[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Dan Abnett
Artist: Riccardo Federici
Summary
“The Crown Comes Down” part 1. With guerrilla style attacks on the Drift, Aquaman and the resistance have begun their efforts to take back Atlantis.
Vulko reminds Aquaman of everything that Corum Rath has done and tries to convince Aquaman to somehow use Vulko’s talents against Rath, despite, the fact that Aquaman does not trust him.
The Widowhood have an agenda all their own and have placed their agents within the resistance to ensure their will is met, they even have an agent that can get close to Aquaman.
It is agreed by the leaders of the resistance that they need more warriors if they are going to retake Atlantis so they reluctantly plant to meet with some of Atlantis’ shady underworld to gain those warriors.
Positives
Riccardo Federici replaces Stjepan Sejic as the artist in this issue. I had concerns going in since Sejic’s artwork was so beautiful and cinematic. But Federici’s style is a surprisingly strong match. You can see the difference in the facial features, but it feels just as cinematic.
In the past arc, I had issues with how much of a defeatist Aquaman was acting, but now we see a much stronger Aquaman here. He acts more like a leader from page one.
The Widowhood gives a great wildcard to the entire war between Rath and Aquaman since we’re not sure what there agenda is or their endgame.
Negatives
As much as I am happy that Aquaman is now a strong figure, I do have a little issue with how one moment he is a weak defeatist and the next moment he is a strong leader. There could have been a more convincing catalyst for that kind of transformation. But regardless, I’m glad we have a stronger Aquaman that is much more suited to lead now.
Verdict
This is a great follow up to the previous arc. Not only does Abnett make Aquaman more like the leader he should be, but the change in artists does not pull the reader out of this world.
An alliance between Aquaman and the resistance with the Mob underworld of Atlantis is an intriguing idea and I look forward to seeing where that goes.
