Aquaman #30 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Paul Pelletier & Alvaro Martinez (pencils), Sean Parsons & Raul Fernandez (inks), Rain Beredo (colors)

The Story: Aquaman is not going to be clapping and exclaiming “Hercules” after this.

The Review: If I can distill the difference between Parker’s Aquaman and Geoff John’s Aquaman to a few, pithy words, it’s the loss of the title’s epic quality. There’s no longer the sense that we’re reading a run for the ages, but rather a more typical superhero series. That’s not a bad change, exactly; instead of decompressed, measured storytelling, we have adventures that feel more spontaneous and bombastic. After enduring so many deep, wide-ranging conflicts, Aquaman deserves to maybe coast a little.

This brawn-on-brawn battle with Hercules certainly fits the bill. There’s a smidge of tragedy in how far the mythic hero has fallen, of course, and a touch of dramatic potential regarding his treacherous imprisonment by the Atlantean king, but that’s only an inch of depth we’re talking about. Aquaman versus Hercules is half-mindless entertainment, with the occasional call for reason (“Try to think! Remember who you were!“) thrown in.