Made the mistake of reading Arion The Immortal a 6-issue miniseries sequel to Arion, Lord Of Atlantis. *Ugh!* What a mistake! It even made the Doug Moench issues look good by comparison. (Sadly, it was written by Arion creator Paul Kupperberg.) Anyway to try and get the bad taste out of my mind I decided to reread the original stories. (Shame Paul didn't think to do that.)

Arion began as a backup series in The Warlord #55 and ran to issue 62 before getting his own series that ran for 35 issues and a special.

Atlantis! The Warlord #55
The early episodes were narrated by The Chronicles Of Choloh, Choloh being the voice of fate. Choloh could be long-winded, overly dramatic, and possibly wrong on occasion. By the full length issues I think Paul had gotten tired of Choloh and eventually stopped using him as narrator.

NANJAO. Jan Duursema is clearly a graduate of the Kubert School and it really shows in her early work before she developed her own style. (I think everyone from the Kubert School produces early work that looks like Joe Kubert's work. However most of them usually develop their own style.)

"In the days when the Earth was young" yadda yadda yadda Atlantis founded.
It is also stated that Atlantis was founded a million years earlier, hardly when the Earth was young. The series is set 45,000 years ago. this means that Atlantis was founded around 1.5 million years ago, I believe the Earth is around a billion years old, or more.
Clearly Choloh is embellishing here.

NANJAO: Arion thinks, "I've been practicing my craft for many decades". Makes me wonder how old he's supposed to be here?

Page 5, panel 6. Lady Chian calls Arion "Altan".
IIRC Altan was an early name for the character, (as were Tynan & Murray) so apparently someone missed that when they were changing names in the script.

I was looking at the first story again trying to figure out Chian's attraction to this arrogant mage, when it hit me. Arion's the rock star, Chian's the groupie! ;-)

"Gemini's sphere!" This could be a nit or not. In issue 57 we meet Gemimn, the personification of Order in the balance, however in ALOA #3 we meet Aries, an entity that had been imprisoned in a ram's head crystal and there is one for each sign of the zodiac. (Unfortunately Moench took over writing with issue 4 and we learn very little about the rest of the crystals and any entities imprisoned within.)

Some dinosaurs appear & it's mentioned that they survived and had been captured by Atlanteans for zoos. Problem is these dinos would have had to have survived for 63 & a half million years.
However in Adventure Comics #333, Kryptonian colonists had come to Earth and brought with them tame giant lizards that later went wild and destroyed the colony. This was merely said to be "millions of years ago" so it's possible that these dinos are actually descendants of the Kryptonian lizards. ;-)

At the end of Trial By Ice! (#56) & the beginning of Death By Fire (#57) it's stated that Arion must die to save Atlantis. One would think that he might die & be reborn, however Arion doesn't die, so I guess that when Atlantis finally sinks (a few years later in Arion, Lord Of Atlantis Special #1) it's because he didn't die here.

We're introduced to the Balance in issue 57. Tynan, Gemimn (Order) & Chaon (Chaos). An interesting concept, but with a fundamental flaw. Kupperberg seems to confuse Chaos with Evil and Order with Good. (Actually other writers at DC do this as well, particularly with the Lords of Order & the Lords of Chaos in the modern DC universe.) However without chaos there would be no change, no random factors, no mutation leading to new species, no unexpected incidents that lead to the creation of superheroes. Nazi Germany, on the other hand, was in favor of order.

Star Rise The Warlord #60
Arion weaves "a web of necromantic might." Isn't necromancy magic using the dead?

Moon Fall The Warlord #61
Arion says, "Xtula's chain!" NNAN, but usually he says "Deedra's chain!"

Tynan says, "from whence". That's incorrect and should just be whence.

City Under Siege! Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #2
Arion's magic is said to be necromantic. While he does use a necromantic spell later in the issue (making a dead man talk) how does magic involving the dead let him create a shield around the city?

Unto Atlantis... A Savior! Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #4
Holy Messiah complex! This is the issue where Doug Moench takes over writing. Rereading it I was surprised at just how much was changed from what went before.

The cover lists this as an Origin Issue. Really. You mean learning Arion was born among the stars in Warlord #58 didn't count as an origin?

Now Arion is referred to as a "Lord of Light" who derives his power from stellar energy. So now he's Starman's Cosmic Rod?
Dougie, Dougie, Dougie, just because he has a blue costume with a red cape is no reason to assume he gets his power from the sun like Superman.
Also during the Warlord backup stories Arion was said to be "Magic Incarnate" with a tie to all magic, not just stellar magic.
Also Warlord #60 & Arion #2 have Arion using necromancy. (According to my dictionary the primary definition is foretelling the future by speaking with the dead. A secondary definition is simply black magic.)
Now I will admit that during the backup stories Arion & definitely Caculha could be overpowered, so I can understand Moench wanting to bring down those power levels, but was this the best way he could think of???

