[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Dan Abnett
Penciller: Scot Eaton
Inker: Wayne Faucher
Colorist: Gabe Eltaeb
Summary
Aquaman is on his way to addressing the United Nations when he again feels that disturbance in his Aquatelepathy. Â Warily, he continues on to the address and experiences a moment at the beginning in which he sees someone who clearly shouldn’t be in the room, but is only visible to Aquaman himself. Â He finishes his address and as he’s leaving, he has another vision of this same individual. Â He follows the man who isn’t really there.
This takes Aquaman to Beckman College, where we saw Warhead last issue attempting to make contact with Aquaman. Â Aquaman has to carefully disarm more innocents being controlled to get to Warhead. Â Along the way, Aquaman learns his name and gets the sense that Warhead is looking for help, despite the use of mind controlled pawns. Â He finally gets to Warhead and there is an explosion and carnage. Â Aquaman believes this to be another vision at first. Â He then realizes it’s real.
Positives
Scot Eaton’s pencils stand out this issue, giving the book a different look than either Brad Walker or Philippe Briones.  The adoring crowds gathered outside the U.N. hoping to see Aquaman represent a big shift in the perception of Aquaman within the DC Universe.  He seems to have quickly developed a Cult of Personality.  This could prove to be the basis for a future story.
Naming Aquaman’s telepathy with an “Aqua-” qualifier recalls the campiness of the Batman television show from the ’60’s. Â It’s a curious choice, but is endearing in that it reminds the reader that no matter how bad-ass Aquaman seems, this is still a comic book and should be fun at its core. Â Exploring the aspects of Aquaman’s telepathy is a way of eliminating the pop-culture derision heaped upon this power by watering it down to “talking to fish.”
Negatives
At this point, Warhead seems fairly one-dimensional, with Aquaman’s perception of what’s going on adding a much needed layer to Warhead’s unknown motivation. Â Should Warhead prove to be less than Aquaman’s perception it will retroactively sink this arc’s gravitas. Â It appears that if Aquaman is right, there’s a bigger issue going on that will resonate with current world politics and even suggest a role for Aquaman’s “New 52” team, The Others.
Verdict
As with any part one of a new story arc, there are lots of unanswered questions. Â The potential is there for a great story that moves Aquaman even further into the realm of a political thriller. Â It’s been a theme from issue #1, and it seems that it will continue for the good of the character.
