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Aquaman (2011) #7
Aquaman, Volume 7: Exiled
Everything Aquaman knew begins to crumble around him as he becomes a fugitive from his own city. The Atlantis of old is waging war with Earth, and his wife wants him dead. With the appearance of all-new powers and a face-to-face with Poseidon, this talented new creative team presents an unforgettable new era for Aquaman!
Written by Cullen Bunn (Sinestro, Green Lantern: Lost Army) with gorgeous art from Trevor McCarthy, Aquaman, Volume 7: Exiled is an easy jumping-on point for any reader.
Collecting: Aquaman 41-47
Written by Cullen Bunn (Sinestro, Green Lantern: Lost Army) with gorgeous art from Trevor McCarthy, Aquaman, Volume 7: Exiled is an easy jumping-on point for any reader.
Collecting: Aquaman 41-47
200 pages, Hardcover
First published February 9, 2016
30 people are currently reading
293 people want to read
About the author
Cullen Bunn
2,101 books1,059 followersCullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.
All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.
And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.
Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.
All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.
And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.
Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
July 23, 2020
(C+) 64% | Almost Satisfactory
Notes: Allegedly Aquaman, it paints pictures with pond scum: a murky morass, waterlogged with cringe and dank edginess.
Notes: Allegedly Aquaman, it paints pictures with pond scum: a murky morass, waterlogged with cringe and dank edginess.
May 17, 2019
This was BAD.
I mean, when people make fun of Aquaman comics this horrid shit is exactly what they're referring to.
Lame, stupid, boring...and as an added bonus?
Fucking UGLY art.
And it just goes on and on and on and on and on. How many shitty issues of nonsense did they cram into this volume? Because I'll tell you right now, it felt like it would never end!
The premise is that Mera has turned on Arthur and now he's being hunted by Atlantis, all the while monsters are popping up - that somehow manage to not draw the Justice League's attention whilst they proceed to tear apart cities and eat humans. Meanwhile, he's protecting refugees from a 2nd evil Atlantis (<--just go with it) and trying to figure out how to worm his way back into Mera's heart.
The blurb says ...this talented new creative team presents an unforgettable new era for Aquaman!
Lies! You speak lies, Blurbman!
This was garbage. Ugly, dull, garbage.
I mean, when people make fun of Aquaman comics this horrid shit is exactly what they're referring to.
Lame, stupid, boring...and as an added bonus?
Fucking UGLY art.
And it just goes on and on and on and on and on. How many shitty issues of nonsense did they cram into this volume? Because I'll tell you right now, it felt like it would never end!
The premise is that Mera has turned on Arthur and now he's being hunted by Atlantis, all the while monsters are popping up - that somehow manage to not draw the Justice League's attention whilst they proceed to tear apart cities and eat humans. Meanwhile, he's protecting refugees from a 2nd evil Atlantis (<--just go with it) and trying to figure out how to worm his way back into Mera's heart.
The blurb says ...this talented new creative team presents an unforgettable new era for Aquaman!
Lies! You speak lies, Blurbman!
This was garbage. Ugly, dull, garbage.
January 4, 2019
Quite possible the worst Aquaman book I've ever read. The book starts off with Aquaman being attacked by Atlantean soldiers and we find out Mera is now queen of Atlantis and wants Arthur dead. Then it takes 3 issues to find out what's going on. We finally find out there's a sister city to Atlantis called Thule in a parallel dimension full of evil sorcerers that is starting to merge into our dimension. Aquaman gets a trident from Poseidon that can apparently do anything, teleport, change into different shapes, even call lightning. (Somehow I doubt the God of the Sea would grant lightning given that comes from Zeus. Plus firing lightning underwater would be problematic.) Everything suddenly gets wrapped up in a nice neat ball in the last issue, presumably because editorial finally realized how bad this was.
Every issue starts off with Aquaman being attacked and then he gives this soliloquy about how there are innocents in Thule that he must save before he can do his kingly duties and destroy Thule. This happens 7 or 8 times in the book. I felt like I was in Groundhog Day reading the same issue over and over again.
The art is all over the place. Trevor McCarthy fill have nice looking panels on one page and it looks like sketches on the next. The coloring is all muddy, drab, and gloomy. The new costumes look like they were designed by a tween.
Every issue starts off with Aquaman being attacked and then he gives this soliloquy about how there are innocents in Thule that he must save before he can do his kingly duties and destroy Thule. This happens 7 or 8 times in the book. I felt like I was in Groundhog Day reading the same issue over and over again.
The art is all over the place. Trevor McCarthy fill have nice looking panels on one page and it looks like sketches on the next. The coloring is all muddy, drab, and gloomy. The new costumes look like they were designed by a tween.
February 7, 2017
Can cities have evil twins? Apparently Atlantis does! A city called Thule is emerging from the shadow realm into our world, destroying Atlantis in the process. So why is Aquaman fighting on Thule’s side??
