I know you haven't patrolled the Mariana Trench lately, Arthur.

...or under the Arctic ice shelf, or the Dead Sea...

Aquaman apologists trot this one out every so often, and he even uses it himself here: while Superman or Batman just have to worry about land-based problems, Aquaman has a lot more ground to cover...and I totally wrecked that metaphor. Shoot. The point they make, is that Aquaman's whole beat is all of the world's bodies of water, below or above the surface. This is often invoked as if to suggest that Aquaman personally patrols them all, which is silly: not only would that take forever, but it's not like he's a mall cop making his rounds, is it?

Moreover, every time Superman or Batman has to fight a super-villain that has an underwater base or a sub, they should get to bill Aquaman. Or punch him in the arm really hard. Seriously! If that's Aquaman's jurisdiction, shouldn't he have taken care of, or at least noticed and mentioned, Lex Luthor's undersea hideout or the Penguin's sub or whatever? If Aquaman was doing his job, Batman shouldn't even have to chase bad guys that try to escape via water. And Hawaii. That should be all Aquaman. Yeah.

Overthinking a page from Batman: Gotham Knights #18, "Cavernous" Written by Devin Grayson, pencils by Roger Robinson, inks by John Floyd. Brian Bolland does the cover, and...was that costume a bit of a train wreck? Shell headband, bare midriff, metal hand: it makes me miss the orange shirt.