Aquaman: The Waterbearer [Paperback]

Rick Veitch (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Aquaman, DC's underwater hero, gets an overcomplicated revamp inspired by Arthurian legend in this collection. An introduction summarizes previous events: Aquaman's death, his travel back in time, a fight with an evil sorceress and the raising and re-sinking of Atlantis. After seeing this daunting list of old story lines, readers who haven't been scared away will understand the need for a character update. The book begins with Aquaman sentenced to death by his former subjects as a result of these events. They've stuck him, wounded, on a reef, and all his formerly friendly fish hate him. Never mind the logic gap in a group of sea-dwellers who hate the surface world (as hammered home in the opening dialogue) being so mad over having to live underwater that they keep trying to hunt down their former king. All of this is a prologue to establishing the new status quo, in which Aquaman fights for the Lady of the Lake and her magical healing water. (Since this is a superhero comic, the Lady is well-built and wears revealing strips of fabric.) Everything in this book is either high-volume exaggeration or sappy mystical peacekeeping. Veitch goes overboard with poetic descriptions, sea references and puns, and laughable character dialect, while the story relies too heavily on deus ex machina. The confusing art has the "camera" zooming around almost randomly. A true restart would have been a better choice than this exaggerated mishmash of the worst superhero cliches.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401200885
• ISBN-13: 978-1401200886
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,906,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What might have been...., January 11, 2005

By 

E. Blaine "<stupid handle haver>" (South Pole) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aquaman: The Waterbearer (Paperback)

Aquaman is one of those minor but enduring characters that DC Comics just isn't sure what to do with. He never accomplishes much in JLA, and his own series are only received luke-warmly. On the other hand, there are still those who fondly remember his adventures and appreciate the complexity of his personality: the imperious, temperamental king of Atlantis who nevertheless has a heart of gold. Even having a child die, losing a hand, and now being exiled (for rather dopey reasons, but nevermind) haven't diminished his desire to do good in the world.

"Aquaman: The Waterbearer" is an attempt to restart the character yet again, and while it's an earnest attempt, it doesn't amount to much. Main problem is after 118 pages, quite little was accomplished. Yes, Aquaman was exiled from his homeland and left to die. Yes, he receives a second chance at life and a new heroic purpose to fulfill. Yes, he fights a bad guy and a giant mutant lamprey and prevents an oil tanker from running aground. For a comic book superhero, all of that can take place in a single issue, and taking any more than two would be to stretch things out pretty thin. This book compiles a total of six issues.

As for the new heroic purpose, what exactly this entails isn't really answered either. Given this fantastic new ability and the responsibility to use it selflessly, Aquaman is more or less left to figure out what it's really for on his own. The opportunity to kickstart things with a quest full of drama and adversity is squandered.

On the bright side, it's refreshing to see Aquaman as something other than an officious jerk, and the artwork isn't bad at all. (Although, as another poster noted, it's a little disappointing to see the Arthurian Lady of the Lake depicted as a mystical lingerie model.)

All in all, this is a disappointing work. If you can find it for an inexpensive price, then you might consider it. Otherwise, give it a pass.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, September 22, 2005

By 

Christopher R. Nelson "Pawkypatzer" (Southampton, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aquaman: The Waterbearer (Paperback)

Being new to Aquaman, this book gave me a good idea on the changes that Aquaman is going through. The new hand is certainly not as brutal as his trident hand but maybe time with the series will prove other wise. Great art work, beautiful coloring.

4.0 out of 5 stars Aquaman Turns in a Fine Peformance, November 24, 2007

By 

Zauriel (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aquaman: The Waterbearer (Paperback)

This was a good read with Aquaman out of the sea. With his Kingdom turned against him for his Actions during the Obsidian Age story line in JLA(Great Read by the Way). Aquaman gains the Waterbearer hand which gives him mystical powers and allows him to do things he couldn't before. One of the few Aquaman graphic novels out there and it is a pretty good one. If your an Aquaman fan like myself give it a read.