Mera is in shock after her battle with Black Manta. In order to save her, Aquaman must return to Atlantis to get her the medical treatment she needs. Spoilers for Aquaman #57 follow.
Coming off the past couple of issues of giant mech and kaiju fights, Aquaman couldn’t really get much more grandiose. Comics are notorious for continuously raising the stakes issue after issue, so how could Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha do that here? Well, they make the stakes much more personal, that’s how. And those personal stakes make for an engaging, emotional, and chaotic issue that changes the status quo of the series.
This issue entirely hinges on Arthur and Mera’s relationship and getting that right. If that doesn’t come across, then the issue would fall completely flat. DeConnick and Rocha nail their relationship and love for each other on every conceivable level in this issue though. They’ve been through some rough times lately, but that love for each other never left. This is accentuated with the explanation as to how Mera over-exerted herself in the fight against Manta. She did so to protect Arthur. It’s not something explored at all in this issue, there’s no time, but it’s possible that Arthur will feel guilty about this moving forward.
Beyond all that though, this issue really demonstrates how respected that Mera is. Even Orm comes out and praises Mera for how strong she is, which is makes the fact that she’s now in a coma terrifying for both the characters and the audience. The fact alone that the fear for Mera’s life can bring everyone together shows how respected, strong, and potentially fatal that this coma must be. How long will it last? Who knows, but right now, Arthur will have to begin to raise their daughter on his own. His extremely premature daughter (And this isn’t the first time they’ve had a kid either). This should be very interesting moving forward for plenty of different reasons. Plus, we get the first glimpse of Dolphin in a while, alluding to potential future stories as well.
Robson Rocha absolutely kills on this issue as well. This, in fact, may be his best issue on the series to date. Every bit of emotion that needs to be felt is on display throughout the issue, often at the same time. From love to anger to fear to joy, all of it is wonderfully rendered in this issue. Daniel Henriques inks only help to accentuate Rocha’s pencils and help set the tone excellently throughout the issue. My only minor gripe is that the colors by Romulo Fajardo Jr. could have been toned down slightly, but that’s really a nitpick. His colors always look great and consistent, I just feel the issue could’ve benefitted from one shade darker. But hey, I’m not a professional colorist so I could be very wrong.