] type='image/vnd.microsoft.icon'/>

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Aquaman (Vol.6) #68 - June 2000

sg
Comics Weekend "Blood Realm"

Picking up here we left off last weekend, Garth is continuing his recollections of Atlantis' war with Cerdia to his granddaughter Donna.

After tussling with Ocean Master, Orm teleports Aquaman to Cerdia, where the angry and bloody citizens prepare to take their rage out on the man who they think attacked them
:
sg
sg
sg
The crowd begins to punch and kick Aquaman, but he refuses to fight back, concerned he might hurt them. After all, they believe Aquaman started the war (when it was really Ocean Master disguised as his brother), so their feelings are understandable.

He manages to get the mob's attention long enough to tell them it was really their queen, Charlanda, who is behind all this.

Initially they won't listen, but then Aquaman points out that, under Charlanda's rule, the people of Cerdia are poor, hungry, and uneducated, while their queen continues to live in luxury.

This gives the people pause, long enough for the JLA to arrive. Aquaman, with the assistance of the Martian Manhunter's telepathic powers, issues a message to his subjects, still currently attacking Cerdia.

The Atlantean war ships turn back, which convinces the Cerdians Aquaman is telling the truth:
sg
Meanwhile, under water, Tempest is waking up from being hit by falling rock, blasted loose by the war. He managed to survive it, but Queen Charlanda, who was with him, was not so lucky.

Tempest takes off, and finds Ocean Master in his undersea lair. They fight to a standstill, with Orm finally besting Garth with this magical scepter.

But the battle distracts him, giving Aquaman a chance to sneak in behind Orm, and deliver a solid right cross. They continue to fight as Tempest moves to rescue his kidnapped son, using his powers to teleport his son away. Orm notices this and is less than pleased:
sg
The whales smash open Orm's lair, flooding it, and carrying him off.

Tempest and Arthur find Tempest's son, who was teleported just outside, in a triumphant but also melancholy moment:

sg
...after this, we arrive back in the future, and Garth tells Donna how Aquaman, after the war, made a gesture towards the people of Cerdia to include them as part of Atlantis.

They board an Atlantean ship, so Donna can get a firsthand look at her ancestral homeland
:
sg
For once, a peaceful, happy ending to an Aquaman story line!

But I guess I shouldn't use the word ending, since next issue features a coda of sorts to the Atlantis vs. Cerdia story, so be here tomorrow to see how the King of Atlantis makes peace instead of war.

No comments: