Aquaman #s 0 & 13 (DC)

writer: Geoff Johns
artist: Ivan Reis

Geoff Johns has been writing Aquaman from a viewpoint that assumes you know nothing about the character or his world.  For all intents and purposes, this is as it should be.

I don't make that statement to belittle the accomplishments of others, but of all the signature characters of DC Comics, especially members of the core Justice League, Aquaman has had the roughest publication history, with numerous reboots of ongoing series (only Hawkman is truly comparable, but then, Hawkman didn't have this statement said about him in The Big Bang Theory: "I don't want to be Aquaman.  Aquaman sucks."), and at one point was quietly killed off and replaced by a successor who was basically exactly like him (no, seriously! I recommend the stories by Tad Williams if you can find them).

Johns himself brought Aquaman back to the land of the living in Brightest Day, which was a continuity that ultimately mattered only previous to the New 52 relaunch, though it did help inform much of the new landscape.

When Aquaman began last fall, Johns took much the same approach that he'd done with Green Lantern after Rebirth, letting the character establish himself before diving into truly juicy storytelling.  #0 is Aquaman's origin story, which is not so surprising, because Zero Month was all about origin stories, but unlike some others feels completely organic to what Johns has been doing the past few months.  The "Others" arc, concluded in #13, drew the character back to his origins anyway, and leads to the "Throne of Atlantis" crossover event.

The stereotype has always been that Aquaman is just that weirdo who talks to fish and is basically in effective out of the water.  Some of the stories that tried to demonstrate his true potential tied him into Atlantis, or represented him as a fish out of water.  Johns instead focuses on combining these elements.  Like Wonder Woman (with whom he was paired during Flashpoint), he's a son of two worlds but doesn't feel like he belongs in either.  That's what both these issues demonstrate, although they also show his ongoing efforts to find a place in both.  His archenemy Black Manta has ties to both, too, which certainly helps (unless you're Aquaman).

Another clever thing that Johns has been doing is slowly building toward the introduction of Ocean Master, but more on that next issue.

Suffice it to say, but Aquaman has been doing all it can to transform its title character in a compelling read, building up the narrative of his life and fleshing out details both new and that have existed for decades.  This is a milestone of the New 52.  Well, it is written by Geoff Johns.