Sins of Youth: Aquaboy & Lagoon Man #1

Turning Back the Tides of Time

Ben Raab – Writer
Sunny Lee – Penciller
Lary Stucker & Norm Rapmund – Inkers
Ken Lopez – Letterer
Tom McCraw – Colorist
Maureen McTigue – Associate Editor
Eddie Berganza – Editor

Cover by Mike Wieringo & Terry Austin. Colors by Tanya & Richard Horie. These standard covers are very straightforward, leaving very little to be said about them. Lagoon Man is an incredibly massive beast, who now has a tail for some reason. Aquaboy, the most girl crazy of the youthened heroes, smartly appears just a bit older and taller than the rest of the shrunken JLA members. This makes his constant oggling of women and inappropriate jokes a little more palatable.

Speaking of inappropriate jokes, our story begins with a great one. Surrounded by six beautiful women on a beach, Aquaboy asks if any of them like sushi. One of them leans in close, and says she just loves it raw. Of course, the boyfriends of these women are none too happy with this scene, but Aquaboy has the massive Lagoon Man to protect him.

(Before I forget, I should note that Impulse technically doesn't appear in this issue. My weak justification for reviewing this is that Impulse does appear on the cover. But mainly, I just want to hit every Sins of Youth issue, even if it's just a quick one, like this will be.)

It is interesting to note that Aquaboy is the first adult-turned-teen who is actually happier with his new age. He tells Lagoon Man that for the first time in his life, he feels like a normal person, not weighed down by the burdens of being a head of state. He uses the word "complete" to describe how he feels, but sadly acknowledges that this is only temporary. Lagoon Man is simply thrilled by the freedom granted from being an adult.

Of course, their fun and games can't last forever. A mermaid washes ashore, telling Aquaboy that his old enemy, Black Manta, has acquired a very power ancient artifact and is using it to wreak havoc on an underwater city. So, long story short, Aquaboy, Lagoon Man, and a few other people take down Black Manta and acquire the mystic staff. Aquaboy realizes he could use this staff to return himself and all the other superheroes back to their right ages, but he's warned that he can only use the staff once before its power corrupts him. So the King of Atlantis selflessly uses the staff to repair all the damage caused by Black Manta. He then snaps the staff in half, so no one can be corrupted by it in the future, and he and Lagoon Man swim off, looking for another solution.

We then get a quick epilogue of Klarion ... bum, bum, BUM ... the Witch Boy visiting Black Manta in his prison cell. Klarion has put on a jacket decorated with goldfish for the occasion, and even has a cute little air bubble around Teekl's head. The Witch Boy takes out Black Manta's guards and transforms the super villain into a teenager.

CDTV Top Story

This is Ace Atchison reporting for CDTV news, bringing you the latest coverage on the current "Youth Movement" or what some are now calling the "Sins of Youth."

Young Justice's "Justice for All" superhero march turned out to be a disaster for all. It blew up (literally) into a major free-for-all, and this reporter is trying to track the fiasco, because it looks like the adults have been turned into kids and the kids are now adults. A sucky situation indeed!

The heroes all busted out in different directions. The government Point Men were on the JLA's tail but lost them. But now CDTV has heard a kid and his giant monster are jamming' off the Santa Monica Beach area, and, you know, where there's a party, Ace Atchinson is there first!

In other news:
– Frontstreet Boys upset and suing Ace Atchinson for earlier comments made about them by him.
– OutofSync — mad that Ace didn't mention them — are suing as well.


So there you have it. This event is officially called the Sins of Youth both inside and outside the comic world. It's always a weird, exciting moment to see characters use the story's actual name, like, "This is a real Crisis!" I guess it helps keep things organized. Anyway, I have little to no knowledge on Aquaman, so I didn't know or care about half this issue. But overall, it was still a fun read, complimented with some decent art that fit the tone of the story. I was kind of surprised that nobody talked about Aquaman getting his hand back, but I guess that's a fairly obvious observation that doesn't require any discussion.

Next time, Part 6: Reports say everything is normal here, but what can you believe in from a city whose heroes are only urban myths? And check out Zatanna's appearance here! Sins of Youth: Batboy and Robin #1.