DC's New 52: Reviews and Discussion (Spoilers welcolme and likely)

Well, I wouldn't say I'm an Aquaman "fan", (a fan of Mera,for sure! but the comics certainly gave me a bit more interest in the character as the books are very well done. He's a little less lame in my mind now.

 

I still want an Mera ongoing.

 

^that might be cool. at the very least a mini about her origins and first encounter with Aquaman would be nice.

 

Someone who is breaking free of the nearly 20yrs of cliched SuperFriends jokes that he's lame and "only talks to fish".
You're discovering the why's of how he's been a DC heavyhitter for 70yrs for a reason.

 

Wasn't there talk of an Aquaman: Secret Origin story? I seem to remember Johns saying that we would get at least two more Secret Origin stories? One for the Flash as well. I assume Mera's origins would be explored in that...of course this was before the New 52 hit.

 

it's not easy being an Aquaman fan. yeah, the Super Friends jokes get old. i dunno, just like underwater stuff and underwater heroes like Aquaman and Namor. i'm just glad to see he's finally getting some time in the sun. don't think he's had this much exposure since the Peter David days.

 

I loved the restaurant scene in issue one. Everyone thinks that Aquaman is going to bust them up because it is a seafood restaurant! And when the guy says, how does it feel to be nobody's favorite hero, I cracked up. I really enjoyed this book and hope that issue two is a little more serious--I will pick that up as soon as the price drops a dollar.

 

I kind of wish she replaced Aquaman as part of the Big 7. And I'm saying this as an Aquaman fan.

 

^ Agreed. Considering Johns affection for her I'm surprised this didn't happen.

 

Ok, I'm clearly out of touch. The first thing I ever read where Mera played any sort of prominent role was Blackest Night. Granted, I've never really given Aquaman a chance before now. Anyone care to explain where the huge fan love comes from?

 

Geoff Johns Johns through writing Mera discovered just how bad ass a character Aquaman really was. I've actually always been an Aquaman fan, though that comes from Peter David's run and Grant Morrison's bad ass version of Arthur in JLA. Along with the Arthurian version in "Kingdom Come".

 

The very same Geoff Johns that everyone has been viciously hating on all throughout this thread?

 

Kera tu Dikat!

 

@OdoWanKenobi...the very same writer!!!

 

Speak for yourself. I haven't hated on Johns at all.

 

I don't hate Johns. I just have been critical of his recent works on GL.

 

I've personally been critical his work recently. This is kind of mean, but I feel like he's kind of buying into his own hype. Ever since Green Lantern Rebirth. He was extremely good at reinventing old characters and concepts. JSA had never been a top seller, Flash's rogues are now mentioned in the same sentence as Batman and Spider-Man's, Green Lantern and Infinite Crisis (which reintroduced the Multi-Verse) sold very well. I feel like since then, he's been doing the same time of thing, where every story has to "CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT _______." I hate that kind of story telling. I'd love for Johns to whittle his work load back a bit and focus and telling good stories. Right now he doesn't even seem like a writer any more, but a hype machine.

However, I will say that I loved his portrayal of Mera.

 

^Johns is okay. I wish he hadn't gotten so big. Not because I have anything against him, but he's not a formalist in the way the game-changers of old were, your Frank Millers and Alan Moores, or even John Byrnes. He's just, you know, competent. And competence is nothing to sneeze at, but it's also nothing to elevate. And in many regards--not just workload--I think Johns has been the victim of his own success, in that he's not been pushed to exceed his limitations. I don't think he has any ambition to revolutionize the genre, let alone the medium, like Miller, Moore, Morrison, or other people whose names start with M did.

If anything, I'd say the best direct comparison is probably Chris Claremont, but even that doesn't work, because in a lot of ways Claremont did revolutionize the form. And, beyond that, Johns' latterday work lacks much of the heart that Claremont's did. I'd say it lacks the patience, too, but that's not Johns, that's the audience.

And in a way he's too, I don't know, aware of the audience? Like, for example...

Now if only its writer had broken free from that too.

***

Now all that said, there's the subversion and hints of dissatisfaction in his Justice League and Green Lantern that please me. If I may be allowed to project a little, I can almost hear him thinking "My work's really been a bit complacent, isn't it? But what if I got a little wacky?"

Heck, even Aquaman has this sort of feel, it just didn't quite land.

 

i don't hate Johns at all. i do agree he's kinda ran out of steam on GL since Blackest Night though. loved his run on JSA.

 

I don't think that I've read anything that Geoff Johns has ever written.