[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Dan Abnett
Artist: Stjepan Sejic
Summary
Resistance groups have popped up throughout Atlantis. Jurok Byss leads the group that call themselves The Undercurrent.
Tempest feels guilty for using magic to get Mera past the barrier surrounding Atlantis known as the Crown of Thorns. More than guilt, he worries she may be in danger from the magic of a broken amulet.
Aquaman comes across Jurok Byss and they join forces to lead the Atlantis Uprising.
Positives
This arc has had beautiful artwork throughout each issue. Sejic’s art is vibrant and feels quite cinematic. This issue is no different. His full page art pieces really shine in this one and the last page feels very powerful and intense.
It’s great to see Aquaman reunited with some of the other Atlanteans and his interaction with Vulko highlights that reunion.
It took a while to see why Corum Rath was supposed to be a villain at all since he came across as a better king. But in the last issue there were hints he was coming off his hinges and in this issue we finally saw him snap. It was good to see the villain finally act villainous.
A surprise appearance by King Shark was the cherry on top for this issue. It set his character up for big things in the future.
Negatives
Even though this arc has officially ended, there was no closure, it simply led to the next arc. Which is to be expected to some degree, but it feels anticlimactic now.
Ultimately, I hope it is just to continue building to a much better payoff in the end, during the next arc, “Take Back the Throne”. But unfortunately, Sejic will not be illustrating the next issue, or perhaps even the next arc. That usually bothers me when you have a different artist on a large story like this because the art style change can take you out of the moment.
Verdict
Dan Abnett continues to weave an interesting story that gets more and more intense as it leads to its climax. However, the climax is not in this issue nor is it part of the current arc. But this is still a great storyline with beautiful artwork. If you are new to Aquaman, this arc is a great starting point.
