I thoroughly enjoyed Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier mini-series when it came out, but I remember thinking, as I worked my way through every beautifully-drawn page, "Ok, when's Aquaman gonna show up in this?"
Of course, like in Kingdom Come, Aquaman makes little more than a cameo appearance, and while I always wish the Sea King would play a larger role in these wide-ranging, multi-character series, I was glad to see that Cooke took the time to give Aquaman a hell of an entrance:
...and then Aquaman is all over the series epilogue, as the Silver Age of DC begins to unspool, featuring events both new and familiar.
I love this moment, where we see him introduce himself to the Surface World:
I love this moment, where we see him introduce himself to the Surface World:
And here's here, on the final page of the final issue, as part of the newly-formed Justice League of America:
I know this is a painfully obvious statement, but man would I love to see an Aquaman series--even a limited one--written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke.
I know he's mostly known for his more gritty stuff (his run on The Spirit, his recent--and excellent--adaptation of The Hunter), but he clearly knows how to find the most exciting elements of any given character and use those to tell a story that is completely fresh and new.
And since he used Aquaman so little here, I'd say he owes the Sea King some further attention!
I know he's mostly known for his more gritty stuff (his run on The Spirit, his recent--and excellent--adaptation of The Hunter), but he clearly knows how to find the most exciting elements of any given character and use those to tell a story that is completely fresh and new.
And since he used Aquaman so little here, I'd say he owes the Sea King some further attention!
4 comments:
I TOTALLY agree with you on this topic, Rob. While I adore The New Frontier (the comics and the DC Animated movie adaptation) both as a great story and a marvel of successful design, I always felt shortchanged in the Arthur department. True, Cooke does give Aquaman some important moments (the moddy soliliquy Arthur has in the undersea dark, or rescuing Superman) but I guess I liked the taste so much I wanted more of a meal.
Regardless, this is an absolute love letter to DC fans. Oh, did anyone notice (in the book, but not the movie) that during the big battle with the Centre at Cape Canaveral, one character notices that sea creatures are keeping the minions of the Centre from reaching the shore? I wonder who's controlling that, hm?
Yeah I think that's something I have to applaud JUSTICE for doing - putting Aquaman right at the front of the story from the first issue, it made a nice change.
As for New Frontier, I can still remember being about to cry foul, with how few pages were left for Arthur to appear in. Now having seen Darwyn talk about the project and his love of the silver age there's no way AM could've ever been left out :D
Looks to me like he "cast" Kirk Douglas as Aquaman.(He even included his dimpled chin)
I met Darwyn at Dragon con this past weekend, really nice guy. If you get a chance, maybe suggest it to him in person...
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