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

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Aquaman (Vol.8) #33 - Sept. 2014

sg
Comics Weekend "Meet Your Maker" by Jeff Parker, Paul Pelletier, Sean Parsons, and Rain Beredo.

This issue opens with Aquaman hip-deep in fighting his own finny friends, thanks to the hellish creation known as The Chimera:
sg
As Aquaman tries to defend himself while not harming his loyal subjects, The Chimera peers deeply into the Sea King's mind, causing them both to black out. When Aquaman comes to, some of his men have found him. They are the ones who break the news about the attempted assassination of Mera.

While they head back to Atlantis, Mera is dealing with the now-jailed conspirators, one of whom gets a punch in the face courtesy Tula. Mera asks Tula why, since she was loyal to Orm, she is now working to defend them. Tula states that they are trying to make Peace, which should be the goal of any good king. Then, finally, the royal couple are reunited:
sg
The conspirators believe it is Aquaman's mere presence that is causing the earthquakes. Vulko, wasting away in a nearby cell, mutters to himself that this is, in fact, correct, but he knows that Aquaman will never believe it--or anything else Vulko would ever say.
Over at Amnesty Bay, The Chimera is back searching for Aquaman, ruthlessly working his way through anyone in the way--including a poor dog who barked at him on the beach. Realizing he's making quite a commotion, The Chimera realizes he has the ability to camoflage himself, if in the most disgusting manner possible:
sg
The Chimera kills a police officer, then changes form and hides in plain sight. After Aquaman is told that Steven Shin survived the disaster at Triton Base and has been moved to a Naval hospital, we rejoin The Chimera as he resumes his search for the Sea King:
sg
He practically bumps into Aquaman and Mera's friend Jenny, who is out walking Salty. Their mutual friend Erika, a police officer, pulls her gun when The Chimera reveals himself and fires several shots at point blank range. He is about to throttle Erika, but The Chimera then senses Aquaman is headed to Boston, and takes off leaving everyone with nary a thought.

Shin explains that The Chimera looks at Aquaman as both savior and destroyer. Either way, the Sea King is pivotal to its existence, so it's no surprise when The Chimera shows up at the hospital, even though Visiting Hours are over:
sg
...to be continued!
I've really run out of ways to describe this series, because I find myself saying the same things every month: Aquaman, under the control of Parker, Pelletier, and Parsons, is fun, colorful, exciting superhero derring-do.  It moves along at a lightning pace, and The Chimera is a solid (if icky) new protagonist.
This issue's cover is my favorite so far from Pelletier and Parsons' run on the book, the intensity on Aquaman's face is quite convincing and it grabs the reader, as it should. Also happy that Aquaman and Mera are reunited (if briefly), and we get another appearance by Salty the Aqua-Dog!


2 comments:

John said...

Was this a variant cover? My LCBS had only in stock the version with Aquaman and Batman (!) on the cover. Absolutely pointless.

Joshua Rainey said...

I havent been feeling this series or the Others but this was a good issue. I hope they do something worth reading with the Chimera and make it a good villain, if thats what its going to be.