Dan Abnett gives us this good, though by no means great, first edition of Aquaman Rebirth. The biggest complaint I have about this book is the fact that it merely spins the wheels without getting much done; a lot of the writing from Abnett seems to be set up for future narrative arcs. This is fine if these stories pay off down the road, but for The Drowning it means a real lack of pay off for a couple of major plot lines. I love Abnett (his work on Guardians of the Galaxy revitalized that book and helped influence the crazy popular movie) so I have faith in his writing going forward, but be aware that if you are looking for a one hundred percent complete arc in this book you will be let down.
The Drowning mostly focuses on Aquaman's attempts to establish a dry-land Atlantean embassy on US soil so the surface dwellers and Atlanteans alike can learn more about each other and set aside their differences. Unfortunately, Black Manta decides to make his strike during the opening of this embassy. He wounds Mera, destroys the building, and gets numerous civilians killed during his battle with Arthur. The battle draws to a close however, when Aquaman points out that if Black Manta kills him then the latter will have nothing left in life. Manta gives up when he realizes Arthur is right and that he can't gain anything out of killing his foe outright. From here the book shifts in the one main story beat I didn't like: the US government shuts down the embassy and refuses to allow the Atlanteans to rebuild. The US decides that after the events of the Throne of Atlantis arc back in the New 52 (when Ocean Master flooded numerous US cities) that they absolutely can't trust Aquaman or his people. It is an odd choice for the humans to blame the Atlanteans for all of this when it was clearly Black Manta's fault (and almost no one aside from Mera knows that Manta's vendetta against Arthur is all Arthur's fault). Either way the US government doesn't want to continue the embassy project. Tensions escalate further when Atlanteans seemingly attack a US Navy ship while claiming to be the Deluge: a splinter cell of Atlantean terrorists who refuse to follow Arthur's orders.
Aquaman is forced to fight the US armed forces in order to get back to his people to cease any further acts of war between the two countries all while the US government calls in help from the Big Blue Boy Scout himself. Meanwhile, Black Manta meets a new cast of characters who represent a group called NEMO and claim to be a shadow organization that hopes to control the entire ocean. NEMO attempts to recruit Manta who is now looking for a greater calling aside from merely killing his nemesis. The book essentially sets up the threat of Manta with NEMO and the splinter cell of the Deluge so again a lot of wheels are put in motion for future books. The best reason to read this series though is that Abnett, like Johns before him back at the beginning of the New 52, is able to cleverly explore the very nature of Aquaman and the fact that he is often seen as being a joke of a character. How that affects the public's perception of the character and how that affects the character himself are two brilliant moments in this book. Furthermore, while the opening battle between Arthur and Manta is a bit of a retread the idea that Black Manta has accepted he needs a greater calling in life is well executed and reflects the work done with the character during his stint on the Suicide Squad. Now with NEMO behind him, Manta is posed to be a greater threat than ever before.
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![Aquaman (2016-) Vol. 1: The Drowning by [Dan Abnett, Brad Walker, Phillipe Briones, Phil Briones]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61x1SXnGdfL._SY346_.jpg)
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and while the cover was in good condition, two issues in the book were printed ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2017
My first order came and there were dents in the bottom right corner and along the side. I ordered a replacement, and while the cover was in good condition, two issues in the book were printed upside down. This was very disappointing, because I opened up the package finding it in perfect condition and I thought Amazon had effectively followed through on my complaint. However, I was wrong. When I looked inside, the end of the second issue ended with a page from a later issue, only to lead into the wrong issue (number 4). Below are some examples of some of the misprinting in the comic.
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2017
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