Also Caculha is revealed to Arion's father. What?!? Several times during the earlier stories Caculha stated that he was not Arion's father, but now he is?
In Warlord #59 Caculha says to D'Tilluh, "I love the lad as though he were my own..."
In Warlord #61 Caculha thinks, "he, whom I love dearer than any child sprung from mine own loins".
I guess Obi-Wan Moenchi would say all statements are true... from a certain point of view. According to Dougie, Arion (Ahri'ahn) was Caculha's son 10,000 years earlier, then died, then was sent into the heavens and was eventually reborn. Yeah.
Also the caption in Warlord 58 states that Arion was given life among the stars, not reborn.

The backup stories also indicated that Caculha was incredibly powerful & old. In Warlord #61 Choloh, the voice of fate, says, "When time was yet young, so was Caculha old... and witness, mayhaps, to creation" Also Tynan & Chaon of the Balance regard Caculha as old & powerful. Here we find out that Caculha was just a powerful mage 10,000 years ago and there were 11 others like him.

First mention of the threads of magic. It's also shown that Arion's costume was made over 10,000 years ago from the threads.

When Ahri'ahn died Caculha was sent into the Darkworld where he stayed for 10,000 years.
Uhhhhhhh-huh... problem is there is evidence to indicate that that is not true.
In Warlord #59 D'Tilluh is talking to his friend Caculha. If Caculha has been trapped in Darkworld for 10,000 years how could he & D'Tilluh become friends.
Also when telling Arion his origin in Warlord #58 the flashback shows Caculha finding Arion.
And in Arion #1 Caculha says that he previously encountered the sun sphere creature a millennium earlier.

After Caculha's being sent to Darkworld, Atlantis turned from magic and to science.
Ummmmmmmm, no. First is D'Tilluh's friendship with Caculha. Secondly in the first story it's mentioned that all the technology is powered by magic and Atlanteans had left the planet half a million years earlier. So clearly technology & magic coexisted.

Arion returns to Earth as a red fireball, except in Warlord #58 Caculha describes it as a "green-and-blue-hued sphere".

According to this issue Arion landed on Earth as a red gemstone, then took on human form when Wyynde took the stone to a buried pyramid. In Warlord #58 Caculha was 'called' to the spot where Arion landed, no mention of a gemstone, pyramid, or Wyynde.

Arion also remembers parts of his previous life, even though he didn't in the first story.

From Death, Aspire To The Heavens Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #5
The opening flashback shows Arion emerging from the gemstone already wearing his costume.

In an attempt to get around having Caculha stuck in Darkworld for 10,000 years Moench has Caculha appear to Arion in spirit to teach him sorcery. (Did he also appear in spirit to D'Tilluh so they could become friends?)

Arion performs a funky Ninja trick by catching an arrow in the air, inches away from Chian. Hey, Moench! This isn't Master Of Kung Fu! In the first story it was said of Arion, "though he had never been a man of great physical prowess", but, years earlier, he was able to catch an arrow? Yeah, right!

Lady Chian doesn't trust Arion and thinks he is an untrustworthy sorcerer attempting to trick them. After he saves her life & the life of the squad she thinks otherwise. Why? As far as she knows this could all be part of the trick.

D'Tilluh thinks that maybe sorcery isn't so bad after all, indicating that he was unfamiliar with it. However in an earlier story it was shown that he & Caculha were friends.

Also in Warlord #59 D'Tilluh says to Caculha, "That he should know that he is not of our people". This says to me that Arion must have believed he was an Atlantean, implying that all his memories are of Atlantis. So the idea that he would remember a past life and coming and being accepted by the people of Atlantis is a contradiction.

Garn is revealed to be Arion's brother & Caculha's other son. Why, I have no idea. Guess Moench just thinks a family dynamic works better.

Moench's idea of irony, Caculha breaks Arion's magic-resistant bonds magically. Pass me the gag bucket.

The Gift Of Power-Lost Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #8
Mara's a shapeshifter. In the next issue we find out that it only springs up when she's scared or something. However in issue 2 (when we first meet her) we find out that she's been running from Garn's men and thinks she has been caught when tackled by Wyynde. So why didn't that trigger her shapeshifting?

What happens to Mara's clothes when she shapeshifts? We don't see them tear or anything when she changes, they just disappear.

The Emerald Ice Palace Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #9
Much as I enjoy bashing Moench, I do have to admit that his Icestarr story (issues 9 & 10) is pretty good, (except for the name Icestarr which sounds like a low-rent supervillainess) and is his finest Arion story. Not perfect, but I think his writing comes close to matching the ideas.

It took General Balar & King D'Tilluh 15 days to get from Atlantis to Carcosa. After Balar discovers that Atlantis has been freed it takes a week for a messenger to get to Carcosa and for D'Tilluh to return. This could be a nit or not. In issue 6 Balar & D'Tilluh follow Arion & company for 3 days before Balar & D'Tilluh go their own way & they are on foot trying to avoid any patrols that Garn may have sent out. So maybe it's possible that on horseback the journey may have been quicker.

The Ice Queen's Sacrifice Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #10
"From whence" again.

Icestarr's home is at the top of the world, but I wonder if Jan is drawing the sun too far up in the sky?

