Future State – Aquaman #1: The Oceans of Space

Writer Brandon Thomas has arrived. Following the critical acclaim of his and artist Khary Randolph’s Image series Excellence, Thomas makes his DC debut as a lead writer with Future State – Aquaman, and what a debut it is. I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but for the doubters, the haters, the naysayers, and the people who just plain refuse to take Aquaman seriously, it’s time to eat some humble pie. FS – Aquaman kicks all the ass it needs to, and then some.

The story opens sometime in the immediate future, and Jackson Hyde has, for reasons unknown, taken up the mantle of Aquaman from his mentor Arthur Curry and is training Arthur and Mera’s daughter, Andy, to be the new Aquawoman (DON’T call her Aqualass!). Their relationship is fraught with tension, though, but before it can be resolved, the duo is unexpectedly transported to The Confluence, a sort of nexus of reality in space where all of the universe’s oceans interconnect. Before they can get their bearings, though, tragedy strikes…

And boom, more years pass, and Jackson is prisoner of the Confluence’s seemingly benevolent rulers, unsure if Andy is dead or alive. Suddenly, though, help is on the way.

If all this sounds like you’ve maybe read it before, sure, you have. But that’s beside the point. Thomas’ execution is inhumanly spot-on, hitting all the story and character beats exactly right. There genuinely isn’t a false note to be had. Jackson Hyde is a character who has perpetually existed on the fringes of greatness since his debut back in Brightest Day in 2010; consider this his formal announcement of A-lister status. In twenty-two short pages, Thomas manages to take a character who has always been searching for his greater narrative and elevates him in such a way that his greatness simply cannot be denied.

Andy is a bit more of a blank slate, but that’s deliberate. We only see her at maybe about age ten or so, a tween just beginning to discover her individual identity. Fairly typical stuff, really, but Thomas works a twist with her powers in just before all hell breaks loose – a tantalizing and deliberate cliffhanger that promises to pay huge dividends next issue. The end of the issue promises to kick both characters right over the edge in such a way that demands they have a continued presence in the DCU post-Future State.

Artist Daniel Sampere and colorist Adriano Lucas are the perfect dynamic duo to complement Thomas’ story. Lucas’ colors, especially, are vivid and bright in such a way that they vibrantly bounce off the page, dynamically brightening or darkening each scene with exacting specificity. They elevate Sampere’s pencils and inks in such a way that it’s impossible to say a bad word about either. This entire issue, honestly, is flawless, and is hopefully a harbinger of things to come for the Aqua-corner of the DCU as the Infinite Frontier initiative begins to bear fruit later this year. If I had a quibble, it’s that the happy, smiling faces on the cover betray the tone of the comic, even if it is a pretty sweet piece of art in its own right. But that’s a minor complaint. Really, comics don’t get much better than this.