Marineman: Good clean fun for everyone

I liked Marineman a lot more than I thought I would, to be honest. The cover looks like your classic old-school superhero comic book, and a little part of me went “yeah, so what?” But I’m glad I cracked this Eisner-nominated title open, because there’s a lot more there than meets the eye.

The characters are likeable, even the bad guys, who aren’t entirely bad guys. It has a feel-good vibe throughout, including the classic style of the art, which is enhanced with excellent color work and modern coated printed pages.

The basic premise is, “What if a television naturalist, like Steve Irwin, could secretly breathe underwater?” So basically we’ve got a very charismatic Aquaman meets Captain America meets Steve Irwin, with some very interesting elements thrown in to spin a tale that left me wanting more. The six-issue arc ends with someone saying, “At last, finally... phase two can begin!” I found myself saying aloud, “Phase two? What happens next?!”

I sincerely hope there is a Volume Two to this enjoyable comic that’s rated E for Everyone. You don’t need tons of violence and sex to have a wonderful comic for the masses. It's about the people, not the powers, and creator Ian Churchill gets it. Clearly the Eisner Awards committee agrees.