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Aquaman (2011) #1-3

Aquaman: Omnibus

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The complete collection of Geoff Johns's groundbreaking Aquaman collection that redefined the hero for modern audiences!

Arthur Curry is a man of two worlds. Six years ago he was a surface dweller, raised as the son of a lighthouse keeper. Then tragedy struck. Destiny was revealed. And young Arthur Curry claimed his birthright: the Throne of Atlantis. But his reign was brief. When darkness threatened the surface world, he rose to meet it. As Aquaman, he joined the team of heroes called the Justice League, leaving the rule of his kingdom behind. But even underwater, the past will not stay buried. A sinister force is pushing Aquaman's two worlds to the brink of war, with the fate of the planet in the balance. If Arthur does not reclaim his throne, the throne may well claim his life...

DC Entertainment president & chief creative officer Geoff Johns re-teams with Green Lantern collaborator Ivan Reis in this oversize omnibus collection featuring Johns' critically acclaimed run.

Collects: Aquaman 0-25, 23.1 & 23.2, Justice League 15-17

728 pages, Hardcover

First published December 18, 2018

27 people are currently reading
426 people want to read

About the author

Geoff Johns

2,716 books2,410 followers
Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
Profile Image for Richard.
1,062 reviews473 followers
July 22, 2018
★★★1/2

Over the years, Aquaman has become sort of a joke, a superhero seen as overly hokey, the butt of many jokes. You can see evidence of this in some hilarious bits in Family Guy and a major story point in HBO's Entourage, where there's no holding back on making fun of the Atlantean king. But, similar to what he did in his seminal Green Lantern run, Geoff Johns came along during the New 52, reinventing and revitalizing the Aquaman character. He begins with tackling the assumptions and jokes about Aquaman head on, in order to then throw them out of the window and shut up all of the detractors.



Johns shows that there's so much potential in a character like Aquaman when paired with a good writer who's passionate about the material. He not only focuses on Arthur Curry's conflict between his loyalty to the surface world and his responsibility as the heir to the throne of Atlantis, but he also showcases the formidable powers of Arthur Curry and especially his paramour Mera, as well as highlight how formidable his rogues gallery can be, in the form of his blood grudge with the ruthless pirate Black Manta and his feud with his brother Orm, The Ocean Master.



And while all of this is cool, and the art is at times very stunning and detailed, the first half of the book is a bit messy, somehow managing to suffer from being both too rushed and taking too much time to get to its true strengths. But the fourth and final story arc, "Death of a King", is where the really good stuff begins. It's where Johns really starts to pump up the world-building and mythology surrounding Atlantis and introducing the idea of the Seven Seas. It was even more frustrating and disappointing when I realized that this is all there is to Johns's run, which for some reason ended early and he never expanded on this mythology any further. Imagine if the Green Lantern run ended right after Johns introduced the existence of other Lantern Corps! The material here has the potential for some great storytelling and I wish he focused on this stuff earlier. If it went further, it seems like we could've gotten an underwater Game of Thrones!

Maybe some day? Maybe the movie?!

This includes Geoff Johns's full run, with:
Aquaman, Volume 1: The Trench ★★★1/2
Aquaman, Volume 2: The Others ★★★1/2
Aquaman, Volume 3: Throne of Atlantis ★★★1/2
Aquaman, Volume 4: Death of a King ★★★★
Profile Image for Subham.
3,070 reviews104 followers
August 14, 2021
This was so good.

It starts with the origin of Aquaman and then facing the trench and then fighting villains here and there and teaming with the JL, uniting with the Others again and then discovering the secrets of Atlantis and we see him fight against Black Manta and then Ocean Master for the throne of Atlantis and its an epic JL story too plus then the king rises and Scavenger and the Dead King Atlan return and we see the history and epic action there! The secret of his lineage and the twist with Nereus and his wife Mera and what will the fate of Aquaman be?!

This was such an epic volume and has such great things like introducing such great myths and adding to the lore of Aquaman in such a profound way and I love the way he makes Ocean Master and Black manta so cool and yet also introduces a lot of other adversaries and not to forget the art in here is some of the best like first Reis and then Pelletier its just perfect. The writing is made so much better because of it and I love this. Then finally the ending "Rise of the seven seas" hints of something to come in the far future maybe? Despite it I loved every single moment of it and Johns made Aquaman one of my favorites with this story easily. Its every bit as ambitious and better than his other runs. Just epic read and a must for everyone!
Profile Image for Sud666.
2,330 reviews198 followers
July 22, 2024
The Aquaman Omnibus by Geoff Johns collects Aquaman #0-19, #21-25,# 23.1, #23.2 and Justice League #15-17.

