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

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Action Comics #539 - Jan. 1983

sg
Comics Weekend "Help! I'm A Prisoner In My Own Body!" by Bob Rozakis, Alex Saviuk, and Dan Adkins.

At the end of last issue, Aquaman finally realized that this woman he thought was his wife was not exactly just Mera:

sg
sg
With the evil half of Mera unconscious, Aquaman tries to communicate with the real Mera, laying dormant inside.

Mera uses telepathy to tell her husband what happened: back on her home world Xebel, the woman who took over for Mera after she left to marry Aquaman, V'Lana, refused to give up the throne to the returning monarch. But because Mera was queen by birthright, V'Lana was forcibly removed.

Some time later, V'lana, who seemed to have gotten over the turmoil, invited Mera to see her newest invention--a machine that enabled her to take over Mera's mind and body!

V'Lana then went to Earth, to try and learn how Mera had telepathic control over the planet's sea creatures. She then infiltrated the Navy(what, they don't do background checks in the Navy?), to get involved with the project that also involved Aquaman.

Why do this, Aquaman asks, since there are no sea creatures on Xebel? Mera says her plan was to gain control of some of them on Earth, then bring them back to Xebel to help her regain control of the throne!

(By the way--all the description above just covers page three. Lotta words on page three!)

Anyway, Aquaman figures the best thing is to get Mera/V'Lana back to Xebel, which he does. Its then that Mera feels V'Lana leave her body, no longer controlling it :
sg
Aquaman and Mera go find V'Lana, who says she looks forward to having Aquaman as her new husband (what can you say, the ladies love Aquaman!).

When Mera says V'Lana will never rule again, V'Lana begs to differ, having brought a horde of angry sea creatures along through the portal, ready to attack!:
sg
...to be continued!

Whew, a lot of plot crammed into seven measly pages!

Once again, Alex Saviuk's solid work is handed off to another inker, this time Dan Adkins. Wonder why DC had such a hard time finding one regular inker for this strip.

That page of Arthur admiring his wife as she swims around is cute--makes me wish somehow DC could just scrap all the stuff that's happened to Aquaman over the years and just get him back with Mera once and for all.

Next Comics Weekend, we'll have the conclusion to this storyline, which was also Aquaman's final installment as the back-up in Action Comics. Be here!

3 comments:

Wings1295 said...

From your text to DC's ears. Would love for Aquaman and Mera to just reappear as themselves, and the whole load of crud from the last few years be revealed as a con from Ocean Master or Manta or something, doesn't even really matter!

rob! said...

I used to think DC had to ret-con Aquaman's history and get rid of a bunch of stuff, but now I don't think so--they should just get him and Mera back together, acknowledging they have a painful history together, and go from there.

Losing a child either breaks a couple up, or pulls them together tighter. You could write Aquaman and Mera as having gone through the former, not they're on the latter stage.

BentonGrey said...

"That page of Arthur admiring his wife as she swims around is cute--makes me wish somehow DC could just scrap all the stuff that's happened to Aquaman over the years and just get him back with Mera once and for all."

I agree 100%, but I do think that a retcon is necessary. They just need to wipe the slate clean. There is too much bad writing and too many terrible choices in Aquaman's past. They just need to start over at square one and give us the royal couple back together.

As for these stories, they seem like a really cool run. I really like this V'lana gal. She seems like a really great villainess. She so should have made a return to fight Aquaman and Mera again. Being able to take over an ally's body would make her an especially deadly foe.