Wyynde was injured in issue 8 (stabbed and had a few arrows sticking out of his legs) and he's shown to still be recovering from his injuries here. However given the amount of time that's passed that seems unusual.
Issues 6-8 it took General Balar & King D'Tilluh 15 days to get from Atlantis to a safe haven. At the end of issue 8 Balar had raised an army to attempt to retake Atlantis (which Garn had conquered). Issue 9 begins with Balar's troops arriving at Atlantis. So I think it's safe to assume that maybe two weeks have passed since Wyynde was injured.
Issue 9 covers a wide span of time. First a week passes when D'Tilluh returns to Atlantis and Arion & Chian leave. Then a comment about weeks passing is made (so at least two, maybe more).
Then a comment about 13 more weeks passing. So, at least, 16 weeks have passed since the beginning of the issue and maybe 18 since Wyynde got injured.

10,000 years earlier, in issue 4, when Ahri'ahn & Caculha defeated Dark Majistra, the backlash caused the Earth to tilt on it's axis and the surviving mages predicted that this would lead to an ice age and that ice would one day cover the Earth.
However, in this issue, we learn that while the Earth tilting did cause more snow the actual cause of the spreading ice age was actually Icestarr & a giant trapped in the magical crystal Frostfire.
Also as we learn in issue 6 the ice had not yet completely covered the Earth.

The Freedom Of Rmoahal Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #11
The title is possibly a nit. The Rmoahal were a race. They played god and altered one of their race changing him into a dangerous creature. As Kali says, "Rmoahal, but not Rmoahal." Presumably this creature had a name at one point & it probably was not Rmoahal. So what does the title mean?

Maybe a nit. D'Tilluh's palace appears to dwarf Arion's citadel, but in issue 9 a big deal was made out of it dwarfing the King's palace. Possibly this was a trick of perspective, or, maybe, Arion shrunk his citadel a little?

Three weeks after Arion & Chian return Wyynde is finally leaving his sick bed. WHAT?!?
Okayyyyyyyyyy, it took Arion & Chian, on horseback, at least 15 weeks to reach the place where they encountered Icestarr in issue 9. In issue 10 Icestarr creates a portal to take Arion to her home at the top of the world, which Arion says is a quarter of the globe away. At the end of 10, Arion has sacrificed most of his magic to stop the ice. Arion & Chian (she leaped in the portal before it closed) are stuck at the top of the world, without horses, and must now make their way back to Atlantis. Wouldn't this mean that Wyynde has been lying in bed healing for over a year???

They discover that Atlantis was built over the ruins of a previous civilization. D'Tilluh says, "They perished in an earlier ice age... millennia past!" Ummmmm, no. The golden spires of Atlantis rose a million years ago, so millions of years ago would be more accurate.

Page 7, panel 1. Mara's hair colored brown instead of blonde.

Kali says, the Rmoahal were eons ago. I believe an eon is 1 billion years, which would put the Rmoahal civilization in the Precambrian Age. Just a tad early for such a civilization I would think. Also IIRC the Earth did not have a breathable oxygen atmosphere then.

Kali seems to make a big deal about the Rmoahal's psychic-based magic. However issue 2 showed Atlantean telepaths.

Kali says, that the Rmoahal left behind the many-colored thought threads on their last journey to Darkworld.

Was Lady Chian demoted & transferred? In Warlord #55 she was Captain of the Royal Guard, here she says she is First Lieutenant of the City Guard.

The mutated Rmoahal goes after Mara because she has a "large mind". (Probably the only time in the series that anyone would say that. ;-) However when she shapeshifts into a manticore the Rmoahal says, "A beast-- with a mind too small to control!"
Previously when Mara shapeshifted her mind stayed the same it was only her shape that changed, but this seems to indicate that her mind changes as well.

Soooooo why didn't the mutated Rmoahal go after any telepaths in Atlantis? Surely the attack in issue 2 didn't wipe out all of them.

Sanctuary Of Sorcery Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #12
Kupperberg's back. Oddly enough, though, the Coming Comics ad in this issue listed Arion #12 as being "The Lands Beyond Atlantis" by Doug Moench. Hmmmm...

For the first time since issue 2, or 3, Mara wonders about the fate of her father. (He's dead.) Yeah, yeah, maybe she wondered about him a lot off-stage during that year or so that passed from issues 8 - 11.

Wyynde-Song Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #13
"Your Wyynde-Song stays on my mind..." ;-)

It's described as a broken branch, but it looks more like a staff. The ends are flat as if they'd been cut rather than broken, there are no little branches off it and there doesn't appear to be any bark.

Chaos Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #15
Chaon says, "I am anarchy... entropy... decay... ...chaos!"
Well, I can see him identifying himself with Anarchy, but Entropy & Decay seem to be part of the system of Order, not Chaos.

Ceremonies Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #16
"Whence they become the hunted!"
Gotta give credit for not using "From" in front of it, but I'm unsure if it is used properly in this instance.

So why is Balar here instead of Atlantis? Never explained.

A Brother's Keeper! Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #17
In this issue the unicorns have orange bodies & yellow manes, but in the previous issue they had purple bodies & orange manes.

It is the "first moon cycle" since Wyynde became Dhonu (leader) of the Khe-Wannantu tribe. Since Earth has 2 moons at this point I wonder how a moon cycle differs from a month?

Blood Brothers Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #18
Caculha is referred to first as Calcuha, then as Calculha.