Johns writes a fun story and the artwork is really good throughout the entire volume.

The first part of the story details Arthur and Meera's fight against Black Manta and Arthur's relationship with his brother, Orm, King of Atlantis. A really good and well illustrated story arc that ends with the war against Atlantis. Arthur must also face the monsters from the Trench.

The second part covers Arthur becoming King and imprisoning Orm for his murder of the humans during the war. Vulko is outed as the true traitor and Arthur must face off against various forces that want Orm back.

The last arc covers the return of the first King of Atlantis who wants his throne back. This was the weakest story arc of the three but still decent.

Overall? A really good volume. Good artwork and a good volume for people to start their Aquaman adventures.
Profile Image for Michael.
1,609 reviews209 followers
December 29, 2018


Durchgängig schöne Artwork, die zusätzlich von der tollen Kolorierung profitiert.
Die Story ist eigentlich auch ordentlich, aber eigentlich ist eigentlich ein blödes Wort …
Da erzählt Geoff Johns immer wieder über dutzende von Seiten eine spannende Geschichte, und dann schaffte er es jedes Mal aufs neue, meine Begeisterung durch den Kamin zu jagen.
Wer ist um alles in der Welt auf eine Figur wie "Prisoner of War" gekommen: Ein Typ, traumatisiert vom Krieg, der die ganze Zeit mit einem Sack über dem Kopf herumläuft und sich gelegentlich Handfesseln mit schweren Ketten anlegt? Das ist pathetischer Mist. Überhaupt fand ich das Konzept von THE OTHERS nicht überzeugend und selbst die JUSTICE LEAGUE fügt sich nicht perfekt in das Konzept.
Andererseits ist Aquaman ein Held, der zwischen vielen Stühlen sitzt (einer davon ein Thron) und dadurch eine gewisse Vielschichtigkeit bekommt. Aber auch die lässt Johns nicht in den Himmel wachsen: Auf einer Seite schwört Aquaman seinem Erzfeind Black Manta noch tödliche Rache, aber auf der nächsten schon krümmt er ihm kein Haar mehr, sondern lässt ihn beschämt zurück. Klar, Blutrache passt nicht zu unseren Superhelden, aber warum dann vorher so dick auftragen?
Licht und Schatten, aber ein durchaus helles Licht, das solche Schatten werfen kann...
Profile Image for Mohamed Ahmed.
274 reviews26 followers
October 19, 2019
this is my first time to read Aquaman and Geoff Johns made me love the Character.
a really Solid Storyline With amazing art by Ivan Reis
Profile Image for Michael.
263 reviews5 followers
May 18, 2024
The last thing I thought I’d ever read is an aquaman omnibus but this is actually very good!

This being in the new 52, it gives you an origin for aquaman but what I liked is it didn’t go too deep into his past it threw us into the story and told us information from his past when we needed it. The story was really interesting and spanned the whole of this omnibus and tied everything together really well.

Ends on a bit of a cliffhanger unfortunately however you do get a complete story in here with a satisfying conclusion.
Profile Image for Carlos.
172 reviews
July 13, 2020
While deciding to expand upon my limited knowledge of DC during this never-ending pandemic, I picked up Geoff Johns' Green Lantern on the recommendation of many many fellow nerds.
"The mythology is so cool!" I heard.
"It's DC's cosmic epic" I was told.
"Geoff Johns is in my top 5 favourite writers of all time" they said.
Well I started his Green Lantern run, and while it's taking me a while to get into it and it seems to be standard superheroics so far; I can see its potential epicness.
I really wasn't that familiar with any of Johns' work before now, so I felt a gap was growing in library.

To compliment my undertaking of Green Lantern, Johns' run on Aquaman was one that kept attracting my eye. It seemed shorter, more compact and perhaps more accessible than GL given that it's the New 52 relaunch. So I began to read...

Well shit!
This run is pretty amazing. From the writing, the characterisation, the mythology and world-building, the plotting to the artwork (my god the artwork by Ivan Reis!), everything was incredible.
Characters, even the villains, were complex enough to keep me hooked. It's not often you get a very compelling villain in a mainstream comic book, but here we get at least 3!
There are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and the pacing of each satisfying arc is relentless without sacrificing its character development.
You even get a slice of on-the-nose political, social and environmental commentary thrown in, it's great.

