Father of MineWriter: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 27, 2020
The shutdown couldn't have come at a worse time for Aquaman fans. What is going on with Andy, the Aquababy?!?! That's all I care about, and I need to know now! Luckily, I have the issue right here, and I'm going to review it... right about now!
The issue opens with Arthur more upset than me! He is hunting down Orm, and while I made the call that it was too obvious to be his half-brother, weirder things have happened. Kelly Sue Deconnick does a subtle job here with Orm... he feels like a sympathetic character. When Aquaman demands to know where "she" is, Orm seems to be upset that something might have happened to Mera. I may be reading more into it, but my favorite bits with Orm recently have been when we see the caring man under the Ocean Master helmet.
That continues, and while he may be putting on a show for his Dagon freaks (not shade, just calling it likes I sees it), we get a Mera: Queen of Atlantis shout-out so maybe not.
Back in Amnesty Bay, Caille is demanding the gods do what I've wanted them to do since leaving their island issues ago...something...ANYTHING!!! While that's going down, Deconnick makes sure everyone gets some page-time with Aqualad and his mom spitting fire at Maine and Black Manta. I know that Jackson is upset he didn't get a better daddy, but at least he wasn't an undersea wizard, you know what I'm saying?!?!
The issue then takes an odd turn, and while I would typically like what's going on, it doesn't make sense in the overall continuity of things and felt tacked on. That feeling keeps popping up as we get a big hint of who has Andy and a cliffhanger that felt a bit too "been there, done that" for me to get too excited.
This issue is the tale of two halves. I like the first half with Arthur and Orm, but Aquaman exits his own book halfway through and the whole tone and pacing changed. I know that Kelly Sue is taking off for two issues coming up, but that doesn't mean she has to force the book so much in the direction of the two-parter we will be getting. I liked the art a lot in this issue, but that has been the case whenever Robson Rocha is doing it.
Bits and Pieces:
While I enjoyed the first half of this issue, the second half felt unfocused and forced. Kelly Sue Deconnick ties a bunch of things into her story, but not everything fits perfectly. Overall, this was a decent issue with great art, and I can deal with that, though I was hoping for more.
6.0/10
Great review. While I don't agree with everything I see where you're coming from. I didn't mind the Aqualad and his mom stuff I thought it was natural to me. I wasn't aware of what would happen in the next couple issues so I just thought that it made sense to how desperate he and Callie were to find Andy for him to go end up going to ask Black Manta for help. The funny part of it is that he's going to the person who killed the first Aqua baby so that should be interesting. I'm guessing Kelly Sue and Company on messing with that idea. I do agree with you however that the Aquaman orm stuff was the best part of the issue. the Arts was very good.The part where Orm is smiling after he says that Arthur is easily provoked made me smile as well he really is a great character.
ReplyDeleteI love Orm and seeing his recent turn of being a more decent guy was awesome...and surely setup to him being an ass
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