Customer Reviews

Aquaman: The Waterbearer

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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.

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.

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.

There is a very good reason there have been so many attempts at a successful solo Aquaman series. The reason is that Aquaman just can't support his own title. The character actually isn't that interesting. His supporting cast are one note and his villains are normally pretty lame. Now all this doesn't mean all the books are bad but there just isn't enough there for longevity. Here, in I believe the sixth volume of Aquaman, the status quo changes for him and Atlantis, but its still pretty boring. You can only have so many adventures in the deep before they seem repetitive. The story by Rick Veitch is pretty bland. The art by Guichet is good and makes the undersea stuff look dynamic at times but its pretty hard to convey cool looking stuff when Aquaman is inhabiting the body of a fish who has been eaten by another fish. Overall, an average read. Par for the course for Aquaman.