In the end Aquaman 23.1 serves as a nice insight on the oceans most dangerous treasure hunter but also a curious look at how the villain's, Black Manta in particular, are responding to this new superpower in their universe that not only threatens the heroes of the world but them as well. Read Full Review

So all silliness aside, its worth the extra dollar for the awesome cover. And its actually a great read. Its fun, its quick, and it exemplifies just how simple (yet evil) characters like Black Manta really are. Theres not a whole lot of thought process to his villainy, which is charming in this day and age of complexity and in the age of the gray area bad guys. So excluding the less-than-stellar Claude St. Aubin artwork and the general cheesiness of the message the comic is sending, its one of the stronger titles to come out the second week of Villains Month. I cant wait to see Manta join up with Luthor and the rest of the villains-turned-less-villanous in the pages of Forever Evil. Read Full Review

Claude St. Aubin's art is solid, but a bit hit-or-miss. When it is on, like with the suited up Black Manta or the underwater scenes, the work is wonderful. Aubin has solid lines and colors, though he could stand to shade things a bit more. When his work is off, it is pretty off. Superwoman looks like a bad pinup model, and some of the panels are lazy with the detail work. Overall, St. Aubin is a solid performer, he just needs more consistency. Read Full Review

Artist Claude St. Aubin does a superb job showcasing the tormented soul that is Black Manta. The dude just looks worn out and angry, yet he never loses that serial killer sense of calm. If you look closely at the details, which St. Aubin inked himself, there's some odd structure to his anatomy work, which causes some stiff looking characters. However, these instances are few, and the issue otherwise looks pretty stellar. Read Full Review

100% worth a read if you are following Forever Evil or Aquaman"and if you aren't, it might get you interested! Read Full Review

Despite some amazing looking panels by artist Claude St. Aubin, Aqauman #23.1: Black Manta gets the character to his next chapter without adding anything new. Read Full Review

St. Aubin does a good job, and I especially liked how he pulled off the scene between Manta and Ocean Master- two Aquaman villains that the New 52 have made more human, and thus more tragic in their villainy. Read Full Review

So this issue wasn't flawless. But it was strong and it was nice to get a new story and not another origin. Read Full Review

Black Manta is damn cool. After this issue, he might have just become my favorite super-villain in the DC Universe. Because Geoff Johns' remaking of Aquaman did not start and stop with the hero alone. Johns has improved Aquaman's entire world, and he's turned Black Manta into a badass, hardcore warrior of the deep. He's so cool and collected in this issue, driven by his own personal passions and sense of honor, not by any kind of lunatic villainy. Black Manta is cool enjoy to reject the Crime Syndicate's offer to take over the world, and smart enough to send Amanda Waller packing with her stupid offers. And seeing him angry on that final page, ready to tear the Crime Syndicate a new one, was just fantastic. If Forever Evil is all about Black Manta being a badass, then sign me up! Read Full Review

OverallAquaman #23.1 is an issue that has great moments in it but gets cut down because of its direct connection toForever Evil and spends the entire middle of the book retreading a scene from a book that came out last week. If you absolutely must have all thingsForever Evil or Black Manta then this is the book for you. If not, you probably won't miss anything that won't be explained inForever Evil #2. Read Full Review

In "Aquaman" #23.1, Black Manta makes a significant choice along the continuum from villain to potential antihero. Despite the low amount of new data and a superficial treatment of motivation, through St. Aubin's art and Bedard's pacing, the story succeeds at imbuing Black Manta with purpose and dignity and creating sympathy for him. Read Full Review

If you have been following Aquaman, or have read Forever Evil #1and the solicitations, then you have basically read this issue already. The real strength of this comic comes from the ending, which effectively sets up the direction for Black Manta in Forever Evil following the death of Aquaman, with the villain finding himself a new mission to pursue. If you have read the main event however, then there honestly is no real need to pick this up, as by not picking up this issue, you aren't missing anything out. Read Full Review

While its nice to see a Villains Month issue directly deal with current events and Forever Evil, Black Manta #1s approach may be too direct. Simply transferring the majority of the issue from events established in both Aquaman and Forever Evil, the comic is lacking in new substance. That being said, fans of Manta arent shorted, and the issue does a great job of characterizing him, even if it is sort of re-characterizing him. Seeing Mantas reaction to the death of Aquaman is great, and hopefully so will seeing his campaign against the crime syndicate in Forever Evil. Read Full Review

If we lived in a world with 1/2 stars, this would be a 3.5 star book, easily. However, we don't, and this book just didn't win me over enough to bump it up. There's a lot of redundancy here for FOREVER EVIL readers as well as AQUAMAN readers. Sure, we get some nice moments where we get to know Black Manta as a character a bit more, but overall, this issue was a bit of a let down. Black Manta is a very interesting character and many fans want to know how he'll fit in to future issues, but the reader isn't led on to what's coming down the road. All they know is that Manta is out of Belle Reve and misses his father. Overall, I give this a mild recommendation. Read Full Review

A good portion of the book is just different angles and different artwork from Forever Evil #1, we really don't get anything good out of this other than a few panels here and there of what I can only assuming is foreshadowing. Read Full Review

I will say it again, I love Black Manta.  I will also say, I did not love this issue.  What little character building we get was negated by a story that has been told before.  In fact a major part of this issue is directly from last weeks Forever Evil #1. I hope that Black Manta's Forever Evil issue is better than this.  He deserves much more. Read Full Review

A flat look at Aquaman's biggest foe that makes almost no attempt to improve the character. If that wasn't disappointing enough, the issue also duplicates far too much material from Forever Evil without adding new spin. It shouldn't get credit for cloning another's work. Read Full Review