Throne of Atlantis Event: Aquaman 15

Aquaman 15
Geoff Johns, Paul Pelletier

Throne of Atlantis Crossover

Spoiler alert! You have been warned!

We pick up right where the last issue of Justice League left off with this one, and it’s a full-steam ahead part of a surefire soon-to-be classic epic. Batman, Aquaman, and Mera save as many people as they can while Gotham City floods and kills what looks to be potentially hundreds of innocent citizens. Meanwhile, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Lois Lane (can anyone say awkward love triangle?) question the mysterious Vulco, who seems to be Atlantean and Superman’s former and current girlfriends have a battle of wits about how to treat this man who is one part perceived threat and one part hero savior. Then we move into a great scene where Aquaman and Batman have a rare heart-to-heart, even acknowledging that they don’t like each other or how they have led their respective “people” or the Justice League itself, building up to a great boiling point where Arthur actually yells at Bruce about dropping it. He reluctantly does, but not without having the final word about secrets growing until they break the team apart. Now if that’s not a classic case of “pot, meet kettle,” I don’t know what is. But that’s part of the brilliance of Geoff Johns as a writer.

The art takes a little bit of a hit this issue, but what do you expect when you have the brilliant Ivan Reis for the first part and the equally talented Pere Perez filling in pencils back in the epilogue? Still good, but I’ve always considered Paul Pelletier a bit of a poor man’s Mark Bagley, to be honest. But it doesn’t matter that much, because the action keeps this issue going and Johns is at the top of his game with a main character and supporting cast (and guest star team) that he is obviously passionate about.

The final pages of this issue give us a new look at Aquaman’s brother, Orm, on his way to being a great villain for the new DC Universe as he ruthlessly leads his attack on the surface world. We also get Batman giving Aquaman the benefit of the doubt, showing that their earlier conversation actually meant something to Bruce, giving him one chance to bring his brother in. But, lo and behold, Bats backs out on his word at the last minute and steps in with Wonder Woman and Superman at his side to bring Orm in by force. But before we the readers can call bullshit, Batman is stopped by Aquaman himself, putting him into a choke hold. Do we get a Batman VS Aquaman fight in the next issue? Oh, man. I sure hope so. That would rock. Here’s to hoping that this story keeps it up in the following issues!

My Rating: 4/5