Aquaman (1991) #13
Title: My Hero
Cover Title: In The Claws of the Scavenger!
Cover Date: December 1992
Writer: Shaun McLaughlin
Pencils: Chris Schenck
Inks: Bob Dvorak
Colors: Tom McCraw
Lettering: Dan Nakrosis
Editor: Kevin Dooley
Cover: Chris Schenck and Bob Dvorak
Cover Price: $1.25
OVERVIEW:
A terminally ill little boy goes on a quest to find his hero, Aquaman. The boy, Tony, sneaks out of the hospital, and starts to walk to Lake Erie.
A trucker picks him up and tells him that Aquaman is a fraud. A wealthy lady picks him up and tells him that Aquaman used his superpowers to destroy a whaling submarine near a beach she was at. Tony doesn't believe either of them.
A guy offers him a ride to the lake, and figures out that he's sick. Then he tells him another story about Aquaman, this one about a battle with the Scavenger over medical supplies. Aquaman gets the Scavenger to stop trying to kill him and to help him by letting him know that there's a measles epidemic in Toronto. It's the start of a new life for the Scavenger, who reforms with Aquaman's help.
Tony wants to know how this guy knows, and the guy explains: "well, kid, I was there. I used to be the Scavenger"
While the two are still chatting, Aquaman walks in, fulfilling Tony's dreams. The three watch the sunrise together.
COMMENTS:
Good cover, though we don't get the Scavenger part of the story for quite a time.
The narration by Tony is done in a slightly child-like style. Tony has AIDS, though DC editorial policy nixed any actual mention of the disease.
The first story told to Tony is of Aquaman, J'onn, and Green Lantern taking on terrorists at a show. The trucker tells Tony that they were fakes, that he saw them taking off their make-up and chatting with the "terrorists". Tony doesn't believe him.
The second story is told by a lady who is a bit out of touch. She tells of a violent Aquaman who flies and shoots water blasts from his hands. Tony tells her that he doesn't believe her, and she leaves him. That's when Mort, the Scavenger, picks him up and take him to the lake.
The art in this story is perfect. One of the best scenes is the violent Aquaman from the lady's tale who apparently rises from the water with his flying shark.
If you read and like this story, do not, under any circumstances, read Hawkman #15. That story retcons this one, in the most vile and disgusting way possible.
CONCLUSION:
Rating: 10
This is the best Aquaman comic book ever. I still get misty-eyed whenever I read it.