Well I never, it’s two comics for the price of one. Actually, no, it’s two titles for the one comic, which is a bit confusing. After all, last week’s Superman Vs Captain Atom was its own thing, not an issue of Superman. Well, its own thing apart from the fact it’s a spin-off from the DC KO event.
I’m probably overthinking things. Basically, heroes of the DC Universe are whittling their ranks through savage bouts to the death, knowing the ultimate victor will bring them all back to life. Hopefully, anyway. So here’s old Justice League buddies Hawkman and Aquaman, facing off.
But first, a flashback. Aquaman and his band of watery chums, nicknamed Justice League League Blue, react to the news that There Will Be a Fight.
And as the fight begins, in some other realm that started out as Skartaris, Hawkman finds his initial confidence shaken.
He’s not been reading Aquaman’s book, so doesn’t know Arthur has recently had a big power-up.
And lo, Hawkman is cast out into space. Or perhaps he’s in some post-death limbo. Who knows?
This fella, maybe?
And so Hawkman gets his own upgrade, and Aquaman gets in a flap.
But does this end the battle? You can likely guess, given whose comic this is.
Meanwhile, over at the Justice League Unlimited satellite, the godlike Time Trapper and World Forger have found Booster Gold is possessed by the very being they’re out to stop – Darkseid.
Bringing the blitzkrieg are regular Aquaman collaborators Jeremy Adams and John Timms, and they do a good job of serving up a slice of DC KO nuttiness while nodding to regular Aquaman plotlines in the shape of dodgy daughter Andi and her charm, and Arthur’s current overpowered state, which can only bring more trouble. The Booster and pals (?) scene also seems to be going somewhere – maybe Wonder Woman Vs. Lobo, which is next on my pile.
Aquaman’s plotlines have somewhere to go, but what about Hawkman? Will we see him again in DC KO? Is there a new series to follow? I vaguely remember some Hawkgod business around the time of Zero Hour, but is this connected? There is a link to the current Green Lantern Corps series – which I’ve dropped after last issue, too many names and stories going on – and Horus is a great design.
Speaking of which, the artwork is suitably energetic, my favourite page being the one above, with Aquaman summoning columns of water to demonstrate his current connection to the elemental force. The colours of Rex Lokus and letters of Dave Sharpe are the finishing touches.
While Aquaman and Hawkman don’t really seem to be looking at one another on Timms’ cover, I like it anyway… and is that old stony face Darkseid himself in the background?
Aquaman #12 is a fun issue, a nice change of pace from the regular storyline. It’s worth a look.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
That was cold! Pulled out Hawkman’s blood and all. Aquaman is definitely too powerful for no good reason, but that’s what needless power-ups will get you. The trouble is that in order for other heroes like Hawkman to be viable, as we see in the story, they have to receive needless power-ups as well. Hawkman says he has countless years of experience in war, which amounted to barely anything. No strategy, no plan, just fly and die. Great review, though.
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That’s a terrific point about Hawkman’s lack of tactics, he really does need to think shine his mace. And that Hawk God appearance was terribly convenient.
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Details on Andi? I’ve only read two issues of this series.
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hey there! Andrina was born sometime after the Geoff Johns Run. Perhaps around the Future State event, I believe. Who was looking after Aquaman at that point? Kelly Sue Deconnick?
Anyway, at the beginning of this series, Atlantis appeared to be destroyed along with Mera, Garth, Jackson and Andy (spoiler – it wasn’t and they weren’t. They were all just shifted into another dimension where time worked differently which is why “Andi” is older).
Aquaman believes he was unable to save Atlantis and that the everyone but “Andi” is dead. Instead they’re still in another dimension and hidden from him. At this point in time we’re unsure who “Andi” is and only know that she’s probably going to betray Aquaman.
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II made it two. maybe three issues, in on this volume and I doubt I’m the only one who never believed Atlantis was destroyed. Arthur and Namor are in a permanent cycle of Atlantis destroyed/Atlantis restored as well as monarch deposed or steps down/monarch returns to save the day.
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It does get tiresome, and when an interesting new direction such as Sub Diego does come along, it’s not given long enough to ‘take’.
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Kelly Sue indeed, she created Andi with artist Robson Rocha (where’s he been lately?)
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I liked Sub Diego but what do I know? I liked the faux Arthur of Busiek’s.
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I was beaten to it!
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As a huge Aquaman fan, I picked this up thinking, “Arthur better win this….”
LoL!
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And so he did, he never even had to call in Topo!
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