Aquaman #40: Pretty good story, inconsistent art (varies between very good Calafiore and so-so fill-in Giarrano). Recommended. $1.95/$2.75Cn

"Hoist On His Own Petard" Award to Aquaman #40

Aquaman "Doctor in the House": Plot in a nutshell - while Vulko and others plot to overthrow Arthur and replace him with a more malleable leader, Dr. Polaris has come to Poseidonis to take it over. Why? Well, somewhere along the line he picked up the idea that he's going to flood the world soon, and he'll need a place to live once he's done that. Y'ask me, his experience with Xer0 didn't clear his head as he claims, it addled him further. Or maybe he's suffering from traumatic post-Marz syndrome. Either way, he's just *this* far from uttering a villainous MUAHAHAHA! And thanks to some attempted teamwork gone awry (Dolphin's trying WAY too hard, guilt's nibbling at her soul, y'see), Polaris is sitting pretty at issue's end.

A couple of name notes before moving on. One, I wonder what the first name was on Polaris's fake passport. "Mr. Palmer" could refer to Leland Palmer of Twin Peaks, who was afflicted with BOB, a villainous alter-ego. If so, a cute reference to Polaris's personality problems. Second, it's nice to see the "Doctor" back in Doctor Polaris, after he dropped it in Underwear Unwashed.

Back to the subplots. A couple of times during the issue, an imperious redhead works her way through the people who know Aquaman, claiming to be his queen. "Obviously," it's Mera, right? Bzzzt. Guess who's back on her "find a royal mate" kick? Yep, Maxima's here to make things even more interesting for Arthur.

One very nice bit of attention to detail in the art (Calafiore's pages, anyway, Giarrano's don't show yea or nay): Aquaman's prosthetic "normal" hand is back, and it's unwebbed, while his remaining flesh and blood hand has the webbing.