Aquaman by Peter David Omnibus

by Peter David, Marty Egeland (Illustrator), Various (Illustrator)

Arm the Atlantean! Experience one of the seminal comic book runs on Arthur Curry (Aquaman) that influenced the character we know and love in popular culture.

Re-discover the story behind the protector of the deep, The Aquaman. As the King of Atlantis, Arthur Curry must rule a kingdom, while also being it’s greatest protector. As new threats invade from the shadows, how will this legendary hero also become the king his people need?

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Adventure, Action

1584 pages, Hardcover

Published December 3, 2024

About the author

aka David Peters

Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.

Reviews

[OmniBen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 3.75/5
The first half to two thirds of this was one of the most rewarding reading experiences I've had in a good damn while. The opening four issue mini series caught me off guard with its more stylised art, though it all clicked soon after and drew me in more and more to a character I can't say I've ever given an ass about. And then Martin Egeland arrives on pencils with the start of the series proper, and be still my beating heart. Stunningly clean and classic lines, with beautiful colours to compliment.
But this book is very much a tale of two halves, with the inker changing, and new inker Howard Shum taking a while to produce similarly gorgeous results.
At some point, Egeland and Calafiore go issue for issue on pencils. Whatever the reason for this, despite the disappointment, every other issue of Egeland was more than enough to keep me happy. especially when Peter David was toning down the typical superhero histrionics to focus more on Aquaman's trials and tribulations as he comes to terms with who he is and what he wants out of life. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and the story starts to putter out right around the time Egeland leaves the book. I struggled on for a dozen or so issues afterward, with Jim Calafiore's increasingly erratic and unpleasant pencils. And with about eight or so issues to go, so disillusioned with the art and story circling the drain, I shut the book and put it back on the shelf. The two thirds was little short of outstanding. The rest makes me sad just thinking about it. A must read, just stop reading whenever you feel the urge. It won't get better after that. 3.75/5


OmniBen.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this beast of a book ! The run that changed Aquaman forever, i had only read one run and that was the Geoff Johns run which i loved. This Peter David run is collected in one book, absolute crazy from DC. It contains 50 plus issues and a 5 year run in one book, its nearly 1600 pages ! The book starts of with a bang with Aquaman losing his hand and replacing it with a harpoon. Absolute killer, some tie ins i did not really care fore, but cool that they are included, this was a great run. Now i have to look for another run from Aquaman.

[DayDay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the best character development you’re gonna find on Aquaman. The world building from the ATLANTIS CHRONICLES to this, is amazing. I love how you discover what made him so tough in the first place. Love his sidekicks from Dolphin to Aqualad. There was alot of rich new characters and villains throughout here as well.

Peter David did a really good job of showcasing how badass Aquaman can be even with the new harpoon hand, It’s EPIC man. Every fight, emotional moment, etc. I also love the artwork from Marty Egeland and others. I also find myself laughing a few times in this book too. It wasn’t always too serious. It felt like a journey. Well done Peter David. This will forever be one of the best runs on the character.

[Alessandro Gioia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The run that changed Aquaman forever.

Before this run by Peter David, Aquaman was the laughing stock of the DC universe:





These images from the cartoon show only one part of the issues with Aquaman.
Most stories can be summarised as:

- we almost never see stories at the ocean. Most of them happened in land, shore or even elseworlds. You have the seven seas and the king of them and all writers decide to take him out of water? Blasphemy!
- Aquaman can only survive for an hour without water. This leads to many issues, first the necessity of bringing him outside water to have a 'weakness', but also too repetitive stories where he has a few minutes before dying.
- His cast was not that great, especially Aqualad for me did not work at all


But here comes Peter David to change everything:

- he removes the minute without water killing Aquaman
- he changes his looks to be aggressive and 'edgy' and this look it's the base for the Jason Mamoa movies
- Aquaman loses his hand and now has a harpoon -> hell yeah!
- more stories in the ocean and the cities of Atlantis (even though we have some alien invasion and some land, but they are minority now)





To Summarize:

First of all do yourself a favour and read Aquaman: The Atlantis Chronicles.
Not only is an amazing read, this run follows and uses a lot from that book.

Peter David changed Aquaman forever and in the best way possible.
He changed how this character was perceived and move him from a laughing stock to one of the most serious and respected characters in the DC universe.

The stories are good (it has its up and downs) and are very readable and enjoyable.
I've read this entire omnibus of 1500 pages in less than 10 days.

Is it the best Aquaman? Of course not, that tittle goes to Geoff Johns. But if I have to say one thing about this is the following:

Peter David walked so the next Aquaman stories could run

[Matthew Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a big fan of Peter David and Aquaman I was quite excited to read this run, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going in but what I found was a largely solid book filled with fun adventures.

Before I go any further there are two Aquaman stories I would strongly recommend reading before buying this tome.

The first is the Atlantean Chronicles (also by Peter David), a Fantasy limited series that outlines Atlantis’ history.

And Keith Giffen’s The Legend of Aquaman, a one-shot that outlined the Post-Crisis version of Aquaman’s origin and history. This version of Aquaman is somewhat different from his modern counterpart and I’m glad I read it and managed to avoid any confusion.

Atlantean Chronicles in particular is perhaps David’s best Aquaman story and it’s a shame it wasn’t included in this omni, though understandable given it’s 1500 pages already.

The main Aquaman series is largely fun superhero adventures, though I do think the book is at its best when it’s focused on self-contained episodic adventures rather than larger scale stories, Peter David’s writing really shines in the smaller moments, though a few of the larger storylines in the middle of the run felt like they dragged a bit.

The artwork is also surprisingly good considering the book debuted in the 90s. No major complaints there.

I found the sudden change in writers in the final issues a little jarring, this is definitely a “new writer takes over and continues the book” sort of run, rather than the more modern self-contained type.

