The fun thing about universes like the Marvel and the DCU (heck, the superhero genre in general) is that by nature, they can touch on a variety of genres. The Omega Men and Guardians of the Galaxy, science fiction. Two-Gun Kid and Jonah Hex, the Western. And one of those genres the superhero genre can touch is the sword-and-sorcery genre.
The character we're going to look at here is a rather obscure one, which is a great fit for this blog: Ahri'ahn, aka Arion, Lord of Atlantis. A powerful and immortal sorcerer, Arion was an adventurer and protector of the ancient city in a time before it sunk beneath the waves. Created by Paul Kupperberg and Jan Duursema, Arion debuted in a back-up story in Warlord #55 (March 1982). Warlord's editor at the time, Laurie Sutton, needed a new back-up feature for the book. Kupperberg had a few ideas, and Sutton only had one requirement: the new feature be a sword-and-sorcery series. Kupperberg suggested it be about a young mage, and Sutton suggested it take place in Atlantis. Before the name "Arion" settled in, Kupperberg played with other ideas, notably "Orin", "Atlan", and "Tynan". Interestingly, those names would be used for characters linked to Arion and Aquaman.
And speaking of Aquaman, after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Arion would end up having his mythos linked with Aquaman's, Which made sense. After all, they were both tied to Atlantis. As DC's continuity has regularly undergone changes, he's been linked to various other characters, including Zatanna.
The comic we're looking at here is an issue of his first solo series, which lasted for 35 issues, and then got a special to tie everything up. Let's look at Arion: Lord of Atlantis #11!
The cover is a Jan Duursema piece. It's really cool. It depicts Arion trying to fight some strange green monster. It looks like he's having a...bit of trouble with his magic.
"The Freedom of Rmoahal"
Writer: Doug Moench
Penciler: Jan Duursema
Inker: Tom Mandrake
Colorist: Bob LeRose
Letterer: Andy Kubert
Editor: Joe Kubert
The story begins with three of our heroes' allies, the shapeshifter Mara, the Native American-styled warrior Wyynde, and the Asian-styled swordswoman Lady Chien looking around at the City of the Golden Gate.
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| "Where did that big statue come from? What wasn't here yesterday..." |
It seems that spring has arrived at the City, and Mara is all too happy to see it come. Wyynde is with her on that. Lady Chien's thoughts lie towards her beloved, the titular Arion. It turned out the City was under a shroud of ice. Arion managed to save it, but at the seeming cost of his magical power. As he goes to get some council from his deceased father Caculha, an earthquake hits the city.
Chien, Wyynde, and Mara head to the King's citadel. The king himself, a man named D'Tilluh, falls into a hole...only to find something incredible.
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| "Guys! There's a McDonald's down here! You want some milkshakes?!" |
Arion is seemingly unaware of this. His father's spirit can't do anything for him. His power may return, but that's not certainly. And even if it does, he may no longer be as powerful as he once was. He'll have to look for the lost art of magic...and his greatest quest will be within himself. As Caculha's spirit dissipates, Arion is left in a melancholy mood. Mara comes by to tell him that part of the palace was destroyed, but King D'Tilluh has found something really cool.
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| "We should make this into a museum and charge people to visit!" |
There's a whole city underneath the City of the Golden Gate. Once upon a time, it was a glorious achievement, a sign of the heights a great civilization reached. Nowadays, it's a bunch of ruins. D'Tilluh, Mara, Wyynde, and Chien explore the ruins, and the king spots a chamber with some thick bent up bars. Likely to keep something important sealed up. Inside the chamber, they find...something. Something frozen in a big slab of ice.
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| "Wait, is that...Captain America." "Naw, it's too ugly. And this is a DC comic." |
D'Tilluh decides to just bring this ice slab up. Because why not?
D'Tilluh is sure that nothing bad will happen from this.
Once the frozen being is brought up, he has a woman named Kali examine it. Kali is an expert on Atlantis's ancient history, so D'Tilluh think she can shed some light on what this thing is. She looks at the figure in the slab and thinks it looks similar to a Rmoahal.
The Rmoahal were the first intelligent beings to inhabit Atlantis. They managed to build an advanced and mighty civilization, until a previous ice age eons ago wiped them out. Evidently, they really did not like the cold.
