Aquaman (Vol.8) #23.1 - Nov. 2013

"Sea Change" by Geoff Johns, Tony Bedard, and Claude St. Aubin.

Aquaman gets the month off (sort of), giving Black Manta his first-ever shot at solo-star status. The book opens in Belle Reve prison:

50% Amanda Waller doesn't believe that killing Aquaman is all Manta really wants to do, and is prepared to offer him a special deal. But just then, a series of explosions go off--Belle Reve is under attack!

Waller leaves, with two armed guards in charge. But they aren't much match for the being who is looking for Black Manta:

Both Manta and Ocean Master escape, with many of the bad guys grouped together to be introduced to their new masters, the Crime Syndicate, who boast to have killed the Justice League!

Manta, now in possession of Aquaman's trident, storms off, diving into the sea:

Manta surfaces in Massachusetts, to visit his father's grave. With news of Aquaman being dead, Manta tearfully says "It's over."

Just at that moment, however, Ultraman--not the brains of the team--decides to move the moon in front of the sun, which of course causes massive tidal waves, so much so that Manta's father's grave is flooded, causing the body to float away (as well as killing many innocent people). Manta, enraged all over again, has a new place to aim his hate: at the Crime Syndicate!

...to be continued in Forever Evil!


My first thought after reading this issue, is that I enjoyed the hallowed tradition of making Ultraman the lunkhead of the Crime Syndicate. His cruelty and carelessness reaches epic proportions here, and I'd enjoy seeing Black Manta jam Aquaman's trident where the too-bright-sun don't shine.

This issue features an inadvertent spoiler, in that it clearly takes place after the events of Aquaman #23, where Scavenger's future seemed uncertain. But here he is, hanging out with the other bad guys. Not that it's a surprise that he did survive, or that I'm anything but glad about that!