Sometimes, I feel sorry for Aquaman. He’s one of the deepest and most well-developed DC characters, with a big history, unique powers, and a established legacy. He owns a weapon that can hurt Superman (the Trident of Neptune is magic, and the Man of Steel is a sucker for card tricks), and is actually pretty toe-to-toe with our S-wearing friend in a lot of ways. He has armies at his command, and let’s be honest, when you can go anywhere in the oceans on a whim, you can probably set up some memorable first dates.
On the other hand, the guy speaks goldfish. Okay, he “communicates telepathically” with marine animals, but unless his enemies are nice enough to fight him in a situation that is clearly to his benefit (instead of, you know, on land), his “greatest” power is also the one that’s most frequently worthless. The majority of stuff in the DC universe happens in places that are not known for their water.
This set was a curious addition to this year’s sets, since the rest seem to be going with a general “city battle” theme. Not many undersea ancient ruins around Metropolis, at least not in the New 52. At least I don’t think there are, I’m honestly not that up on my N52 Aquaman lore.
This $40 set is bundled with the obligatory Batman, but has the nice addition of some undersea Robin, Aquaman (because making an underwater set and not putting in Aquaman is mean even by my standards), and a nice villain in Black Manta, the nemesis for Aquaman. At 387 parts, it hovers right around the expected range for the price point, and the only non-unique figure in the lineup is Aquaman (though Batman is only like 5% new, or however much a head adds up to). Oh, and a laser shark. Let me go on the record and say that all sets should have a laser shark.