DCU Comic Book Reviews

AQUAMAN #34

The Quality Of Mercy

November 2005

Written by John Arcudi

Layouts by Leonard Kirk

Finishes by Andy Clarke

Cover by Patrick Gleason & Christian Alamy

Synopsis

Now...Aquaman and Tempest are in the midst of a battle against each other.  Then...Aquaman learns that Mera is slowly dying because of a spell that is turning her gills into lungs.  Aquaman wants to take Mera to a human doctor, but Tempest disagrees and believes Mera should remain in Atlantis.  In Sub Diego, the beast Captain Marley and Aquaman had captured is being encased in a steel cage, but it is able to break free.  Marley once more battles the beast, but this time gets help from Koryak.  In San Diego, Esther Maris waits for Aquaman to return.  Meanwhile, Anton Geist gets a visit from Aquaman, asking him to help Mera. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Okay, see, the entire fight between Aquaman and Tempest was just plain silly and not needed.  I am sure it made for some great ad copy (“Tempest declares war on Aquaman,” or some such nonsense) for the solicitations, but the reality is that there is no reason for them to fight.  So, Arcudi had to manufacture a reason.  Anytime a writer has to manufacture a plot point, you know the book is in trouble.  This book is really not in trouble, although it does at times feel like it.  There are some good stuff, mostly centered on Aquaman’s divided loyalties between the kingdom that is his but once kicked him out and the kingdom he wants but not everyone wants him there.  I also liked the fact that Hagen would seek revenge and is method of killing is apropos of the setting and certainly dovetails neatly into Geist’s work as well as the claims of what ProGene Tech can do.  But I think this issue and the last issue could’ve been merged together to create a better cohesive whole than the trumped up fights between Aquaman and Tempest we had to wade through to get to the ending. 

Has it been established that Koyrak is gay, as this issue implies.  Well, either that or he is in to bestiality, given Marley’s current physical shape.  But I doubt that is a topic DC would touch.  This is the first time I can recall her has appeared in this particular series of Aquaman, so I am unsure how he was portrayed in other series. 

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