Wilderness Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #19
Rather odd generic title, here. Doesn't really have much to do with the story either.

The back of Arion's costume was ripped last issue, here it is back in one piece.

We first meet the goddess Deedra here.

Was Paul Kupperberg a Cerebus fan? Garn is chanting a summons and one of the words he uses is "Terim".

Fawndancer, Wyynde's wife, claims she was turned into a mermaid by Garn's magic, although there doesn't seem to be any reason for him to have done it.

The Black Unicorn Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #20
Starring Douglas Fairbanks as Captain Bloodmoor. ;-)
I'd probably like this idea better if Bloodmoor & his pirates didn't seem to come straight from a Hollywood movie.

Okayyyyyyyyyyyyyy, when we first see the home of the Khe-Wannantu people, in issue 13, it seems to be on some kind of plain near a mesa, or mountains. In issue 18 Garn floods, or possibly sinks, the area to flood it and drown the people. The top of the mesa or mountain is still above water. In 19 a herd of elephants stampedes on the other side of the land because their normal route is now flooded. Here pirates sail a ship up to the other side of what now seems to be an island.
Uhhhh, Paul, just what the hell is going on here?

Realm Of The Sea God Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #21
Arion, Chian & Mara help Bloodmoor & his crew fight off some people who are after Bloodmoor & his pirates. Arion & company seem to have no qualms that Bloodmoor's pirates might be killing these people.

Here we meet Altana, the sea god. Say, didn't Chian call Arion "Altan" in Warlord #55?

Blue Glass And Smoke Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #22
This title seems to have nothing whatsoever to do with the story.

The flashback has Dark Majistra & young Garn colored wrong. They should be brown.

"This once green world of Atlantis". I thought the world was Earth?

"The ice queen Frostfire". No, Frostfire was the gem, the ice queen was Icestarr.

Homecoming! Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #23
Page 7, panel 3. Arion's outfit appears to be sleeveless, but in panel 5 it suddenly has sleeves.

It is now D'Tilluh's 184th year as king. I guess all that time passed during issues 8 - 11 never happened?

Cataclysm! Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #24
The title is wrong. There is no cataclysm in this story.

In issue 8 Arion's tower was destroyed. Here it is back with no explanation. Also there is no sign of Arion's citadel which he used in place of his tower afterwards.
He moved the shards of Caculha's magic crystal ball to his new citadel in issue 8 and Arion & company used the citadel as a home in issue 9. We see the citadel in issue 18 and Arion does not return to Atlantis until issue 23. In issue 23 Arion & company return to Atlantis and spend several days in the city, then Arion tries to get into his tower and is told it now belongs to Garn. Later Arion sneaks in to get to the shards of Caculha's crystal.
Since Arion had a citadel there was no need for a new tower, so it seems unlikely that a new one would have been built.
If Arion had changed the shape of his citadel to a tower (why he would do this, I don't know & he would have had to do this long distance) wouldn't he have known the tower had been given to Garn when he got back to Atlantis and tried to go home?
(The only possible glimpse we get of Arion's citadel after 18 is in issue 27, but that could be another building.)

Caculha is again called Calculha. I guess Paul forgot the correct spelling since he will do it until the end of the series. Oddly enough he does spell it right in DC Comics Presents #75.

Bitter Friends Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #26
Well, one friend actually. Chian has left Atlantis, Wyynde is catatonic, Kali & Wing don't seem to have any bitterness toward Arion. It's only Mara who is bitter toward him.

"The Chronicles of Cholok." Cholok? Is he any relation to Choloh?

Blinded By The Light Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #27
In the previous issue it was said that Tynan defeated the darkling prince Kr'rth when the Golden Gate was finished. (City of the Golden Gate is Atlantis' nickname.) Here Kr'rth says that "Tynan sent me to sleep for ten times a thousand years!"
NNAN, but the first comment implies the battle happened around a million years ago when Atlantis was built.

Mara shows up at the end to chew out Arion for sending her away from battle with Kr'rth. Oddly enough she appears to be wearing the same clothes she wore prior to shapeshifting, however, usually her clothes vanish when she shapeshifts. Guess Arion's spell sent her to her quarters, so she could get a change of clothes & pick up new weapons.

Tradition
(This was the first of a two-part Chian back-up story.)

In issue 26 Chian's horse was brown rather than white.

Also when last seen in 26 a hidden archer was aiming an arrow at her back. In this issue the hidden archer is in front of her.

The Magic Odyssey Book One: The Summoning Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #30
Tomokata destroys the remaining crystal shards of Caculha's magic globe. Sooooooooo, how did one crystal shard survive until 1984 as seen in DC Comics Presents #75?

In issue 16 Bylgar says he was dragged by armed soldiers to be experimented on by scientists for crown & country. General Balar's presence would indicate that he was responsible, but here Arion & Chian discover that hidden in Atlantis was a tower where a lone scientist was conducting genetic experiments. The scientist even mentioned some of his experimentees had escaped.
However the scientist's reaction to Atlanteans makes it seem unlikely that he had been working with Balar & I don't think he would claim his experiments were done for crown & country.

Arion says, "He can provide us no answers in death."
Oh, what about when you got that dead assassin to talk in issue 2? While it's true Arion isn't as powerful here he can do spoken spells and that was a spoken spell.

