Aquaman #8
By Hervé St-Louis
October 5, 2016 - 17:54
DC Comics
Writer(s): Dan Abnett
Penciller(s): Scot Eaton
Inker(s): Wayne Faucher
Colourist(s): Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer(s): Pat Brosseau
Cover Artist(s): Johusa Middleton; Diego Lopez
$2.99
It’s seems apparent that a running theme in both Marvel and DC Comics is that of the unstoppable opponent pitted against a hero or a team of heroes. Through some trick, it has to be defeated while dealing with the very quality, that of being undefeatable. Marvel’s Thor has the Destroyer armour, but DC Comics is the one that has made the most of this idea of an enemy that cannot be defeated.
I probably had heard the name ‘the Shaggy Man’ before but never was exposed the character or his variants and clones. So when I read the comic the first, time, before his name was mentioned, I thought that writer Dan Abnett was pulling a Doomsday on Aquaman. It’s the same trick. It’s a brute that cannot be destroyed and that only becomes stronger after each attack. It’s like the Hydra of Lerna, or some of the modern version of another Justice League villain, Amazo. He could absorbe all of the powers of the Justice League.
It’s interesting to see Abnett play with myth-making while he tries to elevate Aquaman to another realm, that of the hero proving his worth through a series of labours thrown at him by his opponent. So, as a reader, you may mock the Shaggy Man or find his inclusion in this story a bit ludicrous, but upon analysis, Abnett has a definite plan for Aquaman and that should make you rejoice.
Scot Eaton draws good super hero fight scenes, although his underwater world seems a bit blank. His work seems more fitting of a Marvel Comics and this is not a criticism. This is DC Comics making a concerted effort to hire more dynamic artists. I cannot complain. It is a good decision.
Rating: 9.5/10
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