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Aquaman (2003) #32-39
Aquaman: Kingdom Lost
Concluding the classic Sub Diego storyline, acclaimed writer John Arcudi (B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth) and artists Leonard Kirk (SUPERGIRL) and Andy Clarke (DETECTIVE COMICS) tell the tragic story of the fall of Atlantis as the Infinite Crisis is unleashed upon the DC Universe!
Aquaman, once King of Atlantis, has abandoned his throne and now serves as protector of Sub Diego. But while the ocean has gained thousands of new inhabitants, it has lost one--Mera, Aquaman's estranged wife, who has been cursed to live on land and breathe only air.
But when Aquaman's friends and family seek to cure Mera of the curse, it sets off a tragic chain reaction that leads to the destruction of Atlantis...and the death of many whom Aquaman holds dear.
In the midst of his grief, Sub Diego is attacked by Aquaman's greatest enemies, including the deadly Black Manta! And now that the King of the Seven Seas has lost his kingdom, Black Manta is about to see what happens when Aquaman is truly unleashed...with all the fury of the sea at his command!
Collects AQUAMAN #32-39.
Aquaman, once King of Atlantis, has abandoned his throne and now serves as protector of Sub Diego. But while the ocean has gained thousands of new inhabitants, it has lost one--Mera, Aquaman's estranged wife, who has been cursed to live on land and breathe only air.
But when Aquaman's friends and family seek to cure Mera of the curse, it sets off a tragic chain reaction that leads to the destruction of Atlantis...and the death of many whom Aquaman holds dear.
In the midst of his grief, Sub Diego is attacked by Aquaman's greatest enemies, including the deadly Black Manta! And now that the King of the Seven Seas has lost his kingdom, Black Manta is about to see what happens when Aquaman is truly unleashed...with all the fury of the sea at his command!
Collects AQUAMAN #32-39.
200 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2017
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55 people want to read
About the author
John Arcudi
946 books100 followersJohn Arcudi has made a name for himself by scripting comics that manage to combine long-running subplots with impeccable characterization and action sequences, making for some of the most exciting and consistently good comics out today.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 24, 2018
Aquaman: Kingdom Lost is the third volume of the Sub-Diego storyline though that useful information isn’t mentioned anywhere on this book so good job, DC Marketing! That said, while Sub-Diego was just a mediocre comic (which, by Aquaman standards, instantly makes it a contender for “classic” status!), I’d recommend readers not to bother with Kingdom Lost as it is shiiiiiiiiiiit!
The awful writer John Arcudi takes over from Will Pfeiffer and instantly sinks any potential quality that previously existed. There’s no story, just a series of go-nowhere pitiful storylines that fail to link up in any way. San Diego is still underwater. Aquaman fights a giant alligator-esque sea monster. Black Manta’s given gills while Mera’s given lungs by sea sorcerers – not sure why on both counts or who the sea sorcerers are or how they got Mera! Black Manta’s also trying to stir up race riots in Sub-Diego in one particularly unpleasant dead-end subplot. Aquaman cheats on Mera with some bimbo called Esther for no reason – it doesn’t seem in character for Arthur. Oh and Aquaman has a twentysomething Polynesian son?!
There’s more drivel: Arthur has to fight a nobody called Geist, the scientist dude from the first book does something and there’s an utterly pointless Infinite Crisis crossover. And why not have The Spectre show up to smash Atlantis for no reason?! This tripe is all over the shop and it’s an absolute nightmare of a mess to read! Patrick Gleason draws the opening issue and the covers but the art is otherwise unimpressive.
If you’re a fan of old Aquapants, you could do worse than check out Sub-Diego, but definitely don’t bother with this worthless addition to that storyline. I can see why DC chose to market Sub-Diego as a standalone book – besides the setting, Kingdom Lost has almost nothing to do with it! There isn’t anything good about Kingdom Lost. It’s simply a shipwreck of a comic. Thanks John Arcudi, you talentless hack!
The awful writer John Arcudi takes over from Will Pfeiffer and instantly sinks any potential quality that previously existed. There’s no story, just a series of go-nowhere pitiful storylines that fail to link up in any way. San Diego is still underwater. Aquaman fights a giant alligator-esque sea monster. Black Manta’s given gills while Mera’s given lungs by sea sorcerers – not sure why on both counts or who the sea sorcerers are or how they got Mera! Black Manta’s also trying to stir up race riots in Sub-Diego in one particularly unpleasant dead-end subplot. Aquaman cheats on Mera with some bimbo called Esther for no reason – it doesn’t seem in character for Arthur. Oh and Aquaman has a twentysomething Polynesian son?!