New 52 Lobo writer Cullen Bunn took over Aquaman for one volume only before being rightly kicked off - Exiled is another pongy Aqua-turd!
Aquaman doesn’t act like Aquaman in this comic. He starts killing Atlantean guards from the very beginning, gutting them with his trident - what the fuck, Arthur?! We find out it’s because he’s exiled for taking a nuanced perspective to this Thule problem but it’s not really a problem. He could’ve taken the “good” people from Thule to Atlantis, then proceeded to destroy the incursion with the “evil” people left behind right from the start. But that would’ve been a much-shorter-than-book-length story so we get the strung-out tedious version instead.
Exiled is a boring, stupid story full of pointless action and unengaging scenes, characters blathering dull dialogue and goopy, unappealing art throughout. On Twitter Aquafans reacted poorly to Bunn taking over from Jeff Parker (whose own run was similarly appalling) but they were right to demand DC get him off the book. Hopefully Dan Abnett can rescue this drowning series in the next volume - at this point Aquaman’s got nowhere to go but up!
New 52 Lobo writer Cullen Bunn took over Aquaman for one volume only before being rightly kicked off - Exiled is another pongy Aqua-turd!
Aquaman doesn’t act like Aquaman in this comic. He starts killing Atlantean guards from the very beginning, gutting them with his trident - what the fuck, Arthur?! We find out it’s because he’s exiled for taking a nuanced perspective to this Thule problem but it’s not really a problem. He could’ve taken the “good” people from Thule to Atlantis, then proceeded to destroy the incursion with the “evil” people left behind right from the start. But that would’ve been a much-shorter-than-book-length story so we get the strung-out tedious version instead.
Exiled is a boring, stupid story full of pointless action and unengaging scenes, characters blathering dull dialogue and goopy, unappealing art throughout. On Twitter Aquafans reacted poorly to Bunn taking over from Jeff Parker (whose own run was similarly appalling) but they were right to demand DC get him off the book. Hopefully Dan Abnett can rescue this drowning series in the next volume - at this point Aquaman’s got nowhere to go but up!
May 23, 2016
Well. I feel like this was a major misstep. The plot feels like it was trying to be dark for the sake of being dark, then backed off in a panic. Worse, it just wasn't terribly interesting. There's far too much "Aquaman shows up, fights, vanishes, repeat" for my taste, which made a barely tolerable plot drag on far too long. The art is a downgrade, too. It isn't terrible, I just don't like it as well as what's been on the book to this point. I feel like Aquaman has been declining in quality nearly every volume, so it just might be time for me to cut ties with this book. Or maybe I'll try again next reboot.
October 24, 2025
Not good
July 18, 2017
Ever read a comic so bad you had to stop? Welcome to Aquaman: Volume 7 Exhiled. Cullen Bunn takes over. This might have been good because the last writer was just making 'Okayish" stories. So why not give a new writer a shot? Inject some life into a series that needed it. WRONG. This is the wrong kind of shot the series needed. It's edgy, over the top, silliness. Aquaman is getting attacked by his own people including Mara for the dumbest fucking reason. Once I got to the reveal I stopped reading (about 5 issues in) and just threw this one back into the Library bin.
What I liked: Nothing.
What I didn't like: Everything. Dumb dialog. Aquaman being "edgy and funny" but neither really. Mera being dumb as fuck. The whole empire of atlantis being stupid. The idea behind this is just really weird and doesn't make sense. The art is very very ugly.
Yeah. This might be one of the worst comics I've read this year. This is a must SKIP.
What I liked: Nothing.
What I didn't like: Everything. Dumb dialog. Aquaman being "edgy and funny" but neither really. Mera being dumb as fuck. The whole empire of atlantis being stupid. The idea behind this is just really weird and doesn't make sense. The art is very very ugly.
Yeah. This might be one of the worst comics I've read this year. This is a must SKIP.
April 13, 2020
Oof, this was a chore to get through.
So is he just not going to tell Mera he accidentally slept with Siren, or ... ?
You'd think after looking at my shelves I'd stop reading Cullen Bunn, but here we are.
So is he just not going to tell Mera he accidentally slept with Siren, or ... ?
You'd think after looking at my shelves I'd stop reading Cullen Bunn, but here we are.
July 16, 2016
Disappointing.
July 1, 2019
Quite a drop in quality.
I hate "on the nose" dialogue, too. :(
The artwork was too shaded.
MY GRADE: C
I hate "on the nose" dialogue, too. :(
The artwork was too shaded.
MY GRADE: C
October 7, 2017
It seems everybody hates this volume...Save I (and maybe my Aqua-Ally Anne?).
Aquaman stories are generally cut from the same, generous cloth: Our Hero is caught between Two Worlds, and must reconcile his loyalties to both to save the day.
