The last stretch of modern Aquaman..

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Aquaman vol 4 seemed very disjointed. Issues 1 to 12 are Arthur gaining his new mystic water hand communing with Annwyn and saving the water goddesses. This is a more mellow less angry Arthur, partly due to his fancy new hand and not being able to strike in anger with it, lest he calls forth the Thirst again or something like it.

Issues 13 and 14 are stand alone issues, and just lovely. In # 13 Arthur saves a girl from drowning but fails to save her parents. The back story of the family’s life is feared and we get to see that despite their anger towards each other they really do love each other. Issue 14 is about other people’s perceptions of Aquaman, and is a very human very every day and ordinary life story. I would recommend picking these to up.

Next we see the American Tidal arc, where San Diego becomes Sub Diego, and this I very much enjoyed. Lorena is introduced and is pretty damn cool. She looks made for the Aquagirl outfit (first shown in a much later issue).
The deliberate genetic mutation story really caught my attention and I can’t help but wonder how Geist actually copes with living underwater, on a day to day basis. I feel very sad we saw no more of him and learnt no more before he got turned into an OMAC.

From issue 35 to 39, (the Infinite Crisis tie ins) I lost interest. I didn’t care when Garth, Vulko, Koryak, Dolphin and Cerdian seemingly died. I felt nothing when the Spectre showed up and began stomping Atlantis. Mera’s new role as an air breather was very intriguing, and her new friendship with Arthur’s sort of fling is noteworthy – a very gentle, honest and forgiving relationship. Serene almost.

I think maybe part of the reason I didn’t care about this arc (if you can call it that) is cos continuity seemed to go out the window - Garth and Dolphin’s son inexplicably became a daughter, Arthur can use his water hand in anger now and Garth appears to hate Arthur. Back in issue 12 he was Arthur’s only fan. What changed? Did I miss something?

Sword of Atlantis is good though – and the art is wonderful. Orin has become the Dweller of the Deeps and there’s a new younger Arthur Curry in town who’s stepping into Orin’s old life.

Enough of that, have some pretty:
In which the subjects of Atlantis understand why the 'net exists:

In which Orin understands truly what makes his his comrades in superheroics powerful:

A tragic panel where Mera is (apparently) dead (again) but Arthur's subjects don;t knwo this and are only aware he's defeated the bad guys and saved Atlantis:

*weeps*

And to prove I do notice when men are drawn badly too:


What is going on with Arthur's muscles in that top panel? It's a pity I didn't save the issue where he looked liked he got some sort of half inflatable half melting disease causing his overly muscled legs to twist around in impossible ways.
(and just because I'm me, note how AC isn't sexual in that panel, he's brooding, also I think it may be noteworthy to point out that it clearly looks ridiculous whereas a lot of women featured (sexualised) crap art is taken for normality*.)


*Me, keeping my feminsist credentials alive and well since 1974. ;)