I knew writer Kurt Busiek was taking this series in a new direction, given the addendum made to the title itself, but I had no idea the book and the title character would be transformed quite so radically. Busiek's work on Dark Horse's Conan is serving him well here. Although the story is set in the present day (or, I suppose, "One Year Later"), Busiek uses the undersea world as a raw, untamed backdrop where warriors thrust spears into the flesh of their enemies. It's a world of magic and mayhem, but Busiek wisely brings it down to earth thanks to the title character's dialogue and attitude. Guice's sketchy style suits the barbarian-genre qualities of the story quite well, and the colors really convey the dark, murky depths of the ocean setting.
It's been a year since the Infinite Crisis and the destruction of Atlantis, and a savage ocean storm wreaks havoc on a coastal oceanography lab. Amid the carnage, a special holding tank is ruptured and an unusual specimen floats out to sea. He is Arthur Curry, a young man whose father saved his life as a child by turning him into a water-breather, but his incredible resemblance to the super-hero and undersea monarch known as Aquaman is inexplicable. This young water-breather is summoned by a mysterious aquatic wizard to join forces with a notorious water-faring villain for a mission of the utmost importance.
I was a big fan of Butch Guice's work on the Abnett/Lanning-penned Resurrection Man series, but he surprised me with his much more polished work on Crossgen's Ruse not long after. Guice embraces his rougher style once again, and it's clear why he was chosen to handle this assignment. Busiek has crafted a modern barbarian/quest story here, and Guice's raw, Joe Kubert-esque style suits the untamed nature of the backdrop and characters. Brown's colors clearly set out to establish not only how dark and murky the depths are, but how dark and foreboding the story is going to be. Only Todd Klein would come up with lettering motifs that convey the telepathic and mystical tone of the story as well, and his word balloons add to the art instead of interfering with it.
From the Mignola-esque squid-like wizard to the swarming, green-skinned depth-dwellers, this story is filled with fantastic alien life from which it is easy to feel disconnected. The story is one of a quest filled with brutality and purple prose, but Busiek wisely incorporates characters with which we can identify. Despite his success in battle and unusual physiology, Arthur boasts a grounded, likable personality. His shark-like ally also boasts a down-to-earth attitude, albeit it a rougher one.
This script's greatest strength is the mystery that's inherent in the "One Year Later" approach. Busiek makes the most of the concept, reinventing the title character while casting aside nothing of his past history. The script keeps the reader asking who this new, younger Aquaman is, but I found I was more preoccupied with what happened to the original. Busiek really drives home the notion that something critical and important has happened, and not just in Aquaman's corner of the world. I don't know how long the creators on this book plan to stretch out the suspense, but I have to admit I rather hope they don't let the cat out of the bag too soon. 7/10
