What a Bomb!
Written by: Brandon Thomas, Chuck Brown
Art by: Max Raynor
Colors by: Adriano Lucas
Letters by: AndWorld Design
Cover art by: Travis Moore, Adriano Lucas
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: July 27, 2022
Aquamen #6 pulls the world to the brink of war as leaders discuss when or if retaliation against Atlantis is warranted. As Aquaman and his amazing friends begin the slow process of cleaning up and rebuilding, one more painful loss must be endured.
Is It Good?
No, Aquamen #6 is not good. When news circulated this series was being canceled, it's natural to assume the last issue would feel a little rushed to end the arc and set up the events of Dark Crisis. Not only does this issue not conclude the arc, but it also ignores the entire cliffhanger coming out of issue #5 and forgets about the main "villain" behind the terrorist plot. It's as if the creators and editors said, "Nobody's reading this, nobody cares, so we're just going to stop. Anyway, here's Dark Crisis!"
When last we left the players, the Atlantean Council was under attack by the mastermind behind the terror plot to use sleeper agents against the dry-landers. Now, nothing. We're dropped into a prologue focused on Steve Trevor defending Atlantis against a retaliatory strike from the world's governments via a secret security council.
Garth and Tula play smoochy time in the Aqua-Danger Room. Jackson helps Black Manta with undersea rubble cleanup. Arthur and Mera head to the secret weapons armory to dispose of anything dangerous. Black Manta is learning not to kill people by lasering off half of a henchman's face mask... underwater(?!?) And Mera somehow has a magic bracelet that cures people. All out of nowhere.
We conclude the issue/arc/series with the assorted members of the Aqua-family hearing about the death of the Justice League and crying about it... underwater(?!?)
The art's good, the colors are great, and the lettering's fine. If all you want is decent superhero poses, you'll get something of value out of this issue.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces
Aquamen #6 is what happens when creators and editors know a title is canceled but can't be bothered to wrap up the arc with any semblance of sense or caring. Despite a valiant effort by the art team, the story simply skips the resolution in favor of a semi-emotional epilogue for a mild Dark Crisis lead-in.
I haven't been following this series I just heard this issue was a Dark Crisis tie-in and thought about picking it up but now I think I'll pass after reading this. Btw I'm out of the loop when it comes to these characters and I heard Tula mentioned. Is this Tula as in the original Aquagirl?! Does this mean she's back from the dead? Or was she ever dead now? And I'm guessing there's still been no reference to Garth's marriage to Dolphin or their dead son?
ReplyDeletethis is the Tula from Geoff Johns Justice League book who has lived in Amnesty Bay for a bit
ReplyDeleteSo basically Aquaman has stuck with New52 continuity this whole time? That sucks.
DeleteIDK, Aquaman's New 52 origin to me was one of the best things that happened to him. Yeah, no Aqua-baby or his death but also no being raised by Dolphins.
DeleteI'm more disappointed that Garth's history is no longer canon apparently. Like his marriage to Dolphin and their dead son, etc.
DeleteHonestly the Aquababy death was very interesting and it shaped a lot of Aquaman's history and lore afterwards it's also an interesting moment in the history of comics in general but yeah Aquamen wasn't that good but I can't wait for Jeremy Adam's run in January
DeleteAppreciatte this blog post
ReplyDelete