There it is.
What I liked about this arc was how the lines blurred so much, things were not as they appeared, and Arthur stood up for what he felt was right, even risking the everlasting wrath of his beloved Mera to do so.
(Brief aside: you know that Aquaman is pretty much the only major superhero who is a good, supportive husband, right? Let that marinate.)
And the art was pretty rad, and even aquatically sexy!
Aquaman stories are generally cut from the same, generous cloth: Our Hero is caught between Two Worlds, and must reconcile his loyalties to both to save the day.
There it is.
What I liked about this arc was how the lines blurred so much, things were not as they appeared, and Arthur stood up for what he felt was right, even risking the everlasting wrath of his beloved Mera to do so.
(Brief aside: you know that Aquaman is pretty much the only major superhero who is a good, supportive husband, right? Let that marinate.)
And the art was pretty rad, and even aquatically sexy!
September 24, 2017
Beautiful art. The story is not as good as it started out. Geoff Johns is missed. The thing about graphic novels I enjoy over comics is graphic novels are more of a story and comics are more about action and fighting. It tires me. An ok story. It was entertaining.
February 19, 2016
Dark for the sake of dark is so boring and needless.
So, another writer change, already? I was enjoying Parker, so what's this new creative team going to bring to the table? Edgy and dark...feels like 2005...
World: Morgan's art is interesting, it pops and it's different so I found it quite enjoyable from the bright and colorful stuff from Reis and Pelletier. It's not an either or preference but a little change every now and then was kind of nice, I still prefer the bright and colorful pallet for Aquaman but this is a good change of pace. But, it's not to be, he lasts a couple of issues and we get another artist halfway through the story, I hate it when that happens during arcs, it annoys and the last couple of issues are ho hum in their art. The world building here has it's moments, the premise is interesting but the story structure made for a really choppy world building experience and that hurt the overall story. The story relied upon the mythology of the world and because of the writing it was not well told. That's all for the world building cause the story is the biggest problem in this book and it bleeds into everything else including world building which I'll go into below.
Story: First the good parts of the book, which is that overall it's not a bad read and is entertaining for what it set out to do, but that's about it. First, I don't understand why the need for the tone change, this dark and moody tone is so very early 2000s and not something I really want in an Aquaman book. If I want broody I can read all the other Bat Family titles from DC (which do it way better). Maybe they wanted to be 'cool' but Johns had already made Arthur cool again and in my opinion Parker made Arthur also fun and gave it a sense of adventure. Second, the time jump from the events of Maelstrom to this story was in my mind stupid. We just went through a huge (whether told well or not is not the topic here) story with Arthur's family history and also Atlantis' political situation and we don't even spend time to address that and we move to another Atlantis destruction story. Sure, I understand that the new creative team wants to do their own thing, but you gotta at least acknowledge it, but they don't. This story exists in a time bubble that has no bearing on the rest of the Aquaman stories told since issue 1, or it at least does not acknowledge them, this is annoying. Thirdly the story is structured very poorly with the two parallel storylines, sure I know what Bunn is trying to do but because of the choppy storytelling and pacing issues it just came off as annoying. Forth the resolution of the story was so very half assed and rushed that if I were to buy into the premise of the other 6 issues I would have also felt ripped off by the lame rushed ending. Oh man now I'll talk about the horrible characters below.
Characters: All the characters here act out of character and it's annoying. Sure, I know misunderstandings leading to fight scenes is a staple for comic books but sometimes being stupid is another thing entirely. Arthur is surly and moody and so very different from what he was before that it annoyed, yes he's brooding and now therefore he needs a black suit...more tone change bullshit. Mera is handled so poorly that it's utterly stupid, so if she could have escaped anytime like she did near the end, why did she not...??? Poor writing. The villain of this arc was also very much underdeveloped and the motivations unclear and lazily written. Mwaaa haaa haaa villains are boring. I could go on, but I'm tired of writing about this book.
This is the worst Aquaman story since the New 52, this is very near Aquaman and the Others bad and it's a shame. The tone change was stupid, the disregard for the previous world building was stupid, this book stands on it's own because it's not good. Don't bother with this. Let's hope the new writing team can go back to what Johns and Parker was doing and also add their own thing to the world.
Onward to the next book!
So, another writer change, already? I was enjoying Parker, so what's this new creative team going to bring to the table? Edgy and dark...feels like 2005...
World: Morgan's art is interesting, it pops and it's different so I found it quite enjoyable from the bright and colorful stuff from Reis and Pelletier. It's not an either or preference but a little change every now and then was kind of nice, I still prefer the bright and colorful pallet for Aquaman but this is a good change of pace. But, it's not to be, he lasts a couple of issues and we get another artist halfway through the story, I hate it when that happens during arcs, it annoys and the last couple of issues are ho hum in their art. The world building here has it's moments, the premise is interesting but the story structure made for a really choppy world building experience and that hurt the overall story. The story relied upon the mythology of the world and because of the writing it was not well told. That's all for the world building cause the story is the biggest problem in this book and it bleeds into everything else including world building which I'll go into below.
