Aquaman and the Others is a bit of a slow issue this week, unless you are really involved in The Others lives. With Prisoner of War now completely engulfed by the ghost hostage, he attacks his friends and turns back to his old ways.
Dan Jurgens unfortunately doesn’t deliver much in this issue. It’s gone way off topic of the original story line and is now just a jumbled back story of the rouge characters’ lives. Unless you are invested in all the characters of this story, the series is really not inspiring anything interesting in the plot line. Its heavy texted panels make the story drag on with a few witty comments that slightly save the mood. Though written well, this story reads more like a novel than a comic should.
Lan Medina thankfully saves the issue with Matt Milla, Gabe Eltaeb and Allen Martinez delivering the outstanding quality of art. It’s a real shame that this story isn’t living up to the detailed artwork that’s really not shinning like it should be. With the all of two panels that Aquaman is actually in, it’s mostly dark hued pages that are focused on the war theme. With mythical items from the deep, I would have liked these artists to really have shown off just how beautiful their work can be and not be restricted to conventional weapons of war.
Positives
Not much is positive about this issue bar the artwork as always. The guys are a great team and have pulled through the beauty that the Aquaman series is known for but without a great story the artwork can only go so far.
Negatives
The mundane backstory that takes over this issue really killed reading the story for me. It was long and dragged through only a few characters not giving a chance for the whole cast to really shine. As well as the leader only appearing twice, I think that the focus of this comic is really lost. It’s not about Atlantian treasures anymore but has gotten rather political and with real life world crisis’s, I would expect an escape into comics is what people are looking for not more military themes to be shoved in their faces.
Verdict
Aquaman and the Others now faces the fact that they need to help their friends and figure out what to do with the team of villains who are still blocking them at each turn. Find out if Aquaman can stop the danger and possibly take control of his team again.
Rating
