Aquaman #25 - Geoff Johns
Admittedly, I haven't read Aquaman since Throne Of Atlantis; excluding the fantastic "Villain's Month" tie-ins. I just never had to money to commit to a book I wasn't fully invested in despite myself enjoying most of the Aquaman comics I've read over the past year and the character's badassery in Justice League Unlimited. Regardless, the reason I even read Aquaman #25 is because Geoff Johns is ending his fantastic run and if it's anything like Green Lantern: The End, it would probably be fantastic; my prediction was correct.
The issue features Arthur (Aquaman) taking his last stand against the Dead King who has declared rule over Atlantis and has Mera imprisoned. To finally finish this battle, Aquaman and Vulko find an ancient scepter and use it to control "The Trench" to break Mera out of her imprisonment and vanquish the Dead King. I'm not going to talk too much about the plot, mainly because I was slightly confused. However, that's not to say that there are some surprises and fights or battles that are brilliant; there are plenty of large-scale events. As soon as this final trade is releasing, I'm buying that day one. Aquaman's finale was huge, epic and very long-lasting with a great cliffhanger that ties into one of the Villain's Month issues. Aquaman #25 also further develops the relationship between Arthur and Mera, which has always been a fantastic part of the series. We've seen them go through many emotional obstacles over the course of the New 52, but in they end they always somehow prevail; they're always there for one another. Overall, the story of Aquaman #25, what I understood of it, was simple and enjoyable.
My only problem with Aquaman #25 is the artwork, sort-of. It sometimes, for lack of a better term, loses it's identity. I don't know if this has to do with Rod Reis's colors or Paul Pelletier's pencils but they sometimes don't blend well together. Some panels are "too busy" with a lot of lines, while other "large scale" scenes have the perfect balance between detail and color. Regardless, it's still an incredible job by the whole art team.
Despite not completely understanding Aquaman, it's a great book and definitely worth of the $3.99 cover price. If you've been seeing those articles stating that DC Entertainment is hoping to saturate Aquaman with the mainstream audience THIS BOOK PROVES WHY. Buy it.
8/10
Damian: Son Of Batman #2 - Andy Kubert
Okay. Let's take a second to think. Damian Wayne has been killed off in the DC Universe, so to fill the void in fans' hearts, DC releases this new mini-series by Andy Kubert. This mini-series focuses on an older Damian Wayne who's going to become the next Batman...sounds awesome, right? Except it doesn't, because this book sucks.
This book not only has a really boring and quite bad plot, but the dialogue is extremely cheesy and plain; there's no sense of suspense or characterization. Damian is written terribly and the dialogue is pretty bad. The plot consists of Bruce Wayne returning from the dead ready to give Damian quite the mouthful about executing Batman's greatest villains until Damian fights back and almost kills Bruce to which Alfred tells him to get out. Afterwards, Damian talks to a priest in a chapel (since when was he remotely religious) about where he should go in life and his sins and all that crap. Also, the thing I hate most about the priest is that he looks like Jim Gordon and acts like it, but they don't reveal whether or not he's actually Jim Gordon. This book, it's just flat out bad. There's almost no redeeming qualities except for the artwork.
Andy Kubert's artwork is great...on one condition; you don't mind the horrendous facial expressions. His work is amazingly detailed and and features some very smooth colors by Brad Anderson, however he just needs to practice on his face work! Also in the art department, I actually dig the new Batman outfit that Damian creates. On the other hand, it's a giant trenchcoat; superhero outfits are designed with function and it's nearly impossible for Batman to do his thing in a giant trenchcoat. To summarize, Damian: Son Of Batman #2 has decent artwork with bad faces.
Overall, there's just so little to like about Damian: Son Of Batman and that's really a shame because I usually like Damian Wayne and everything he's in; this comic has zero characterization. It's a shame, really. It could've been a super-cool Elseworlds story like Injustice: Gods Among Us but it is instead a flop that we'll forget in less than a year, muchlike Batman: Odyssey.
2.5/10
You can click here to read my review of The Flash #25. A Zero Year tie-in!