Aquaman (Vol.8) Annual #2 - 2014

Comics Weekend "Born of Giants" by Jeff Parker, Yvel Guichet, Jason Gorder, Wayne Faucher, and Nathan Eyring.

Another annual so soon? It feels like it's been less than a year since the last one (and that's because it has), but who cares when you've got Aquaman teaming up with Wonder Woman, Mera teaming up with Wonder Woman, plus a horde of Harryhausen-esque mythological creatures?

After a boffo recap of Aquaman's previous tangle with these creatures from Hell, we now find the Sea King and Wonder Woman in a bad place:

How the Hera did our heroes end up in such a predicament? For that we have to go back a couple hours, with the beasties from Aquaman #s 29 and 30 having taken up residence in a castle in France, grabbing people off the streets and literally sucking the life out of them. Secretly on their trail are Aquaman and Wonder Woman, in their civilian guises:

A oh-so-helpful stranger offers to assist them find who they're looking for, but it doesn't take Wonder Woman any time at all to sniff out trouble. The head monster, the snake-like Celeana, is so confident in their ruse to lure strangers to their death, that she doesn't even realize who she's dealing with: the King of the Seven Seas and the Amazing Amazon!

Aquaman tries to convince Wonder Woman not to just slaughter these creatures, but it's difficult when your foes are so numerous and so savage. The battle spills out of the castle and into the public.

Celeana uses her powers to warp the minds of both heroes, so they suffer delusions as to where they are. Aquaman and Wonder Woman start fighting each other, giving another one of the monsters time to cover them in an icky goo, turning them to stone! Back in the present, it looks bad for the two Justice Leaguers, until the guy that started all this, Dr. Evans, shows up, wielding a magic talisman. He confronts Celeana, which allows the spell controlling Aquaman and Wonder Woman to wear off:

Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Dr. Evans take care of the rest of the monsters, with the latter vowing to try and make up for the havoc he wreaked on the Earth by carelessly opening that hellish portal. Wonder Woman receives a message from Superman, and the two heroes split up, heading for separate adventures.

A few days later, Wonder Woman is on the Aegean Sea, back on the trail of some of the creatures who got away. But, again, she's not going it alone:

Waiting for them on a remote island is a nest of horrible creatures who, without the aid of any sort of magic, have been doing it Old School: grabbing tourists right off the boats and killing them. For a moment, Wonder Woman tries to talk with the head monster, asking if there wasn't another way they could survive, minus all the murdering and eating. The deal is rejected, so Wonder Woman and Mera go to work.

After a short battle, Mera opens a tunnel in the water to a still-active volcano. Wonder Woman dives into it, causing it to erupt. Mera uses her powers to create a whirlpool, dumping all the monsters into the fiery pit:

...The End!

As I have stated before, I have been enjoying Jeff Parker's Ray Harryhausen-esque take on Aquaman. It feels like a natural fit, and while Black Manta and Ocean Master are great bad guys, it's nice to be able to tell a different kind of story involving the Sea King. Yvel Guichet has shown an ability to handle fantasy characters and settings well, and he continues that work here. All you really needed to get the full effect was a "Produced by Charles H. Schneer" credit at the front, and some Bernard Herrmann music playing as you read it.

I also liked the bifurcated-yet-connected stories, allowing us two distinct team-ups. Outside of Blackest Night, Mera really hasn't had much chance to interact with the rest of the DCU in her fifty year(!) history, so I'm always up for a little Mera: Brave and the Bold action.

Aquaman Annual #2 Layouts by Yvel Guichet

Here are two pages of super-cool pencil layouts for Aquaman Annual #2 by Yvel Guichet. Looks like someone is having a rough time of it!

Aquaman Annual #2 comes out tomorrow!

Aquaman Annual #2 Cover

Here's the cover to the upcoming Aquaman Annual #2, featuring the Sea King and the Amazing Amazon kicking monster butt! Can't wait!

Aquaman Annual #2 arrives July 30! Story by Jeff Parker, art by Jason Gorder and Yvel Guichet.

Aquaman (Vol.8) Annual #1 - 2013

"A Choice of Evils" by John Ostrander, Geraldo Borges, Ruy Jose, Rod Reis, and more.

Aquaman's first annual in many years kicks off with the Sea King in the midst of battle:

...but then we cut over to a small island which is the base of operations for The Operative. Across the island is his grandson Aaron, spending some time with the young woman named Sky, who we last saw in Aquaman #20. The Operative is none too happy about this meeting, but their argument is interrupted by an attack of some sea creatures, followed by:

After some flying monkeys steal Vostok's helmet (that was fun, typing that), one of the sea creatures zaps Aaron, knocking him out. Sky, using her Shaman powers, channels a healing spirit, and she, Aquaman, and The Operative carry the unconscious Aaron into the mist.

While in this other realm, a spirit warns Sky that she and her friends are going to face an evil sorceress of immense power. This being manifests itself, going after the trio, but they escape back to "our" reality. Aquaman decides to call in the other Others, which of course includes his former flame Y'Wara:

Back at The Operative's HQ, they determine who this sorceress is: a woman named Madame Xan, who resides in Hong Kong. Y'Wara transports the whole team there, where Xan is trying to use Vostok's helmet.

Much to her chagrin, the helmet rejects her. Seemingly trapped on Earth without it, Xan decides to destroy the planet. But first, she needs to prepare for the attack that is coming. Our heroes appear in Tokyo, but they all find themselves split up, face to face with their own versions of Xan, who can take many familiar forms:

Xan tries to get Aquaman to see her side of things regarding humanity, underlining how badly the Surface World has treated the seven seas. Aquaman is not moved, and with a snap of her fingers, transports them all to a Hong Kong harbor, where they see a tsunami approaching.

Aquaman issues orders to the team, but one of them has fallen for Xan's words: Y'Wara, who attacks the rest, which leads to a knock-down, drag-out with the Operative. Meanwhile, Aquaman goes after Xan:

Using his trident, Aquaman seemingly defeats Xan, ridding Hong Kong of the tsunami. Y'Wara realizes the error of her ways, and is so upset that she decides, then and there, to quit the team. She teleports away, asking the rest to make her apologies to Aquaman.

When Arthur returns, he is concerned about Y'Wara, but says they simply have to give her time to recover. In the meantime, they go back to the spirit realm to visit Aaron:

 

I think my favorite part of this story was it's self-containedness (yeah, that's a word). After extended story arc after extended story arc in the main series, it was nice to have a (semi)complete story here.

Once again, however, Aquaman seems to be nearly a bystander in his own book--it's Sky that really frames the story, but I guess that's understandable, since this is clearly meant as a big launch pad for The Others series to come. At the rate this team is losing members, I think Aquaman's going to have kick off some sort of membership drive soon!

The art, by the simple fact of being the work of so many people, is inconsistent in places, but overall I thought the book looked pretty good: The Others are a visually compelling group of characters, and they contrast well against the bright and shiny Aquaman. And as usual, the coloring by Rod Reis (with help from Hi-Fi) bathes the book in beautiful hues.

More than anything else, I'm simply glad this Aquaman Annual exists: after so long without one (fourteen years, in fact), it's awesome to have tangible proof that this new series is one of the New 52's most enduringly popular series.