DCU Comic Book Reviews

AQUAMAN #36

The Failure Of Success

January 2006

Written by John Arcudi

Layouts by Leonard Kirk

Finishes by Andy Clarke

Cover by Patrick Gleason & Christian Alamy

Synopsis

While the dead body of Anton Geist is pulled out of the ocean, Aquaman’s wife Mera meets Aquaman’s girlfriend, Esther Maris.  Meanwhile, the experiments to turn the Black Manta into a water-breather also continue.  Suddenly, a ship crashes into the laboratory, freeing Manta from ProGene Tech.  Manta then leaves message for Mr. J to not come after him.  In Atlantis, Tempest gathers together a cadre of sorcerers in the hopes of restoring Mera’s ability to breath underwater.  As they cast the spell, the Spectre and his wrath focuses on Atlantis.... 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

In a nutshell, this issue was good for those who have been reading it for some time, but will not be so good for those who may have picked it up because it might be related to Infinite Crisis. 

There are a lot of little tidbits here and there throughout this issue that certainly reward readers who have been with this title, and specifically Arcdui’s run in the last year or so.  But these little tidbits can’t make up for the fact that Arcudi is juggling so many different plots and subplots that one can easily see that in a year from now, we may be at the exact same point.  At some point Arcudi needs to either resolve a few of these lingering plot points (such as the Lorena/Koryak/Marley triangle or Aquaman’s own love life or ProGene’s patent on his DNA, or, well, you get the idea).  All of stuff is being introduced, but very little is being followed upon.  What is followed is pretty good, but with so much pushing for space in this book, some of it is getting lost. 

I am surprised that Geist is dead; I did not think he had died at the end of the last issue.  I am not really that broken hearted about it and he was not one of the major characters, but I liked his character and I liked his interaction with Aquaman. 

You know, in the last issue I praised Arcudi for being able to seamlessly integrate DC’s huge crossover plots (in particular the OMAC from the OMAC Project) so that it didn’t feel that much of an intrusion into the overall storyline.  This issue pushes it to the limit so that, yes, the inclusion of the magic-hating Spectre from Day Of Vengeance does feel like an intrusion, but in this case the intrusion is justified by the events of the book.  Everything leading to the final page makes sense; the Spectre’s appearance feels very organic to the complete story. 

I was somewhat bemused that Manta had to wear his classic scuba diving headgear once he was out of the water tank and back on land. 

The title page with Geist floating face down is very reminiscent of the opening scene in Sunset Boulevard (1950) of the dead body floating in the pool.  Go rent the movie; it is a classic.

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