Review: Aquaman Vol. 2- The Others

Quick Summary

Pros: New characters and information are introduced in a way that does not feel like an introduction at all. Aquaman continues to shine as an absolutely amazing character.

Cons: Not many, some will come down to personal preference. Some readers may end up being confused at points with how fast introductions go.

Overall: This book is another great installment in this chapter of Aquaman’s history. It improves on what came before it while also managing to build up excitement for the future. Readers who enjoyed the first volume will be even more satisfied with this one.

Story

It is almost hard to believe how much content is packed into these seven issues. Large portions of Aquaman’s past are revealed, The Others are introduced for the first time ever, each member of The Others receives a significant backstory, Black Manta’s plans are carried out in full, and Aquaman continues to receive significantly more character development and backstory. Even while this all happens, nothing seems to be forced, rushed, or out of place. Many comics would see their story suffer in order to accommodate all of this, yet Aquaman Vol. 2: The Others is brilliant and beautiful. Overall it is truly impressive how well this story was pulled off, hopefully it will continue to be this great with Volume 3.

(spoilers start here)

In the last volume, the focus was on Aquaman and Mera’s personalities and how they are as people. This volume switches the focus over to do some fantastic worldbuilding. Readers dig deeper into Aquaman’s past and personality while also being exposed to essential pieces of lore for this series; Black Manta, The Others, the history of Atlantis, and the Atlantian artifacts are all introduced. However, this is all done in a way that seems completely natural, it does not feel like an introduction at all. Many comics will take an longer and more drawn out approach to introduce elements like these, this comic uses the immersion tactic so that you receive all the information you need simply by reading the story. This means the reader can skip heavy narrations focused on giving information and simply enjoy the adventure.

Another great piece of this work is how Aquaman is portrayed. Typically, members of the Justice League are shown as being pretty infallible, they always do the right thing and would never kill someone. Here we see Aquaman angry, lying, conflicted, and we even see him killing. He is a flawed and realistic character. This adds another layer to the already impressive levels of character development that Johns has been working with in this series. The best part of this ends up being his decision to let Black Manta live; the reader can feel the internal struggle Aquaman goes through when he makes this decision.

This story also features a large success in continuing to build upon itself. The first volume had to do a little introduction work in order to set up this one, however this allows this volume to be as great as it is. This volume then does some very subtle setup work for Volume 3. This is the mark of a good series, it is able to tell a good story in each book while simultaneously getting you excited for the next one.

There really is not much to complain about in this collection, however this will vary from person to person. Some may find the way The Others are introduced to be a little bit jarring because of how quickly it happens. I personally think it is much more effective introduction but I can see the other side as well. Really if you liked how everything went down in the first volume than you will most likely enjoy this volume even more.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The art is very similar to the art that is in Aquaman Vol. 1: The Trench (Review), so make sure to check that review to see a more thorough examination of the art.

Continuity

Aquaman Vol. 2: The Others continues the story started in Aquaman Vol. 1: The Trench (Review).

The story here continues in Aquaman Vol. 3: Throne of Atlantis (Review).

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Some references are made here to Aquaman being in the Justice League. To see how he ended up in the Justice League make sure to read Justice League Vol. 1: Origin (Review).