Highly, highly, highly recommend this book!
And that comes from someone who's totally new to Aquaman comics and kinda hated most of the movie!
Profile Image for Rumi Bossche.
1,091 reviews17 followers
January 8, 2019
I love underdogs in comics. I never was a big fan of Daredevil when i was younger, but Brian michael Bendis his run made me a huge fan, same for Captain America, a guy from world war ll with a big flag as a suit. Read Ed Brubakers version of it and bam, fan ! Idem dito with Green Lantern. Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis made one of the best superhero books that i read. That same team is on this run of Aquaman, and yes you can call me an Aquaman fan now ! Arthur Curry, the man that talks to fish, was always a bit of a laughing joke in pop culture. But man is he a total badass in this run ! The badguys are not as good as The Joker or a Magneto or something, but engaging enough. The stories short and containded, fast paced and fun. Also really action paced and easy to read, while slowly fleshing out the origin of Aquaman.  Johns also makes a little bit fun of Aquaman and its really funny. In the first issue he orders Fish and Chips, with some hilarious conversation that he can not do that. Arthur is portraid als very cocky, kingly and thats just the way i like it . The artwork in this omnibus is the best i have ever seen and again, the stories are good !! Must read if you want to try something else then Spider-Man or Batman. Characters that i love, but its nice to sometimes check a character you know nothing about. And boy i am glad i did.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars
2 reviews
April 9, 2021
This is my first collected omnibus and did not disappoint even a little. Geoff gave Aquaman what he needed by the time this story was written. The story is awesome in many ways, and the storylines are all greats, but more the last three storylines. The Trench was a good introduction to Aquaman and how people see him and show us his relationship with mera plus the trench themself and in general the story was a 4/5. The Others, Throne of Atlantis and Death of a King could be the best stories related to the Aquaman with great narrative of the story all around and great characters. The three of them 5/5 in my opinion.

But in general i would give this omnibus a 4.5/5 stars but i will give it the 5 stars it deserves.
Profile Image for Brandon.
184 reviews1 follower
November 8, 2025
3⭐. Some great large-scale action sequences, but depending on the artist, some of the art really took me out of it. I enjoyed the Atlan storyline and diving into (no pun intended) the mythos of Atlantis. Arthur's character didn't strike me as super consistent at times, but maybe I'll reread it sometime and see if I feel the same way.
Profile Image for Jake Nap.
415 reviews7 followers
November 5, 2019
Geoff Johns knows how to write some entertaining stories and despite all of the dangling plot threads, he’s a damn good superhero writer. This book tells some of my favorite modern blockbuster action superhero stories. Basically every arc reads like a multi-million dollar action movie, and a good one at that.

I really enjoy the way Johns reinvented Aquaman and his side characters, especially Mera. I fully credit Johns for creating the version of Mera that I love dearly. They truly are one of the best couples in all comics. Johns adds a lot to the mythos (as he usually does, especially in the post Green Lantern era of his career) and really makes Aquaman feel like an important character. He wrote a whole event around him and it was a great one at that. The villains of the run are really good too. Johns has always had a fantastic voice for villains and he really flexes that muscle here with both Black Manta and Ocean Master.

Art wise, we have 2 main artists Ivan Reis and Paul Pelletier. Ivan Reis is one of my favorite more house style artists in the industry. He doesn’t take as many risks as I’d like in comic art, but he does exactly what he needs to do for this book. Reis’s splash pages are downright gorgeous though, especially with this oversized format. I think his art really benefits from the bigger pages because you can really appreciate how much detail goes into his art. Both Reis and Pelletier are fantastic at showing action, but Pelletier might have Reis beat in terms of being a sequential artist. Pelletier is a veteran of the industry though, he’s been drawing comics for DC since the 90’s with an awesome stint on the Flash with Mark Waid. Pelletier also continues onto the book after Johns leaves and does some great work with Jeff Parker.

My only flaws with the book stem from the lack of risk taking with paneling and visual story telling, but this isn’t the book for that. This book is pure escapism fun and it’s excellent at being pure entertainment. Also, Johns has a weird habit at this stage in his career for hinting at major events and never doing anything with them. This happens most notably here (Rise of the Seven Seas, where tf is it Geoff) and Flash Rebirth 09 (The last couple pages hint at a bunch of potential stories only for none of them to be explored).

8/10. Solid solid superhero stuff and holds up well on rereads. This was my third time reading through this material.
Profile Image for RG.
3,084 reviews
February 12, 2019
I haven't as of yet been a big fan of Aquaman stories, however Geoff Johns haw created an awesome story. Great art by Reis as well. Its very remisncent of the latest film. I guess it was loosely based on this run.
Profile Image for Kyle Cooke.
9 reviews
March 20, 2025
This was a fun one. It's clear to see the 2 Jason Mamoa films took heavy inspiration from this book. It's super digestible and action packed making for a quick read. Black Manta was a solid villain in his arc, and the Trench and the Throne of Atlantis were two really cool storylines.
Profile Image for Huda Al-Mossalli.
366 reviews22 followers
September 22, 2024
This was absolutely magnificent

It had everything I want from a comic collection
(Omnibus)

Great stories connected to each other without being over the top . Don’t get me wrong, it’s rightfully dramatic as any superhero comic would be, but it had the right ratio of things.