Story: First the good parts of the book, which is that overall it's not a bad read and is entertaining for what it set out to do, but that's about it. First, I don't understand why the need for the tone change, this dark and moody tone is so very early 2000s and not something I really want in an Aquaman book. If I want broody I can read all the other Bat Family titles from DC (which do it way better). Maybe they wanted to be 'cool' but Johns had already made Arthur cool again and in my opinion Parker made Arthur also fun and gave it a sense of adventure. Second, the time jump from the events of Maelstrom to this story was in my mind stupid. We just went through a huge (whether told well or not is not the topic here) story with Arthur's family history and also Atlantis' political situation and we don't even spend time to address that and we move to another Atlantis destruction story. Sure, I understand that the new creative team wants to do their own thing, but you gotta at least acknowledge it, but they don't. This story exists in a time bubble that has no bearing on the rest of the Aquaman stories told since issue 1, or it at least does not acknowledge them, this is annoying. Thirdly the story is structured very poorly with the two parallel storylines, sure I know what Bunn is trying to do but because of the choppy storytelling and pacing issues it just came off as annoying. Forth the resolution of the story was so very half assed and rushed that if I were to buy into the premise of the other 6 issues I would have also felt ripped off by the lame rushed ending. Oh man now I'll talk about the horrible characters below.
Characters: All the characters here act out of character and it's annoying. Sure, I know misunderstandings leading to fight scenes is a staple for comic books but sometimes being stupid is another thing entirely. Arthur is surly and moody and so very different from what he was before that it annoyed, yes he's brooding and now therefore he needs a black suit...more tone change bullshit. Mera is handled so poorly that it's utterly stupid, so if she could have escaped anytime like she did near the end, why did she not...??? Poor writing. The villain of this arc was also very much underdeveloped and the motivations unclear and lazily written. Mwaaa haaa haaa villains are boring. I could go on, but I'm tired of writing about this book.
This is the worst Aquaman story since the New 52, this is very near Aquaman and the Others bad and it's a shame. The tone change was stupid, the disregard for the previous world building was stupid, this book stands on it's own because it's not good. Don't bother with this. Let's hope the new writing team can go back to what Johns and Parker was doing and also add their own thing to the world.
Onward to the next book!
January 7, 2017
This wasn't a bad volume of Aquaman, just didn't quite live up the standards of the first few volumes.
In this one we find out another kingdom is encroaching upon Atlantis from another dimension, and if something isn't done the Earth itself could be in danger. We get an appearance from the Justice League as well. The art isn't bad, but once again I liked the early art better.
Overall a solid volume, but not one of the best.
In this one we find out another kingdom is encroaching upon Atlantis from another dimension, and if something isn't done the Earth itself could be in danger. We get an appearance from the Justice League as well. The art isn't bad, but once again I liked the early art better.
Overall a solid volume, but not one of the best.
September 11, 2017
when I saw this ->
-> I read it as "Up yours" .. like a big middlefinger to the reader..
That's how this volume felt to me... Both writer ànd artist screwed this up completely...
-> I read it as "Up yours" .. like a big middlefinger to the reader..
That's how this volume felt to me... Both writer ànd artist screwed this up completely...
April 23, 2019
I can’t even really say what happened or how I feel about it beyond the shelves I added this to.
January 5, 2021
5 🌟
Aquaman is declared an enemy of his wife, Mera. He also tries to stop Thule from taking over Earth.
Aquaman is declared an enemy of his wife, Mera. He also tries to stop Thule from taking over Earth.
April 1, 2017
Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths.
I admit it: Aquaman can get pretty confusing. You really have to read the whole series to get what is going on. Since this is me and my dad’s favorite comic series, we know what is happening, but I feel like new readers need to know this might not be the best graphic novel to get into Aquaman. Don’t take that to mean I didn’t like this book, because I did, a lot actually.
Aquaman: Exiled is about people from another dimension coming to earth, but they are destroying the world (Atlantis and everything else) in the process. This causes lots of problems besides the obvious, mainly that the Atlanteans want to stop the crisis by destroying the other dimension, but Aquaman disagrees, wanting to, at least, save the innocent people from there. Things getting heated, as most of Atlantis and even Queen Mera turn on our hero. But, with the help of some new friends, Aquaman tries to make his plan work.
Like I said earlier, Aquaman is my favorite comic. I love the character, love his life both above the sea and below it. Mera is cool. And the stories have kept me interested. Sure, it can get confusing sometimes, but never so bad that I couldn’t understand what was happening. Exiled really gave me everything that I wanted in a comic — except for the art.