The Magic Odyssey Book Two: The Challenge Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #31
D'Tilluh dies. So I guess in Warlord #55 when Choloh said, "And his rest so very far away" he only meant around a year. (When the series started it was the 183rd year of D'Tilluh's reign & a few issues ago it was said to be the 184th year of his reign.)

Tomokata says, "Let me have her Arion...for now!"
I think from the context that's supposed to read 'Let her have her Arion'.

The Magic Odyssey Book Three: The Descent Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #32
In issue 24 Arion sends Garn to the heart of Darkworld. Here Arion visits the heart, but no sign of Garn.

We learn that after death Ahri'ahn was in the heart of Darkworld, but Caculha didn't visit. Why not? Caculha was also a prisoner in Darkworld according to issues 4 & 5.

Originally Arion was said to have been born among the stars, then he was said to have resided & been reborn among the stars, now we are told that he spent that time in the heart of Darkworld.
Psst, Gemimn & Tynan, I think Chaon has been mucking up the timeline!

*Gasp!* A correct use of whence?!?!?! ;-)

Conclave Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #34
Chian mentions that the telepaths will scan people. So I guess they weren't killed in issue 2, although I wonder where they were when the mutated Rmoahal was hunting those with "large minds" in issue 11.

Here necromancy is equated with black magic & is considered to be a bad thing, as opposed to when Arion used it in Warlord #60 & Arion #2.

The Shadow Of Evil Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #35
In the previous issue, Dharel's hair was blonde, here it is orange and white. (I believe that Dharel has been on stage from last issue so he wouldn't have much time to dye it.)

Finale! Arion, Lord Of Atlantis Special #1
Chaon doesn't want others interfering with his plans so he incapacitates several magical types including the Weaver. Huh? In issue 33 Weaver says isn't a hero & doesn't get involved in the battle with Dark Majistra. So why would Chaon think Weaver would interfere with his plans?

Arion remembers "Ancient legends... from before the time when the current city was erected" legends from half a million years before. I thought the first spires of Atlantis rose a million years before the first Arion story?

Dharel's hair is now orange & blonde.

Dharel is now spelled Dharyl. Guess they wanted to hide his Kryptonian origins. ;-) (In the Legion of Super-Heroes story The War Between Krypton And Earth! it was revealed that millions of years earlier Kryptonian scientists had tried to start a colony on Earth and failed.)

Atlantis sinks... again. I think this makes the third time DC has shown Atlantis sinking.
The first was "millions of years ago" in Adventure Comics #333 where Brainiac 5 had genetically engineered Vruunian colonists to become merpeople and Star Boy increased the mass of their colony so it sank beneath the waters.
The second was in The Warlord where Atlantis had sunk because they had tampered with a volcano.
Now here where Chaon's magic sinks Atlantis.
However Arion does mention that Atlantis will survive so maybe they build a new city named Atlantis? Maybe Atlantis is just one of those mystical names that keeps popping up?

Partners In Time! DC Comics Presents #75
Where does this fit? It was published the same month as Arion #25, but it doesn't fit in with the events there. The only two spots I can think of where it could fit would be between issues 11 & 12 and early in issue 23. I don't think it is between 11 & 12 because here Arion knows he can get power from the crystal shards something he first did in issue 18. As for early in 23 it would have to be sometime after they arrived back in Atlantis, but before Chian, Wyynde & Mara were too corrupted by Garn's magic.

Arion says that Atlantis has stood for nearly half a million years. I thought the spires of Atlantis had gone up a million years prior to the first Arion story?

Arion's tower in sunken Atlantis looks like his citadel.

Excuse Me, Sir, How Do I Get To Carney Hall? Arion The Immortal #1
First mistake? Setting this in the present day. Editor Jim Owsley gets the blame for this, but unfortunately Kupperberg went along with it. (Oddly enough Kupperberg mentions wanting to avoid turning it into Dr. Strange, but this version of Arion seems more like Dr. Strange than the previous one.)

Arion claims he was king of the world and Atlantis was his empire, 50,000 years ago, give or take a millennium.
Hmmm, if he was king it must have happened after Atlantis sunk, 45,000 years ago since he doesn't like the idea of becoming King of Atlantis in his old series.
Secondly, give or take a millennium would be 51,000 or 49,000 years ago. Now Ahri'ahn did live 55,000 years ago but he died then spent the next 10,000 years, either in space or in the heart of the Darkworld.

Calling to Murray for help. *snicker* One of the old jokes was that Arion was almost called Murray, Lord Of Atlantis.

A little kid on Roller Blades throws a park bench behind him. So how strong is this kid? Aren't park benches usually imbedded in concrete or something? Seeing as how he's on Roller Blades, wouldn't picking something up and throwing it alter his direction, at the very least?

Gemimn is an old white man. Excuse me? In ALOA Gemimn looked like an Egyptian WOMAN. When did she get a sex change?

Weaver is an old black man. Black? In ALOA he seemed more Asian/Mongolian-like.

Chaon is a deli owner. Oy vey! So what happened to his snake hair & goat legs and pointy teeth, etc., etc.

