Originally published on Patreon
Aquaman is a character I've not had a huge amount of experience with. I've read a handful of his solo stories, but mostly I've read him as part of a team. And I've found that Arthur can be very different depending on who's writing him. He can be powerful and kingly, or a pointless buffoon (the recent Bendis run of Justice League was terrible for this). But one thing I've not really seen done with the character is horror; which considering how frightening the sea is, is a big surprise.
Thankfully, Ram V seems to be going in that direction for Aquaman: Andromeda. And this is an are where Ram absolutely excels.
The story of Aquaman: Andromeda follows a small group of scientist and military personnel on board the Andromeda, an advanced sub that's making its way into a desolate part of the ocean to investigate what might be a crashed alien spaceship.
Whilst below the waves the military vessel above, disguised as a tanker, is attacked by a giant, tentacled sea monster. With the ship destroyed, the Andromeda have no support, and can't turn back without being caught by multiple navies. Forced to go on, the crew worry about what might be waiting for them as they near their target.
We get brief moments of Aquaman, who intervenes to stop the monster, and Black Manta, who has been hired to retrieve the data on the alien ship. By the end of the book the pieces have been set on the board, and things feel sufficiently eerie.
So far, the story this issue most closely resembles would probably be Sphere. An unknown ship in the bottom of the ocean, dark and spooky atmosphere, a small team of scientists, and what might be people's imaginations coming to life. Its not clear yet exactly what's going on, if the member of rhe Andromeda crew reading a story about a kraken made a sea monster appear or not, but I'm certainly interested to find out.
The story is definitely more complex than the standard super hero stuff, and it seems to be relying on character drama and tension rather than showy action in order to keep the reader interested. I guess this is why it's part of DC's Black Label rather than a regular book.
The art on the book really helps sell that this is something different too, and it feels eerie and strange a lot of the time you have to look twice to really see what you're supposed to be seeing. It's great art, and is a perfect example of the art and the writing coming together to tell a story well.
I was disappointed when the issue came to a close, and and excited for the next one.
This article, and many others, can be read a month early on my Patreon for as little as $3 a month!
No comments:
Post a Comment