After just one year, it didn’t take long for the New 52 Justice League title to be forced into a crossover event. With Jim Lee’s departure as the main artist, Geoff Johns continued as writer, but to continue the strong quality captured and displayed in the first twelve issues, it was decided that the Justice League’s world must be expanded. During much of the first two years of the title, Shazam (otherwise known as Captain Marvel) starred as a back-up strip, but the meaning behind these stories doesn’t become apparent until later. With two major events – Trinity War, which crossed over with Justice League of America and Dark, and then Forever Evil, an event which involved nearly every DC title in some form – Justice League’s role in the DCU was growing. But before that, we’re treated to a small-scale crossover. Although King of the Seven Seas, Aquaman has never really shone in any of his titles. With more than eight title relaunches, Aquaman has often performed better in the JLA than on his own. Most likely in an attempt to boost the sales of a flagging title like Aquaman’s, this crossover event with the Justice League sets the tradition for this title – and indeed a common theme in comics more largely – that you cannot have too many crossovers…
Justice League (vol 2) 13-17 was published from December 2012 to April 2013, with Aquaman (vol 7) 15-16 released in February and March respectively. With Geoff Johns as the head writer of both titles, he writes all the issues here. Meanwhile, a number of artists are present here, but to name just a few, we’ve got Ivan Reis, Paul Pelletier, and Tony Daniel. As ever, DC has reproduced all of these issues in a collected edition.
While The Throne of Atlantis is the main story (it is five parts long after all), we’re treated to a separate two-parter which focuses mainly on Wonder Woman and a certain foe of hers…
The Secret of the Cheetah --- Written by Geoff Johns with art by Tony Daniel, Richard Friend, Matt Banning, and Sandu Florea
Justice League (vol 2) 13-14 explores the character and personality of Wonder Woman through Cheetah, a villainess who can be considered this hero’s most famous foe. In the issues leading up to this, Johns developed an understandable – if very cliched – relationship between Superman and Wonder Woman. This partnership is understandable not just because they’re gods, but also because they search for the good in everyone. And Johns plays around with this here by making the villain as evil as possible.
Justice League (vol 2) 13 throws us straight into the action as Wonder Woman is beaten badly by Cheetah. The origin story behind her feline foe is that this villain was once Barbara Minerva, an archivist who worked with both Wonder Woman and A.R.G.U.S., a secretive organisation which collected the belongings and weaponry of supervillains. One day, Barbara accidentally cut herself with a dagger. But this ancient weapon had special powers since it belonged to a cult who worshipped the Cheetah, known as the Goddess of the Hunt. With that event, Barbara was transformed into the Cheetah and Wonder Woman has made it her goal to rescue Barbara from this terrible curse and creature. By making Cheetah an incredibly bloodthirsty villain, Johns creates tension as Wonder Woman tries hard to retrieve her friend. The writing helps make an ordinary(ish) villain like the Cheetah into somebody whose main role is to destroy Wonder Woman’s world. The first part ends quite spectacularly when Cheetah bites Superman and – like her – he transforms into a Cheetah. It’s a shocking first part which sets the scene well, and without much verbosity.
For the second part, Justice League (vol 2) 14 takes up the rug from under our feet and shocks us again. While Cheetah retreats into the jungles, the Justice League get help from the Cheetah cultists. As they help heal Superman, they tell the story of the Cheetah’s spirit and it’s revealed that this spirit isn’t in fact evil, but peaceful. But when inhabited by a person of evil, the Cheetah’s spirit transforms dangerously. This revelation is shocking for Wonder Woman as she begins to question her previous friendship with Barbara. In the end, Cheetah is captured, and Superman is restored, and there’s a nice dialogue scene between Wonder Woman and Cheetah in which the latter tries to convince her former friend that the cultists are correct, and that the Cheetah is peaceful. This is finally revealed at the end – Barbara Minerva went by many identities and committed numerous crimes. It’s a good and unexpected twist and leaves the story ending on a dour note, but it does make Wonder Woman a more interesting character. Like Superman, there is that underlying gullible quality in her character and Johns takes advantage of that. But that flaw makes her and this story far more interesting than it could have been. Imagine if Barbara was cured, or it the Cheetah was in fact the evil torturing Barbara. That would have been just plan boring. While The Secret of the Cheetah isn’t remembered very much compared to other stories in the run, it does more than fill two issues. Johns writes a good and interesting plot and explores a character who can be far more interesting than most writers think.
