Aquaman (3) #15
Title: Chronicles
Cover Title: -none-
Cover Date: December 1995
Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Jim Calafiore
Inks: Mark McKenna and Charles Barnett
Colors: Tom McCraw
Lettering: Dan Nakrosis
Asst. Editor: Eddie Berganza
Editor: Kevin Dooley
Cover: Jim Calafiore and Mark McKenna
Cover Price: $1.75
Continuity: IN
OVERVIEW:
Atlan offers to take the four out of the trap, but he can't take them back straight into the ocean. The trip will be to somewhere else. They go.
As soon as AJ is through, he starts to age rapidly. Atlan, still watching through his portal, tells them that he will have lived his life within minutes if he stays. He goes back through the portal, and Mera follows him.
Aquaman fires his hook to try to catch her, but the portal vanishes and the hook penetrates the wall of the place they have arrived at. It communicates with Arthur through the wall, and he goes comatose on Dolphin.
The surface world is concerned about "Aquaman"'s threats (sent by Thanatos). Admiral Strom urges a panel of admirals to take Aquaman seriously.
Somewhere else, a cocoon opens, and a green-skinned lizard creature emerges.
Arthur wakes from his shock and tells Dolphin that he understands everything now. He says they are underneath Poseidonis. Then the place begins to rock.
The Lizard comes to the conclusion that Atlan has interfered.
The thing beneath the city pushes faster, and Poseidonis rises.
The people of Poseidonis, however, are still in the tunnels with Koryak. They find a strange Chrysalis, and Vulko has no explanation for it.
Arthur finds the cocoon that the Lizard broke out of, and meets the Lizard face to face. And the Lizard is not happy with him. It turns into Tiamat. They fight.
A submarine witnesses the rise of Poseidonis. Admiral Strom hears about it and thinks that it is happening ahead of schedule.
Arthur tells Tiamat that the ship, designed to devastate and destroy humanity, has switched sides. It likes Aquaman more than Tiamat. The ship helps Arthur defeat Tiamat. Before Tiamat dies, she tells Arthur that he is no more human than she is.
And Poseidonis breaks the surface. The city sees the sun for the first time in thousands of years.
And in the tunnels under Tritonis, Kordax breaks free of his Chrysalis...
COMMENTS:
Mera has her sense back, mostly. She is understandably more devoted to AJ than to this strange new Aquaman, and follows AJ back, unable to abandon him. We can only hope that this isn't the last we see of Mera, but considering that it is Peter David writing the book... well... we'll see more of her eventually. Aquaman's comment to Dolphin, "We'll get her back. Anything's posssible here." seems to indicate that Poseidonis has powers that will help.
When Aquaman first communicates with the ship, he thinks it is an attack, then it pacifies him. He notes later that the ship has been preparing him through his dreams for the meeting. We don't know how much pressure the ship put on Arthur, or if it hurt him/is controlling him.
In defeat, Tiamat tells Aquaman that he is not human. Wonder what that means, exactly.
CONCLUSION:
A possible complaint with this issue is the appearance of Kordax. If you haven't read the Atlantis Chronicles, you might wonder who he is. But you really shouldn't worry, since Peter David plies his story with plenty of clues.