Broken Frontier

The Dweller in the Depths continues to guide the young Arthur Curry towards his destiny, but standing in his way is the Ocean Master.

The revamped Aquaman title continues to hum along at a torrid pace on the heels of the one year later blitz. In doing so, many changes took place within the mythology of the character, and that has brought a number of unanswered questions to the forefront. The biggest question eclipsing fans is the mystery behind the original Aquaman’s disappearance. The other of course centers upon the arrival of the Dweller in the Depths. These two characters seem to be intrinsically locked together and this issue certainly hints as to the correlation between them both.

Our story opens with the young Arthur Curry being led to the sheltered canyons by the Dweller in the Depths, and joining them are King Shark and members of the Sea Devils. The group are a following a trail leading to Aurati refugees being forced into slavery by unknown surface dwellers. Young Arthur seems bent on discovering who these mysterious surface dwellers are, and of course he turns to the ever elusive Dweller in the Depths for answers. Like always, the Dweller cannot answer the questions directly and before the group can ponder the mystery further; the Ocean Master rears his ugly head and attacks the group.

I think that pretty much sums up this issue and in a sense the reader is surely left to ponder many of the questions surrounding the events unfolding here. You can’t blame writer Kurt Busiek too much for the slow build-up thus far, and like all good mysteries the story needs time to gestate. Plot threads seem to blossoming abundantly and Kurt has done his job setting everything up. This issue even went so far as to hint at the Dweller’s true origins and in some ways I think the answer has always been fairly obvious. I won’t mention who I think the Dweller really is, but the reaction on Mera’s face when she looks directly at the Dweller is a dead giveaway. I am hoping though that when the time comes to reveal his true identity, writer Busiek has a sound explanation how this could come about. I guess only time will tell.

Now while you having to wait patiently for this epic to truly blossom I believe the art of Butch Guice has been in full bloom from the get go. Guice is certainly a distinguished veteran in the industry and it’s great to have his talents on this type of story. The most obvious point of reference is the Burne Hogarth homage going in every single page, and I think the approach is a novel one. I get the impression the new incarnation of the character looks and feels like the classic pulps, and this allows for a fresh interpretation. I am looking forward to subsequent issues to follow and this approach seems to be working well for my desired tastes.

Although I am enjoying this new direction, I still have mixed feeling about the abruptness of the one year later concept. I tend to be a continuity buff, so I still can’t justify the change in Aquaman’s status, nor do I see the point in replacing the character with a much younger version. Maybe when this is all said and done there will be a method to the madness here, but in the meantime I suggest enjoying the homage to Hogarth and all those classic pulp heroes. If anything, Aquaman is sure looking sound enough under this new creative regime.