Aquaman (1994) #65
Title: The Forgotten
Cover Title: A Son Stolen, A Kingdom Crushed!
Cover Date: March 2000
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Pencils: Steve Epting
Inks: Norm Rapmund and Mario Alquiza
Colors: Noelle Giddings and Digital Chameleon
Lettering: John Workman
Editor: Tony Bedard
Cover: Mike Kaluta
Cover Price: $1.99
OVERVIEW:
Tempest and his granddaughter Donna continue to discuss the events of the war with Cerdia, starting with the kidnapping of Tempest's child.
Tempest starts to head to Cerdia to confront the Queen about his baby's kidnapping, but is stopped by a pod of dolphins and Rodunn. He returns to help with the evacuation of Atlantis. Aquaman says that the city is now a symbol of his failure. They are headed to Tritonis for help.
But Tritonis has no help to offer, as they've also been attacked. And they didn't have Aquaman there to destroy the coral creatures, so their city is completely devastated and the surviving population was buried alive. Aquaman manages to rescue some of them, including Lori Lemaris.
Enraged, Aquaman declares a counter-attack on Cerdia while the people try to settle in a temporary camp. He and Garth start the attack. Aquaman warns Garth not to kill the soldiers, as they are only following orders. They are beating on Cerdian soldiers on the beach when the JLA arrives.
COMMENTS:
The Cover: The baby brings to mind Arthur Jr, and the circle of pearls is a reminder of how that child died. I'm not sure what to make of the various sharks and creatures around Arthur and Garth, but they don't look friendly to me. The hands holding up the baby look... um... like Grinch hands. I mean they are right out of Dr Seuss. Overall, not a bad cover.
The Art: That stupid headband has got to go. Yuck. Get rid of it. Bleah.
A future pot-bellied Garth looks really wrong. I mean really wrong. That just doesn't look like Garth at all. Sorry. I don't buy into the idea that he would get fat when he gets old. He seems like the type that would rather die than get that out-of-shape. That page just looks wrong. And looking through the issue, Garth looks wrong on a lot of pages. His nose is wierd. His face is no longer handsome, it's stern and forbidding. Epting should draw Garth like Kaluta does on the cover, only older.
There are blond Atlanteans in the splash page image. Anyone who knows the history of Atlantis would know why Atlanteans aren't blond. Someone clue in the colorist.
The Story: This is the first issue in which Jurgens' dialogue really let me down. The whole "you are needed here, Garth" thing was repeated once too many times, and the abandonment of Poseidonis took about two pages too long and involved too much angst. It's not like this is the first time the city has been vacated. It's not even the first time in this series.
We finally see what happened to Dolphin. Pity. I was kind of hoping she'd get kidnapped too.
CONCLUSION:
Less enjoyable than the last two issues.