There’s more drivel: Arthur has to fight a nobody called Geist, the scientist dude from the first book does something and there’s an utterly pointless Infinite Crisis crossover. And why not have The Spectre show up to smash Atlantis for no reason?! This tripe is all over the shop and it’s an absolute nightmare of a mess to read! Patrick Gleason draws the opening issue and the covers but the art is otherwise unimpressive.
If you’re a fan of old Aquapants, you could do worse than check out Sub-Diego, but definitely don’t bother with this worthless addition to that storyline. I can see why DC chose to market Sub-Diego as a standalone book – besides the setting, Kingdom Lost has almost nothing to do with it! There isn’t anything good about Kingdom Lost. It’s simply a shipwreck of a comic. Thanks John Arcudi, you talentless hack!
February 19, 2018
About all I can say for this is that the art by Leonard Kirk and Andy Clarke is very good. The always solid Patrick Gleason pitches in for the first issue and covers. There's a whole jumble of stories that go nowhere. Atlantis gets destroyed by the Spectre but aren't given a reason why. Mera is now an air breather. Aquaman has a Samoan son. There's a shady scientist but then he turns into an OMac and goes poof. There's no point to any of it and you're often just left with a puzzled feeling on what just happened. This is an Aquaman run best left forgotten. Go read Peter David's run instead.
October 17, 2021
This was another great one.
It starts with the callback to whats going on with Koryak, son of Arthur and the condition of Mera as she is an air breather now and what happens when Arthur knows about it, Tempus (Garth) and other sorcerers do something that invite the wrath of the Spectre which leads to a big change to Atlantis that will change Arthur forever meanwhile he is busy with battling the DEEP SIX led by Orm and the politics of it and the final battle with Black Manta! Also something with OMAC (Infinite crisis) that leads to some other losses.
An epic volume and I love how Acrudi managed to combine so many different plots and all to make such an epic story and truly give one of the most heartfelt aquaman moments and the flashbacks :( but its a testament to his great writing and it ends on sour note and some great Status quo changes to Arthur and his world. The art again is awesome throughout!
It starts with the callback to whats going on with Koryak, son of Arthur and the condition of Mera as she is an air breather now and what happens when Arthur knows about it, Tempus (Garth) and other sorcerers do something that invite the wrath of the Spectre which leads to a big change to Atlantis that will change Arthur forever meanwhile he is busy with battling the DEEP SIX led by Orm and the politics of it and the final battle with Black Manta! Also something with OMAC (Infinite crisis) that leads to some other losses.
An epic volume and I love how Acrudi managed to combine so many different plots and all to make such an epic story and truly give one of the most heartfelt aquaman moments and the flashbacks :( but its a testament to his great writing and it ends on sour note and some great Status quo changes to Arthur and his world. The art again is awesome throughout!
February 21, 2024
The general consensus among Goodreads reviewers is that this book is just a bunch of random, unintelligible and seemingly disconnected stories that lead nowhere. And I agree wholeheartedly. Interesting plot lines are introduced, only to be abandoned entirely. Satisfying conclusions are hard to come by in this book. In fact, when this volume concludes, the story just kind of...stops. The Sub Diego storyline isn't wrapped up. Loose ends are left drifting like kelp in the sea.
And do you want to know the worst part? I still liked it! And it taught me something about myself. Provided there is enough entertainment value, even a silly Aquaman adventure is enjoyable for me. I mean come on, the dude compels a whale to breach dramatically just to impress a woman! Aquaman has been many things, but I never thought "baller" would be one of them.
So while it's not an essential read, die-hard Aquafans might find enough here to be entertained.
And do you want to know the worst part? I still liked it! And it taught me something about myself. Provided there is enough entertainment value, even a silly Aquaman adventure is enjoyable for me. I mean come on, the dude compels a whale to breach dramatically just to impress a woman! Aquaman has been many things, but I never thought "baller" would be one of them.
So while it's not an essential read, die-hard Aquafans might find enough here to be entertained.
December 26, 2017
This leads up to the One Year Later story (I think) so there's a good bit of "ending" here. Atlantis is destroyed, Mera is an air breather now, etc.
The story seems a bit jumbled up compared to the previous Sub Diego volumes, as if Arcudi is trying to wrap up some of the plots before the big event. I wasn't crazy about the deaths in this book, either. Seemed random to me.
