Reviewed by: Mathan “Scavenger†Erhardt
Story Title: American Tidal Part IV
Written by: Will Pfeifer
Penciled by: Patrick Gleason
Inked by: Christian Alamy
Colored by: Nathan Eyring
Lettered by: Phil Balsman
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Published by: DC Comics
Well the good news is Aquaman is a “must read†book again. The bad new is that half of San Diego had to crumble into the ocean to make it happen. More good news, the survivors of the catastrophe can now breathe under water. The bad news, they can’t live on land. The good news is that Aquaman’s on the case. The bad news is that we still don’t know who the culprit is.
This issue begins dogs being tossed into the ocean. I guess a more accurate description would be “being tossed back into the ocean.†Y’see just like the people who now can’t survive on land, the dogs can’t either, but they don’t understand that. As a result they are getting on the beach and dying. But folks are trying to save them, and even tossing steaks into the ocean in an effort keep them breathing.
Meanwhile Aquaman and Lorena, one of the survivors from the disaster, are investigating the malformed sea creature that they discovered at the end of last issue. Apparently it has something to do with the disaster, and Aquaman tries to unlock the secrets it holds. Little does Aquaman know that three individuals who are apparently behind the entire thing are observing him. They activate the beast, which attacks Aquaman and Lorena.
Aquaman decides to uses his powers to take beast down in a creative way. Then he uses his powers again (in yet another inventive way) to gleam some information on what actually happened. Once he has that information he goes to confront the man responsible. The issue ends with Aquaman kicking down the door to the man’s hotel room.
Pfeifer has really turned this book around. Granted it would be difficult to make this book worse than it was last year, but now I actually look forward to reading this book every month. It’s also impressive that he’s essentially ignoring Aquaman’s supporting cast, and focusing on Aquaman alone. This is like a crutch free story. That said, this issue basically serves to show us how cool Aquaman’s powers are, and to make us salivate more for who the dastardly villain is behind the tragedy. Not too much really happens plot wise. It’s still a cool issue, but it’s just a little light on actually story.
Gleason’s art suits this title perfectly. It’s crisp and dynamic. It’s dramatic and fun. Gleason and Alamy make a great team. Aquaman looks the best he’s looked in years. Seeing Aquaman using his powers in this issue erases memories of him using his powers on the Super Friends cartoon. The coloring is very vivid and the lettering is great, especially the sound effects.
