Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Penciller/Inker: Viktor Bogdanovic
Additional Inks: Jonathan Glapion & Daniel
Henriques
Colorist: Sunny Gho
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Cover: Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques & Alex
Sinclair
Variant
Cover: Josh Middleton
Assistant
Editor: Andrea Shea
Editor:
Alex Antone
Group
Editor: Brian Cunningham
Cover
Price: $3.99
On Sale
Date: May 15, 2019
**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**
One story arc down, next one begins! And it better be
a corker! Or it should be engaging and entertaining, at least. Here’s my review
of All-New Aquaman #48, comin’ atcha!
Explain
It!
The younger ocean gods promised Aquama…er, Andy that
if he beat the tar out of Namma, they’d let him drink a potion of Restoring
Continuity, or whatever. Well, it’s time for the piper to be paid, and I am
glad to say that the artist change does nothing to alter the designs of Caillie
and these gods, even though I don’t remember any of their names. So during a
sleepover game of “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” one of these gods (in
human form) distills the drank into a teapot, then pours it into a bowl for
some reason and Andy drinks it. They’ve got this teapot, but no one has a cup?
Even if he had to take two tips, it would have been more civilized.
Andy goes on his Vision Quest, which begins when the
waking world around him freezes in place and he hears a voice call out,
claiming to know who he is. Andy sees a vision of his dad first meeting his
Atlantean mom, which couldn’t rightly be considered one of his memories, then
one of his actual memories of mom leaving him to say topside in Amnesty Bay
with poppa. From there, it’s a restoration of his basic memories: hanging with
Garth, meeting and falling in love with Mera, and even Mera being crowned as
the Queen of Atlantis, which would pretty much bring us up to current times.
All of this is told by Mother Shark, some kind of
elemental that is so big, you only see her pulpy, toothy mouth in the rare
instances that she’s seen. These memories are kept in the coral that lines the
floor of her lair, and she’s only shown as much as she thinks Aquaman…I mean
Andy can handle. But he demands to know more! And, as such, Mother Shark deigns
to show him the person that killed him, and caused him to wake up on the shores
of Ocean God Isle: it was his steady girlfriend, Mera!
Which is some interesting information, since I seem
to recall something about him ascending into another dimension to stab a C’thulu
monster, or some such. And Mera was the only one still holding out hope for
him. I guess she wanted to be the one to skewer Aquaman’s guts? Mysteries are
abound. This is a visually stunning issue that is good for new readers, and
also for long-time readers who are wondering what will be “important” in Kelly
Sue DeConnick’s run on this title. That doesn’t apparently include the
years-long Coram Rath saga, and I say praise Poseidon and glory hallelujah for
that.
Bits and
Pieces:
Aquaman regains some of his memories, and fans of
this series can gain some more footing in terms of what is in continuity and
what is not. The new art team does a great job, both maintaining the designs of
new characters and making this somewhat quiet story a joy to read. Well done.
8/10
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