Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Aquaman

WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not sure if anyone else has posted about this yet or not but this is big news for this series! Do not read further if you want to be surprised!


SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!


Just saw this in the April solicit. I added the bold ...

"AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #51


Written by Tad Williams; Art by Shawn McManus and Walden Wong; Cover by Michael Wm. Kaluta

Acclaimed fantasy writer Tad Williams continues his run on the title that's already garnered a great deal of attention! Black Manta is trying to move in on the remains of Sub Diego, and Tempest tries to help Arthur recover the Trident of Poseidon!"

When you think about it Tempest (as a mage he was trained to be) fits in very well with the new feel for this title. Hope it means he'll be around for a while.

Dan DiDio teased the return of Tempest in one of his columns a while back, so I don't think it's a spoiler at this point.

I'm glad he's back, but if anything he may be too powerful to hang with this bunch regularly.

We got a new writer, a new direction, a new cast and a new death.

Yep, you heard me right.

Given my new Showcase-inspired interest in Aquaman, I'm excited to see this. I think I'm waiting to pick it up in trades, however.

EDE, I've been leaning more towards the trades for my reading. But books like Aquaman, Manhunter, and Checkmate likely need the monthly sales before they go tpb.

With the new team and the sluggish OYL start, I'd suggest anyone interested to give the new writer 3-5 issues.

Hmm... you're right. I think I will try the monthly for a few issues, despite my newfound committment to buying all but the titles I care about the most in TPBs.

I glanced through it - it's very, very Silver Age DC; especially the kid sidekick.

I hated it, you'll probably love it.

I wasn't feeling the Sword of Atlantis by Busiek. It wasn't bad but I was very bored.

I'll check the new guy out.

'Boot, I didn't really groove on it either. You could almost see the writer filling in an outline.
(Sidekick) Topo
(Shocking reveal) Tempest
(Cliffhanger) Death


But I think it was such a drastic tonal change from Busiek that I was put off. I'm giving Williams 3 issues to settle in.

I actually liked the first few issues of Busiek's run that I read, and I think the basic underwater swordfighter take on the character is really interesting. But, yeah, it seemed kind of boring after awhile. I still think it would be better as a reboot of the franchise, and I'm kind of concerned that their going to get too bogged down in dealing with old continuity stuff (which I could care less about).

I agree EDE. I liked the sword/sorcery take but it just got murky. I don't know what's happening half the time.

I think they should keep the sword/sorcery Aquaman. I like him better than the sci-fi AM. With that said I loved the Sub Diego setting. So who knows.

If I was a writer Aquaman would be the last title I would want to write. It's hard.

It seems to me that with the right marketing, you could actually sell this version of Aquaman to a lot of the fantasy manga-buying crowd, and other people who wouldn't read traditional "super-hero" comic books. Unfortunately, it's not going to get that kind of push from DC.

No, we probably won't.

I think Busiek's run started with a bang and ended with a whimper. I picked up the first issue of the latest run and found myself getting distracted and bored by the end. Big things such as Tempest returning and Mera learning for certain that the Dweller is the true Aquaman should have been dramatic and thrilling...but they really weren't.

Sidekick is UGH. Mera as a main character is YAY. Vulko appearing more is YAY. King Shark and sword/sorcery Aquaman is a cool combo and I like I think the potential is there to make this a thrilling series. I think making Orin more like Atlan, his father, could really be cool and then using this new Arthur as the prime-protagnist in a swords & sorcery style story could be a good hook, but they need to give us some sense of a larger story being told with characters that we care about.

I feel like its all there waiting for someone to take it and run with it, but no one seems to be able to.

It seems like the new writer is breaking up the A-Man / King Shark duo in favour of Topo (UGH!)

Arthur has become a favourite character, and I'd really like to see him make it.

Hmm... based on Cobie's review, I think I'm switching back to the original plan of only picking up a trade.

I'm actually not thrilled by the idea of a rebooted Topo.

If King Shark actually really does leave the series I'll be serverely dissapointed. Not only has he been very interesting, but no one can deny how awesome his visual is.

Topo simply does not belong here.

The big "return of Tempest" turned out to be very disappointing...as did this entire issue. I wasn't thrilled with Buziek's story but this one feels even worse. I had high hopes for Tad Williams but I'm curently dountful. I'll give it a few more issues but if things don't improve, I'll be done with it.

There was definitely a different tone than the previous issues. I liked it, though. I thought the new Topo was funny. I wouldn't want him to be a 'real' sidekick, but as a minor recurring character? Sure. I want to know what's up with the 'hatches' he keeps mentioning.

Though Tempest's return was somewhat underwhelming, I'm just glad to see him back. Here's hoping he finds some Grecian Under-the-Sea Formula soon. White hair does *not* work for this guy. Maybe Topo'll 'ink' him...

The art's the sore point, for me. I like the backgrounds and the characters who've never appeared before. But characters we're supposed to know just don't look like themselves. Mera, especially, looked wrong.

It is an opening issue, remember. I think the standards for those have gotten impossible. Does every new creator's first issue *have* to be remarkable? Can't a writer/artist *ease* into their storyline?

Answering my own question, comics *have* gotten expensive. So, I can understand those who expect more for their expenditure.

I'm guessing that everything that seems underworked in this issue will be addressed as the storyline progresses. Perhaps it's a sort of outline of what will be covered. I'm curious about what's up with Tempest, King Shark (Tad Williams has said he'll be back, I believe), etc.

I'm glad Windward House is still around and will appear. I really liked that addition to the AQUAMAN title.

Out of curiosity... does Aquaman still fight pirates?

So, I picked up the first Sword of Atlantis trade and read it last night, and it's actually pretty awesome!

I actually think it reads much better this way than it did in the few issues I bought when they came out did.

I sometimes wonder if certain titles shouldn't be released as ongoing graphic novels...

And we've got the second issue by the new writer. He's done a complete 180 in terms of tone for this book. Where Busiek had a very adventure feel to it, Williams has written a more simpler, almost campy book.

Between that and the art- I'm turned off. This isn't the A-man I signed on for OYL.

I was a bit bored by Busiek's adventure/fantasy stuff but it was better than the campy current stuff. I've never been a big Aquaman fan anyways. I do agree CJ this title would benefit of one GN book released a year. Have AM join the JLA (or JSA?) y ja!

Dropped it. I was only buying it for Guice's art.

Amen.

Busiek's stuff wasn't his best, but this stuff isn't as good as his worst. And why so quick to get rid of The Dweller?

He's doing the two World War Hulk-tie-in Iron Man issues next, isn't he?