You can pickup your copy of Aquaman #50 now where all good comics are sold.
Synopsis
As Aquaman settles the Old Gods of Unspoken Water into their new lives in Amnesty Bay, Jackson Hyde, a.k.a. Aqua-lad, seeks out Aquaman to be his new mentor! Back in Atlantis, Mera makes a move that shocks the Widowhood.
Meanwhile, Black Manta, recently kicked out of the Legion of Doom, prepares to make his next move against his greatest nemesis…but Lex Luthor is about to make him an offer he can’t refuse. Don’t miss our landmark 50th issue and the start of a brand-new story!
Review
It’s only following the release of the Aquaman movie that I’ve begun diving (bad pun!) in to the world of Arthur Curry’s comic series. I started by going back and reading the classic tales before subscribing to this new run written by Kelly Sue DeConnick.
The tale of Arthur suffering from amnesia and trapped on island surrounded by sea gods proved to be too interesting not to pick up. Now Arthur is returning to society and I think that things are about to get interesting.
DeConnick keeps the fairytale atmosphere of the series by framing Arthur’s story with that of Captain Maurer. A sea captain whose ship got caught on the rocks near Amnesty Bay. After being the only survivor the captain built the local lighthouse where he remained until he disappeared.
Of course there’s more to this story than meets the eye and it ties in nicely to the sea gods who just happen to be travelling with Arthur. But to read this beautiful sea tale as a framework around Arthur’s return keeps the book very much grounded in the mythos of the island where Arthur has been living this past few issues.
His return begins to stitch together several plot threads which have been left hanging for a while now. Arthur needs to confront Mera’s pregnancy as much as she needs to deal with his current unwillingness to return to Atlantis to take up the throne.
Mera has been very absent from the series whilst Arthur lacked his memories so now it will be interesting to see how the two interact considering they have a child on the way.
Events in Atlantis provide a more political side to Aquaman as Mera contends with a populous unhappy with her rule and looking for their king to return. There’s plenty of story to mine purely from the current circumstances in Atlantis but that would have to be an entirely different series.
DeConnick cleverly brings in Wonder Woman to help Arthur reacclimatise to life. He’s been away for some time and it makes sense for a member of the Justice League to welcome him back. If it were me I’d want Wonder Woman given she’s the most empathetic of the group.
It was interesting to see DeConnick lean in to a very real-life arrival for Arthur as the worlds media gather to find out why he has returned. Their questioning of Wonder Woman feels very much like something we would see on TV news in these days and it set the scene really well.
In terms of scale this books is particularly small but it’s so well executed it never becomes an issue. Arthur wasn’t returning to defeat some great foe – though one lies at the end of the book – he was returning as he was ready and so DeConnick downplays it perfectly.
Robson Rocha, Eduardo Pansica alongside inkers Daniel Henriques & Julio Ferreira do a brilliant job of bringing Amnesty Bay to life, alongside representing the tale of Captain Maruer and brief glimpses of Atlantis.
There’s an excellent colour palette which defines all the different locales with their own colour schemes but in terms of characters its Wonder Woman who stands out most against the seaside background.
The end cameo by a certain famous Aquaman villain certainly teases some exciting events to come!
Verdict
Aquaman’s return to society benefits heavily from a guest appearance by Wonder Woman to help decode the various dangling plot threads. An emotional story and complex set of character keep this new aquatic tale a particularly interesting read.
7/10
Aquaman #50 is written by Kelly Sue DeConnick with pencils by Robson Rocha & Eduardo Pansica, inks by Daniel Henriques & Julio Ferreira and colours by Sunny Gho. This month’s cover is by Robson Rocha, Jason Paz & Alex Sinclair.
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