Legendary writer Kelly Sue DeConnick has become the latest Marvel Comics mainstay to be recruited by DC Comics to work on a monthly series, as she will begin writing Aquaman later this year. Following Brian Michael Bendis’ takeover of the Superman line and G. Willow Wilson being signed to write Wonder Woman, DeConnick is poised to start writing the monthly Aquaman series, as the King of the Seven Seas’ solo movie hits the silver screen this December.
DeConnick pitched her idea for an Aquaman series directly to Geoff Johns (at the time CCO of DC Entertainment) and Dan Abnett, the current writer on the monthly Aquaman book. DeConnick will be joined by artist Robson Rocha. In the story, Arthur Curry washes up on an island with no memory of who he is. While attempting to rediscover who he is, he meets former sea gods that have been forgotten and were also marooned on the island.
“It’s in many ways an examination of who the character is, kind of in the vein of Daredevil: Born Again and Batman Year One,” said DC CCO/co-Publisher Jim Lee.
DC adds that DeConnick and Rocha’s first arc will deal with Aquaman’s issues with his mother, Atlanna.
While DeConnick is best known for her work with Marvel Comics, this is not the first time she has worked for DC. Indeed, she has a graphic novel with artist Phil Jimenez coming out in August as part of DC Comics’ new DC Black Label line. The new book, Wonder Woman: Historia – The Amazons, will reveal the unknown history of the nation of Themyscira and detail how Hippolyta earned her place as the Queen of the Amazons. DeConnick also wrote a brief run on Supergirl in 2011, just before the New 52 revamp of DC Comics’ entire line, as well as a single issue of The Adventures of Superman in 2014.
While DeConnick has not been signed to an exclusive contract, this is still quite the coup for DC Comics. The recruitment of a writer of DeConnick’s status signals a significant shift in the power struggle between the two long-time rivals. DeConnick has an incredibly loyal fan base that will follow her anywhere and a mythological exploration of the ocean cultures of the DC Comics world seems a natural follow-up to the recent events in Abnett’s run that were more politically focused.
