DC black label does it again!
Diving into the murky bosom of the ocean depths, this time we find an Aquaman story…without Aquaman.
Yeah, it does come across as strange at first; but there is a very specific reason why. Without spoiling the story, while at first the choice comes across as peculiar to the average comic enjoyer, Ram V seems to implement the figure of Aquaman as a tangent rather than as a feature; which isn’t bad. In the comics, Arthur Curry isn’t one of DC’s flagship characters who has been so well-delivered that one might call any of his comic book iterations as “defining”.
Other than the Geoff Johns run, that is; but it isn’t as well remembered for his personality for sure.
In fact, like Johns’ run, it focuses on Curry’s world, rather than him as a person.
Even more so here, in all honesty.
The artwork by Christian Ward builds the environment into the vehicle needed to tell Ram V’s story; one of black holes and revelations where the sea can remember the tragedies of those who fare upon it and threatens to swallow them whole if they know not how.
Beautifully illustrated, I will not spoil the story further as it contains more twists than one would expect from a simple 3-issue series; but this is exactly what makes it work. While this format is usually reserved for throwaway comics tied to events that only serve as surplus profit to the big Two. Here, however, it is used exclusively to tell a sci-fi horror story that does not need more than it is given to tell; one about shadows, burdens and desperation and how they bring out the monsters within us, and coming to terms with them to rise above them.
