Aquaman #16 Review

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Paul Pelletier

As I said in my Justice League #16 review, I wasn't originally planing to review this issue, but as I'm wanting to review the final issue in the crossover I thought that I might as well review the other two issues, and have a complete review on the storyline, which has been very enjoyable.

Plot

With the Justice League out of play Cyborg has had to make a drastic decision, acquiring new temporary members as reinforcements. Also there is a shocking twist to the story.

Review

This was a brilliant issue, and although it wasn't as good as Justice League #16 it was still a very good issue. Geoff Johns has done a fabulous job on this series, and he continues with this storyline. What I've loved about this story is that both this series, and Justice League have a very different feel to each other, as Justice League focuses on the bulk of the action, whereas this series doesn't have as much action taking the story away from the fight against the Atlanteans to delve deeper into the story, and focus more on Aquaman than the story already does. As I half said in the last sentence, although there isn't as much action in this issue, it does develop the story more than the last issue, which is very nice.

The art in this issue was very good, and Paul Pelletier has done a decent job. Pelletier has proven over these last couple of issues to be a good replacement for Ivan Reis, and although it's nowhere near as good as Reis' art it is still very good, and shows that the series is in good hands for the future. The detail in Pelletier's art is brilliant, as he really puts a lot of effort into it, especially when drawing The Trench, which isn't any worse than the way Reis drew them. I also like the emotion he puts into the characters, as it really helps to show how the characters are feeling, especially in the fight sequences.

The last issue showed that Cyborg has expanded the Justice League, all be it temporary. This was a very interesting thing to follow in to this issue, as it's showing the coming of the Justice League of America series. It also shows that the seven members of the Justice League, or in this case five aren't always enough to win the fight, as if Cyborg didn't call in the reinforcements there probably wouldn't be anything for the remaining League members to return to. I also liked that Cyborg was able to take charge, as this shows the potential for a brilliant Cyborg related story sometime in the future.

I also found the upgrades to Cyborg interesting. Although it's obvious that Cyborg can be upgraded it hasn't really been shown so far, so it was nice seeing it happen now. It was also interesting to see that Cyborg was willing to take away a bit more of his remaining humanity to help save the Justice League, and end this war.

Whilst this is happening Aquaman breaks of a ice pod, and finds out that Batman is also in one. Aquaman takes Batman's pod along with him as they search for Wonder Woman, and Superman communicating along the way, but Aquaman also has to deal with the Trench along the way.It was interesting to see that Batman wanted out of the pod, and I would have thought that he wouldn't need Aquaman to tell him that his suit wouldn't be able to take the pressure of the water around him. Besides that this was a very interesting sequence which produced some brilliant action, and a lovely conversation between Aquaman, and Batman.

Although I said that this issue developed the story more than the last issue, the reason it sin't quite as good as the Justice League issue is the lack of action, and the art. As I said I loved Pelleteir's artwork, but I couldn't rate it as high as Reis' so have to knock something of for that, and although I liked seeing the development of the story I much preferred the fight sequences in the last issue, and also thought that this issue wasn't as good due to the lack of appearance from Ocean Master. It wasn't far of though, and it was minor things that dropped the rating.

I'll finish by talking a bit about the ending. Like usual I won't go into details to avoid spoilers, but I will say that it was a very shocking, and surprising turn of events, and adds ton's of suspense for the final issue.

Final Verdict

This was a tremendous issue, and this has been a fabulous storyline. I'd highly recommend this issue, and the story, as they have both been phenomenal, and I'd also recommend the other issue in both this series, and Justice League, as both series have been brilliant before this storyline.

Rating: 4.5/5