Tony Daniel can never be called a bad artist, but after the drama and unique appearance of Jim Lee’s work, it does look quite underwhelming. It doesn’t ruin the story or bore the plot in any way, but it lacks spectacle or energy. It just looks a bit plain. Inkers like Friend, Banning, and Florea polish an above average penciller well, but in the end the final product isn’t ground-breaking at all.
Throne of Atlantis --- Written by Geoff Johns with art by Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Paul Pelletier, Art Thibert, Karl Kesel, Sean Parsons, and Oclair Albert
As a five-part story that crosses over with two titles, readers don’t need to know everything about the two titles here. All you need to know is that Aquaman was once King of Atlantis, but now his brother Orm, better known as Ocean Master, now holds the crown. Unlike his brother, he hates humanity and wants it destroyed. That simple detail basically sets up the plot of The Throne of Atlantis. Aquaman (vol 7) does contain a few preludes and sequels to this story, but when it comes to the storyline of the Justice League, these don’t really matter.
Justice League (vol 2) 15 begins as a normal day for our heroes. Superman shows Wonder Woman how he created the secret identity of Clark Kent to live among humanity, while more grimly Cyborg gets another upgrade which he loathes. But suddenly, world war breaks out – a missile test from the US government is tampered with by mysterious outsiders and the weapons destroy part of Atlantis territory. In a matter of seconds, the land is invaded by the oceans and millions are at risk. Johns throws us in the deep end as Gotham City is flooded immediately, and what’s more, the first part ends with a fantastic cliff-hanger. When Aquaman appears to the Justice League, he realises that this attack on humanity has not only come from Atlantis, but that – as their former King – he was the one who devised these plans. It’s a flawless opener to a dramatic story.
Aquaman (vol 7) 15 does well by simply continuing the story from the end of Justice League (vol 2) 15. Continuity is a key aspect to ensuring a story is smooth, and thanks to Geoff Johns writing both titles, the transition between parts is almost unnoticeable. But what is noticeable is the huge loss of life that Johns shows in the second part. Although Aquaman – with the help of his wife Mera – rescue many Gothamites from the flood, many more have drowned and couldn’t be saved. I have to say that the number of deaths throughout are shocking. It’s unusual to witness mass deaths in comics, especially in the mainstream titles. It adds weight to the story and genuine impact. But one rescued man from the water is revealed to be Vulko, the first Atlantean that Aquaman ever met. When Aquaman became King, Vulko acted as his Royal Advisor, but when Ocean Master took over, he vanished. He’s a pretty standard character who has little purpose in the story until the end. But the second part ends with a confrontation between Aquaman and Ocean Master to try and stop the war. Ocean Master believes that humanity attacked Atlantis on purpose, while Aquaman tries to convince him otherwise. It’s an argument which no one can win, but it does place Aquaman in a difficult position as he attempts to restrain the Justice League from fighting his own brother.
For Justice League (vol 2) 16, the heroes are predictably pitted against one another, with Aquaman fighting his friends in a moot attempt to stop war. This is about the third time in the run where the heroes have been made to fight each other (the previous two occasions were in Origin and The Villain’s Journey) and these scenes just feel forced and fill in some pages where little else would be happening. Plus, it’s all for nothing since Ocean Master’s warriors arrive on the surface. Meanwhile, we’re introduced to another character in the form of Dr Stephen Shin, an elderly scientist who was the first human to meet Aquaman and to develop a human understanding of the Atlantean anatomy. He's a target for Ocean Master since he needs to protect his race. While the story becomes a very plain ‘good vs evil’ kind of plot, another factor is thrown into the mix in the form of The Trench. While I’ve never read the New 52 Aquaman run, I understand that the Trench live deep under the ocean and consist of hideous and brutal monsters. I know little more than that, but they are thrown into the mix too.
