Review: Aquaman #5 - Mobile Edition

DC Comics
Review: Aquaman #5
By Philip Schweier
August 17, 2016 - 09:36

DC Comics
Writer(s): Dan Abnett
Penciller(s): Phillipe Briones
Inker(s): Phillipe Briones
Colourist(s): Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer(s): Pat Brosseau
Cover Artist(s): Brad Walker, Drew Hennessey and Gabe Eltaeb; variant by Joshua Middleton

When last we left our King of the 7 Seas at the end of Aquaman #3, he and Mera were being taken into custody by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As king of a sovereign nation with a somewhat adversarial relationship, he was deemed a security risk.

Now we’re at Aquaman #5 (yes, it seems we skipped #4. Sorry, but it wasn’t our fault), and Aquaman and Mera have busted their way out of detention and are hell bent on escape. Never mind that Aquaman is a card carrying member of the Justice League. Never mind that he is the leader of an incredibly powerful undersea race. Never mind that he is the fully recognized representative of his nation, with full diplomatic powers. Some knucklehead in the government seems to have it in for him.

Perhaps it’s because he’s been the butt of several jokes, and not taken seriously as a member of the JLA. One step above Snapper Carr. Yet he’s kicking ass and taking names as he and Mera make their way across dry land in the direction of the Potomac.

And that’s when the thinkable happens. Someone arrives to seemingly handle the situation who perhaps should have been called in the first place. It’s kind of like having the brat down the block continually letting his dog poop in your yard. You need to deal with it, but you can’t take the kid seriously as an adversary. So whaddaya do? You call in someone with some degree of control over the boy.

I am anxious to see where this deterioration of the diplomatic relations between America and Atlantis diplomatic leads. Does it turn Aquaman into persona non grata, even as a member of the JLA? That could be very interesting for future story potential.

Or is it simply the machinations of a single government nabob out to take down the meta-human community, one cape at a time? Time will tell.