DCU Comic Book Reviews

AQUAMAN:  SWORD OF ATLANTIS #42

Deep Down

July 2006

Written by Kurt Busiek

Pencils by Butch Guice

Inks by Butch Guice

Cover by Butch Guice

Synopsis

Arthur Curry and King Shark have stopped into a bar to get something to eat and drink.  Arthur notices the drinks in bladders because cups wouldn’t work under water and snacks in some kind of jelly so they don’t drift away and he calls it cute.  One of the patrons gets miffed at the term “cute,” but backs down when he mistakes Arthur for Aquaman.  Angered at that, Arthur tosses gold coins and walks away.  Outside the bar, a mermaid stops him and seduces him so she and her buddies can rob him.  During the robbery, Arthur wakes up.  Angered, Arthur destroys the bar.  Later, Arthur is despondent over the entire situation of being underground.  He just wants to find his family.  Then he hears a psychic call for Aquaman.  At first Arthur ignores it, but he can’t swim because someone might really be in trouble.  The follow the signal and find a large floating mansion, which is the home to the Winward Home, a place in which they try to broker non-violent solutions to world problems.  It seems they were looking for Orin of Atlantis, the real Aquaman, because they found something in the wreckage of Atlantis...a message from Vulko.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

“They got the wrong guy.  They can get someone else to get their aqua-cat out of the aqua-tree, or whatever.”

At first glance, this new direction for Aquaman seems to be inspired by sword and sorcery tales.  In fact when I first saw the floating house, my first reaction was: Camelot.  And then a few pages later there was a short reference to Merlin as well.  Given the state of the underwater world, it may very turn out that Arthur Curry will assume leadership of the seas and provide some unity in much the same way King Arthur united England into years of peace.  Yet, I sense other themes running through the first couple of issues, such as the post-apocalyptic version of the underwater world and a few western themes as well.  But all of these are just the settings.  the basic theme is still of the young boy who suddenly is thrust into a new world where he must become a man and a hero, but not necessarily in that order (I heartily recommend the Mallorean by David Eddings as a great example of such a story).  There are moments when Guice’s drawing of Arthur seems to make him a lot older than he appears to be, but I think it is not his chronological age that we should think about, but his maturation age.  Remember, Arthur Curry lived alone in a tank watching hours and hours of television.  He never really interacted with others, so one could easily assume he never matured, especially if he watched sitcoms all the time.

I am not all that sure we needed to have an explanation on how food and drinks exist under the sea, but part of me sometimes questions how these people survive.

I’ve got one question as I am sure some of you may have as well:  how exactly does a mermaid make love/have sex to a human?  This issue sidesteps the problem, but still I gotta wonder.

Comic Connection

Dane Dorrance was a member of the Sea Devils (published in the early 60s) and last appeared in Aquaman, issues #23 and #24

It was not until later that I learned that Jimmy Lockhart is really the Red Torpedo, a former member of the Freedom Fighters.  Apparently the Red Torpedo is the name of his submarine and he battled foes out of the water, so his inclusion here is not that odd.  Mark Merlin was a sorcerer who appeared, along with his Elsa Magnusson, in the House of Secrets comic published by DC in the 50s and 60s.

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