Aquaman (3) #45
Title: Line of Succession
Cover Title: The King of the Seas Leads his Army to Battle!
Cover Date: June 1998
Writers: Peter David
Pencils: Jim Calafiore
Inks: Peter Palmiotti and Mark McKenna
Colors: Tom McCraw
Lettering: Albert DeGuzman
Asst. Editor: Dana Kurtin
Editor: Kevin Dooley
Cover: Ron Lim and Chris Ivy
Cover Price: $1.95
Continuity: IN
OVERVIEW:
Triton first kills Atlan, who is defiant until the end, but no match for a god.
In Poseidonis, Tempest declares his candidacy for the position of High Councilor, a position that will be voted on by the people, not apppointed by Aquaman. Vulko protests the creation of the position by Aquaman, and as Tempest answers him, Tempest fells Atlan's death and collapses.
Aquaman, in the meantime, is overseeing the rebuilding of Thierna Na Oge with Nuada, who is proud of how her people work, even with their magic stolen away.
Triton goes to Nuliajuk, Mother of Beasts, to make Timmorn's son into a monster capable of destroying Aquaman completely. She complies, but Triton now owes her. Timmorn's son becomes a true monster.
Vulko, Dardan, and Koryak are discussing election strategy. Koryak prefers a straightforward approach to the problem, while Dardan and Vulko work on ways to present Koryak as a better choice. As they plan, Tempest rushes in to tell them the city is about to be under attack.
Triton is attacking the city on a giant wave. Tempest freezes the wave, only to be brushed aside by Triton's power. Aquaman uses The Clear to inform Dolphin that he is on the way. Koryak leads the conventional defense of the city as Aquaman makes his grand entrance on the back of a whale. Aquaman orders the entity beneath the city to take the city out of danger, but Triton's beast (Timmorn's son) attacks it and destroys the entity, sending the city back to the bottom of the ocean. Aquaman distracts Triton and Dolphin grabs Triton's trident, then the sea life attacks only to get fried as Triton demonstrates that his power is not in the trident. Triton retrieves the weapon, then kills Aquaman with it.
COMMENTS:
A truly neat cover. I'm not sure why I like it so much, but this cover is a prime candidate for a poster.
Atlan's fish buddies collect his body into Atlan's magic bag. No body, no death. Hmmmm.
Triton already killed Poseidon a few issues back, this issue really starts his killing spree. And, as a reader, you know nothing can stop him. That doesn't make the ending any less shocking.
Koryak wants to kill Tempest. Sigh. Rivalry. I wonder what will become of Koryak with the new writing team? He's a great character, motivated by old fears and anger. Heck, I wonder what will become of all the supporting cast under the new creative teams. Aquaman has one of the strongest supporting casts in all of comics now. It would be a shame if he lost that support.
CONCLUSION:
Fairly confused story, but advances the overall plot rapidly. You can tell PAD is wrapping it up.