too fast, conflicts are over before they even really begin, jumps to the past are added in randomly in a way that doesn't add to the story... it's just a mess.
The artwork is good, and some of the interactions between Aquaman and humans about how nobody likes him but he's actually pretty powerful are funny, but there's really nothing else to recommend it.
The artwork is good, and some of the interactions between Aquaman and humans about how nobody likes him but he's actually pretty powerful are funny, but there's really nothing else to recommend it.
iffer's review
3.0
(Maybe I should give this book an extra star because there's a dog. I'm a sucker for any comics with dogs in them.)
Not going to lie. I only picked this up after seeing Jason Mamoa's Aquaman reveal picture and thinking, "Who the heck is Aquaman anyway? I only vaguely remember people making fun of him." Then, I saw that Geoff Johns was writing Aquaman, and I wondered if he could breathe life into Aquaman like he did for Green Lantern. Plus, tridents are cool.
I'm not sold on Aquaman, yet, but I enjoyed this trade enough to read more. Underwater and Atlantis stories have always been a draw for me, to the point that I tracked down some Plato from the library and watched any Atlantis-related PBS specials as a kid, so it seems like this should be an easy win for me, but it isn't. I think that part of the problem is that I have a bias against blonde guy and red-headed female superheroes, and this has both. (I don't really want to get into that now, so we'll move on.) They're also drawn in the typical New 52 style, which means that they're all ridiculous muscles and big boobs and skintight costumes. Meh. While I think that the art quality of the New 52 titles is good, as I've said before for these titles, I dislike how it seems like artists are constrained to maintain DC's unified art style for New 52 titles.
I think that Geoff Johns does an admirable job introducing Aquaman, and making sarcastic jokes about the misconceptions about Aquaman that make people think that he's a lame superhero. (He can't eat anything on the menu. This is a seafood restaurant!) I wish that Johns had delved more quickly into Arthur (Aquaman's) backstory. Maybe other people who know more about Aquaman wouldn't have this problem, but I wanted to know more about Aquaman's origin story (not that this first arc had to be an Origin Story Book) so that I'd like him better, instead of just finding it kind of annoying that he was angsty and brooding because he felt like no one liked him and he'd never fit in. (Poor little king with freaking superpowers and a really hot girlfriend, who, even as a white guy, can't be accepted because everyone makes fun of his orange scale shirt.)
There's immediate friction between law enforcement and Aquaman, and I think this is interesting. I'm hoping for more backstory about why law enforcement seems so resentful of Aquaman, as well as development of how the small-town atmosphere/community impacts Arthur and Mera's experiences.
Not going to lie. I only picked this up after seeing Jason Mamoa's Aquaman reveal picture and thinking, "Who the heck is Aquaman anyway? I only vaguely remember people making fun of him." Then, I saw that Geoff Johns was writing Aquaman, and I wondered if he could breathe life into Aquaman like he did for Green Lantern. Plus, tridents are cool.
I'm not sold on Aquaman, yet, but I enjoyed this trade enough to read more. Underwater and Atlantis stories have always been a draw for me, to the point that I tracked down some Plato from the library and watched any Atlantis-related PBS specials as a kid, so it seems like this should be an easy win for me, but it isn't. I think that part of the problem is that I have a bias against blonde guy and red-headed female superheroes, and this has both. (I don't really want to get into that now, so we'll move on.) They're also drawn in the typical New 52 style, which means that they're all ridiculous muscles and big boobs and skintight costumes. Meh. While I think that the art quality of the New 52 titles is good, as I've said before for these titles, I dislike how it seems like artists are constrained to maintain DC's unified art style for New 52 titles.
I think that Geoff Johns does an admirable job introducing Aquaman, and making sarcastic jokes about the misconceptions about Aquaman that make people think that he's a lame superhero. (He can't eat anything on the menu. This is a seafood restaurant!) I wish that Johns had delved more quickly into Arthur (Aquaman's) backstory. Maybe other people who know more about Aquaman wouldn't have this problem, but I wanted to know more about Aquaman's origin story (not that this first arc had to be an Origin Story Book) so that I'd like him better, instead of just finding it kind of annoying that he was angsty and brooding because he felt like no one liked him and he'd never fit in. (Poor little king with freaking superpowers and a really hot girlfriend, who, even as a white guy, can't be accepted because everyone makes fun of his orange scale shirt.)
There's immediate friction between law enforcement and Aquaman, and I think this is interesting. I'm hoping for more backstory about why law enforcement seems so resentful of Aquaman, as well as development of how the small-town atmosphere/community impacts Arthur and Mera's experiences.