Aquaman: The Waterbearer

Aquaman (2003) #1-4, sf&o

by Rick Veitch

Possessing tremendous speed and strength as well as the ability to telepathically communicate with all sea animals, Aquaman reigned as the King of Atlantis for many years. But after a group of powerful sorcerers gained control of the fabled underwater city, the legendary hero was deemed a traitor and forever exiled from the oceans of the world. Now with the aid of his magical hand, Aquaman must find a way to overcome the spell that has turned all marine life against him and liberate his people from the tyrannical sorcerers that rule his undersea kingdom.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Fiction, Fantasy, Superheroes, Comic Book

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2013

About the author

Richard "Rick" Veitch is an American comics artist and writer who has worked in mainstream, underground, and alternative comics.

Reviews

[Ismar Sarajlic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Im reading all trades that came out from first crisis, so.. 1985 ?
And finally, in 2003, after thousands comics read in a row, i happen to find upon a marvel.
A unique. The cringiest book i read so far. A hippy dippy Aquaman. May it be the last one.
2 stars only because it started well, and dark Atlanteans with necroflesh powers is a cool idea. Props for that villain department.
On the other hand, everything related to Arthur, from "The HAND" to Lady who lives in it was worth of double facepalming.
I banish you to the deep. And after reading this, give even more props to Geoff Johns New 52 run on Arthur.

[Sverre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This TPB ‘Aquaman: The Waterbearer’ collects ‘Aquaman’ (2003) #1 to 4 and stories from ‘Aquaman Secret Files’ (2003). Story by Rick Veitch, art by Yvel Guichet, Mark Probst and Joshua Hood. Storyline continues in Aquaman (2003) #5 to 14 which have never been collected/reprinted in TPBs. Numbers 15 to 45 are collected in four TPBs named ‘Sub-Diego,’ ‘To Serve and Protect,’ ‘Kingdom Lost,’ and ‘Once and Future.’ Numbers 40 to the last issue 57 are often listed as a separate title ‘Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis’ although numbering continued from #39 and subsequent issues are by some considered to belong to volume six of Aquaman comics (2003-07). Numbers 46 to 57 have never been reprinted in TPBs. DC has designated the Aquaman New 52 series as volume seven and Aquaman Rebirth as volume eight.

I really liked this new take on Aquaman. He has been declared a traitor and expelled from Atlantis for sinking the continent. This involved the viles of Gamemnae, the corrupt Atlantean sorcer priestess. He is condemned by his long-time advisor Vulko who is now answering to the Rodunn, Captain of the Atlantean Royal Guard who now despises and betrays his former king. Arthur/Aquaman discards his harpoon blade which had been a substitute for his left hand. Instead he gains a fully formed aqueous formed hand by the magic of the Lady of the Lake when he emerges from the Waters of Truth. She dubs him Waterbearer. His new watery hand responds to his thoughts, gives him visions besides providing strength and healing powers. Thus begins this new saga.

The script by Veitch is excellent. He conjures up action with mysticism, mythology and magic. Humour and irony also prevail. The art could not be any better, especially the Guichet-Propst collaboration.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

First things, first, I like Aquaman. He's basically Tarzan underwater, but nobody seems to know what to do with him, so finding a good Aquaman story is like finding a diamond in a box of crackerjack.

This story begins after a pretty horrible Justice League story, but all you need to know is that something really bad happened to Atlantis and because of it Aquaman has been banished from Atlantis and the ocean itself.

Now cut off from his family and friends, literally out of his element and really feeling sorry for himself he is chosen by the Lady of the waters to be her champion against a coming bad thing.

It gets a bit convoluted and mystical mumbo-jumbo-ish, but it's got really strong characterization, nice art an interesting new supporting cast and he finally gets rid of that stupid hook!

Merged review:

I've always had a soft spot for Aquaman, but nobody ever seemed to know what to do with him, so the poor guy got saddled with tons of bad stories.
Shame as he's king over a kingdom that covers 3/4 of the planet and can get sharks to do what he wants.

