“What’s Kraken?”
Creative Staff:
Story: Peter J. Tomasi
Art: Max Raynor
Colors: Luis Guerrero
Letterer: Rob Leigh
What They Say:
Hey Aquaman, what’s KRAKEN? As the guardian of the deep finds himself in the clutches of a gigantic underwater baddie courtesy of the deadly DOOM SCROLL prophecy, the Super Sons stand ready to assist! The only catch is, Aquaman can never know that the boys helped save his life. And after this encounter proves a little too close for comfort, Superboy and Robin are shocked to discover the next names on the doom list: their own!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Challenge of the Super Sons continues to be a delight and a good portion of that is the way that Peter J. Tomasi is able to give us a slightly different view of the Justice League characters. They’re who they always are but they’re just a few millimeters to the side in some personality aspects that let them be more fun and interesting than their usual dour selves. It also doesn’t hurt that Max Raynor really brings them to life wonderfully with a kind of playfulness and design that feels like they’re a touch more alive and almost antsy in some ways. Focusing on Aquaman for this installment works really well for the story and Luis Guerrero really delivers when it comes to the color design for it, especially with the orange and green.
While one can make the case that past heroes have made out fairly well in how they were represented through the eyes of our young heroes here, Aquaman gets a bit more comedy presented to his. The boys have come to save him from the curse next and they’ve orchestrated things to catch Aquaman on his way to the Halls of Justice in order to get him to avoid the curse. Amusingly, Damian uses the fear toxin from the Scarecrow to achieve it, noting again Batman’s plan to have ways of stopping the League should they go rogue, and it’s amusing as hell watching Aquaman go through the usual questions by the EMTs, including a newbie, while trying to shake off the effects of the fear toxin that made him flee the ocean so quickly. It’s got the right notes to remind us that there would be minor debriefs like this in a situation like this and that not everyone is quite up to the job of interacting with heroes.
When it comes to the boys themselves, well, they’re mostly just glad to have gotten in the way of the curse and saved Aquaman. They did, however, forget to really account for the curse itself, which is an ancient beast that has no come to where they are and is cousin all kinds of trouble in starting to drag Jon down. That has Damian needing to step up and help and it’s definitely fun to see him get all intense in saving Jon while also working through how to do it. And Jon’s mild panic along the way as well is pretty nicely handled since it leans into the comedy with just enough threat to make it work with how Damian is reacting. Of course, we get a twist when it comes to what they have to face next according to the scroll but it’s an opportunity to test the bonds of these boys even more.
In Summary:
This series is as formulaic as they come in a general sense but Tomasi has made each installment unique in what it does and applied wonderful trappings and characterizations to it. I’m glad that the next issue is going to take us back into the past for a bit since I want to know more of that storyline but it’s been a blast watching the boys save the Justice League in the present. Aquaman is a real joy to watch here with everything we get and even the EMTs and cops are a lot of fun. Raynor’s artwork delivers with each page and all the designs which make it even more fun. I can’t wait for more.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: March 22nd, 2021
MSRP: $0.99
