New writer Will Pfeifer sets aside the supernatural, mythic qualities that served as this title's foundation when it was relaunched and establishes a grim tone that's undeniably intriguing. Also serving as a boost to the book is the new art team. Patrick Gleason and Christian Alamy bring a stunning level of detail to bear here to reinforce the horror that's at the heart of this new plotline. Overall, I'd have to say this is quite a good issue... save for one key element:
The story title. My God, but that's a bad choice. The corny play on words, paying tribute to one of the most shallow of U.S. media phenomena, makes no sense. The pun implies a playful, light tone, and that's a far cry from the tragedy and mystery around which this plot revolves. Fortunately, that criticism is reserved for only two words in the entire comic.
The West Coast of the United States is very different today than it was a month ago. Back then, San Diego was a thriving city, world reknowned for its zoo, a naval base and pleasant weather. Now, half of the city lies underwater, as do the millions of people who went about their lives on one fateful day. Weeks after the crisis, the cause is still unknown, those responsible still as yet unidentified. But a smaller mystery catches the attention of a couple of medical professionals as well as one Atlantean: the Justice Leager known as Aquaman. A little boy thought lost in the tragedy is found alive, but only briefly. They set out to discover why the boy didn't die a month ago, and why he did die just now.
The book opens with the perfect visual... more of an oddity than something shocking, but it sets up the big reveal in the page 2/3 splash. With Sept.11 still fresh in our minds, it's the sort of overwhelming tragedy that we just almost wrap our heads around. Gleason does an incredible job of offering visuals designs to trigger an emotional response in the reader. He takes us back to the disbelief and despair. He uses unusual points of view that add drama to the storytelling, and they emphasize the unusual nature of what's going on. He doesn't shy away from detail during the autopsy scene in the latter part of the issue, reinforcing the ugliness and tragedy of what's going on. Gleason's work here reminds me of the style of Howard Porter, but whereas I usually didn't care for the latter's work on JLA a few years ago, Gleason's work, while just as wide in scope and rich in detail, is a little more restrained and grounded, and therefore, far more pleasing to this reader's eye.
Pfeifer offers up Aquaman by way of CSI with his debut issue... not a bad idea, really. The title character is treated as a sort of specialist, the guy us air breathers turn to when we need some perspective on what's going on underneath the surface of the world. I'm also struck by the fact that the writer sets aside the us-versus-them take on Aquaman that's dominated the character over the years. The differences between Atlanteans and humans and the crimes they perpetrate against one another are not mentioned. Aquaman's pain and sadness here arise from a kinship with humans.
