Aquaman: The Becoming

The title story is about Aqualad trying to take on the mantle of Aquaman while the latter is away. He's almost immediately framed for a crime and goes on the run, learning information about his family in the process. Which is not, perhaps, the most original story ever, but it's well-told and fits in well with the larger Aquaman mythos. We get to see more of Xebel than usual, Mera has a significant role to play, and it's good to see something of Jackson's mother, instead of just his father. The introduction of new character Deluge has her fighting Aqualad for no particularly good reason, but once that's out of the way she's a worthy addition to the team who might have future potential. The story is a little uneven in places, sometimes skipping over details, but it's generally fast-paced without solely relying on combat scenes.

The six-part main story is accompanied by a backup feature from Future State, showing an older Aqualad teaming up with Aquaman's daughter (still a toddler in the “present”). It's notable mainly for some nice imagery, with the pair hopping between realities but the future of Aqualass/Aquawoman/whatever-we-want-to-call-her is well done, and it's a bit of a pity we presumably won't be seeing more it. It's really this backup that nudges the whole up to four stars.