'Water Bearer' mixes Arthurian legend, Atlantian politics, adventure, monsters, super heroes and a cute lady cop into an epic that helps remind you why Aquaman is a cool character.
Plus, they get of that stupid hook and get him a haircut!

[Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a really inventive take on Aquaman. He's always been a favorite of mine, but I never cared for the hook-handed, crazy trucker version of the character. The Waterbearer strips that away and adds in some mystic elements. Surprisingly, it really works well. I'm bummed they didn't collect the rest of the issues into paperbacks. I'm really interested in the story and am not looking forward to tracking down 40 single issues!

[Fyreball13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second favourite arc of Aquaman's ever. It shows him moving away from long-haired, kinda crazy Aquaman, to more awesome, waterhand Aquaman. The storytelling is a little uneven and the art isn't fantastic, but the whole thing really comes together for me in a way that made it incredibly enjoyable for me as a whole. It was the "rebirth" that Aquaman sorely needed at the time.

[Joshlynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Veitch's take on a sorely underrated character blew me away. This is like Alan Moore's Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything", in that it shows Arthur Curry as a multi-faceted human being as well as a massively powerful one. Definitely needs to be read by more people who think he's just another oiled-up fop who talks to fish.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty sure this run's really only remembered these days for what happens later on with Manta (which isn't collected in this volume). Reading it, it's not really a surprise why. The art's fine, and the writing's okay, working in Arthurian lore into Aquaman isn't the worst idea (the recent movie did an excellent job with hitting some of the regular Arthurian story beats), but for the most part the execution is lacking.

Stuff happens, sure. Arthur gets a water hand, him and Garth turn into fishes, bad stuff is continuing to happen in Atlantis, a new horrible villain is unleashed, but none of it's really interesting or worth reading. Your time would better spent on prior runs or ones after this instead.

[Kurt Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first Aquaman read.... not impressed.

[Scotty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book and continuing on until the end of this storyline.

[Adam Cole]

Backlog.

[Lissibith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was totally trying to avoid the obvious joke here, but I can't. I can't do it. I'm sorry, everyone.

This is a fish-out-of-water story, as Arthur is banished from the sea for crimes in a previous book. The crimes themselves are well enough set up. and the interesting part of this is always going to be how our hero reacts, anyway.

In this case, Arthur (Aquaman) reacts by making contact with a magical water being who grants him a cool water hand to replace his cool hook hand. He gets to live on land and try to adjust to life in this new reality - as he says to another character, maybe even attempt to move on. But his heart is in the sea and Atlantic, no matter how much his mind might try to argue the point.

this wasn't a fantastic book, but I enjoyed it more than I would have thought I would. Aquaman not being a particular favorite of mine. I sort of get the feeling people just don't quite know what to do with him, since so much of his existence is wrapped up in Atlantic, far away from the rest of the Justice League, and the place has this weird mixed relationship with magic and tech. I sort of imagine that given the right writer, this would have been fantastic though. As it stands, it was still entertaining and enjoyable.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a very good reason there have been so many attempts at a successful solo Aquaman series. The reason is that Aquaman just can't support his own title. The character actually isn't that interesting. His supporting cast are one note and his villains are normally pretty lame. Now all this doesn't mean all the books are bad but there just isn't enough there for longevity. Here, in I believe the sixth volume of Aquaman, the status quo changes for him and Atlantis, but its still pretty boring. You can only have so many adventures in the deep before they seem repetitive. The story by Rick Veitch is pretty bland. The art by Guichet is good and makes the undersea stuff look dynamic at times but its pretty hard to convey cool looking stuff when Aquaman is inhabiting the body of a fish who has been eaten by another fish. Overall, an average read. Par for the course for Aquaman.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creo que lo leí antes de conseguir la edición remasterizada con extras hace unos años, pero igual pongo "viejas lecturas" aunque no fue hace tanto para recordar que le debo una "relectura" más completa y ordenada.

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was great to see Aquaman get his hand back, sort of, but this story was downright weird.

[Ola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like his new hand. I like the lady of the lake, and I like the lighthouse people...the rest is perhaps not so great. Still a very good read.