Aquaman # 34 - Mobile Edition

DC Comics
Aquaman # 34
By Hervé St-Louis
February 19, 2006 - 20:59

DC Comics
Writer(s): John Arcudi
Penciller(s): Leonard Kirk
Inker(s): Andy Clarke
Cover Artist(s): Patrick Gleason

Ok, so the Aquaman - Tempest fight is a non fight. Don’t let the cover fool you. Instead, Aquaman discovers that Atlantis magicians are trying to turn his wife, who used to be a water breather, back into a water breather. Meanwhile, Arcudi deals with another plot point he introduces, seemingly to never touch it again, as the gigantic green creature is loose again, but on its way out from the series.

I don’t know if there have been fights with Aquaman and Tempest in recent years, but this one left me wanting more. Sure, the cliché where the heroes fight over a misunderstanding and later team up to beat the hell of a villain has been overused, but it’s hard to gauge what would the outcome of a fight between the two would be. My question is if Aquaman is so weak compared to Tempest, as is suggested, why does Tempest care so much about Aquaman returning to Atlantis?

There are some proportion problems in some of Clarke’s work, but he redeems himself by showing off a Mera that looks sick but realistic, considering her fate. His Atlantis seems barren, but his fishes and sea creatures are nice. The story is dynamic and the ice effect works. One issue is that his characters don’t look like they are floating in the ocean. They look like they are walking above the waves.