If I had to recommend a new Aquaman fan a starting point for the character it would be to read the Geoff Johns run and go from there. However if a person is interested in diving further into Aquaman’s history, then they can’t go wrong with Peter David’s run.

[TheMadReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Weak. Story doesn’t really go anywhere. Was ok for the first 10 or so issues, and then you just kind of lose interest as the material becomes boring and repetitive. Nowhere near as good as the Geof Johns run, cool for a collection piece as it has a gorgeous spine. Art was ok. Will never touch this brick again though.

[Tom Landaluce · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Original, never before seen, Aquaman art below)

I must admit, when it comes to this run of Aquaman, I might be less than rational. Peter David's Aquaman got me into collecting comics. From way back in the Super Friends and Underoos days, Aquaman was my guy. So when I heard about the hand loss, the harpoon, and I saw the cover to issue #0 by Marty Egeland (which is how the Aquaman 2 movie should have ended), I was in. Bought every issue. Read them multiple times. When Peter left the book, I was very upset. I’d envisioned him writing the series all the way to issue 100 and beyond.

Though I owned all the single issues, I always wanted a collected version. Some trade paperbacks for the shelf. At least through issue 25, that first big story arc. DC finally collected The Atlantis Chronicles into a very nice hardcover. This seven-issue series is where Peter David's association with the character began. And after that, they even started releasing trade paperbacks of the Aquaman series. They made it through volumes 1 and 2 but unfortunately, they cancelled volume 3, which would have reprinted issue 25. I thought that was that. All we’d ever get. But no, along came this book. An Omnibus. Everything in one massive tome. Purchasing this would mean that I would be buying some of these stories for the third time. But I didn't care. Never hesitated. Ordered it immediately.

I love this run.

Okay, instead of a proper review, of the book a discussion of storylines and character moments – I am completely biased and unreliable as a critic after all – or praise for the artwork (my irrational love extends to Marty Egeland’s stylized cartooning as well) I will instead offer up a story about the author. Perter David is a writer of stuff. Sometimes he writes comic books. He is not an artist. There once was an X-Men fan who insisted that Peter was the artist and demanded that Peter draw a sketch of Professor X. After several attempts to convince that fan that he lacked the artistic talent to draw comics, Peter eventually scribbled a circle with two eyes, put an X on the forehead and said, "There's your Professor X." Something like that anyway. You can do a Google and get the full story, penned by Peter himself.

Anyway, my younger brother went to the San Diego Comic Con one year. This would have been 2001 or 2002. I sent with him my copy of Aquaman #0. If he had a chance to meet Peter David, could he please please please get him to sign it for me. He got that chance.


And he said to Mr. David, "So I hear you draw a pretty mean Professor X." By this point, people had heard the story and had been asking Peter for Professor X sketches for some time now, and he was probably sick of it. Peter's body language and facial expression seemed to indicate this as well. "I was wondering if you'd like to try your hand at Aquaman." Facial expression and body language seemed to indicate that Peter David was intrigued and amused by the punny use of the word "hand" in relation to Aquaman.

So Peter David grabbed a backer board and drew this:


My favorite piece of original art.

Anyway, go out and get yourself a copy of this book. It’s fantastic. 90’s comics were wild. Seriously. And the Aquaman book was no different. Pick up The Atlantis Chronicles as well. Threads from that story get picked up in the Aquaman book. It’s a lot of fun.

One last thing. A fanboy wish. To DC Comics. Please hire Peter David to write some more Aquaman. How about a miniseries? Either a flashback to this 90s era, or maybe even use the current continuity. Give him a chance to write Mera and Aquaman together as a happy couple, with their daughter. Mera was not in a healthy mental state during the late 80s and early 90s, so it would be nice to see a loving dynamic between the two. And get Marty Egeland back for the art. Also… maybe some more volumes of the Atlantis Chronicles.

[Sebastian Lauterbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was a lot of fun!

I already had high expectations, since this run gets a lot of praise and I immensely enjoyed the prelude to this, the Atlantis Chronicles. I'd say it's a must read (but also even better than this omnibus!), before starting this volume.

Peter David's writing is amazing, but this book also really shines in the artwork. I love the art style of Marty Egeland and apparently he penciled almost nothing besides this, which is a shame. The characters look great, the sea life looks great and the underwater atmosphere is conveyed really well to the panels.

Peter David knew he had to do something with the character, because Aquaman was unpopular even in the 90s. So he gives him an intimidating weapon, long hair and beard and a buff physique. Actually, most characters are really buffed in here, like Aqualad or Black Manta. The women are not damsels in distress but kickass females themselves.

Some issues getting into this comic were, that I knew very little about Aquaman and his supporting cast (who is Dolphin, Aqualad, Mera?) and this book is not really explaining any it, but puts the reader in the middle of the current status quo. Fortunately, as with any comicbook in the 90s, it is easy to get a grasp of things quickly.

Once I got a feel for that, the book has been epic and a lot of fun. New ties to his past, greek mythology, alien invasion, a declaration of war on Japan, recurring enemies. All of it is fantastic. The book ends in a satisfying way, mostly because DC added a few issues of the next creative team, to have a conclusion to open storylines (props to DC!). There's also 4 annuals in here and all of them tell unique and fun short stories and I liked all of them, even though I usually don't fancy annuals at all.

What I disliked here, was the Tempest mini series, not written by Peter David, which has been a bit of a slog and was featuring a lame villain. But this should not stop anyone, from picking this omnibus up.

I also want to praise the build of this omnibus. It doesn't shut it's pages even at the very beginning or the very end, unlike early DC Omnibus editions and there's barely any gutter loss.

It's 60+ issues of awesome 90s comic book action and I highly recommend it.