Wow! I appear in the issue! And except for the bad blonde haircut, I look good! ;-) (I rarely see fictional characters named Keith.)

Arion is in love with Amanda, whom he's known since she was five.
First, Eeeeeeeew, yuck! *gag*
Second, Amanda is no Lady Chian. Frankly Amanda gets more annoying as a character as the series goes on. Clearly Arion has confused love with lust.

Arion's said to be 527,654 years old. Sorry, but Ahri'ahn didn't look 472,654 when died 55,000 years ago.

Magic disappeared 45,000 years ago. Oh, really? Tell that to Zatara, Zatanna, Sargon the Sorcerer, Felix Faust, Yellow Peri, the Wizard, Dr. Fate, Dr. Occult, and I don't know how many other magical characters DC has had. (Later they mention Atlantean magics, but I don't really see the distinction.)
Also if magic is gone then how was Arion able to use his magics when he was brought to 1984 in DC Comics Presents #75 & Crisis On Infinite Earths, and Garn attacked the Justice League of America (forget the issue number) in the present day as well.
Also in DCCP a magic spell that had been cast 45,000 years ago or earlier was still working.
For that matter, how can Arion, Gemimn, Chaon, Weaver, Deedra, Mara & Garn all be immortal without magic???

Caculha is referred to as he-who-created-all. Hmmm, this does sort of fit with the Caculha from the Warlord back-up series (although it was never said he created all), but it is at odds with the Caculha from the Doug Moench issues.

Gemimn says he spun the threads of Atlantean magic. Uh, no that was Weaver.

Why is Arion wearing red? Blue was always his color. And what's with the new hairstyle?

In the writer's comments at the end Paul says that ALOA was set 50,000 years ago. Oy.

Shoot The Dog! Arion The Immortal #2
A nice flashback to the old ALOA team. Although Mara seems to have grown. I don't remember her breasts being that big in the old series. Then again this flashback is in Arion's head.

Mara shapeshifts into a dog. A Dog? Normally she shapeshifts into a dragon.

Mara seems to go through some kind of doggy door that is not visible in any other panel showing the doors.

Page 3, Panel 3. Wyynde says, "We would not be were were we not needed."

Wyynde also mentions Atlantis indicating that this flashback is prior to the Special that ended the original series.

Page 3, Panel 4. The dialogue is Wyynde's but the word balloon points to Arion.
Remember when editors were supposed to proofread these things?

Arion wonders if he became young again like he was 50,000 years ago. No, 50,000 years ago you were either in space or in the heart of the Darkworld.

Made up country names can be fun. Kuran, Irisistan. Hmmmm, how did they come up with those names?

50,000 years since magic disappeared. I thought it was 45,000?

Garffon was a guardian of the gates of Darkworld. When did Darkworld have gates? The closest I can think of to gates is the Nexus from ALOA #25 & that was guarded by a creature who wanted to leave who had been defeated by a previous creature.

Now Weaver is the old white man & Gemimn is the old black man.

Earlier reporters mentioned that hostages included 2 nuns and parishioners, now they just mention 2 nuns and a dog. So a dog gets billing over several parishioners?

"Darkworld has not been heard from for lo, these five millennia." That's 5000 years not 45,000 or 50,000. Also it's inaccurate. Arion and Superman traveled to Ancient Atlantis through Darkworld in DC Comics Presents #75 back in 1984 (this series is set in 1992).

Calculha again. Geeze Paul, you got it right in the first issue.

Arion says he was last king of the realm (of Atlantis, presumably). Was he pronounced king after Atlantis sank?

"to return to the other-dimensional from whence he came!" What's not wrong with that statement? The other-dimensional??? Did Paul mean other-dimension or other-dimensional realm? From whence? No, it's just whence or from where, from whence is inaccurate.

It's said that 50,000 years ago Mara changed to a dog then the magic went away and she was stuck in dog form and, even though magic has returned, she's still stuck because she has forgotten how to turn back. Excuse me? She never did anything to change back it was automatic. Frankly I can't understand why she didn't revert to being herself when the magic did go away. Her normal state was human, it took magic to change shape.

The caption in the last panel says, "Next: Blackout!" except the title of the next issue isn't Blackout.

Mother Always Liked You Best! Arion The Immortal #3
What a curious title. The line is fortunately not used in the actual story because who would use it is problematical. Garn was Dark Majistra's favorite, so he wouldn't use it & Arion didn't know Majistra was his mother until 10,000 years after she was destroyed so it seems unlikely that he would use it.

This comment could probably go in a previous issue, but here we have the immortals (Deedra, Weaver & Gemimn) sitting on the park bench wasting their immortal lives using magic to conjure up newspapers. Yeesh! Grimmest picture of immortality I've ever seen. If anything would drive someone to cry out for the sweet release of death, that would have to be it.

Given that either Weaver or Gemimn is black (depending on the issue) one wonders how they felt about the whole slavery thing in the 1800s?

Also what about the other magical folk from ALOA? Is Tynan also immortal and living somewhere? Or Thalas the Darkgod who was Deedra's opposite?

The paper has a picture of one of the stockbrokers turned vulture from issue 1.
First Arion said that no one but the folks they were about to eat & Arion could see them, so how did someone snap a picture?
Second Deedra says the story was about people turning into cavemen.

