DC Relaunch: Aquaman - The Most Interesting Man Underwater

The Once and Future Aquaman (I made most of that up)
by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis

DM: OK, I’m all over a good Aquaman book and I haven’t been happy here since Peter David’s run. My only concern is that Geoff Johns has to work “Mordenkainen” levels of magic here.

TF: I assume he’ll follow the usual Geoff Johns strategy: If one thing is good, a hundred of that thing is better. I’m predicting the debut of Riverman, Pondman, Freshwaterlakeman, and the Puddler, leading to the crossover event of 2012, Splashdown.

DM: Yeah, there will have to be the decompressing (see what I did there) of whatever it means to be...Aquaman, I suppose BUT Johns has shown that he can take the worst ideas of the Silver Age and draw money. He’s like a great wrestling Booker. He’s not Paul Heyman but he might be someone better than that.

TF: He’s looking all angry on the cover, which tells me mistake #1 has already been made. Stop trying to make an angry asskicker out of Aquaman, DC. Nobody will ever believe it. You already have a ripoff of Namor called Black Adam, we don’t need another one.

DM: I disagree. DC has had success with angry Aquaman. Fans just don’t want him crying about his lack of living children. Folks accept that he’s mad. The alternative is a peaceful Aquaman and then you have to ask, “What the fuck is he so happy about?” When it comes down too it, Happy Arthur Curry makes folks think of the Super Friends. Angry Aquaman is one that can be supported. He just needs to be mad about shit he can also resolve. I’ll also say you have your rip offs backwards. Namor joining the X-Men is almost exactly a replay of Black Adam joining the JSA.

TF: He doesn’t need to be happy or shiny. He just needs to not be Namor. The guy’s wearing fluorescent orange. He’s a rescue worker to the world. Make him firefighting Dennis Leary Aquaman. THAT I could believe.

DM: Yeah but you wouldn’t buy that at all and no one would respect it. What you really want is that clown from Brave and the Bold and I don’t think that works in comics.

TF: That only worked because they ripped off Marvel’s Hercules instead of Marvel’s Namor.

DM: Agreed.

TF: “DID I EVER TELL YOU OF THE TIME I ACTED LIKE MARVEL CHARACTERS, MY FRIENDS? I CALL IT ‘THE ADVENTURE OF THE TIME I ACTED LIKE MARVEL CHARACTERS’!”

DM: Thankfully Geoff Johns isn’t going to do that. He’s probably going to start with a solid cast of supporters (hopefully without Vulko) and then shows us how Curry’s brother, Ocean Master goes from being good to slipping down into evil. I’d buy a book where the King has to deal with some Game of Thrones like BS. I know if we see Riverman and Glacierman, this is all out the window. So far, DC is 3 for 3 on books I’m supporting BUT 2 of those are by Johns and one is by Azzarello. These are damn near can’t lose properties.

TF: I only have eyes for WW so far.

DM That’s fine. I’m pretty sure you hate teams and I know you hate amphibians.

The New DC Is on the Move: The Relaunch

In more ways than one.

A lot of folks are up in arms about the DC “Reboot”/Renumbering or whatever you want to call it but no matter what, it’s a vehicle for Day and Date delivery of comics via the Internet and this is probably the best way to do it.

This is Doc Midnight and Trey Formidable giving you the blow by blow...

Now we’re going to analyze the 52 tiles DC is offering in order of their revelation to us by way of their blog.

First Up - The Justice League by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee

TF: I can’t believe nobody in this picture is wearing a jacket.

DM: It’s true but what concerns me a little more is really an issue of composition. Seriously. Is there a bigger way to say “Jim Lee just wants to draw Batman” than to have Superman, the most important member of the JLA, flying out of the top of the page like he’s Hawkman or something?

TF: Cyborg. Is he there because he’s a graduating Titan or because he was on Superfriends? With Johns you never know.

DM: I think you have an issue with Johns and his love of the Silver Age but lets be honest. DC is the “Legacy Loving City” and if one guy deserves it, it’s gonna be Cyborg. Now lets just hope the 1st 12 issues isn’t all about his noble sacrificial death so Hal and Barry can have a moment.

TF: Bulky Cyborg reminds me of “Titans Hunt.” That should never happen.

DM: Maybe he’s just bulky because this is a crappy drawing of the JLA. Aquaman looks like Ryan Phillippe. This whole pic looks like ti was drawn by the guy they hired to draw Hawk and Dove...who doesn’t like drawing feet....

TF: Aquaman needs a trenchcoat.

DM: Yeah...a lot of these relaunched books scream 90’s. I stunned the League doesn’t have a Top Secret Base inside the high rise of a secret corporation owned by Bruce Wayne. Anyway, back to the book. I’m glad they settled on Cyborg as the clear diversity hire and I’ll support it because Johns is at least a better writer than Lee is a penciller these days.
I’m not dying to make the 90’s the new Silver Age like it looks like Didio is going to do.

TF: He’s banking on 90s nostalgia? So that’s why he put a Bloodlines character in The Outsiders.

DM: My last point is that I think this particular relaunch misses the best chance to pull the whole line wide relaunch together. I loved Grant Morrison’s statement that the JLA should be the biggest and best the DCU has to offer. This Super Friends style lineup seems to be missing like seven other characters that would really make it pop. Those seven characters are getting new books and in the new DC they could be right at home in a JLA relaunch. Just the same, I'm buying this one.

TF: Well there IS more than one Justice League title launching...but we’ll get to those later.

Next Up: Wonder Woman