Review: Aquaman/Green Arrow: Deep Target #5
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Brandon Thomas
Art: Ronan Cliquet
Colors: Ulises Arreola
Letters: Josh Reed
Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd
Summary
Aquaman and Green Arrow er…uh, Oliver Curry and Arthur Queen are finally learn what’s going on as they attempt to escape the Planet of the Lizards! (Rod Serling is around here somewhere, isn’t he?)
Positives
As we saw at the end of issue #4, our heroic duo returned to an Earth on which giant humanoid lizards were the dominant species. Clearly inspired by Pierre Boulle‘s novel and subsequent film adaptation, Planet of the Apes, Aquaman/ Green Arrow: Deep Target #5 seems to cast General Anderton (I SWEAR he was General AnderSON in issue #1…) as a Dr. Zaius sort, except Zaius never asked Astronaut George Taylor for help, and here the lizard version of Anderton is ASKING Arthur and Ollie to help save them. Apparently, he didn’t intend to turn lizards into the dominant sentient species.
While we’ve talked about the obvious Silver Age qualities of story and this issue solidifies its connection to classic science fiction. Not only is this issue inspired by Planet of the Apes, but we see again as we saw in issue #1 that it is also playing on the butterfly effect that Ray Bradbury used in A Sound of Thunder and the dinosaurs, the dinosaurs! Brandon Thomas has pulled together lots of different inspirations into this series so that it isn’t just a riff on one thing, but a tip of the hat to numerous science fiction and comic book stories from the past.
Additionally, the General finally explains what’s been going on in order to get Oliver and Ollie to help him fix it. It’s exposition, but it’s necessary and it’s necessary for our duo to hear it before agreeing to help. It doesn’t come across as villainous posturing or over talking. It’s quite natural and well executed. The flying dinosaur’s are a great addition. Whether on Marco Santucci’s cover or on the interiors by Ronan Cliquet, they are a surefire fun moment. It’s another visual that recalls a classic comic book maxim- gorillas or dinosaurs on covers sell comics!
Negatives
Nothing stands out here, as a matter of fact, last issue’s concern over Scorpio’s motivation is cleared up rather nicely this issue.
Verdict
Aquaman/Green Arrow: Deep Target #5 may be the best issue of the series. Brandon Thomas takes the hook out of the reader’s mouth as he reveals Scorpio’s motivations, but we’re willing to stay around because the creative team has developed a fun and exciting tale rife with classic science fiction references.
