Aquaman (Vol.4) #11 - Oct. 1992

Comics Weekend A new story starts with this issue, as it opens with a large dinosaur-like creature cruising the ocean depths.

Meanwhile, Aquaman is getting examined at S.T.A.R. Labs, where one of their doctors tells them that since he has been going for days and days without sleep, barely eating and under tremendous stress, he desperately needs rest.

After much cajoling from the doctors and Arthur's U.N. contact, he reluctantly agrees to put himself in a sort of water-filled sleep chamber to get some enforced downtime. Of course, that's not gonna last...

Meanwhile, the sea creature finds its way to the New York Harbor, where it runs afoul of a tour boat, and is met with typical New York hospitality:

...good move, Andy!

The creature attacks the boat, of course, tipping it over. But it doesn't attack the people who have fallen into the water, instead it seems to be going out of its way to help the people out of the water.

They wake Aquaman up from his rest, and he recalls having met these creatures before (in Superman #63, apparently), and agrees to try and warn it off.

Suddenly, the creature thrashes and roars, and a group of police start to shoot at it, both from the land and from a police helicopter. Aquaman stops them and pulls off this nice move:

He then has the chopper lead the creature out to sea, then jumps back into the water. The creature slaps him with its head, then takes off. What the...?

Aquaman tries to communicate with it telepathically, but can't get through. The only sense he gets from it is that its hungry, but then why didn't it eat the people from the boat?

It then attacks Aquaman, and tries to eat him! With Aquaman in his exhausted, sedated, groggy state, he finds himself nearly becoming lunch, in a nice page by artist Ken Hoover:

As he struggles to keep its mouth from closing on him, he hears a telepathic command, "Open!", and suddenly the creature backs off.

He sees it came from a woman, armed with a spear, who speaks only telepathically. She explains she is Dera, of Mertu. The creature--named Peli--is her friend, and it felt that it was only defending itself from the boat:

...the final, trash can-shaped panel is a little much, but otherwise a cool page.

Aquaman barely has time to figure out what exactly happened, what this woman's mysterious warnings mean, when he is told there is trouble again in Poseidonis. We see that the citizens of the city are trying to rebuild, only to be attacked by violent looters. To be continued!


I tend to enjoy single-issue stories in between longer arcs, and after all the psychological hugger-mugger, its nice to see Aquaman take on a giant sea creature. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.