As with nearly the whole of Justice League: Origin, the latter parts of the Throne of Atlantis are full of fights and action with little plot. I do like how other DC heroes, like Hawkman and Zatanna for example, are thrown into the story. It’s a move which makes sense since the danger presented here is of biblical proportions – and it’s especially good since Johns just includes these characters and not a whole issue of the titles, they star it. Regardless, there are just a lot of fights and little plot really until the end of Aquaman (vol 7) 16. The true villain – the man behind the attack on Atlantis at the start – is finally revealed to be… Vulko!? After Aquaman left the Throne to his brother, Vulko was expelled from Atlantis, and he wants revenge. This revelation is odd for many reasons – the main one being that Vulko is a dull character who most readers would struggle to remember. But the question of which side he is really on starts to become a problem. He remains loyal to Aquaman, and I get that he wants revenge by using the missiles to destroy parts of Atlantis. But how does pitting humanity against Atlantis help him? Is he expecting Aquaman and humanity to simply crush Ocean Master? Did he expect the huge death toll of humanity – surely, he knows that his friend Aquaman will loathe him for this. The real plan of Vulko remains cloudy, but it’s clear that he wants revenge and power.
Justice League (vol 2) 17 starts by exploring a shift in Aquaman’s character. When he joined the league during the Origin storyline, he did it to protect Atlantis from Darkseid. But over time, he has left that world behind him, but with Vulko’s betrayal, Aquaman believes that he needs to be the King once again to restore order. In the final part, the League defeat Ocean Master’s army and Vulko before banishing the floods back to the sea. Aquaman takes back the Throne and watches as Vulko and Ocean Master try to cosy up to him so they can be spared from punishment. Vulko surrenders, while Ocean Master to placed into prison on land (leaving him for Amanda Waller in Belle Reve Prison and her plans). And The Trench is also banished back to the depths of the sea. It ends almost too smoothly as every story point is ended in a matter of a few pages. The first two parts set up the story flawlessly both in terms of story and impact. But by the end, lots of areas are left unaccounted for. An example of that is Dr Shin – he has very little purpose in the story, and it’s a shame because there was some potential there as he could have been a part of the solution to beating the Atlanteans, especially with his knowledge. Nothing that interesting happens with Ocean Master, while Vulko is far from brilliant. Also, the impact and shock that was created so sensationally in the first two parts is evaporated in the final part and beyond. While the floods are obviously stopped, there must still be a huge death count. But – excluding the Aquaman (vol 7) title – any aftereffects of this story are simply ignored or not featured at all. I don’t recall any writer of the Batman titles even mentioning the death of countless Gothamites, while following issues of Justice League (vol 2) barely mention this story again. When you read stories like DC Universe: Legacies, or Marvels by Busiek and Ross, the stories that feature the most are the ones that affect humanity most explicitly. Events like Crisis on Infinite Earths were interstellar events, but they created waves at home. The Throne of Atlantis should be remembered similarly, but for some reasons, this story hasn’t really been mentioned at all. There is no real aftermath, and that’s just lazy.
Overall, The Throne of Atlantis enjoys a barnstorming opening two parts, both of which set up the story nicely and create a rushing sense of action, drama, and impact. Geoff Johns ensures the plot is simple and it doesn’t feel as if it’s bogged down by drab backstory until the final part. But like Justice League: Origin, the story does get lost in pages of fight scenes which add little of value. And much of what made the story’s opening good crumbles with a boring villain with objectives that overcomplicate things. The lack of an aftermath is also a terrible loss, and it feels like a missed opportunity.
With many styles of art present, Ivan Reis easily sticks out as the best of the bunch. While lacking the same comprehension of detail as enjoyed by Lee and Williams, Reis captures the action just as well and makes the story exciting. Paul Pelletier – as the main artist on Aquaman (vol 7) – does produce some rather ugly art at points, but it’s never terrible. As with the writing, it does feel like there is some continuity between the art of the two titles and that’s definitely a plus.
VERDICT
Overall, Justice League: The Throne of Atlantis isn’t bad for the title’s first crossover, but it is certainly lacking in many qualities. Titanic plots like the flooding of the Earth are a good idea for a crossover, but with better villains, a clearer plot, and a harsher long-time impact, would have made the Justice League/Aquaman story a better one. As for The Secret of the Cheetah, it may not be remembered much in the future, but it acts as a good character piece for Wonder Woman. It seems that Johns is keen to ensure that all heroes of the team get a story that focuses primarily on them, and that’s certainly not a bad thing.
Next Week: Justice League: The Grid (Justice League (vol 2) 18-20). Written by Geoff Johns with art by Jesus Saiz, Joe Prado, Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert, Jonathan Glapion, Gene Ha, Andres Guinaldo, and Rob Hunter.
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