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Sunday, May 30, 2010

Legends of the DC Universe #27 - April 2000

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Comics Weekend "Reign of the Joker" by Steve Englehart, Trevor Von Eeden, and Joe Rubinstein.

Okay, at the end of last issue (covered yesterday), The Joker had managed to convince some of the Atlantean elders to kick Aquaman off the throne, replaced by Loska, who has had poison poured in his ear by the Clown Prince of Crime:
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As Aquaman heads for land, back in Atlantis, The Joker's erstwhile squeeze Felua tells the Joker she loves him. The Joker feigns returning her feelings.

Aquaman makes it to Gotham City, disgusted by the filth he sees all around him. Eventually, he finds who he's looking for:

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Aquaman, hothead as always, gets into a fight with Batman when being told "no", but Batman holds his own.

Turns out Batman was testing Aquaman, and Aquaman's unwillingness to give in convinces the Dark Knight that Aquaman is made of stern stuff. Batman decides to share what he knows about The Joker to help Aquaman defeat him.

Aquaman goes back to Atlantis, and confronts The Joker, with Felua hanging on his arm. The Joker fires his anti-toxin gun at Aquaman:
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Aquaman chases after The Joker, and they fight again. The Joker drops his gun, and when Aquaman pastes him one, he falls back onto it, being impaled by his own weapon. This causes The Joker's face to stretch into an ever further horrendous grin, causing some blood to spurt from The Joker's face. And with blood in the water, that means sharks!

But before the sharks can get their teeth on him, Felua swoops in and rescues her beau. Aquaman tries to caution her:
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...the end.


A very grim ending to a pretty goofy story. As I said yesterday, the Atlanteans seem dumb as posts here, and Batman and Aquaman's fight scene is so over-the-top unnecessary that, to me, it underscores my belief that Englehart wrote this two-parter as a comedy/adventure piece.

I'm not too keen on the art here--both Trevor Von Eeden and Joe Rubinstein are great artists, but to my eyes their styles don't mesh very well. Very nice covers by Tony Harris, though!

Felua, of course, would go on to write Smart Atlanteans, Foolish Choices.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Felua, of course, would go on to write Smart Atlanteans, Foolish Choices.

with a forward by Dr. Harleen Quinzel

Cindy Healy

Russell said...

I absolutely hate this two-parter, but when Joe Rubenstein came to Mid-Ohio Con last year, I brought one of these for him to sign.

rob! said...

Cindy-But does Ms, Quinzel really think she's made a foolish choice?

Russell--Like I said in the post, I think Rubenstein's a great inker, but he and Von Eeden just don't make for a good combo. I should go talk to him when I see him at a con.

Wings1295 said...

I don't know about the entire two-parter, myself, kinda wacky. But I think the art fits that "surreal" feeling. Or at least adds to it all.

IADW said...

One of the best things about this series was the covers. No disrespect to the talents inside, but the majority of the cover art was worthy of framing.

Tony Harris does a sweet job on Aquaman here!