COMIC BOOK REVIEW - Aquaman and the Others: Alignment Earth
With streaming services being able to now tell tales of characters who reside in the backgrounds of many comic books, it appears that now is the perfect time to introduce the World to unknown teams. Although Aquaman has always been an integral member of the Justice League, the New 52 introduced us to ‘The Others’, a team that Arthur Curry belonged to, before he reached the global stage. In the previous novel, “Legacy Of Gold” we see the backstory to how ‘the Others’ gained their Atlantean artefacts and became a team.
“Alignment Earth” is a very different novel from its predecessor. With Aquaman keen that the team attempt to stick together in order to fulfil the very purpose they started with, the Others must put aside their individual missions, which proves difficult to do. However, when “The Operative” is attacked on a mission by KGBeast and Cheshire, Aquaman steps in to save the day. Evident that a group of villains has combined forces to take control of a nuclear base, Aquaman and the Others set about to stop them. But when certain members of the team are compromised, is victory still assured for Arthur Curry? The last two issues of the novel were from the Future’s End one-off which showed Aquaman and his team having to go up against King Atlan, the original owner of all their Atlantean treasures.
Given that this novel was the final one in the series, it really endorsed itself as a team book. With “Legacy of Gold” I felt that they were still individuals doing their own thing, but in “Alignment Earth”, the tone shifted. I saw Aquaman as a natural leader, and everyone respected his authority. Whether or not it was because he’s King of Atlantis I’m not sure. You also got to see Mera warm up to the team, which was nice to see. I think that this series could have had more potential if it had continued.
The artwork was good and generally, there were no complaints from me. There were several panels where it felt a tad bit sloppy. The covers, on the other hand, drawn by Ivan Reis, were awesome, and there are no complaints there. Overall, this was an interesting series which showed that DC had the capability of creating stories to expand Aquaman’s lore, lore that is often forgotten compared to Superman and Batman.
Favourite Panel:
Oh man, everyone’s firing these shots. Doesn’t look like he’s having it!
Favourite Character:
I’m not just saying this because he’s the main character, but it has to be Aquaman. His ability as a team leader really shines here.
Rating:
Story Arc: ★★½
Character Development: ★★★½
Artwork: ★★★
Enjoyability: ★★★
Re-readability: ★★½
Level: Intermediate