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Sunday, July 19, 2009

Titans #15 - Sept. 2009

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Comics Weekend "Through Thine Eyes" by J.T. Krul, Jose Luis, and JP Mayer.

This Blackest Night tie-in books opens with a great image, a sight for sore eyes for us Classic Aquaman fans:
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...yes, that was long ago, and now things are much different: Aquaman, Tula, Dolphin, and Tempest's son Cerdian are all dead, and their beloved Atlantis has been nearly destroyed.

Aqualad feels classic Survivor's Guilt, and he also feels the uneasy stares of his fellow Atlanteans, who sometimes look at him like a harbinger of doom.

In his gloom, he stops by the Atlantean cemetery:
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He recalls his younger days, having adventures with Aquaman and the Teen Titans, romancing Tula. Then, the Crisis hit, and everything began to change.

While in the process of burying Dolphin and Cerdian, he is met a demonic-looking being known as Slizzath, Tempest's uncle. At first, Slizzath--who claims he can talk to the dead--seems to only want to taunt Tempest with cruel mocking, but soon they are drawn into battle, with Slizzath talking about how "the dead will rise."

Tempest blasts Slizzath, who explodes into a fireball. Tempest is then found unconscious by some Atlanteans, who thank him for getting rid of Slizzath. Tempest says he had little to do with it, that his uncle seemed to do it to himself.

They take him to the Royal Palace, where the throne remains empty:
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Unsure what to do, Garth visits an old friend--Dick Grayson, now having taken the role of his mentor, Batman.

Dick's Batman, though, is warm and friendly, and offers advice to his old friend. But it seems that Garth has already made a decision as to the power vacuum in Atlantis. He returns to Atlantis, and as some of its citizens watch him, he assumes the throne:
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...uh oh, I don't think Zombie Aquaman is going to like this!


I'm interested to see where this goes, because it certainly seems here that Tempest/Garth/Aqualad is finally getting "promoted" to the role of the DCU's Aquaman, the way Dick Grayson is now Batman.

Of course, that's not going to last (after the apocalypse, there will still be cockroaches, and Bruce Wayne will still be Batman), so maybe Garth will keep the throne warm until his old mentor returns.

7 comments:

David Cutler said...

Worth picking up, in your estimation? (Other than the Aquaman lore importance)

Oscar Olalde said...

I sure can live with Garth being King of Atlantis while Aquaman does his adventurer thing with the league or solo.

Diabolu Frank said...

Wait-- when were Dolphin and Cerdian confirmed deceased? I never liked their development, but killing those characters off so cavalierly sickens me regardless.

Russell said...

I echo Frank's question, and I pose one of my own: what does the cover have to do with anything that occurs in the story?!?

rob! said...

David-

Yeah, its not a bad issue--not essential or anything, but not bad.

Aerial-

I agree. Let Arthur be a superhero again, for Neptune's sake.

Frank-

Yeah, I must have missed that, too. What a waste, killing off Dolphin! Keeps us from getting a Dolphin mini-series drawn by Adam Hughes or something down the line. Too much death at DC lately.

Russell-

Yeah, that's a classic "bait and switch" cover! If the book had been 35 cents instead of $2.99, it'd just be like comics in the 70s!!

Randy said...

As far as the cover goes, this issue, if I recall correctly, originally had a different writer attached to it. The Titans books have been going through writers like my 2 month old son goes through diapers.

I would bet the cover probably had something more to do with the original contents of the issue. They probably felt the cover was too nice an iamge to not publish.

And covers having nothing to do with the contents of the issue have been a DC and Marvel tradition for a long, long time. Personally, that doesn't bother me at all.

Luke said...

Dolphin and Cerdian were confirmed killed in this very issue, gents. Last time we caught up with Tempest in Sword of Atlantis, they were still MIA. Same goes for his powers, which are back now -- I guess the quest Leah sent him on was successful.

All in all I thought this issue was a pretty good way to move forward. Garth as the new King of Atlantis is pretty ripe for some story fodder. Hopefully it'll stick around.