Let me tell you, folks, it has been a week. I live in the northeast and we were buried under several feet of snow last weekend, and all of it is still around. Throw in a couple of other little things that just burred their way under my saddle, and I have had it up to here with crappiness. But time stops for no person, so let’s talk new comics! I reviewed two brand new #1 issues this week.

Comic Book of the Week goes to New Champions #1 for a nicely crafted introductory issue that didn’t lose me at all, despite the brand new characters.

Meanwhile, I continue to lose myself in Stardew Valley, which was the entire point, so that’s going well. Creature Commandos came to an end this week and it was an awesome show. Solid start for James Gunn’s DCU. And I can’t wait for next week’s finale to Skeleton Crew! That show has been a real hoot and a half!

Comic Reviews: Aquaman #1 and New Champions #1.

Aquaman #1
Writer: Jeremy Adams
Artist: John Timms
Colorist: Rex Lokus
Letterer: Dave Sharpe

I like Aquaman and I think DC is on a roll these days, so let’s check out his All-In relaunch!

Aquaman is back in action, only now he has Mera’s hydrokinesis after Absolute Power. He uses it to save a falling airplane, then deals with some kingly duties on Atlantis, of which is he supremely bored. When he’s called away to fight a monster made of water, all of Atlantis is suddenly and mysteriously wiped out. All that remains is a large pearl that the Aqualads had mentioned earlier in this issue. Arthur takes it to the Watchtower to be examined by Zatanna, and it leads him to a mysterious gate under the ocean. So he heads on through, hoping to find his wife and his people.

Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.

This first issue is a strong start with great art, but the storytelling is a bit all over the place. I am in favor of sending comic book heroes back to basics these days, especially when a new writer takes over. I have no problem with each new #1 being a soft reboot. So I’m perfectly happy seeing Aquaman in his classic costume, dealing with classic issues. And this first issue has a strong Aquaman at the center of the story. He’s heroic, he’s got an established personality, he’s got a good supporting cast that we get to see a bit from. And the artwork is exceptional. I love clean, energetic superhero artwork. So it just looks damn good when Aquaman fights a giant monster or rescues a crashing airplane.

My problems are with some of the storytelling bits that leave the issue feeling a little discombobulated. It starts on page 1. The issue begins with a dramatic page stating that this isn’t a story about Aquaman as a boy, hero, lover, king, etc., followed by a dramatic page turner reveal/double page spread of Aquaman as a “god-killer!” It is very exciting! And then the story immediately resorts to being about Aquaman as a king and hero, doing typical Aquaman stuff. So that big opening immediately falls flat. Then everything revolves around this magic pearl, which is a perfectly fine story macguffin, except an editorial note tells us we need to read three other comics to learn about the pearl? It just feels underplayed in the first half of the issue before finally destroying all of Atlantis, and then Arthur’s response feels very downplayed. Obviously perhaps he assumes he didn’t just lose his wife, child and people for good, so he focuses in on the heroics. But it still felt a little downplayed on the page.

Also, this whole idea of swapping super powers feels like an albatross around his neck. You’ll notice that DC didn’t take the opportunity to give Batman super powers, or change up Wonder Woman or Superman.

TL;DR: Strong start with great art nonetheless is a bit all over the place on storytelling.

New Champions #1
Writer: Steve Foxe
Artists: Ivan Fiorelli and Ig Guara
Colorist: Arthur Hesli
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham

So this team started in a Spider-Woman storyline that I didn’t read. But I felt like reading and reviewing some new #1 issues this week, so I checked out New Champions.

The New Champions are a team of four teen heroes who were put together by HYDRA for evil stuff, and it involved kidnapping these young kids and brainwashing their families to forget about them. Spider-Woman and Nick Fury helped save them and get their families back, and they’re still dedicated to fighting crime on the West Coast. We’ve got Liberty, Moon Squire, Cadet Marvel and Hellrune. They stop some bad guys and then go home to their families, all except Hellrune, who is an orphan living with a foster family.

Hellrune has been trying to find some trace of her family and the mysterious magic spear she has, and she’s able to track some magic to an island off the coast of Norway. The rest of the team gather to follow her, but she has since hast a spell to summon the ‘new champions’, and it’s brought a whole bunch of teen superheroes to the island!

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

This was a fun first issue that did an excellent job setting up the new characters, their powers and their personalities. Everything is explained fairly smoothly, from their complex origins to what they can do and how they can interact. I’m even tempted to track down those Spider-Woman issues to see their proper introductions. The whole thing is very clean cut. The writing and the artwork are very clear, very colorful, full of energy. I like the color scheme. Everything is bright and friendly. And the concept of a new squad of teen heroes all being knock-off sidekicks of existing heroes is a fun enough premise for a comic like this, even if this first issue doesn’t do anything to lean into the concept. It feels more like Hydra came up with the IDs for these heroes, and they’re just going along with it instead of actually having anything to do with the heroes. Like, I don’t think Moon Squire has ever met Moon Knight or really has anything to do with him, for example. Not a problem, but it’s a story thread this comic could pursue.

My only real concern is saturation of new teen characters. The previous Champions comic, with Miles and Kamala, is only a few years old and also featured a whole legion of teen superheroes. Now we’ve got another legion of teen superheroes calling themselves the “Champions”? Just feels like Marvel’s going to end up with a literal pile of useless teen superheroes that will never matter going forward. And then Marvel will come up with a new Avengers Arena comic and just kill them all off. Feels grim.

TL;DR: Fun start to this new series. The comic has a fun vibe, really colorful artwork and does a great job establishing the new characters and their whole deal.

The comics I review in my Hench-Sized reviews are just the usual comics I grab from Comixology any given week, along with a few impulse buys I might try on a whim. So if there are any comics or series you’d like me to review each week, let me know in the comments.

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