"a conflict between two beings, both of whom -- identified only as "Arion" -- vanished after the conflict."
Both were identified as Arion? Interesting.
Also Garffon's host, the priest, did have a name, and he did not disappear after the battle.

A brief picture on TV from behind & mention of his name & Power Girl thinks it's her grandfather. I realize that Arion is not a common name so she probably might think of granddad, but since she hasn't seen him for 45,000 years why even consider the possibility that he's alive?

Garn casts a spell that makes Arion forget who he is and who other people he knows is and he doesn't know what a cappuccino is, but he knows how to conjure up American money?

The old black man says a line that would seem to indicate he's Weaver, but in the next panel Deedra calls him Gemimn.

What Becomes A Legend Most Arion The Immortal #4
Arion refers to Garn as a traitor. Ummm, to whom was Garn a traitor? Except for issues 23 & 24 where the mad mage of Mu used his magic to ingratiate himself into King D'Tilluh's good graces, Garn was not an Atlantean citizen.

Garn says that he studied other forms of magic while waiting for the magic to return. Waiting? What about that issue of the Justice League of America, written by Paul, where you used magic? What about all the other magic users in the DCU?

Weaver is the old white man & Gemimn is the old black man here.

In one panel Pentagon briefer Walt Walters has blonde hair & a green suit, the next panel he's black-haired with a brown suit.

Wow! Paul finally remembers it's supposed to be 45,000 years, not 50,000 years!

"Your only hope for victory lay in an idiogy that was never mine."
Idiogy? Could he mean Ideology?

"That childhood stutter has returned." Arion must be making stuff up here as I don't remember Garn ever stuttering & Ahri'ahn only met Garn once as a child.

The last panel on the next to last page has Garn back in the military outfit he had earlier discarded.

It Was A Dark(world) And Stormy Night... Arion The Immortal #5
"45,000 years ago he ruled the world. Today, he hasn't change for the bus". Ummmm, what about that magic spell that you used to create money in issue 3?

Arion's father is spelled Calculha again.

In Darkworld Weaver is now black.

Gemimn is drawn like the old white man, but he's colored black.

Page 8. Amanda's blonde hair is pink and her pink shirt is yellow. This also happens on page 13.

Page 9, Panel 2. A word balloon that should be pointing to Arion is pointing to one of the blonnjuus

Chaon says that Darkworld hasn't been heard from in almost 50,000 years. *sigh*

Chaon says he had heard of the heart of Darkworld but never believed it really existed. Wait a minute! Jheryl was racing from the heart of Darkworld to Earth when Chaon trapped her between dimensions in the Arion, Lord Of Atlantis Special.

Earlier Weaver mentions the brains, plural, behind Darkworld now we find out Darkworld is a living being, singular.

Atlantis & the people & the magic were a dream of the Darkworld, and the being slept for a million years, then was awake for 45,000 years and will now sleep for another million years. What kinda screwed up sleep schedule does this creature have?

This Was Your Life Arion The Immortal #6
Power Girl found out about Arion in issue 3 now she finally shows up looking for him. I suppose it's possible that not much time has passed, but it seems like it.

Arion's father is spelled Calculhah here.

Garn says Arion was more powerful than any man, mage or god. Hmmm, I guess Garn didn't know about Harbinger giving him the smackdown in Crisis On Infinite Earths #1, or the Balance shrugging off Arion's attack, but Caculha seemed more powerful, and Garn fought with Arion, almost defeating him, and he knew of the trouble Arion had fighting Aries in ALOA #3.

Deedra's golden chain, not golden at all. Looks more like iron.

Power Girl's been to Darkworld? So much for not hearing from it in 45,000 years.

Arion says he didn't come looking for Kara because she was part of a past that he couldn't deal with when Atlantis and the magic went away.
First off when Atlantis sunk there was still magic and Arion & Chian hadn't even had a child, let alone a grandchild.
Second, that was 45,000 years ago dude. Get over it!

Weaver's mustache disappears in Darkworld, but at the end of the issue, Weaver is once again the old white man with a mustache.
As Brannon Braga might say, "Continuity? What's that?"

"This once green world of Atlantis". I thought the world was Earth?} - KAM (Keith's Arion Mistakes}

I don't know the exact context of this phrase, but could it have been meant metaphorically, as in "Welcome to my world?"

Make Mine Marvel!

I believe it was used in a caption box rather than being dialogue, so I think it was an author mix-up. I'll have to recheck.

Forgot one (and it's a twofer).
ALOAS #1
Chaon says that Arion spent 10 times 10,000 years in the heart of Darkworld.
No, Arion spent a 10,000 years there. Also Chaon would later comment in ATI #5 about never really believing the heart of Darkworld existed.

Deedra's Chain!

ALOA #22
The green world of Atlantis comment was an authorial caption. Oddly enough on the previous page he wrote, "Atlantis... indeed the very Earth... might have been destroyed", so there was a distinction between Earth and Atlantis.

Found another nit here. 100,000 years is mentioned as passing between Ahri'ahn's sacrifice & the 'present'* day, instead of 10,000 years.
* Present in the comic, that is.

