Aquaman: Drowned Earth Special #1

A satisfying conclusion to one of the year's best stories! Read Full Review

At times Drowned Earth enters full-on fantasy adventure, and it embraces those elements for the better. Giant Death Krakens, speedster mermen, and a city that doubles as a missile are all found within the book's pages, but Snyder makes it all work and keeps things fun while also maintaining the severity of the stakes. Read Full Review

Aquaman is almost in theaters, and I'm very excited to see it. It's bound to be a financial success, and I have no doubt that within days or weeks of its release, a press release will come out affirming a sequel is in the works. Aquaman is an iconic character with plenty of stories to pull from. While the higher-ups are talking about potential sequel ideas, I genuinely hope Drowned Earth is in talks to be adapted. That ending reminded me a lot of The Dark Knight Rises, and it would make for a thrilling conclusion to a trilogy of Aquaman films. Read Full Review

Manapul, Porter and Godlewski's dramatic art is breathtaking in this issue. The art perfectly matches the drama of the story. There is a fluid element to the panels that I love. Read Full Review

This is a great comic if you like big action, heroic moments, and events that feel important and long lasting. I'm also impressed DC Comics hasn't stretched this event out too thin and wrapped it up in an efficient and quick way. Read Full Review

Overall Aquaman/Justice League: Drowned Earth #1 is a fantastic finale to an already fantastic event. The issue has masterfully crafted dramatic tension and does a fantastic job of juggling its large cast of characters and giving each of them their own moment to shine. The issue ends with quite a few plates in the air and Im interested in seeing Snyder handle each of them sooner rather than later. Read Full Review

In the end, Drowned Earth delivered on its promise of being a 90's influenced swashbuckling journey through the waters of the universe while putting our heroes in some weird predicaments (and costumes). But in addition to that, it created some vacuums of power and presence that will be interesting to see filled in the coming issues. Read Full Review

Drowned Earth comes to conclusion with a smashing success. It works on multiple levels, offering excitement, humor, and a stirring emotional finale to this event. Manapul and Porter turn in outstanding work throughout, and Manapul, Hi-Fi and Napolitano ice the cake with outstanding colors and near-flawless lettering. This is everything a comic event should be. Read Full Review

As the DC mothership gears up for Aquaman to headline a major film, and a new creative team in the form of Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha dive into the pool, Aquaman/Justice League: Drowned Earth is a perfect ship to lead us there. Or as Wonder Woman puts it: "Whatever strange sea he's sailing, it's off the known map" in completely uncharted waters." Read Full Review

Packed with action and stunning artwork, Aquaman/Justice League: Drowned Earth Special (2018-) #1offers a fitting conclusion to the Drowned Earth arc Read Full Review

The finale of the DROWNED EARTH saga thrills with its large-scale action sequences as well as a poignant conclusion, though some may be displeased with the ambiguity of the final pages' contents. Read Full Review

Aquaman Justice League Drowned Earth Special #1 is a thrilling conclusion to the Drowned Earth story arc. There are some great character moments in it, and I really like that this is story where the way to win is not just to punch your way to victory. It's truly heroic to take chances to try to make amends and stop the fighting once and for all. I like the fact that Aquaman's communication powers are totally useful, and I think this is also a good set-up for whatever is coming next for Aquaman. If there's anything I didn't like, it's that it seems like there are so many mystical items in play " the Totality, the Tear of Extinction, Clarion, Poseidon's trident, etc. Mystical items get less special when you have too many of them around. Read Full Review

All in all, a highly entertaining mini-event that did justice to both the books it tied into. Needed more Jarro, though. Read Full Review

I'm liking DC's strategy to tell a small scale event between two titles. That worked well with Wonder Woman and Justice League Dark on The Witching Hour and again with Justice League and Aquaman here. This should lead to some interesting fallout not just with the League, but the Legion of Doom as well. Read Full Review

"Drowned Earth" has been a wild ride. The creative minds behind this story have accomplished their goals. They have set up Aquamanfor its new writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick, while progressing the plot of Snyder's grandJustice League story. Although "Drowned Earth" has been slightly inconsistent in terms of quaily, the best aspects of this story are exemplified in this final issue.Aquaman/Justice League Drowned Earth #1is a well-crafted conclusion that highlights both the skill and creativity of the creators involved. It's definitely worth a read. Read Full Review

Justice League is a wordy comic, but it's also one that goes all-out when it comes to big, world-ending storylines. This was an action-packed and exciting comic that never let up and earned its emotional ending. Read Full Review

The Drowned Earth arc has been one I have thoroughly enjoyed and one that, creatively speaking, managed to mesh the Justice League and Aquaman worlds in a way that did service to both. Read Full Review

There's not much depth here, this is big action popcorn theater. The scenes are over the top and the moments are checked off in predictable ways. The event has been a fun one overall and worth checking out in trade but overall, we've seen so much better from everyone involved. Read Full Review

If you've been reading this and haven't been liking it like I have, I really recommend this issue as Snyder mostly ties everything together in a decent-enough little bow that, while not redeeming this event, is a fun read on its own. Read Full Review

At the conclusion of "Drowned Earth," things get complex and then are summarily dispatched. You might not be afraid to go into the water after reading this book, but it might put you off calamari for a while. Read Full Review

Overall it seems like this arc, which had so much potential, was actually a major step back for both Aquaman and DC Comics as a whole. If you want a fantastic epic that shows how great Aquaman can be, stick to Throne of Atlantis. Read Full Review

