Aquaman/Green Arrow – Deep Target #1

Written by: Brandon Thomas

Art by: Ronan Cliquet

Colours by: Ulises Arreola

Letters by: Josh Reed

Cover by: Marco Santucci & Arif Prianto

Variant Cover by: Inhyuk Lee

1:20 Varaint Cover: Ivan Reis, Joe Prado & Marcela Maiolo

Editor: Michael McCalister

Aquaman created by Paul Norris, Green Arrow created by Mort Weisinger

Plot:

Something is wrong with the DC Universe, Arthur and Oliver seemed to have swapped lives, and surnames, as Oliver Curry now rules Atlantis, whilst Arthur Queen roams the streets as the battling bowman known as Green Arrow. However, this messed up timeline doesn’t seem to be Barry Allens fault this time, at least not directly.

Instead, this confusing world in which Arthur and Oliver seem to know about their original identities, seems to be the work of a secret terrorist organization known as Scorpio, who seem to be messing with time itself for research purposes. This shadowy organization seem to be keeping tabs on our pair of heroes, so time will only tell if this unlikely duo can save the timeline and restore their lives back to normal, in this 7 issue limited series which celebrates the 80th Anniversaries of Aquaman and Green Arrow.

Art:

The art by Ronan Cliquet is very well done, to make our heroes look very similar in their appearance and both look great in green. This story takes us from the depths of Atlantis, to the land above on Earth, and even some glimpses at space, and Cliquet is able to truly transport us through each destination with beautiful visuals, clean linework and of course with the stunning colours by Ulises Arreola, you feel the depth of Atlantis as well as the darkness of the void known as space.

The cover of the issue I bought is designed by Marco Santucci & Arif Prianto, and I have to say it’s very cleverly drawn. As mentioned before the two heroes are drawn to look very similar, which honestly throws you off when you look at the cover of the issue, which smartly uses a bright sun flare to disguise the fact that Oliver is in the role of Aquaman. This realisation honestly didn’t occur to me until I had read the story and realised what was happening. It’s very cleverly thought out and obviously a lot of love for these characters has been brought to this comic.

Cover of Aquaman/Green Arrow: Deep Target #1 – DC Comics – Cover Art by Marco Santucci & Arif Prianto

Story:

The story flashes back and forth between past & present which for the moment feels a little disorientating, but I’m sure as the story continues it’ll feel more appropriate to the plot. It’s very cleverly written and designed to hide the identity of Arthur as Green Arrow as we only see him with a diving suit of sorts on him as he makes his way to Atlantis. It isn’t until he confronts the now King of Atlantis, Oliver Curry that we realise something is wrong with their identities, but Arthur leaves very little time for explanations as Arthur assumes it’s Oliver’s fault and we are treated to a confrontation between the two which shows the powers that Arthur has lost when he lost his role as Aquaman to Oliver. It’s a very interesting plot and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds over the next six issues.

DC Entertainment – Arthur Queen and Oliver Curry – Art by Ronan Cliquet, Colours by Ulises Arreola

Conclusion:

I personally can’t wait to see how this story unfolds, as it will be interesting to see how the two superheroes deal with their new alternated roles. It’s bound to be filled with drama, laughter and action. This issue already kicks off the story with a great confrontation and an interesting final page that leaves the future of the story full of intrigue.