At the end the caption says, "Next: The City Of The Golden Gate" implying that that is the title of the next issue, but it is not, "Homecoming" is.

Actually thought of this anti-nit a while back, but just kept forgetting to post it when I was here.

Arion, Lord Of Atlantis (and assorted crossovers/tie-ins) - Pre-Crisis.
Arion The Immortal - Post-Crisis.

I can now write off Arion The Immortal as just some kind of warped Elseworlds experiment & that in some hypertimeline the REAL Arion still exists.

Arion, Lord Of Atlantis # 2
Page 7, Panel 2. Arion refers to the city where the Thamuzians come from as "Thamus" although later the city is called Thamuz.

Me, nitting issue 10 - Wyynde was injured in issue 8 (stabbed and had a few arrows sticking out of his legs) and he's shown to still be recovering from his injuries here.
However given the amount of time that's passed that seems unusual.
Issues 6-8 it took General Balar & King D'Tilluh 15 days to get from Atlantis to a safe haven. At the end of issue 8 Balar had raised an army to attempt to retake Atlantis (which Garn had conquered). Issue 9 begins with Balar's troops arriving at Atlantis. So I think it's safe to assume that maybe two weeks have passed since Wyynde was injured.
Issue 9 covers a wide span of time. First a week passes when D'Tilluh returns to Atlantis and Arion & Chian leave. Then a comment about weeks passing is made (so at least two, maybe more).
Then a comment about 13 more weeks passing. So, at least, 16 weeks have passed since the beginning of the issue and maybe 18 since Wyynde got injured.
Me nitting issue 11 - Three weeks after Arion & Chian return Wyynde is finally leaving his sick bed. WHAT?!?
Okayyyyyyyyyy, it took Arion & Chian, on horseback, at least 15 weeks to reach the place where they encountered Icestarr in issue 9. In issue 10 Icestarr creates a portal to take Arion to her home at the top of the world, which Arion says is a quarter of the globe away. At the end of 10, Arion has sacrificed most of his magic to stop the ice. Arion & Chian (she leaped in the portal before it closed) are stuck at the top of the world, without horses, and must now make their way back to Atlantis. Wouldn't this mean that Wyynde has been lying in bed healing for over a year???
Turns out I actually missed a time reference. In issue 9, while Arion & Icestarr are partway through the magical journey to the top of the world a quarter of the globe away, Icestarr says that they are still a 1000 days journey away, indicating that if they had traveled some other way it would take about 3 years to get there. So it should be the 186th, or 187th, year of the reign of King D'Tilluh by the time they get back. (Instead we learn in a later issue it is still the 183rd year, same as when the series started.)

Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #12
They journey to Thamuz, which Mara is from, and she tells them they can land at Garn's tower & that no one around there will miss Garn.
Interesting.
When Garn Daanuth was introduced in Warlord #59 he was refered to as the mad mage of Mu, the city where he lived. No indication was given that he was "commuting" between Mu & Thamuz, but there is not enough time between the events of Warlord #59 & Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #1, (less than a day, perhaps) for him to go to Thamuz & establish himself as the city's sorceror.
Garn was shown influencing Thamuz's king in issue 2, but the impression I got was that he had recently shown up & secretly took control from the shadows. Mara's comments indicate that he had been there for a while publically.

Arion, Lord Of Atlantis #34
To decide who takes over the throne of Atlantis 11 mages from the 11 cities of Atlantis gather.

One of the mages is Yoshiro, Chian’s mentor that we met in issue 30.
Funny how in the 4 issues of the Magic Odyssey storyline we never got a clue that he was a mage, just a karate teacher.

The twelfth city is not represented because it was destroyed in issue 18. It was the unnamed city of the Khe-Wannantu people.
Considering that it was one of the twelve most important cities in the world you’d think it would have been given a name, but issue 15 specifically said it was without a name.
Also odd since Wyynde was the son of the chief of the Khe-Wannantu, but he had run away years earlier & became a guard in Atlantis. If the Khe-Wannantu city was so important you’d think that maybe representatives of the Khe-Wannantu would be coming & going & one of them might recognize Wyynde.

Garn had previously been shown to be the representative from Mu.
Since Garn is buried in Darkworld who is representing Mu & why since the city had been abandoned before the series began & had only recently (issue 14) had people been starting to return there.

Issue 12 indicated that Garn had also been the mage of Thamuz.
Since Thamuz is older than Atlantis one would expect that city to be one of the 12, but who’s the mage? I’d have expected Garn to eliminate any potential rivals.

In Warlord #56 we are shown the abandoned city of Taja, which had the empire’s great artisans, but it had been abandoned when it’s mage died & the ice covered it & the sub-men attacked.
Since it’s described as a city I would have expected Taja to be one of the twelve, but apparently not as there is no absence on the council for it.

Who else? - Arion The Immortal #4
Arion refers to Garn as a traitor. Ummm, to whom was Garn a traitor? Except for issues 23 & 24 where the mad mage of Mu used his magic to ingratiate himself into King D'Tilluh's good graces, Garn was not an Atlantean citizen.
Actually in Warlord #59 Mu is referred to to as an Atlantean state, so Garn was an Atlantean citizen. D'oh!