[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Dan Abnett
Artists: Lan Medina, Richard Friend & Vero Gandini
Summary
Mera tries to recover from her injuries on the land as an assassination attempt is made.
Positives
The cover by Nicola Scott and Romulo Fajardo Jr. is fantastic. I loved this team’s work on Wonder Woman so it was really exciting to see their style on Mera.
The interior art features pencils by Lan Medina, inks by Richard Friend and colors by Vero Gandini. Their work is great as well. It’s a gorgeous book with wonderful expressions and engaging colors.
Personally, I have always found Mera to be a more interesting character than Aquaman. Not that I don’t like Arthur but her backstory and personality appeals a little more to me. It’s really cool to have a mini-series starring her.
I like the parallels between Mera and Ocean Master present in this first issue. Ocean Master unintentionally found the thing that Mera wants most while Mera is being unwillingly pushed into a thing that Ocean Master desperately wants. That’s really interesting and I’m curious to see where Dan Abnett takes it.
Negatives
There’s a lot of backstory in this. I’m not even an Aquaman expert and I know most of the backstory with her. The book stops dead several times to give her history. The art in these sections is cool but it feels unnecessary.
Verdict
This is a solid first issue. Mera is an engaging character that can easily lead a story. I like that Mera is being compared and contrasted with Ocean Master; that’s a neat and interesting touch. The art is gorgeous which really is what makes the issue worth reading.