[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Francis Manapul
Colours: Francis Manapul
Letters: Tom Napolitano
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
THE ROAD TO “DROWNED EARTH”! When Wonder Woman learns that Cheetah gained new powers and killed the Greek sea god, Poseidon, that sets Aquaman off on a search for answers, bringing him into conflict with an entity known as the Flood, a herald for long-dead ocean gods with an ancient grudge against Poseidon, Atlantis and, well, everyone else on Earth. Who are those guys? Some very big fish—and you know what big fish do? Eat smaller fish like Aquaman and his Justice League buddies!
Positives
‘Drowned Earth’ is a crossover event throughout Justice League, Aquaman, and Titans, in which Earth is invaded by alien sea gods. The invaders flood the entire Earth. However, instead of drowning the people of the world, the alien water transforms them into water-breathing monsters.
I like how Snyder draws on the mythology of Atlantis. Aquaman and Wonder Woman are searching for Earth’s god Poseidon, but find an object called the ‘key to the graveyard of the gods.’ This artifact and the alien gods are both tied to the ancient Atlantean wizard, Arion – a DC character with a long and varied history.
And I was happy to see Firestorm make a return appearance. He hasn’t had any significant appearance since the dawn of the Rebirth era, so his return is long overdue. Perhaps DC could have him join one of the Justice League teams full-time.
Adam Strange also makes an appearance. Between this title and Superman, he seems to be rather active in the background of the DCU. I suspect that his Justice League United team is still active in the DCU, even though they haven’t been officially mentioned. I would love to see another Justice League United series, or at least a mini. Perhaps this time, they could actually use the title Justice League Canada.
Negatives
This is a crossover event, and that means that the story will continue in Aquaman and Titans. This will likely mean that readers will have to pick up those issues to follow the story. Having to buy extra titles that you wouldn’t have bought otherwise is a long-standing grievance with crossovers. However, both of the two other titles are quite good, so you might find that they are actually worth checking out.
Some readers might opt to skip the other installments of the story, but I suspect that it won’t be easy to pick up the thread next issue without those two parts, so you might be well advised to bite the bullet and buy those chapters before returning to Justice League in two weeks.
Verdict
This story is a strange mix of science fiction, throwing gods, magic, and aliens together to produce a cataclysmic threat to the Earth. With other writers, this just might make a mess that doesn’t any sense, but Snyder has tied these elements into a unique threat to challenge the League. This promises to be crossover event like no other.
