Harpoon-Handed: Aquaman by Peter David, Book 1

Review:

To celebrate the recent release of the movie Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, I am revisiting some past Aquaman stories in graphic novel format and posting reviews.

It's hard to believe that thirty years have passed since Peter David crafted some of the finest Aquaman stories of all time. After three decades, they still hold water. They are a perfect blend of strong, tender, fun, deeply moving tales of love and loss, courage and pain, risk and consequences.

Peter David wrote more than fifty issues of Aquaman stories, in both limited and ongoing series. Book one of his collected works came out around the time of the first Jason Momoa Aquaman film and tied in nicely, with the long-haired, bearded, ferocious version of Aquaman straight from David's imagination.

The four-issue Time and Tide mini-series starts off this collection. David uses the motif of Aquaman writing the next chapters of the Atlantis Chronicles history book (a nod to an earlier Peter David mini-series about Atlantis sans Aquaman). It becomes an opportunity, a springboard to dive in and re-imagine key aspects of Aquaman's origins. His first "super-heroic" acts and the public reaction (guest-starring the Flash); how he was raised by dolphins; his first love, an Inuit girl named Kako; his discovery of his own true origins.

The depth of Peter David's storytelling, his deft touch at stirring in just the right amount of drama, tension, romance, humor and violence, make these four chapters a classic in their own right. Kirk Jarvinen's art is smooth and flowing, filled with breath-takingly dramatic conflicts when necessary while also conveying and carrying so much of the emotional power of the series.

The rest of the book contains the first nine issues (#0 to 8) of Peter David's legendary run on the Aquaman ongoing series. It includes the instant-classic #2 in which he loses his hand to voracious piranhas. It was a shocking development 30 years ago and packs as much punch still today.

The replacement prosthetic, the harpoon hand, is such a strong visual element, and artist Marty Egeland shows it off in such diverse ways, as a weapon, a threat, an inconvenience. But never a handicap. The flowing long hair on Aquaman, Dolphin, Koryak and others is beautifully rendered, whether on land, in the air or under water and adds to the richness of these images. The men are rugged and handsome, the women are hot and sexy yet unbendingly strong of their own right, the creatures are sleek and beautiful and ferocious.

Aqualad is a regular, more as comic relief initially until later issues when he gets a story arc of his own. Dolphin is set up to become a sidekick, yet stands strong, and mostly silent, showing she takes second to no one, whether hero or romantic competitor.

This first book is awesome from cover to cover. Five capes!

Description:

Re-experience the beginning of Peter David's iconic run on Aquaman, which shaped the life of Atlantis' most famous citizen for years to come, in AQUAMAN BY PETER DAVID BOOK ONE.

Here begins Arthur Curry's recollection of the epic journey that led him to become the mythical superhero we know as Aquaman. Since his dramatic debut in the 1940s, Aquaman has gone from admired hero to legendary icon. Able to breathe in both air and water, the King of the Seven Seas has fought villainy from the deepest depths of the oceans to the outer limits of the galaxy. He is unquestionably one of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen, but his rise to power was not easy.

Collects: Aquaman: Time and Tide #1-4 and Aquaman #0-8. Also includes an introduction by Peter David

Authors: Peter David
Artists: 
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: Feb. 13 2018
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN: 978-1401277468
Pages: 320 pages