I picked up the AQUAMAN: DEATH OF A PRINCE TPB on Wednesday and finished it last night, and what a great read it was! Collecting stories published over the course of five years in the 70s, they really all form one large epic tale, although that wasnt readily apparent at the time. Reading it issue to issue, I can see how the fact that storylines were slowly but steadily steering toward a singular conclusion might be missed by fans. This was really Aquaman at his best, but also at the lowest point in his life: hes been dethroned and exiled from Atlantis, he has a falling out with Aqualad, his son is killed by his enemy (no spoiler there...it is the subtitle of the trade, after all!), and his marriage with Mera is badly strained because of it. But heres the kicker...instead of just wallowing in misery, as all-too-many characters do now, Aquaman rose above it, asserting himself as one of the worlds great superheroes (hell, be beats Starro...who had given the entire JLA a hard time...all by himself), and he actively works to solve the problems in his life. Interestingly, these stories (unlike virtually all others in the comics world) were more or less set in real time. Obviously, there wasnt a month or two passing between two-part stories, but in 1976 theres a reference to Aquaman having been King of Atlantis for ten years, and I believe it was in 66 that he gained the crown. And at one point, several issues after having last been with Mera, he remarks, We havent seen each other in months, even though readers, conditioned as they are, could very easily have believed it had only been days, if not hours. Im assuming that Atlanteans age more slowly than surface dwellers, as Aquababy never really seems to grow past the age of two throughout the book. (And theres a cute passage of time-related in-joke from Steve Skeates in the very first story, published in 1973. Aquamans own comic had been cancelled in 71, and as he returns to Atlantis from a JLA mission, he thinks about how it feels as if he hadnt been home in two years. LOL) Some great writing here from Skeates, Paul Levitz, Dave Michelinie and Paul Kupperberg, and art by Mike Grell, Jim Aparo and Don Newton. If youre in the mood for some really good Bronze Age superheroics, and you need a reminder of just why Aquaman had been a major DC character for so long (and why he always should have been, which sadly hasnt always been the case), I fully recommend this book.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:37:31 +0000
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