Aquaman #20: Back to the action, in some ways. We have the resolution of the initial plotline, but there is still a mystery villain in the background. Nice bits of action, nice bit of misdirection, and a nice little montage at the end... but lots of unresolved questions needing answers. Yes, I enjoyed it. A lot. But there are a lot of things I can nitpick. Still, it's recommended. 
Ok, some less rapid thoughts. As I mentioned Saturday, Scott at Polite Dissent checked out the medical aspects of Aquaman #19. His comments covered gene therapy. Basically, there are two parts to gene therapy. The first is isolating the gene and coming up with a solution to whatever the "problem" is. The second is delivering the changed gene to where it will have an effect. Well, actually, there's a whole lot more to it than that, but those are two really big steps. Geist, in order to do the first part, has to be an absolute genius. Even after accomplishing that, though, he'd still have to make the delivery to the right part of the victims' genes... Scott's right that it's a bit much to swallow. If you'll pardon the expression. But you gotta love comic books for bringing up these great topics of discussion... (if you don't read Polite Dissent, you're really missing out... go, read, be entertained and educated).
In the Silver Age Aquaman books, the people of Atlantis were water breathers or air breathers at different times, and the deus ex machina used to explain it was "Serum X", which turned air breathers into water breathers. I seem to recall that Vulko at one point made a serum to reverse the treatment. All of them had to be injected. At various other times, people had surgeries to give them gills, or became water breathers temporarily through this thing or some other thing. Keeping it close to the water, making it seem like becoming a water breather was a possibility, although distant, was one way of keeping the audience interested. I find it a little disturbing that the sense of wonder is being turned upside-down in this issue... being turned into a water breather isn't a good thing, it's a disaster. There is some sort of statement on how we read comics nowadays in that reversal, but I'm not going to try and sum it up.
Anyway, getting back to this issue of Aquaman, there is more to the character of Aquaman than simply breathing water. One of the things that makes him unique even among Atlanteans is his ability to control fish. There is a sequence near the end of this issue that implies, though it doesn't state outright, that the people who have been changed by Geist's formula are able to control fish. If so, this is a very disturbing development for an Aquaman fan.
And lastly... for those of you attending the San Diego Comicon, there's a nice tribute to the convention center:
What, you don't see it? I know, I know, you're busy looking at that gorgeous bod of Aquaman's... here's a closer look:
If you have a copy of the book, look on the next page, at the two page splash. You can see the columns of the convention center in the image. It's a far cry from Comicon.
Noble Causes: Extended Family #1 & 2: When we went to the comic store last week, the second issue of this mini was in our box. See, I pre-ordered the new on-going, but I wasn't aware that there was another series happening. After a flip-through, I decided to get it... and hubby-Eric found the first issue, too, so we ended up with both. This is what I get for picking up freebies at the comicon.
These books are both anthologies of stories set in the Noble universe. The quality of the stories is, on average, much higher than usual in an anthology. And, while most of the stories focus in on the core family, there's a couple of stories that break the mold a bit. These are both very interesting collections... just the contrast of artwork from story to story can be fascinating to look at... and since most of the stories also fall into the "excellent" category, it's well worth checking these out if you are into the Noble family saga.
