Aquaman (Vol.6) #67 - May 2000

Comics Weekend "Clash of Kings"

By now, we've seen that Aquaman's half-brother Ocean Master is involved in the major attack on Atlantis by Cerdia.

Garth continues to relate the story to his granddaughter Donna:

(During this opening sequence, we get to see Garth has an underwater grotto under his palatial beachfront home, kind of like an AquaCave, plus he mentions a group called "The Titans of Justice", which would seem to indicate the two superteams merged at some point in the future)

Anyway, Aquaman and Tempest have just discovered Ocean Master waiting for them in Queen Charlanda's throne room, and of course it starts a fight :

Orm blasts them both with his scepter, which is powered with some sort of neural blaster, temporarily paralyzing both our heroes.

Orm mentions he's been helping Cerdia in their plan, and when Aquaman stumbles to stand, he uses the scepter again to teleport all three of them to a dank cave.

He explains to his half-brother that his plan is to rule Atlantis, but since the city is currently cast in Aquaman's image, he wants it razed to the ground, to be rebuilt to his own twisted specifications. He also explains that he cares nothing for Cerdia, and he plans to destroy them, as well.

We see how he plans to do this--turns out Counselor Whynt isn't who he seems to be--he's merely a magical illusion, created by Ocean Master, and as Whynt he orders the Atlantean warships to show no mercy towards their attackers.

He reveals himself to Charlanda, and then teleports her to the same cave as Aquaman and Tempest. He is pretty confident of his victory:

...I absolutely love that close-up of Aquaman on the bottom of page thirteen, with the octopus rising in the background. Spooky and yet very cool.

With the proper distance, Orm's neural hold on Aquaman and Tempest is broke, freeing them to attack:

Aquaman grabs Orm while Tempest demands to know from Queen Charlanda where his kidnapped son is.

As they try to escape Cerdia (as the Atlantean ships overhead continue to drop bombs), Aquaman takes Orm under water. They fight for a few moments, but then Orm plays his trump card: he has kidnapped Garth's son!

As he holds the child in his arms, Aquaman is momentarily stunned, giving Orm enough time to transport him to a place where no one wants to see Aquaman--the streets of Cerdia:

Uh-oh! To be continued!


That middle sequence, where Aquaman frees himself and Garth from Ocean Master, is masterful. My lack of enthusiasm for Aquaman's "pirate look" is well known, but I have to admit, Epting made it look really cool and badass here. With his long hair and furrowed brow, Aquaman reminds me of Conan just before he went on the attack. Nice.

Next Comics Weekend: Aquaman versus the people of Cerdia!