Cowards. Anyway, among the things they developed was a form of magic involving the mind. Unlike "modern" Atlanteans, every member of the Rmoahal could practice this magic, although some were more adept than others. In fact, some theorize this form of magic was more powerful than the more "modern" kind that Arion wielded. Arion points out even if it was true, they still all died out. By ice. Again, the Rmoahal never heard of warm coats and hats?
D'Tilluh wants to know if this frozen being is a Rmoahal. Kali believes it is, but it looks...different. Not quite like they were known to have appeared. Its appearance and the chains on it suggest that it was somehow mutated into a monstrosity.
That night, Arion tries to make some magic happen, but all he can pull off is minor sparks. As he continues trying, he thinks about Kali's words. He finds himself tempted to explore these ancient psychic magics the Rmoahal used to practice. He decides against it, as he has had his fill of failure for one night. The morning's coming. One can imagine he's tired, and hungry.
The next day, Chien offers to teach him how to use a sword. Arion seems up for it.
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| "I will make sure not to cut off a finger. Again." |
Lady Chien notes that Arion seems to have a natural knack for the sword. Throughout the day, the ice around the creature melts away. That night, Arion tries again to tap into the psychic magics of the Rmoahal. He succeeds in levitating a crystal with his mind. And at that same moment, the creature awakens.
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| "YOU ALL MADE ME LATE FOR WORK!" |
The enraged creature makes the guards kill each other with its psychic power. The mutated Rmoahal senses Arion, and it's made the monster...hungry. Hungry for those sweet sweet brainwaves. Mmmm...brainwaves...
The creature makes its way to a tavern, but he's not in the mood for a drink. He demands to know where the taverngoers' masters are, the ones that made this Rmoahal what it is now. Wyynde and Mara make their way to the tavern to celebrate Arion's success in saving the city, even though Mara will have to drink water as she's too young for anything alcoholic. The two see the aftermath of the carnage the Rmoahal wracked, and Arion senses the horrors himself a little later.
The next day, Arion and his crew realize the monster is free, and is roaming the streets. Chien and Wyynde go search for it, while Mara is told to head back to the citadel and stay there. Arion goes to the icy prison in the ruins of the Rmoahal city, and finds some hieroglyphs explaining this being's origins.
It turns out the being was a product of scientific experiments by the Rmoahal, with an intent to improve themselves. It somewhat worked.
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| "I WANT A DECENT PAIR OF PANTS!" |
The being was much stronger and had more powerful psychic magics. However, it was turned into a sort of psychic vampire, needing to feed on the energies of the mind. He was subdued, but a lot of lives were lost in the process. The monster was locked in the prison that would eventually be found by D'Tilluh. Arion deduces that instead of likely being wiped out by the ancient Ice Age, the Rmoahal fled the city, leaving the critter behind in the process.
The beast tracks down Arion, and the two engage in a psychic battle...which results in a bad loss for Arion. However, the mage manages to use his sword to cut down some stalactites. The falling ice sends the creature packing. The mutated Rmoahal senses another potential source of sustenance at the king's citadel: Mara.
Arion also realizes this and heads out to grab his other allies and scoot to the citadel. The monster finds the young blonde shapeshifter. Things is, she has trouble controlling this power. Much like Bruce Banner turning into the Hulk, she changes when she is stressed. And this thing has been giving her plenty of stress.
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| "Wait, are you some kind of were-kittycorn?!" |
The creature is briefly left confused by not just Mara's transformation, but in this new form, she's not putting out the psychic energies he sensed. As the transformed Mara and the Rmoahal battle it out, Arion arrives. The Rmoahal demands that Arion feed him, but Arion implores him to try and control his need. The Rmoahal rants that his people couldn't control him, so how can he himself do it? The two have another psychic duel, Arion doing better this time. The monster still tries to feed on the sorcerer, so the man gives the Rmoahal the sword.
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| "That's not my heart, stupid! That's my spleen!" |
This was a fun little done-in-one story. Despite that, I do feel that this could have been a two or three-issue story thanks to the mutated Rmoahal stalking the city feeding on the psychic energies of people and tracking Arion. I did like seeing Arion learning how to use a sword. It's good to have some swordplay skills to back up the magic if it fails you. Considering his hanging around Lady Chien, I am surprised he never asked her to teach him some swordplay earlier. Not much else I can say about this comic. It's an enjoyable little one-shot story.
This comic has not been collected in a trade paperback as far as I know, so you're going to have to look through your local comic shop's back issue bins and hope you find a copy. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!
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