Mera: Queen of Atlantis #1 –
DC Comics
DC Comics
Written by Dan Abnett
Art by Lan Medina (Pencils) & Richard Friend (Inks)
Colors by Vero Gandini
Letters by Simon Bowland
Cover by Nicola Scott & Romulo Fajardo
At one point or another in your childhood, you were either told or believed that you could be anything that you wanted to be. At the very least, you had SOME choices you could make to decide your own fate. Now imagine that was taken away from you, and that everything was decided for you from the moment you were born. Being royalty may not sound like a bad thing, but there is a bit more to it beneath the ocean. We dive in to the world of Mera: Queen of Atlantis.
Before you give me a hard time about my bringing my puns into written form, I’ll have you know there are a few worked into this book (intentional or not, they’re there.) Now onto the book itself, which is about Mera dealing with the aftermath of what is happening in the main Aquaman run. I will not spoil that for you, but it would help to at least have read up to about Issue 30 for context. We get to find out a bit about Mera’s past, and this book really gets inside her head. It’s not just about the conflict on the outside world, there is one in her own head as well. Don’t get me wrong, there is action too, but that is not the main focus of this story. I was even more surprised to find out that there is a whole other story going on in this book, dealing with a VERY familiar character. Again, not something I’ll spoil for you, but I will tell you that their presence could lead to a huge change in the larger story going forward.
One thing that really struck me while reading this story was, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Mera and Wonder Woman are really more alike than you would think. It was refreshing to not just focus on Mera the warrior in this story. We also get to see Mera the diplomat, and quite simply, Mera the everyday woman who also has desires of her own. The emotions of this book serve as a subtle reminder of simple little things that we can take for granted sometimes. I will confess, when I saw Nicola Scott’s art on the cover, I was really hoping she would be doing the interior art as well. Then I saw the amazing work done by Medina and Friend, and it felt like I was part of a master class in comic book art. What I’d really love to do is shout from the tallest lighthouse all of the spoilers from this book, but that wouldn’t be fair to you, the reader. So I will just say that this, what we have her is a Mera story that could end up being what we as fans have wanted all along. I’m really hoping to see that trend continue.
RATING: PULL / BUY