Some thoughts about Ocean Master: Year of the Villain #1

Can Ocean Master reclaim what is his?

Orm has returned to his home on the surface and he has some explanations to do but they might not be the best ones.

Surprise, surprise, yet another Year of the Villain tie-in and this time we're focused on fan-favorite Aquaman villain (at least since Geoff Johns reinvented him) Ocean Master and let's just say that the idea is sound but the execution not as much.

Dan Watters handles this one-shot appropriately focusing on the relationship that Orm formed with Erin when he stayed on the surface which makes a good sense of continuity and it seems like the writer at the very least made his homework about the character and was faithful of his history since the New 52. In fact, there are a lot of references from Orm's recent actions like his fight alongside Mera and his disappearance after the Aquaman crossover with Justice League. Not to mention that the characterization for him portrays him as a sort of underdog who everyone always understimates despite that he used to be a King and he demonstrates how competent he can be and promising interesting and terrifying things for the future.

However, while the premise and direction seem on-point, the writing doesn't follow suit in some cases. One of the biggest issues here is that Watters' dialogue and narration are not really subtle, especially when he makes Orm say basically everything that is in his mind which took me out of the story a few times. Plus, the cover made me think that this would be some sort of continuation of the ever delayed Rise of the Seven Seas event but I guess I should know better at this point.

Miguel Mendonca's art is pretty solid with a lot of detail for characters and creatures.

Decent despite of some flaws, hope we see the return of Ocean Master in a more compentent Aquaman run in the future.