Sins of Youth: Aquaboy/Lagoon Man #1

Cover

Title: Turning Back The Tides of Time
Cover Title: none
Cover Date: May 2000

Writer: Ben Raab
Pencils: Sunny Lee
Inks: Lary Stucker & Norm Rapmund
Colors: Tom McCraw
Lettering: Ken Lopez
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Asst. Editor: Maureen McTigue
Cover: Mike Wieringo and Terry Austin

Cover Price: $2.50

OVERVIEW:

In Sins of Youth #1, Klarion the Witch Boy changed the adult heroes into children and vice versa. Now Aquaman and Lagoon Boy are dealing with their new ages.

While enjoying a day on the beach with lots of babes, Aquama... er... Aquaboy and Lagoon Man are interrupted by the sudden appearance of Letifos. She tells them that Thierna Na Oge has been attacked by Black Manta. Despite a desire to stay on the beach, the heroes dive to help Nuada and her people.

When they reach Thierna Na Oge, Aquaboy enters to battle Manta while Lagoon Man and Letifos fight off Manta lackeys outside. Aquaman helps Nuada free herself from a transformation using his telepathy, then battles Manta (transformed into human form again with the help of a magic artifact). Defeating Manta, Aquaboy uses the artifact to restore Thierna Na Oge, and then destroys it. Manta escapes with Klarion.

COMMENTS:

The Cover: very "Young Justice-y" in my opinion. Which is appropriate, considering the fact that this is a crossover with the Young Justice books. I like the design of Aquaboy's outfit, but the grown up Lagoon Boy looks very ugly. The layout of the cover is slightly annoying: I don't like the on-the-side look much. But a bunch of these together looks fine, so I guess I'm just biased. There is certainly no mistaking that this is part of a crossover.

The art is appropriate throughout, and works well with the story. The opening splash page of Aquaman on the beach surrounded by women in bikinis is amusing, to say the least. The design of adult Lagoon Boy is nice, and this is probably the first time I really like this character. He's effective as both a child in an adult body, and as an adult super-hero. The only problem I have with the art is that we never get a full view of Thierna Na Oge after Aquaboy has restored it.

This story was much, MUCH more than I was expecting. Not only do we get a return to Thierna Na Oge (one of my favorites in the Aquaman mythos) but we also get the original Black Manta and Letifos (who was expecting Tempest). This is one well-crafted story from a fangirl perspective, and I'm giving Ben Raab a standing ovation for this unexpectedly good story. Perhaps my expectations were set too low, but I really enjoyed it.

Nice Touches:

Aquaman likes redheads, and was flirting heavily with one on the beach.

Manta's servants, the Gorgo-Maids, are from Devil's Deep, where we last saw Manta.

The recap page mentions the destruction of Thierna Na Oge by the Millennium Giant, as well as Ronal (from Lori Lemaris' backstory).

Lagoon Man's swear words. They are perfect for the character. Also notice his belt is an homage to Aquaman's.

Black Manta's mention of Aquaman's dead son.

For a crossover story, this is one really good Aquaman book. I'm afraid I have to recommend it to any fans of the Peter David Aquaman. Even if you don't like Lagoon Boy. Check it out.

CONCLUSION:

Quite Good.

Review Date: 19 March 2000, By Laura Gjovaag