Aquaman #2: Water, Water, Everywhere, Not A Drop To Drink…

It’s the second issue of Aquaman’s new ongoing, and it’s part of the All In initiative that’s DC’s newest plan to draw in new readers in. DC has tapped rising star creators Jeremy Adams and John Timms to launch this book, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. Arthur’s back, but he’s been imbued with a whole new set of abilities due to the events of Absolute Power, and he’s forced to learn how to do them, but he’s busy trying to figure out who destroyed Atlantis! Let’s get this show on the road!

Jeremy Adams’ run has gotten off to a decent start, with a new threat, the Dark Tide, some ancient prophecy that’s coming for the now destroyed Atlantis. Arthur is busy learning how to use his new abilities, while having to deal with some water based kaiju, and in this issue we meet some demon called Jenny Greenteeth, who is, well, green. Jenny’s got some type of magic that looks like she controls something that resembles dried up seaweed, as well as some lizards who can speak and fight. Arthur’s fight is fast, but a lot of fun. Adams’ really has a good voice for Arthur here. Whether it’s swinging a lizard around by his tongue, or being trussed up like a deer by these vines that hold not only Arthur, but also Orion of Atlantis!

Jenny talks about something called the Blue, which turns out to be an elemental force, like Swamp Thing’s Green, Animal Man’s Red, which adds something interesting to the Aquaman mythos. The Blue isn’t something new, nor is Aquaman having a connection to it. The Blue dates all the way back to the Ostrander & Mandrake run on Firestorm, but it wouldn’t be called the Blue until the Millar & Hester’s Swamp Thing book. We wouldn’t see Aquaman’s ties to it until the Veitch & Guichet run after Arthur was brought back during the Obsidian Age in the pages of JLA. Tying this surreal abstract elemental force to Aquaman is an interesting development, giving a deeper mythology to work with, allowing for something out of the box.

John Timms’ art on these last two issues has been a transformative experience, giving us angular points of view that amped up the action scenes, giving them a visceral and energetic flow to the comic. The quieter moments didn’t hit quite the same way, just because Timms has such a dynamic and engaging art style, that it felt off. Timms’ Aquaman is both regal and superheroic, giving a fierce aura that commands the scenes he appears in. I’ve been watching him evolve over the years, and it feels like he’s here to show the world what he has, and I can’t wait to see what he brings to this book, and the characters in it.