DCU Comic Book Reviews

AQUAMAN:  SWORD OF ATLANTIS #49

Gate Of Shadow, Part Two:  Dreams Of The Fisherman

April 2007

Written by Kurt Busiek

Layouts by Mike Manley

Finishes by Ricardo Villagrán

Cover by Butch Guice

Synopsis

While investigating the disappearance of people near a small village, Aquaman is captured by a large sea creature.  He is then attacked by the Fisherman and knocked unconscious.  When he awakens, he is chained to the wall.  He breaks out his chains, frees the villagers, and then goes to battle the Fisherman.  Eventually, Aquaman wins the fight and saves the day.  But somehow, the Fisherman’s mask is not found....

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I had trouble with this issue.  I did not find the “dreams” of the Fisherman to be intriguing and parts of it were a little boring.  There is a lot of history behind the Fisherman character, all of which is touched upon in this issue, I am sure, but none of which interests me.  Moreover, the start and stop of the flashbacks hurt the flow of the story.  I could feel, as I reading, my enthusiasm for the story changing depending on whether it was a flashback or if it was present day with Aquaman coming to the rescue.  I like the idea of Aquaman saving the villagers without the aid of either the dweller or King Shark.  I wish this was explored a little more than what we saw in this issue.

There is one moment at the end of this issue that I barely noticed the first time, but which caught my eye the second time I read through it.  Aquaman killed a man.  And not in self-defense or accidental kind of way.  He stuck his sword out there and stabbed him to death.  I didn’t notice the first time around because the death seemed natural to me, a fitting conclusion to a duel with swords.  Yet, a second reading it looked strange because of the old axiom “heroes  don’t kill.”  The almost casual way it occurs, and barely remarked upon by any of the characters make me wonder if this is a sign of the times under the water or if there is something else going on.

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