This issue is billed as an “Interlude” which just screams “Fill-In” and be that as it may, it’s at least a good Fill-In. Aquaman has a minor role in the story, before he hands the rest of the tale off to his other team The Others. The military themed Operative, Ya’Wara the animal woman and the tormented Prisoner of War but locate one of the missing Atlantean weapons lost during the brief war between Atlantis and the surface world. A new mystery surfaces involving Indian mysticism and the Others may have found the replacement for one of their fallen members.
It really hadn’t occurred to me that the Others would carry on as a team, but it’s nice that these interesting characters haven’t simply been tossed aside. The new character Sky Alchesy a member of the Apache tribe who walks between the worlds of the living and the dead is a fascinating new addition, who I look forward to seeing again. This issue is scripted by a guest writer, veteran John Ostrander, fills in a lot regarding this new character as well as the rest of the Others, so I’m curious how much was his and how much were notes from those characters’ creator Geoff Johns. Either way, Ostrander does a nice job weaving together a solid story.
The fill-in art by Manuel Garcia is also quite nice. There’s some great detail work and excellent storytelling, but when compared to the usual art on this series, there is just a tiny bit of crudeness at times, but not nearly anything to ruin the reading experience.
So yes, it’s an “Interlude” so it’s not quite a fluid insertion into the ongoing storyline, but it was a lot of fun and a nice opportunity to reconnect with these great supporting characters with so much potential. Aquaman’s absence was felt but the presence of The Others balanced that out. It was overall quite a solid book!
AQUAMAN #20
Written by John Ostrander
Art by Manuel Garcia
Cover by Paul Pelletier, Sean Parsons and Rod Reis
