In week five of the Aquaman hype train I looked in the villain from the movie, Black Manta.

Someone is hunting down and killing Aquaman’s old team members in AQUAMAN VOL. 2: THE OTHERS.

Kahina The Seer is on the run through a jungle while someone is trying to shoot her with a harpoon.  She is able to dodge the harpoon because she can see into the future, but she can’t see everything. The harpoon which missed and stuck into a tree had an explosive attached and the blast hit Kahina.

As she lies wounded her attacker, Black Manta, closes in and a short hand-to-hand battle ensues, but Kahina loses the battle. Black Manta kills her and takes an artifact off her.

Aquaman and Mera take the Atlantean artifact they found in The Trench in the last volume to Dr. Shin.  It has a message from and ancient Atlantean ship which crashed. However, while talking to Shin a portal opens up and Ya’Wara comes through to kill Shin. She tells Aquaman that Kahina is dead and Shin is working with Black Manta.

Kahina, Ya’Wara and Aquaman along with others were part of a group of heroes called The Others.  They each possess one of the Seven Artifacts of Atlantis which gives them unique abilities. Kahina’s Seal of Clarity was taken by Black Manta.  Aquaman and Ya’Wara must find The Others before Black Manta and find out what he is planning.  However, the group has not seen each other in a long while.

Aquaman Vol. 2: The Others was written by Geoff Johns with art by Joe Prado and Ivan Reis.  DC Comics published the volume in 2013.

This was the Aquaman comic I was looking for.  Black Manta is a tough villain and Aquaman has trouble with him.  I like the singular villain in the volume. All the previous Aquaman comics didn’t have that and the villain was defeated really quickly.

However, in this Aquaman struggles with Black Manta was always one step behind.  I liked that because it showed why Black Manta is so dangerous and it gave Aquaman an opportunity to really showcase his skills.  The battle between the pair was very personal on both sides and it led both sides to be reckless. This gave both characters extra depth which I really liked.

Something I have really liked about these Aquaman comics I’ve read is the added mysteries of Atlantis.  These Seven Artifacts of Atlantis were created by the king who sunk Atlantis known as The Dead King.  I always appreciate the extra lore included in these stories. It gives the universe incredible depth.

My only complaint about the comic is The Others.  It was never fully explained who they are. I never felt a connection to them or know really anything about them.  There is a lot of stuff which is alluded to like Aquaman and Ya’Wara had a relationship in the past, but we don’t know anything more about it.  I don’t know why the team broke up or for how long the team was together or how long ago they disbanded.

I saw there is another comic with The Others in it, but I didn’t read that and read this instead.  If I would have read that maybe all my questions would be answered. However, there has to be a “previously on” section when reintroducing characters from someone else’s comic run.  I don’t need a lot of information, but there has to be more than was in this volume.

I really enjoyed this volume and it had what I really wanted from an Aquaman comic, but I was lost when The Others were around.  A little more background information on them was needed, but other than that this was an excellent volume.

Rating:

4.5/5

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Aquaman Vol. 1: The Trench

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