Art isn’t everything in a comic. The story is the main thing I look for, but I really, really hate it when the art changes in the middle of a story. When the art styles are completely different, then I hate it even more. And here that is what happened. Right in the middle, the art completely changed, and it really, really did not work for me.
Well, I hope you liked this review, and I want to encourage everyone to give Aquaman a try. I use to think he was lame to, but he really isn’t. If you give the New 52 Aquaman a try, I think you would like him as well.
I admit it: Aquaman can get pretty confusing. You really have to read the whole series to get what is going on. Since this is me and my dad’s favorite comic series, we know what is happening, but I feel like new readers need to know this might not be the best graphic novel to get into Aquaman. Don’t take that to mean I didn’t like this book, because I did, a lot actually.
Aquaman: Exiled is about people from another dimension coming to earth, but they are destroying the world (Atlantis and everything else) in the process. This causes lots of problems besides the obvious, mainly that the Atlanteans want to stop the crisis by destroying the other dimension, but Aquaman disagrees, wanting to, at least, save the innocent people from there. Things getting heated, as most of Atlantis and even Queen Mera turn on our hero. But, with the help of some new friends, Aquaman tries to make his plan work.
Like I said earlier, Aquaman is my favorite comic. I love the character, love his life both above the sea and below it. Mera is cool. And the stories have kept me interested. Sure, it can get confusing sometimes, but never so bad that I couldn’t understand what was happening. Exiled really gave me everything that I wanted in a comic — except for the art.
Art isn’t everything in a comic. The story is the main thing I look for, but I really, really hate it when the art changes in the middle of a story. When the art styles are completely different, then I hate it even more. And here that is what happened. Right in the middle, the art completely changed, and it really, really did not work for me.
Well, I hope you liked this review, and I want to encourage everyone to give Aquaman a try. I use to think he was lame to, but he really isn’t. If you give the New 52 Aquaman a try, I think you would like him as well.
July 17, 2016
You can tell by the cover exactly what kind of art you're getting into...and it's pretty downgraded. One reason I keep picking these Aquaman volumes up, besides the fact that my library just keeps on ordering them, is that I enjoy the foray away from a city-scape. He's one of the very few DC titles that doesn't take place in the midst of skyscrapers and petty criminals. That said, normally I would enjoy this plot of a shapeshifter, Justice League appearances, and another dimension invading ours, but something about the mix of everything just didn't work. It wasn't interesting and it damn well should've been. I know the art is a major point working against this volume but still, minus a full star for being ugly.
May 25, 2019
When reviewing something I always try not to be mean or cruel, the amount of work that takes to create anything artistic is in itself is an accomplishment. I respect what the author did for in this volume but oh boy did I not like it. The writing has fallen in quality so hard the longer the series goes on. I found myself confused and disoriented in the story. It was just so random and out of nowhere. The whole Mera thing was head-scratching and Arthur felt like a different character all of the sudden. I don't like where the series is going. I don't like the current story. I don't even like the art that much if I am being honest. Hope Aquaman gets a change up soon.
May 31, 2017
Broad and spastic - jumping back and forth between undefined 'then' and 'now' scenes, jaunting about the planet to unrelated locations, creating yet another secret history that undermines and devalues existing canon and failing to include any kind of transitional or expositional material that might have smoothed over the jumps and lumps are just a few of the many sins performed. The only redeeming quality was an avoidance of DC current penchant for race and sex pandering, but this low highlight was immediately negated by an ignorant 'must accept all unknown refugees' slant.
March 1, 2017
The opening run of Aquaman New 52 (written by Geoff Johns) is some of the best superhero writing there is, but as these volumes go on, they are slightly losing their appeal for me. Although this story is still good, and has a few badass moments, it's not as good as the previous books. The art is distractedly terrible, and this version of Aquaman is so hideously drawn I almost didn't keep reading, but the story did win me over.
December 13, 2019
I. HATED. ABSOLUTELY. EVERYTHING. ABOUT. THIS.
October 22, 2019
that was awful, badly written and badly drawn
May 1, 2020
This volume was without a doubt my least favorite one out of "The New 52" series. I hate to say it but the art was absolutely awful through almost the entire comic. At times I was straight up astonished by how ugly the drawings were. Some may call it artistic creativity, but whatever it was did not appeal to me. Certainly not after getting used to the beautiful images of previous artists such as Ivan Reis and Paul Pelletier.
Storywise I would say it was okay. It started out pretty messy but a lot got straightened out by the end. Nevertheless, I keep finding it weird that Arthur would accept Mera's initially strange behavior, as if it would even make sense she'd act that way to begin with. Doesn't he know his wife at all?
