With their baby on the way, Aquaman and Mera’s story takes a step back to just right after their engagement. Spoilers for Aquaman #56 follow.
At first glance, this issue seems like nothing more than a filler issue between the end of one grandiose story and the next. When I started reading this issue, I still thought that in fact. This is why you don’t automatically judge a book by its cover or its premise though. Even though this issue isn’t written by regular Aquaman scribe Kelly Sue DeConnick or drawn by Robson Rocha, this is a pretty impactful issue to read. It dives deep into the relationship between Arthur and Mera and ties into their current life in such a great way.
As mentioned, this issue is, on its most basic level, a filler issue and it’s written by Kyle Higgins and drawn by Aaron Lopresti. There are plenty of filler issues that exist that truly are not good and they often have a bad stigma against them. This issue takes that assumption and throws into the trash where it belongs and delivers an issue worthy of the rest of Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha’s run so far.
What this issue does so well is dive headfirst into Arthur and Mera’s relationship. Setting it right after their engagement and before their falling out, it allows for an exploration of the two that is necessary. Necessary to understand the characters on a deeper level and necessary to build on the current story being told. Much of this issue is dedicated not to the super-heroics of two, more on that later, but just to them as people, specifically about their family. This feels like a very authentic character piece about Arthur and Mera regarding a future family and children, which is something that few comics truly do. And because of the authentic character work with the two, it makes the current story of Mera’s pregnancy feel much more impactful.
As for the more traditional comic stuff in this issue, it’s ok. Not great, but ok. It’s always fun to see the Trench return in some capacity. Plus, there’s a new wrinkle added into the mythology, but otherwise, it doesn’t really do much for the story.
Lopresti’s art is fantastic in this issue as well and it really brings home how impactful the dialogue is supposed to be. He captures the emotions of both Aquaman and Mera so well, which really captures the love the two have for each other. And even though the Trench sequences aren’t the best story-wise, his art in those scenes are great. He captures the terrifying nature of the Trench incredibly well, effectively creating solid horror elements in this issue.
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