The Others contact Mera and enlist her aid to stop Aquaman from going after– and possibly killing– Black Manta. Arthur went after the criminal alone to hopefully spare his former allies lives. He has located Manta and the kidnapped Dr. Shin, when he has a flashback (once again, rendered in the beautiful watercolor style, as in earlier issues) to Shin training him to use his powers. When Manta orders Shin killed, Aquaman strikes! Manta, now in possession of the scepter of the first king of Atlantis, attacks and wreaks havoc, nearly destroying the ancient Atlantean throne room. Aquaman saves Shin, but it nearly costs him his life, if not for the arrival of The Others and Mera. Aquaman survives… but someone else isn’t so fortunate.
This issue was very good. It was dramatic and well-paced. The art, of course, is amazing! (Love that flashback effect!) There’s nothing wrong with it, but I’m getting tired of the super decompressed storytelling everyone insists on using these days. Writing monthly comics with the thought of how the book will read as a trade paperback is hampering the actual monthly comics. Some of my reviews have a couple of paragraphs of recap. As you can see, this one has one. It’s good, but the story is moving at a snail’s pace! True, there is a lot of action which is hard to recap effectively. Maybe I’m just being picky.
Like I said, the art is excellent as usual. This is one of the most solid straightforward super hero books out there right now. “The Others” will make for a great trade. But as a single comic…
AQUAMAN #12
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Reis with Joe Prado, Oclair Albert and Andy Lanning
Cover by Ivan Reis, Prado and Rod Reis