On a positive note, I did like the alien discovery scenes and Arthur's acquaintance with the blue queen. Although it was unfortunate that her appearance was only brief. Despite the minor part she played in the comic I was intrigued by her mystery and grace. She spoke to me and I would've liked to see more of her and get to know her story.
The volume's ending felt quite abrupt, as if the story was only half finished. It left me wondering how Arthur was going to care for all the Thule refugees. Especially since his own people we're not happy with the newcomers to say the least. But on the other hand, a part of me was just glad to move on. This comic wasn't all bad but it definitely had some major flaws. Mainly that horrible art was just something I could not get over.
Storywise I would say it was okay. It started out pretty messy but a lot got straightened out by the end. Nevertheless, I keep finding it weird that Arthur would accept Mera's initially strange behavior, as if it would even make sense she'd act that way to begin with. Doesn't he know his wife at all?
On a positive note, I did like the alien discovery scenes and Arthur's acquaintance with the blue queen. Although it was unfortunate that her appearance was only brief. Despite the minor part she played in the comic I was intrigued by her mystery and grace. She spoke to me and I would've liked to see more of her and get to know her story.
The volume's ending felt quite abrupt, as if the story was only half finished. It left me wondering how Arthur was going to care for all the Thule refugees. Especially since his own people we're not happy with the newcomers to say the least. But on the other hand, a part of me was just glad to move on. This comic wasn't all bad but it definitely had some major flaws. Mainly that horrible art was just something I could not get over.
November 7, 2016
It’s like they read my previous review & decided to do the complete opposite. Just to piss me off. This story was everything I hated: endless fighting, little development and no point.
This book is called exiled, but Aquaman isn’t exiled. He didn’t even exile himself, he just has to run away after learning about this other dimension called Thule, which was once part of Atlantis. Thule is reemerging on Earth, and it’s killing everyone including people in Atlantis. Arthur finds out there are refugees on Thule he’d like to save before completely destroying Thule for good. After putting Mera in charge of Atlantis, she is captured by her sister Siren, a shapeshifter who takes Mera’s image, labels Arthur as a traitor and sends him running. But still, not exiling. Not officially. He even comes back to have sex with fake-Mera in one of the most “Skin-emax” level sex scenes I have seen yet in a DC book. So, yeah, definitely not exiled.
How is that Mera has a sister? Why have we never heard of her? Is this a sister or something from Thule we are calling a sister? I don’t know because this book never adequately explains anything. It all happens in bursts, and we are expected to understand it. But it’s got nothing to do with previous storylines. We are lost from page one, where we have to read both the past and present timeline in order to feign suspense. But that isn’t suspense. That is lack of creativity.
Arthur is weird. He is quite funny in here, maybe more so than last time, but prone to rambly, Shatner-esque monologues which he never was before. This book has a new writer that couldn’t seem to adapt his style to fit the already established character which is a shame. Aquaman was a good hero with interesting developments. Now they’re hidden by his references to Magic: The Gathering. Luckily the rest of the Justice League come to save him, and this book, so we can put this storyline in the grave and move on.
Arthur gets all this help from Poseidon (with that straight outta Wonder Woman look) and some Thule warlock named Entriax, but the help only goes so far. He may speak with them for a page or two, then it’s right back to some disorienting action panels, which I swear make up about 90% percent of this book. Even when they’re just delivering exposition they’re beating the crap out of someone.
But the most unforgivable mistake this book could make, was to not use Mera for any of this book! She spends most of it captured, and by the last issue she just escapes. Like, she could have done that at any time. She even says as much when she escapes. Mera is Aquaman’s biggest asset (the book and the character) and to have her unused for the 8 or so issues in here is a huge mistake I can’t forget.
This is the worst of these that I’ve read & it’s not even close. I’m glad to be almost done this run. It’s going to take a lot for me to like this again. And Rebirth-era Aquaman better be nothing like this.
This book is called exiled, but Aquaman isn’t exiled. He didn’t even exile himself, he just has to run away after learning about this other dimension called Thule, which was once part of Atlantis. Thule is reemerging on Earth, and it’s killing everyone including people in Atlantis. Arthur finds out there are refugees on Thule he’d like to save before completely destroying Thule for good. After putting Mera in charge of Atlantis, she is captured by her sister Siren, a shapeshifter who takes Mera’s image, labels Arthur as a traitor and sends him running. But still, not exiling. Not officially. He even comes back to have sex with fake-Mera in one of the most “Skin-emax” level sex scenes I have seen yet in a DC book. So, yeah, definitely not exiled.
How is that Mera has a sister? Why have we never heard of her? Is this a sister or something from Thule we are calling a sister? I don’t know because this book never adequately explains anything. It all happens in bursts, and we are expected to understand it. But it’s got nothing to do with previous storylines. We are lost from page one, where we have to read both the past and present timeline in order to feign suspense. But that isn’t suspense. That is lack of creativity.