Scott Snyder spins a magnificent tale, but three artists with drastically different styles leaves this book muddled and muddy. Read Full Review

Watchtower022

Dec 01, 2018

To go from Manapuls sleek artwork to Porters rougher edges work didn’t work for me. But other than that, loved it.

mrDovydas

Jan 09, 2019

While Drowned Earth started really well, it didn't really follow it too well. Though it was a really enjoyable read, I always felt like something more could be done to make it feel as epic as it was (probably) intended to. I don't really liked the way it was resolved, but it was written pretty well, which I am ok with. Overall, I understand that this crossover(?) was intended to give Aquaman a new direction (which it did), and to have something related to the character in the spotlight of the DC's flagship book, as there is a movie out in the cinemas, which it also managed to do without it feeling like an unnecessary synergy thing that DC's main competitor does oh so often.

I Review Comics

Feb 24, 2020

I'm finally finished reviewing the Drowned Earth story and can move on. I've been down on Snyder since the start of the event. It sucks because I generally love his ideas and concepts. I found his segments of the event to be overstuffed. Whether it's Snyder or editorial who are to blame we'll never know, but this issue meshes well with the rest of the story. It felt nice reading a Scott Snyder issue that balances out nicely. This is a decent closeout issue and even the Legion of Doom segments are integrated well. Aquaman gets most of the spotlight here which is appropriate considering the timing of the event with the film release (Yes this comic is old AF).Most of the attention centers around him and his ongoing rivalry with Black Manta. Before the event, I only knew Manta from the film. It's nice to see that the characterization from the movie grafts almost 100% here. He's treated as a worthy rival to Arthur and get's his licks in on the Justice League as well. It's not all roses though. The conclusion and aftermath of Drowned Earth came too easy for me. Considering that the earth was basically capsized during the event It's hard to imagine the world immediately getting back to normal. There's also a basic continuity problem. Based on the level of the threat, the number of heroes involved in the story should have been a lot larger. I hate when events have no lasting ramifications or are immediately retconned. We see this a lot at Marvel. It feels that aside from the new status quo for Aquaman and the continuation of the Legion of Doom storyline this event will go down the memory hole. This review is being written in 2020, do you remember Drowned Earth? Looking at the entirety of Drowned Earth I think its a net positive. The Legion of Doom segments will hurt the trade because it's tied intrinsically to the main Justice League series. Titan's #28 is a great tie-in but is ultimately unnecessary as they never appear again in the event. Aside from the gripes cited in these reviews, the event is pretty good. There aren't a ton of tie-ins so collecting the event in single issues won't break your wallet. The trade is also going for about $16 on Amazon. If you're a fan of Aquaman and Epic Justice League stories you can't go wrong here. more

egonnn244

Nov 29, 2018

"Not on my watch" Heroes win, villains are vanquished and the event ends. Was the conclusion satisfying? Yes, it was. Scott Snyder neatly finishes this story, even tying it back to Metal. Justice League pushes everything they have against the gods and Manta, but it's Aquaman who ultimately breaks through to them and sacrifices himself to save the planet. Taking Manta with him. But it's comics, so halfway through the event, we already knew he ends up amnesiac somewhere. It negated the impact of the ending a bit. I have some complains though. Some of the Batman and Manta's dialogue was a bit silly and pages done by Howard Porter felt too cramped. There was just so much happening on them. I think Francis Manapul did a better job here . But now Mera will join the League and Legion has the Totality. I am looking forward to the future, just you know, hold up with the cosmic level events for a while. more

Comix4fever

Nov 30, 2018

This event started really well but had a mediocre ending.

ohhaimark

Dec 02, 2018

THE GOOD: -I enjoyed Francis Manapul's art. I actually wish he would do the rest of the issues for Justice League. -This was an improvement over the previous issues for sure. -That scene where Mera uses the Clarion was really good. I quite enjoyed it. -I'm so glad they called back to that Aquaman tie in and its beautiful portrayal of Arthur and his father. -I liked the end of this issue. It sets up Deconnick's run nicely and is a good cliffhanger. THE BAD -I'm not a fan of the whole new look they give the Justice League in this crossover. Thankfully none of it will stick, as far as I know. So we don't have to see Crab arm flash and Super-eyepatch and all that stuff. -Very unmemorable issue. I really will only remem ber that one issue of Aquaman when thinking of this crossover. -I wasn't a fan of Howard Porter's art. At least he didn't do the whole issue. -I feel like instead of menacing, Black Manta just comes off as really annoying in this issue. -Did they really expect us to believe for even a microsecond that Aquaman was dead?! more

Psycamorean

Nov 29, 2018

Man, this was a chore to get through. I don't like how every single arc ends with a hail mary. I don't like the oddly childish nature of Manta that he only seems to have to provide climatic tension. I feel like everything is over explained and at the same time not. The dialogue is really bad. Particularly when Arthur explains the mariner's farewell and then says it again. Why not just have him say the farewell? No one can ever stop explaining everything. There's a balance that should be reached but it seems that Snyder can't find it. Drowned Earth actually started off okay, if I remember correctly, but it just couldn't last, could it?

Spacey Medicine

Jun 03, 2019

This was a supremely unsatisfying ending to a supremely unsatisfying story arc, the whole climax was really kinda lame and I’m sorry but that stupid kraken should have been fully in the ocean by the time they all finished monologuing about their feelings.