DCU Comic Book Reviews

AQUAMAN #30 and AQUAMAN #31

Kiss Of Death

July/August 2005

Written by Marc Guggenheim

Pencils by Andy Clarke

Inks by Andy Clarke

Cover by Patrick Gleason & Christian Alamy

Synopsis

In Sub Diego, eight people have been found murdered.  The police have not investigated the deaths because technically there is no police department since the destruction of the town.  Only one person seems to care:  Chandra Abbott, a former police officer clinging on to her old job.  Aquaman decides to help.  With the help of Dr. Jonathan Crane (aka Scarecrow) Aquaman is able to determine the killer is picking out victims based on the letters of their first and last names to spell out a message.  Aquaman assembles the former San Diego Police Department to help investigate. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I am a sucker for police procedural tv shows, show I actually like this two-part story even with some of the reservations listed below.  The story was well-paced without too much superfluous moments and Guggenheim manages to incorporate a lot of the current cast into this story.  Aquaman’s confrontation with Geist flowed naturally with his recent suspicions of the scientist and the questions surrounding Lorena’s purpose as Aquaman’s sidekick also is revisited slightly.  The mystery of the killer was handled well enough, including the revelation of the killer early in the second part, leaving the rest of the issue as more of a suspense to how Aquaman would capture her. 

Why would Aquaman visit the Scarecrow for help?  Why not go directly to Batman?  Or even Mr. Terrific.  I suppose this ties into the whole crisis-related things going on around the DCU right now, which was alluded to in the issue before this two-part story.  Yet, when Aquaman tells Lorena where he was, he tells her the league was fighting some inter-dimensional being.  This (to me at least) suggests that the story was written without a specific moment in time in mind and therefore is most likely an inventory issue to pull out of the desk when writers and artists get caught.

Where the hell was Marley?  He is the one who underwent the transmutation in order to protect the city.  There is one brief mention of him, butt hat was it.  Don’t you think that he would’ve been interested in this situation?  After all, he went through the transformation to protect Sub Diego when Aquaman was not around.  Looks like he did a good job (he say sarcastically).  Seriously, his absence makes me think once more that this was an inventory story. 

In the final part, what the hell happened to Lorena.  At one point she was being beaten by Abbott, but there doesn’t seem to be any resolution to the ending of the fight.  Abbott knocks Lorena on the desk and then...does what?  Apparently Lorena is okay because she appears later in the story.  But in between, there is no explanation. 

I think it is probably essential that, to enjoy this story, you don’t have any type of medical background.  Even before the doctor spoke in the first part, you can tell the medical “facts” were going to be distorted.  Just look at the patient on the slab who has been autopsied.  First, all autopsy uses a “y” incision.  Second, where the hell is the rib cage?  Third, if he really did examine the lungs, they would have been pulled out of the body.  I won’t even comment about the whole oxygen thing partly because it part of the mumbo-jumbo with people breathing underwater and partly because I am not entirely certain how much is fact and how much is completely made up.

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