Arthur is weird. He is quite funny in here, maybe more so than last time, but prone to rambly, Shatner-esque monologues which he never was before. This book has a new writer that couldn’t seem to adapt his style to fit the already established character which is a shame. Aquaman was a good hero with interesting developments. Now they’re hidden by his references to Magic: The Gathering. Luckily the rest of the Justice League come to save him, and this book, so we can put this storyline in the grave and move on.
Arthur gets all this help from Poseidon (with that straight outta Wonder Woman look) and some Thule warlock named Entriax, but the help only goes so far. He may speak with them for a page or two, then it’s right back to some disorienting action panels, which I swear make up about 90% percent of this book. Even when they’re just delivering exposition they’re beating the crap out of someone.
But the most unforgivable mistake this book could make, was to not use Mera for any of this book! She spends most of it captured, and by the last issue she just escapes. Like, she could have done that at any time. She even says as much when she escapes. Mera is Aquaman’s biggest asset (the book and the character) and to have her unused for the 8 or so issues in here is a huge mistake I can’t forget.
This is the worst of these that I’ve read & it’s not even close. I’m glad to be almost done this run. It’s going to take a lot for me to like this again. And Rebirth-era Aquaman better be nothing like this.
June 2, 2016
This is one of those books that has the distinct and unfortunate honor to be just super bland and boring without really having too much wrong with the actual story or art. The art looks pretty good, capturing the landscapes and people well. There were, however, many times when the faces looked very off, (especially near the beginning) and slight scowl seemed to be every person's resting face. So, the art and colors were great, just not the emotions contained within them.
The story had the exact same problems, the broad strokes are fine and interesting, if not a bit repetitious from earlier Aquaman volumes (Aquaman is hunted by Atlanteans and some outside Kingdom is attempting to destroy Atlantis and the world). But man is it squandered here. Aquaman throughout this volume refuses to stop and talk to ANYONE in Atlantis and all the Atlanteans that were loyal to Aquaman (which, granted, were not all that many) refuse to even acknowledge that he may be right in . I mean, he never even entertains the thought that maybe its not him that's the problem with Atlantis. Every decision he makes comes down to this simple statement, Aquaman refuses to think throughout this whole volume. He doesn't question being thrown out of Atlantis, he never questions why and then later returns to Atlantis, only to talk with the one person who kicked him out instead of anyone else who may be sympathetic towards his plight.
What really put me over into three start territory though was the way the story was paced. The ideas were actually really good and if Aquaman had even attempted to think about what was going on, this would have been very very compelling. As is though, we never got enough time spent on the being exiled portion of the story. It's told through flashbacks scattered throughout the volume and because of which, it loses much of the impact it should hold. Hell, the entirety of the backstory can be pieced together just by reading the first 8 pages, although that does leave you confused as to the why of everything. Normally I love the split timeline reveal of stuff but here it was really unnecessary and only hindered the "now" portions of the story. Were we to have focused in a more linear fashion on the entire process, and had the exiling of Aquaman not feel so forced, this would have been a really interesting story, one which pits his kingly duties against saving the world. But as is, the story is fairly paint by numbers in execution, as much as I wish it weren't so.
I wish that I could give half stars, because then at least I could be more favorable towards this book in terms of ratings.
The story had the exact same problems, the broad strokes are fine and interesting, if not a bit repetitious from earlier Aquaman volumes (Aquaman is hunted by Atlanteans and some outside Kingdom is attempting to destroy Atlantis and the world). But man is it squandered here. Aquaman throughout this volume refuses to stop and talk to ANYONE in Atlantis and all the Atlanteans that were loyal to Aquaman (which, granted, were not all that many) refuse to even acknowledge that he may be right in . I mean, he never even entertains the thought that maybe its not him that's the problem with Atlantis. Every decision he makes comes down to this simple statement, Aquaman refuses to think throughout this whole volume. He doesn't question being thrown out of Atlantis, he never questions why and then later returns to Atlantis, only to talk with the one person who kicked him out instead of anyone else who may be sympathetic towards his plight.
What really put me over into three start territory though was the way the story was paced. The ideas were actually really good and if Aquaman had even attempted to think about what was going on, this would have been very very compelling. As is though, we never got enough time spent on the being exiled portion of the story. It's told through flashbacks scattered throughout the volume and because of which, it loses much of the impact it should hold. Hell, the entirety of the backstory can be pieced together just by reading the first 8 pages, although that does leave you confused as to the why of everything. Normally I love the split timeline reveal of stuff but here it was really unnecessary and only hindered the "now" portions of the story. Were we to have focused in a more linear fashion on the entire process, and had the exiling of Aquaman not feel so forced, this would have been a really interesting story, one which pits his kingly duties against saving the world. But as is, the story is fairly paint by numbers in execution, as much as I wish it weren't so.
