It’s been a while since the last Aquaman book and right away you can see why - Maelstrom has the equivalent of ten issues or two volumes in one. That stockpiling tactic is something you usually see when a title isn’t selling well which I don’t think Aquaman is because it sucks. The good news is that Jeff Parker and Paul Pelletier’s Aquaman series has at least gotten coherent but the bad news is that it still hasn’t grown much of a brain.
The book opens with two short origins of Aquaman and Mera, in case you forgot who they were, and then we’re into the first arc which features a new villain called Chimera, a failed experiment evil mighty morphin monster who can control sea creatures better than Aquaman. The two fight, fight, and fight some more, and that’s it. It’s about as shallow as a rock pool and twice as smart!
The second and final arc sees Aquaman learning that his mother Atlanna is still alive and he sets out to find her. There’s a couple of pointless cameos from Martian Manhunter and Gorilla Grodd before Aquaman discovers his mother’s a fucking idiot. The instant she sees him she gets her followers to try and kill him - no talking, no semblance of reason or curiosity that you’d expect from an intelligent being, just ATTACK KILL DESTROY! What a dumbass.
Pelletier’s artwork is really strong throughout (even if he’s still the poor man’s Ivan Reis) but Parker’s simple, boring stories are really only suited to Saturday morning cartoon audiences who just want to see Aquaman and Mera hitting things. Aquaman remains a must-not-read title - good job, guys!
Aquaman, Volume 6: Maelstrom
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