Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Aquaman #8 Review and **SPOILERS**


The Bigger they Are, the Longer they Float

Writer: Dan Abnett
Penciller: Scot Eaton
Inker: Wayne Faucher
Colorist: Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Cover Artists: Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessey & Gabe Eltaeb
Cover Price: $2.99
On Sale Date: October 5, 2016

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Hey, Arthur Curry of Amnesty Bay, Maine! The Red Sawx made it inta the World Series playoffs! You gotta be ecstatic, this is wicked awesome! How d’ya think they’re gonna do? D’ya think they could end up facing the Cubs in the Series? I’m gettin’ chills, bro! I dunno if you get reg’lar television down in Atlantis, so if you need ta know a score or somethin’, gimme a holler! I owe you one for the latest issue of Aquaman, I thought it was freakin’…y’know what? Lemme tell ya about it!

Explain It!

As has been required of Atlantean royalty since time immemorial, Mera is required to go through undersea finishing school with a dried up prune wearing a croissant on her head named Mother Cetea. She’s the, uh, mother of the Tower of the Widowhood, which is this floating tower on a point that looks absolutely cool as heck. Elder Koah and Mother Cetea remind Mera of how unworthy she is to marry Aquaman, before inviting her in to learn about proper place settings and such. Over at Atlantis’ municipal district, Aquaman has risen early to hang out in the monitoring room, which is sort of Orwellian if you think about it. He’s just in time for them to detect a rhythmic sea-quake, south of the city rim, and faithful readers will remember that it’s being caused by the giant monster created by N.E.M.O. that their new leader, Black Manta, released last issue!

Aquaman determines to take the fight to the giant, and it bats him away without much effort. Seasoned veteran Murk comes up with the brilliant plan to shoot the monster with weapons, which stop it…for a short time! Its wounds actually heal themselves and it gets up, as strong (or stronger) than ever! After the beast beats down the Atlantean Guard for a while, Arthur wakes up and attacks it with his trident, which has no immediate effect. Back at the Tower of the Widows, Mera is being taught how to extend one’s pinky whilst drinking tea, and she interrupts Lady Resting Bitch Face to point out that the emergency horns have sounded, and she should go check out what’s happening. Madame Liver Lips says that if she leaves, then she will never be worthy of marrying Aquaman, and plus she’ll be marked absent for the day.

Back at the city, the rampaging beast has breached the defenses and is terrorizing the public, despite the fact that they should ostensibly be able to swim well above its reach. Black Manta is observing through a sonar screen, and asks Black Jack if it has slowed slightly since beginning its onslaught. “No,” she replies, “not even slightly.” I normally wouldn’t mention this scene, except to note that she’s absolutely lying; the beast was knocked down at least once for about ten or twenty seconds, and it’s been staggered and routed a few times while batting around the Atlantean Guard. It’s not like the thing was really hindered too badly, but it was slowed slightly. Anyway, the Atlantean start bringing out the big guns on this thing, and dispel enough of its muck exterior to reveal…Shaggy Man! Yes! I never expected this but it turns out to be the perfect thing! And it turns out Atlantis isn’t even Shaggy Man’s target—it’s Arthur’s hometown, Amnesty Bay!

Well, this was a pleasant surprise! After being so lukewarm about Aquaman for the last several issues, I enjoyed this one from front to back. Mind you, the reveal of Shaggy Man is likely to have contributed a lot to my good feelings. There was lots of good action, an interesting conflict presented to Mera that doesn’t involve her telling Aquaman how little he needs the surface dwellers, and great artwork. Can’t hope for much more than that. Well, Topo. We could hope for Topo to come back.


Bits and Pieces:

A great issue of Aquaman full of underwater action, heroism, and a surprise character revealed at the end! And this character is awesome! Mera is presented with a conflict that could have dire consequences, but probably won't because Aquaman is completely smitten with her. The art was never a problem in this series, and looks really nice here. Put it all together, and you're looking at a dang good comic book, I tell you what!


8.5/10

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