Concurrent with the flashback in issue #8, Underwater tells the story of the young man who would one day become Aquaman as he abandons the surface world and almost gives up on the human race upon the death of his father. Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, and Rod Reis deserve an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Grammy for their impeccable job revisiting the aforementioned flashback; the tiny details like the reporters harassing Arthur falling to the ground, and even the color of their clothing, or Dr. Shin trying to reach out among the crowd, are an exact replica of that scene, but using different angles.

Johns reveals a great deal about Atlantis and Arthur's relatives through a familiar face that makes his debut in The New 52, and explains where The Others' eventual search for the relics stems from. This zero issue is just a small portion of a larger missing chapter in Arthur's life: the time he spent in Atlantis before returning to the surface; that alone would make for a whole separate Aquaman title... wouldn't that be nice?