Leaping from the pages of the Justice League title, The Ocean Lords have begun their raid on Earth! With Aquaman held captive by the Ocean Lords of the cosmos the earth is drowned by the various tides that obey the beck and call of the Ocean Lords.
Due to past actions caused by the now deceased Poseidon, the Ocean Lords seek revenge against Atlantis using their water to convert life on earth into creatures of mass destruction. While the chaos ensues the rest of the Justice League are scattered on land and the cosmos as the earth is in peril. Can the Justice League regroup in time to rally their forces to save the Earth? What dangerous alliances will Atlantis form? Will Aquaman break free of his imprisonment in time to save Atlantis? or will the earth succumb to the tides of the Ocean Lords forever?
James Tynion IV is taking center stage helming this mini-series event and it’s a pretty good first issue! Tynion is known for balancing out characters and utilizing them in ways that feel important to the story. Tynion is no stranger to writing teams given his work on various titles such as Detective Comics and most notably his current series Justice League Dark. It’s pretty awesome to see other reserve members such as Miss Martian take part in this story while Martian Manhunter is out investigating the mysteries in space that Snyder introduced in the current Justice League title. Readers would have probably asked “How will the League maintain contact !?” etc, which thankfully is answered through the use of Miss Martian.
The use of another telepath such as Miss Martian is a convenient substitute in ways that a Justice League team always benefits from and a good substitute that readers would definitely agree with since Martian Manhunter is temporarily out of play.
I enjoyed the interactions between members of the League as they try to facilitate the situations that they are are facing, especially The Flash’s dialogue where he jokes about Invasions and how they aren’t as simple as they used to be. The best parts of this issue is the kind of alliances that some characters make in order to combat the threats that the Ocean Lords unleash. I won’t spoil anything or go into specifics on all of that but what I can confirm that is definitely cool and may have some genuine Aquaman fans cheering at the idea of such characters teaming up against dire threats. I think that this arc / miniseries will be a very fun story that readers will have a good time reading, especially since The Aquaman movie is only a month or so away from release.
Howard Porter is an established artist with a repertoire that speaks for itself and with this book is no exception. I love his art on this book, especially the splash page showcasing the Flash running on water across the world helping out various characters from the DC Universe as the tides consume the rest of the world. Just a really great page full of awesome renders and panel work that perfectly displays Porters abilities as an illustrator. Admittedly, there are some panels where some of the characters facial expressions look a little off but with 36 pages of solid work, the overall art makes up for those minor flaws. Hi-Fi’s coloring is beautifully coupled with Porter’s illustrations giving every page a sense of power and flair that makes every page look awesome.
Tynion, Porter, Snyder, and company are all delivering some really fun stuff within this issue and the over all Justice League titles. If you have been enjoying the work on Snyder’s Justice League title, or Tynion’s Justice League Dark, then this issue is worth adding to the pull list for new comic Wednesday. I’d also like to recommend Justice League Dark: Witching Hour as another book to pick up as well which is also written by Tynion! Two books perfect for the Halloween season and what more can one ask for? Happy Halloween folks!
Newsdesk