Aquaman (1989) is a five-issue Aquaman miniseries by DC Comics and is the first major Post-Crisis storyline for the character, building off of his new origin in The Legend Of Aquaman as well as the death of his son in Pre-Crisis stories. It was written by Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming, and illustrated by Giffen, Curt Swan, Tom McCraw, John Costanza, and Al Vey.
Aquaman returns to Atlantis to find it conquered by gigantic telepathic jellyfish, who plan to exterminate all Atlanteans and have used collaborators to conceal their true plans. Getting himself captured on purpose to learn their plans, he joins the local resistance and learns of what happened since he left; without him Atlantis elected a weak king who capitulated to the enemy and left the city in ruins. As Aquaman works to save Atlantis from within, the jellyfish aren't his only problem—Mera, his wife, has lost her mind in the time he's been gone, and she has designs on the husband she blames for their child's death...
This comic contains examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: Named Atlanteans in this story include Wexel, Pletus...and Jared.
- Appropriated Appellation: Aquaman got his name from prison insults and kept it, also keeping his prison garb as his costume.
- Captured on Purpose: Seeking a quick way into the city, Aquaman uses his prison garb costume to his advantage and is quickly captured in a net... only to find the invaders had also rigged it with a charge of electricity. From there he leads La Résistance from prison.
- Fantastic Racism: The jellyfish despise the notion that the seas were dominated by the humanoid Atlanteans and plot to kill them all.
- Forgot About His Powers: Aquaman forgets he can communicate with sea life until the very last issue, where he uses a wide-range telepathic call to singlehandedly route the invaders and free the city.
- La Résistance: Aquaman joins, and soon leads, the resistance force that fights the jellyfish's occupation.
- Les Collaborateurs: The jellyfish are aided in their conquest by Atlanteans who willingly work for them, acting as the 'face' of the occupation.
- A Million Is a Statistic: Atlantis takes crushing population losses in stride, with the only real concern given to its young people being killed.
- Not Quite Dead: Mera appears to die when she's impaled on a jagged piece of metal, but reveals herself as alive when she bursts out of her coffin.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: The story is much more like a war epic compared to typical Aquaman adventures, with Atlantis under occupation and a resistance working to save it.
- Put on a Bus: After her apparent death, Mera reveals she was still alive, but apparently exiles herself back to her home dimension. (Later runs reveal she was intercepted by Thanatos.)
- Sacrificial Lamb: A young rebel is shown sticking up for Aquaman, being brave, and reminding him of Aqualad. He's killed by the jellyfish to show they're a serious threat.
- Unstable Powered Woman: After her toddler son was killed by one of Aquaman's villains and she failed to save him, Mera's mental state grew more and more unstable until she hated Arthur for his part in her son's death. She's no less dangerous with her hard-water powers, as Aquaman learns.
