Vandal Savage chastised Krusivax over pretty much everything: capturing rather than killing the new Aquaman, offering grand expository victory speeches, hiring a D-lister like the Human Flying Fish based on "sentimental rubbish." Krusivax countered that the immortal villain was "in jail, or occupied with other projects, for the last several months." Can't complain about the run of things while off gallivanting, basically. Arthur just wanted his father left alone and to be free of all the craziness. A businessman named Jupiter figured he didn't know the half of it, making reference to "Operation Sinker" and earning Krusivax's scorn for his drunken slip of a "crude joke" moniker.
Savage cold knocked-out the HFF when it was realized that he had forgotten to bring in Aquagirl after capturing Aquaman. Lorena Marquez had escaped to seek aid from Cal Durham and Dr. Kyesha Salton in Sub Diego. Cal didn't exactly have Superman's number, but he had shaven his head to show all the recent evildoers that he meant business, and he had a line to Titans Tower...
Lorena was off in search of further help, and ended up with a foot snared in Topo's tentacles. "In some offices, this would be considered harassment. Topo had managed to hack Tri-Dent, and discovered a video in which Progene Technologies chairman Gregory Jupiter took credit for destroying cities along the Pacific Ocean Rim by dropping them into the sea as he'd done to San Diego...
Professor Phillip Curry was left sedated on the floor, Aquaman was bound up, and the soused Gregory Jupiter was left to shoot the breeze without any guards around. As it turned out, this was the brother of the Mr. Jupiter that used to order the Teen Titans around, but Gregory preferred the idea of playing super-villain. However, he knew from making the video that he would get all the blame for the billions soon to die, and Arthur made sure that he was aware that he would surely die because of it. After all, Krusivax would rule the survivors under the sea, while Savage got to "thin the herd" on land, and neither would want Jupiter around speaking to their involvement. The cause of all the trouble would be genetically-conceived "lithophages" who would eat the rock around tectonic plates to destabilize land masses...
A tubby fellow had gone bonkers in his Sub Diego apartment, and began painting his face with markers before sharing his realizations on the black humor of life...
Issitoq the Narwhal finally decided to leave Dyss, but had to fight past Pardoner, whose ability to inflict pain had been quietly overcome. That left the murderously treacherous Cryptid, a girl friend whose gelatinous body had to be chewed through by Issitoq for him to continue to Atlantis...
In the Loma Sea Valley, Garth learned from Leah that there were three great undersea nations, with Atlantis only the most famous (if also the least conscious of that fact.) Garth was becoming aware of Dyss, but it was actually the third, Viatha, that was manipulating him through the Thorny Crown. Leah had lived among the latter for a time, and showed Garth her stolen submarine vessel as proof of her escape...
Jupiter freed Arthur, but Vandal Savage was wise to the development. "My green-skinned ally shares the vices of many beginners. He likes to lecture his enemies. Over the millennia, I've learned it's better to kill them." Savage dealt Aquaman some damage, but was ultimately overcome. The Human Flying Fish saved face by shocking Aquaman unconscious. More heroes made an explosive entrance, as an armored Aquagirl and Cal Durham were joined by Cyborg for a rescue mission...
"Ring of Fire" was by Tad Williams and Shawn McManus. Kevin Maguire drew the cover, involving Artie Joe getting attacked by a tentacle monster in a non-Japanese kinky way. Maguire had a run of covers on the iconic Aquaman in the early '90s, and despite improving as an illustrator, demonstrates the weaknesses in the "Sword" design by still falling short by comparison. The script also falters with this edition, as it floods the reader with revelations long teased in a halting matter that heightens the sense of things still somehow being dragged out. There's too many pieces of information from too many sources slowly adding up to a rather banal master scheme and some obligatory fisticuffs. The latter was really not McManus' strong suit, and his characters are too comical in appearance for the ominous tone Williams was setting.
Brave New World