The art by Gleason and Kirk, though, is pretty damn good.
The story seems a bit jumbled up compared to the previous Sub Diego volumes, as if Arcudi is trying to wrap up some of the plots before the big event. I wasn't crazy about the deaths in this book, either. Seemed random to me.
The art by Gleason and Kirk, though, is pretty damn good.
December 27, 2023
Aquaman has been my favorite since I was a kid. This collected trade is not my favorite. The writing is strange because it leads up to drama points and cuts away. Then when it cuts back, the drama is passed and we never get to see it play out. Some of the art is great. Some less so. It’s a middling book all together.
June 15, 2018
I didn't hate this graphic novel, but I didn't love it either. I wasn't expecting the level of tragedy that happened at the end. And, while the way it was written certainly tugged at your emotions (particularly the flashbacks), it didn't really feel like that level of sadness was earned. Why was the Spectre punishing Atlantis? It seemed like it came out of nowhere! The Spectre is a character that always has a purpose, and this just seemed like... yeah, let's destroy Atlantis because we, the writers, like torturing Aquaman. In addition, the whole Black Manta thing just kind of happened and then disappeared. He's an iconic villain. He needed more story time than just waiting in the background and then "when his cover is blown" fighting Aquaman for a whole two seconds and then Aquaman killing him--that's right, downright killing him! Plus, why did all those other baddies randomly show up in San Diego? Maybe there's something that happens in another title that explains it better, but it kind of just felt like random conflict because the writers needed a reason for Aquaman not to come to Atlantis while it was being destroyed. PLUS... the whole Geist turning into a... whatever... was never really explained. And then some of the racial stuff just felt like it was added in just to try and make the story deeper and more relevant, rather than actually BEING deeper and more relevant. There was some potential there--heck, there was a lot of potential with everything I just mentioned--but none of it was handled correctly. Then the ending... with the seahorses... was that a callback to that Native American tale about the two wolves (good and evil) and whichever one you feed becomes the stronger one? If so, that wasn't clear because that was mentioned NOWHERE in the graphic novel, but that's the only message I could possible get out of an ending like that--because it FELT like they were trying to convey some sort of message, so.... yeah. And with Aquaman apparently just having killed Manta... what does that mean? I've been really impressed with the other Sub Diego storylines I've read, but this one was definitely a disappointment--especially in comparison to the others. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, and there were definitely parts that were handled well (like the flashbacks), but I kept waiting for what everything was leading up to... only to be massively disappointed when it was either (A) Anti-climactic, or (B) Not fully explained or fleshed-out. I think there's one more graphic novel to read in this Sub Diego story arc, so I'm definitely hoping it gets better. But, after this, I'm also not rushing to read it either.
July 9, 2022
Lots of potential that is completely wasted. Major characters die so suddenly it’s hard unclear if we’re meant to believe it’s permanent or not. Major villains show up with little explanation of why they’re there. Events from the rest of the dcu crash into this story in a way that should be very impactful but everyone seems to shrug it off between issues. Ultimately, I’m glad I’m finally almost done my Aquaman trades.
May 31, 2018
Despite a few interesting moments, this one's a mess, partly because of the Infinite Crisis intrusion and partly because so many things are happening, only some of which make sense or aren't forced (admittedly, this may be related to the reboot that would soon follow). It makes for a crazy, unsatisfying read.
February 26, 2019
The Sub Diego storyline falls flat with forced emotions, no resolutions, and the disappointment of missed opportunities. This third and apparently final arc was unfortunate. DC seemed to have no endgame in mind and the good that was built up was all torn asunder. Gleason's and Kirk's art was still very good and the only thing keeping this from a one star review. Overall, an editorial mess.
June 29, 2023
I wasn't a fan of the art and didn't know that this wasn't a standalone. It felt like there was alot I missed and luckily I read that Wonder Woman volume when she killed Maxwell Lord. There were elements of this that were interesting like the city of Sub Diego and Meta becoming a land dweller. I wouldn't recommend this if you are just picking this up randomly.
December 14, 2018
I've never read any Aquaman before - so felt (pardon the phrase) somewhat dropped in at the deep end. A lot of back story, and arc building to deal with in one slim volume.
October 9, 2023
A very long and rich story, but I could not get invested in the story as much as I had wanted to.
July 23, 2023
If I'm understanding correctly, part of San Diego fell into the ocean and the citizens became mer-people, so they renamed it Sub Diego? JFC.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews