From the current architect of the Aquaman line, Brandon Thomas, and the art team of Ronan Cliquet and Ulises Arreola, Deep Target is a weird, fun adventure and an unlikely team-up. Aside from sharing a first appearance issue (More Fun Comics #73) and being sexy blondes, Aquaman and Green Arrow don’t really have a lot in common, nor any real reason to team up but Thomas finds a bizarre and fun way to bring these two together.
Deep Target is definitely the weirdest book in the current Aquaman line and not at all what I was expecting, but I mean that in the best possible way. It plays on some familiar tropes but still tells a story full of fun surprises. The art team does a great job with some really dynamic action scenes and brilliantly expressive characters. The story flows smoothly from panel to panel with some beautiful splash pages and the book lets the art do the talking and doesn’t rely on over-narration.
I’m also a huge fan of the newly designed costumes. Although they may only stick around for this story, Green Arrow’s especially is fantastic. The Rebirth suit is hard to beat, but Cliquet’s design comes close. Josh Reed’s letters are also a great addition to the book, I’m a big fan of fun sound effect details and Reed really delivers in that regard.
My one criticism for this book would be that it feels very decompressed. Obviously, that’s difficult to judge based on the first issue alone but this issue isn’t exactly plot heavy, instead being a slow, steady build-up as it puts together all the pieces of the story. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, the highlight of this book was the moment everything fits together and you can see where it’s all going and it just clicks. But with this series being an issue longer than the other Aquaman series currently running, both of which are 6 issues compared to Deep Target’s 7, I do wonder if that extra issue is really necessary. That’s an impossible thing to really know based on just the first issue though.
There’s no prior knowledge required going into Deep Target for either Aquaman or Green Arrow, it’s a perfect place to dive into this brilliant new era for the Aquamen. Deep Target is a great start to a fun adventure that I can’t wait to read more of, and I definitely recommend giving it a chance.