The art was fantastic and it was so well written. I learned new things about Aquaman which is nice .

Highly would recommend
199 reviews1 follower
November 24, 2023
Geoff Johns continues to be one of my favorite comic book writers! After having read his phenomenal run on Green Lantern, I decided to read some of a character I wasn’t very fond of: Aquaman. This was AWESOME. Significantly better than I’d ever expected and tells a great story. Aquaman is such a much better character than I ever would’ve been able to guess. Can’t wait to read more of Geoff Johns’ stuff!
Profile Image for Jake Spencer.
60 reviews3 followers
February 6, 2024
This was the first Aquaman book I’ve ever read and honestly I can see now how it influenced a lot of the movies. They made Aquaman Badass the only thing about this though is you might want to read new 52 Justice league, because it does spoil some things that happened in there, this was an awesome ride and I really enjoyed it.
Profile Image for John Katsanakis.
41 reviews11 followers
June 21, 2019
Aperfect introduction to the character for anyone. Writer Geoff Johns’ Aquaman will long be remembered as a classic and defining take on the character.
Profile Image for It's just Deano.
184 reviews8 followers
July 3, 2022
Aquaman by Geoff Johns Omnibus contains the flawless reboot of Aquaman and is the perfect beginning to Aquaman's journey into DC's New 52 comics.

It's an understatement to say this is good! Geoff Johns brings nothing but cleverness, excitement and intrigue here. Spanning multiple story-arcs - the plot is phenomenal, gripping and draws on various elements including horror and romance. The characterisation is nothing short of perfect - Arthur and Mera are the absolute defining versions of themselves, in my opinion, and Black Manta is undeniably elevated to a whole new level.

The illustrations contained here are some of the best you'll find in DC's New 52. There are contributions from various artists included, but it's the glorious efforts of Ivan Reis' and his pencils that blow the mind.

Overall, I'd wholeheartedly recommend this to everyone. Personally, I think this is up there with some of the best writing and artwork from DC's New 52 and if you're not a fan of Aquaman right now, you will be after reading this.
_______________

My Score: 10/10
My Goodreads: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
_______________
Profile Image for Tyler Zamora.
248 reviews
September 10, 2023
I really enjoyed Geoff John’s run on Aquaman. This was a great series with some good characters. This New 52 storyline really helped set the stage for DC’s cinematic Aquaman. John’s fresh viewpoint really takes on the mythology of the character head on. He starts right out by making Arthur the brunt of the jokes. He’s the fish guy and only useful in water. It’s brought up and made apparent that the humans don’t respect him or care that he has Atlantean lineage.

With that set up, he allows the character to redeem himself whenever he does something bad ass. It’s clear that Arthur has a chip on his shoulder and a lot to learn. I also loved Mera in this series. She’s such a boss and in my opinion, I think she’s more powerful than Arthur because she can manipulate the actual water, not just sea creatures. Her relationship with Arthur is also what keeps him going and she acts somewhat as a foil to his good boy image. Mera doesn’t mind breaking the rules to make a point or do the right thing.

Johns also reminds us of the other amazing characters in the Aquaman canon. His villains are great! Black Manta and Ocean Master (Orm) are perfect to go head to head with Arthur. They each have vendettas than run blood deep and I love that. I also got super excited to see Topo make an appearance. He was not a cute little octopus anymore, so that was surprising. I’m also excited to see Tula develop. I’m expecting Aquaboy will be coming in the near future, which is also exciting, but there’s nothing in this book that lead me to believe that.

The artwork is superb! I personally was so geeked for this omnibus because the artists are Brazilian and some of the best around. Their colors are great and spreads are very inventive. They really ran with the underwater world that Aquaman gets to roam in. I also just love the team up of Brazil and Johns as an MSU alum. My husband is both and gets a kick out of this, but both parties really come together nicely in both cases if I may say so.

For storylines, I thought the Throne of Atlantis was great, but it does get wrapped up a bit too soon. I also think trying to pit Aquaman against the entire Justice League was a bit dramatic, especially since it only lasted for a couple pages. King of Atlantis storyline was also good, but it lacked structure and felt sloppy at times. The first half of this omnibus is solid comic book storytelling and I would recommend the entire book to any DC or Aquaman fan. It’s a fun ride and breathes new life into beloved characters that were in a dire need of an update.
Profile Image for ダンカン.
299 reviews
July 27, 2019
I don't talk to fish.

