DWEarhart
12-06-2006, 08:34 PM
This tale of underwater majesty is brought to us by Kurt Busiek filling on all those white bubbles with funny words, and Phil Winslade filling in for Butch Guice who does draw the prologue, but may I say Phil Winslade brought his A-game.
Prologue: Butch Guice is pencilling this. King Shark and our newest Aquaman are sword sparring. King Shark is teaching Arthur how to make better use of his sword and body as weapons. In a cave dictates The Dweller of the Depths (who speculated as being the original Aquaman), magically, notes on a rock. King Shark is reminded of the old Aquaman by the mannerisms of The Dweller, and he recalls how he really didn't like the old Aquaman, and what made him feel that way.
There's a hand off in pencillers here which I will talk about later, and how it's happened more than once.
Past: Phil Winslade enters with a bang, a gorgeous splash page of two giant turtles pulling an under-ocean chariot over a coral reef town known as Reef's End. The passengers of the chariot are the original Aquaman, Mera, and Vulko. They are on a tour, visiting local towns and such, inspecting their businesses, public matters, safety issues. Reef's end has some serious safety issues.
We are watching Arthur Curry (original) at his most diplomatic, and the way Winslade draws him, coupled with the coloring, reminds me of greatly of Michael Moorcock's Elric.
Their guide, Jesset Clesion, a trading agent and the town's emissary has infromed the trio that the fourth murder in one week has happened. This is following up the town's reputation as being a bit cruel.
At the Dragon's Den, Aquaman requests that he inspect the body. The tavern's owner, a scaley gold fish with a bad attitude looking thing named Ptero expresses his feelings about Aquaman's presence with intense sarcasm.
Vulko inspects the body. It's head has been bitten off. Ptero informs the royal group that the killer, King Shark, is upstairs with one of his ladies, and he has the head with him.
King Shark decides to get rough with the girl, Nenomi, shocks him with her hair, and they're about to fight when Arthur busts in. He and King Shark fight. Shark loses on account of unconsciousness by drunkeness.
The decapitated head bears a marking of an old order, the Thorny Crowns. They protected the realms pre-Atlantis days. They disappeared, but prophesised their return.
Clesion informs Arthur that King Shark escaped. Mera gives him her blessing to go and find him while she remains and investigates the Thorny Crown mystery. Vulko is enters Nenomi's room, and she believes he is there for her type of business while he boasts that he is there for his own business. She is startled, Vulko takes a strike to the back of his head, and King Shark is back. He says that Vulko knows too much, and is too close to the right answers, and he vows to bight his head off.
To be continued....
The art both Guice's and Wade's gave the book an aged feeling, you could sense what was present and what was past while staying realtive to one another's style. The inks, colors, everything helped this story come across as well as it did. This was a pure underwater adventure, nothing more. The kind that used to happen on a regular basis in the sixties and seventies, but keeping it in a modern perspective.
The switching pencillers schtick wasn't the only book to use two pencillers for two points of views. As Guice was the present and Winslade handled the past, over in Ion #8 (review here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=154949), Paco Diaz and Yvel Guichet pull a similar stunt. Yvel handles the Monitor's scene who fill us in on what's been happening with Kyle, then, Paco assumes artist duty when we go where Kyle is currently. Both of these issues had their regular artists off so they could play catch up on future issues. It's a good idea, especially if the artists are given a specific section and not just alternating pages and panels. It adds depth overall to the story, I think.
A good issue that gets a lot of characters involved, and eases up some tension for those wanting the old Aquaman around in his original form. It also shows us a different neck of the ocean, and lets us see Arthur fulfilling his obligations as a king.
Prologue: Butch Guice is pencilling this. King Shark and our newest Aquaman are sword sparring. King Shark is teaching Arthur how to make better use of his sword and body as weapons. In a cave dictates The Dweller of the Depths (who speculated as being the original Aquaman), magically, notes on a rock. King Shark is reminded of the old Aquaman by the mannerisms of The Dweller, and he recalls how he really didn't like the old Aquaman, and what made him feel that way.
There's a hand off in pencillers here which I will talk about later, and how it's happened more than once.
Past: Phil Winslade enters with a bang, a gorgeous splash page of two giant turtles pulling an under-ocean chariot over a coral reef town known as Reef's End. The passengers of the chariot are the original Aquaman, Mera, and Vulko. They are on a tour, visiting local towns and such, inspecting their businesses, public matters, safety issues. Reef's end has some serious safety issues.
We are watching Arthur Curry (original) at his most diplomatic, and the way Winslade draws him, coupled with the coloring, reminds me of greatly of Michael Moorcock's Elric.
Their guide, Jesset Clesion, a trading agent and the town's emissary has infromed the trio that the fourth murder in one week has happened. This is following up the town's reputation as being a bit cruel.
At the Dragon's Den, Aquaman requests that he inspect the body. The tavern's owner, a scaley gold fish with a bad attitude looking thing named Ptero expresses his feelings about Aquaman's presence with intense sarcasm.
Vulko inspects the body. It's head has been bitten off. Ptero informs the royal group that the killer, King Shark, is upstairs with one of his ladies, and he has the head with him.
King Shark decides to get rough with the girl, Nenomi, shocks him with her hair, and they're about to fight when Arthur busts in. He and King Shark fight. Shark loses on account of unconsciousness by drunkeness.
The decapitated head bears a marking of an old order, the Thorny Crowns. They protected the realms pre-Atlantis days. They disappeared, but prophesised their return.
Clesion informs Arthur that King Shark escaped. Mera gives him her blessing to go and find him while she remains and investigates the Thorny Crown mystery. Vulko is enters Nenomi's room, and she believes he is there for her type of business while he boasts that he is there for his own business. She is startled, Vulko takes a strike to the back of his head, and King Shark is back. He says that Vulko knows too much, and is too close to the right answers, and he vows to bight his head off.
To be continued....
The art both Guice's and Wade's gave the book an aged feeling, you could sense what was present and what was past while staying realtive to one another's style. The inks, colors, everything helped this story come across as well as it did. This was a pure underwater adventure, nothing more. The kind that used to happen on a regular basis in the sixties and seventies, but keeping it in a modern perspective.
The switching pencillers schtick wasn't the only book to use two pencillers for two points of views. As Guice was the present and Winslade handled the past, over in Ion #8 (review here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=154949), Paco Diaz and Yvel Guichet pull a similar stunt. Yvel handles the Monitor's scene who fill us in on what's been happening with Kyle, then, Paco assumes artist duty when we go where Kyle is currently. Both of these issues had their regular artists off so they could play catch up on future issues. It's a good idea, especially if the artists are given a specific section and not just alternating pages and panels. It adds depth overall to the story, I think.
A good issue that gets a lot of characters involved, and eases up some tension for those wanting the old Aquaman around in his original form. It also shows us a different neck of the ocean, and lets us see Arthur fulfilling his obligations as a king.