I wish that I could give half stars, because then at least I could be more favorable towards this book in terms of ratings.
May 6, 2017
So everything I liked about the previous volume? Gone here. New author means another 'reboot' and a very different version of Arthur Curry. Even the art has changed, going much darker and more heavily lined than the house style, making the whole book seem dirtier.
I like Cullen Bunn, especially The Sixth Gun, but he was not a good match for the material, especially in contrast to the work Jeff Parker had just done. This book bounces back and forth in time like a ping pong ball, as Aquaman (now with new and different powers like lightning, ice, and ... teleporting?) is trying to fend off the incursion of a toxic new world that keeps erupting throughout the world. Mera is sidelined, so the book is basically Aquaman fighting everyone and then "trying" to protect innocents, and then fighting more, with pretty much everyone. And it goes some weird places, for no discernible reason.
To be perfectly honest, the actual story isn't horrible. It's just that it has almost nothing to do with the current iteration of Aquaman, making him act out of character multiple times, and just being head-scratchingly different. Coming off of Parker's volume, it's all the worse as it basically jettisons everything that was just built up. Just because you have a new author doesn't mean everything has to be new and different.
I like Cullen Bunn, especially The Sixth Gun, but he was not a good match for the material, especially in contrast to the work Jeff Parker had just done. This book bounces back and forth in time like a ping pong ball, as Aquaman (now with new and different powers like lightning, ice, and ... teleporting?) is trying to fend off the incursion of a toxic new world that keeps erupting throughout the world. Mera is sidelined, so the book is basically Aquaman fighting everyone and then "trying" to protect innocents, and then fighting more, with pretty much everyone. And it goes some weird places, for no discernible reason.
To be perfectly honest, the actual story isn't horrible. It's just that it has almost nothing to do with the current iteration of Aquaman, making him act out of character multiple times, and just being head-scratchingly different. Coming off of Parker's volume, it's all the worse as it basically jettisons everything that was just built up. Just because you have a new author doesn't mean everything has to be new and different.
May 12, 2016
I had high hopes for this volume of Aquaman. I was a bit disappointed by what turns out to be a mediocre story. Basically Aquaman has been exiled from the kingdom of Atlantis when he refuses to destroy another world, Thule, which is mysteriously crossing over into our world and destroying Atlantis. We find out in a cliche kind of way that Aquaman has been fooled by Mera's evil sister Siren, whom he sleeps with not knowing she is a shapeshifter. Cullen Bunn doesn't really make this an issue in the latter half of the book between Mera and Arthur aka Aquaman which is kind of strange. I did enjoy the later half of the book which included the Justice League jumping into the fray. I got to say between this book and the Cyborg book their have been several end of the world level threats on Earth back to back. I am unsure of what time frame the events in this book takes place in the DC comics universe but we are in the DC You era of writing which says,"CREATIVITY OVER CONTINUITY". I wish the story here could have been more intersting especially coming behind Jeff Parker's pretty good run with the character. I hope that the next volume will be a little better. I didn't hate the book it was just simple action comic fair.
September 6, 2016
Another Volume with a fully contained story that still builds on the one before... Aquaman definitely brings the action here!
We start the Volume with the King being exiled and under attack by order of Mera. Through flashbacks, it is revealed that "another Atlantis" (called Thule) has been found and Arthur wants to rescue the innocents. Mera (who is actually her dark sorceress sister Siren) accuses Aquaman of putting another Kingdom before his own and banishes him. When her identity is revealed, we also discover that Thule is the "rebel" Atlantis controlled by dark sorcerers that was separated from the rest of the Kingdom during the time of King Atlan. Aquaman seeks help from Poseidon, Mera defeats Siren and reconnects with Aquaman, they gather the Justice League, and they all fight against Thule.
When the day is won, the innocent people of Atlantis who were kept in Thule swear allegiance to Arthur and he has found his Kingdom not only restored to him, but much larger with his new subjects. What will the end of the New 52 run of Aquaman bring to light?
Recommend.
We start the Volume with the King being exiled and under attack by order of Mera. Through flashbacks, it is revealed that "another Atlantis" (called Thule) has been found and Arthur wants to rescue the innocents. Mera (who is actually her dark sorceress sister Siren) accuses Aquaman of putting another Kingdom before his own and banishes him. When her identity is revealed, we also discover that Thule is the "rebel" Atlantis controlled by dark sorcerers that was separated from the rest of the Kingdom during the time of King Atlan. Aquaman seeks help from Poseidon, Mera defeats Siren and reconnects with Aquaman, they gather the Justice League, and they all fight against Thule.
When the day is won, the innocent people of Atlantis who were kept in Thule swear allegiance to Arthur and he has found his Kingdom not only restored to him, but much larger with his new subjects. What will the end of the New 52 run of Aquaman bring to light?
Recommend.
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