Aquaman. The name alone for any non-comic reader won't read it or for that matter, even some comic readers won't touch it. Still, I heard so much about Geoff Johns take on Aquaman that I became curious and finally, in the New 52 version, I read the omnibus. I understand why it is good.


Arthur Curry isn't the King of Atlantis but living together with the surface dwellers, fighting crime in Boston. The humans misunderstood him. The atlanteans rejected him. All that is left is his purpose to fight crime. Soon, deep in the Atlantic ocean a new danger surface and will destroy every thing on its path and Arthur, together with the love of his life Mera, will need to protect the surface that will lead them to an inevitable war on land and at sea.


In short, I have always loved Geoff Johns writings. The story flows smoothly and incredibly fast-paced. There is humor, action and horror. There is depth of the characters from the beginning and introduction of some new characters, unexpectedly fit into the arch. And then, the revealing of the origin, which in some ways, a big inspiration to 2018's movie. All in all, with artwork that fits well with the tone of writing, this is an omnibus that does not disappoints. Although some say Peter David version is edgy, I would say this is New 52 version works well for me.

568 reviews
January 30, 2025
The New 52 was divisive for comic book fans, but Geoff John's Aquaman was a highlight.

Geoff John's creates a strong protagonist in Aquaman by highlighting his struggle as an outsider, mocked and treated poorly by many. Aquaman's relationship with his partner Mera is also a strong point of the story. Mera is well characterised in this story as a strong but caring character, with hints at a darker backstory.

The Omnibus starts strong with a horror focused story featuring the terrifying creatures of the Trench. This story does a good job of introducing us to Aquaman and the pressure he faces.

John's builds on the mythology of Atlantis in a fun and interesting way with the introduction of "The Others" a team of heroes who make use of Atlantean artefacts. Their story was further developed by Dan Jurgens in a separate comic book, but there appearance in this book helped develop Aquaman's cast of characters.

Overall I would say that this was a consistly fun and exciting read and one of the best from the New 52 period.
Profile Image for Bob.
618 reviews
June 1, 2025
I dug the first half of this: the Trench are good *Abyss*-style antagonists, Aquaman & Mera in Stephen King-grotesque-style Maine is a much more interesting setting than Atlantis, the Others are a fun variant on the Global Guardians (sadly, the Others' potential wasn't realized in their spinoff), the intensification of the Aquaman-Manta rivalry is well done, & Aquadog is cute; however, the second half gets undertowed by crossovers & Atlantean politics. Peter David's recent death inspired to revisit & finish the 2 signature Aquaman runs, his and Johns's, and, in both cases, I found much to like about Aquaman, his supporting heroes (Mera, Aqualad, Dophin, Aquadog, & the Others), & some of his villains, but the guest stars & the Atlantean angles remain terrible chores
Profile Image for Dzona Hmestni.
1 review
January 1, 2025
Very good story, loved all the characters especially the Prisoner-of-War. The last two arcs just felt kinda rushed in my opinion. The fight in the last arc was also kinda just meh, for such a big threat he was easily defeated. On the "other" hand the first two arcs (The Trench! & The Others!) were really good, as was the art by Ivan Reis. When they change the artist the quality does drop a little but thats just by a small percent. If you want to start reading Aquaman this is the perfect jumping on point, you also don’t need any beforehand information to enjoy the story since it is all explained very well. Good book, I recommend :)
Profile Image for Finlay.
25 reviews1 follower
January 21, 2025
I really enjoyed this!

Before this, Aquaman was a character nobody took seriously and never really worked as a character, but Johns is able to acknowledge the flaws and use them to elevate the character in a really brilliant way. I really enjoyed the way Arthur was characterised here, and Atlantis was fully realised in a way it's never been before. Ocean Master, Black Manta, and Mera are also all really amazing here, I loved the way they were written.

Overall, a really solid and fun read that has turned Aquaman into a personal favourite of mine!
Profile Image for Bryson Grenfell.
20 reviews2 followers
June 23, 2025
Geoff John’s does a hell of a lot of leg work to make Arthur Curry one of the biggest badasses of the DC universe, there may never be an Aquaman run like this again, the only one that comes close is Peter David’s
Profile Image for Joakim Ax.
172 reviews37 followers
December 20, 2021
If you ever laughed at a Aquaman fish-joke...This is where you´ll stop laughing and start reading!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews

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