When is a DC KO tie-in not a DC KO tie-in? When it’s Aquaman #13… and a very lucky #13 it is too, being a thoroughly engaging, great looking story which has very little to do with the ongoing event series.
What there is comes mainly in the first few pages, which tie in with this week’s issue of the mini-series that provides the spine of proceedings. The scene follows the last issue of this book, in which Aquaman and Hawkman fought for… reasons, with the former finally killing the latter. Don’t worry though, Hawkman is already back, Arthur having chosen him as his fighting partner in the next round of the cosmic tournament in Skartaris.
Cue splash page featuring Aquaman and Hawkman vs the unlikely team of Lex Luthor and Supergirl, an editor’s note advising readers to check out DC KO #3, and we’re back to the regular business of this series.
On Earth, we join Aquaman’s Justice League Blue: mermaid Lori Lemaris; Lady of the Lake Vivienne; Arion, Lord of Atlantis; shark man Titanus; Wonder Twin Xan; literary legend Captain Nemo; and Aquaman and Mera’s newly adult daughter Princess Andrina – Andy. They’re defending Earth’s oceans from a horde of Darkseid’s parademons, a minor aspect of the DC KO set-up. And the noble Arion isn’t comfortable with how Andy is fighting.
While in the other-dimensional realm of Xebel, Mera finds King Nereus, the man to whom she was once betrothed, alone, his people gone.
The two story strands are linked via flashbacks to Mera’s Xebel childhood, when she would hide among the shipwrecks drawn there from Earth.
Writer Jeremy Adams does a terrific job of making each story strand compelling in and of itself, giving us enough clues to work out where they’re leading. The clever plotting is matched by the deft dialogue.
While she doesn’t have her hydrokinesis powers, Mera is yet formidable, escaping a gang of monster mermen via her wit and native strength. Young Mera is charm itself. As for Andy, she’s a real stinker – and she was such a nice kid, too. We don’t get a fight with her and Mera, as advertised on John Timms’s hair-raising cover illo, but I’m pretty sure it’s coming.
Timms, the regular artist on this series, isn’t around this month, but we do get a first rate substitute in the form of Daniel Bayliss, who does cuteness as well as he manages brutality. His people are classically good looking – Arthur looks like Flash Gordon – while his monsters are suitably savage. The storytelling is as smooth as the finishes, with fine panel-to-panel progression and convincing settings – check out the shipwrecks.
Undersea fauna looks equally good, the colours of Rex Lokus adding an ethereal quality. Lokus is also very good with skin, avoiding the blotchy toning we so often see in favour of a more even approach.
Dave Sharpe’s letters are uniformly excellent, and he makes it easy to see which of several narrators we’re with at any one time through signature designs.
The book ends on a most intriguing note, hitting Mera in the emotional gut even as she knows there’s a very hard, very personal battle ahead. Buy this issue and be ready for it.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 