Aquaman #1

by Geoff Johns (W); Ivan Reis (A)

Except for maybe that one guy you know who dyed his hair and bought a trident for that extra-special Halloween costume, nobody likes Aquaman. What’s good about this new series about the Atlantean King is that Geoff Johns knows that, although it’s just as possible that Johns was that guy who died his hair and bought a trident.

Aquaman #1 is full of jokes at the expense of the regular joe, people who think the hero will need a glass of water after being out of the ocean to stop a bank robbery; people who think he doesn’t eat seafood; people who think he talks to fish (in fact, he just sort of telepathically pushes them in the right direction). Johns also seems to have a problem with bloggers, casting one as a big ol’ insensitive jerk who actually asks “how’s it feel to be nobody’s favourite superhero?”. In the world of the DCnU, Aquaman is the most misunderstood superhuman of them all, the foil for countless SNL sketches, the punchline to innumerable jokes. He has even more powers than he used to, however, so the “new 52″ sees him as one of Earth’s most powerful heroes, which only promises to make him have to deal with even more powerful threats.

The threat this time around is going to be some race of piranha-like creatures with translucent skulls and the hunger for human flesh. I’m not sure how much of an interesting story can be generated by these monsters, but as rendered by the pencils of Ivan Reis they look about as freaky as one could imagine piranha-men to be. Reis also has a great talent for drawing facial expressions, which could make this one of the more emotionally resonant books in the DCnU.

Only time will tell. If anyone had any doubts of Johns’ ability to pull off writing a quality Aquaman book in a crowded field of books about b-level heroes, their doubts are proven to be unfounded. It is kind of strange when you compare this to Justice League,a more expensive comic (and DC’s flagship title), as it’s also written by Johns and it’s apparent he has a hard time writing a book he knows is being seen as such. He does much better reinventing characters like Green Lantern (formerly B-list, now as big as Batman sales-wise), the Legion of Superheroes (from guest-starring in a Johns comic, to having 2 titles of their very own) and The Flash (from some of the worst sales, to leading the charge into a line-wide event). Aquaman is going to be another such character. If you want me, I’ll be dying my hair and buying a trident.

-Brendan Flaherty