Review: Mera - Queen of Atlantis #1 (of 6)

It has become clear for lots of people, that Mera, for whatever reason, has enjoyed a sense of popularity that far outshines that of her more famous husband, Aquaman.Â I have to say, I am not sure why.Â Sure, she is normally drawn great, check out Stejpan Sejic’s art in the main Aquaman book as an example; yes she has a great power set and yes she is seenÂ a strong female character.

This mini-series follows on from the main book; Mera has been magically injured, having lost her ability to breathe under water, or use her aqua-kinetics all that well.Â So now would be a good time to keep a low profile right?Â Unfortunately, there is no rest for the not-so-wicked as she is on hand to save Amnesty Bay from attack.Â During the battle we see just how badly she is injured and how much she has lost.Â Over in Holly Beach, Orm, having carved out a life for himself, begins to feel the pull of the waves, threatening to rip him from his idyllic landlocked life of love and family.

Dan Abnett has been doing great things recently with these characters.Â So it makes sense that he is called upon to further extend Mera’s journey from assassin-to-consort-to wife-to Queen.Â With such a complicated back story, Abnett takes the opportunity to give a recap, which is great for new readers, but less essential for older fans.Â In addition, having Orm, the big bad in the book so far, bookend the issue gives the impression that this is more his story rather than Mera’s.Â For a character that is a strong female lead, Mera always seems toÂ need a male character to define her.Â The writing is well paced, history lesson aside, with recent troubles for the fish out of water characters (yes, I went there!) having a level of ramifications for all involved, with the interaction between Mera and the Secretary of State being probably the main thrust of problems to come.

Lan Medina is an artist that I am unfamiliar with.Â Here, with various changes of pace to contend with, Medina clearly shows that he more comfortable with the action scenes.Â As Mera has a certain appeal, Medina manages to position her accordingly with the minimum of “broken back syndrome”.Â Unfortunately for Medina, there are other aspects to this issue.Â Whilst his works really shines on Orm’s story, when it comes to members of theÂ Justice League and other characters, including Mera herself, the facesÂ become a littleÂ bland.Â Indeed, I can understand why you wouldn’t want to drawÂ Wonder Woman well, if the idea is to accentuate Mera, but why thenÂ fail when it comes to Mera’s face?Â Richard Friend helps out with the inks, giving the locations used in the book a lived in feel that is further embellished by Vero Gandini’s colors.Â Of course, one of the biggest selling points of the book is the gorgeous art ofÂ Nicola Scott on covers, which whilst certainly stands out on the comic rack, will alsoÂ serve to show what we could have had, if DC had managed to acquire Nicola’s skill for the internal art.

With Mera riding the tide of huge popularity, the time to strike out on her own book is definitely now.Â It will be interesting to see how this mini series ebb and flows and hopefully doesn’t leave one of DC’s iconic female characters floundering.

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Colors – 3.5 Stars

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Written by; Dan Abnett
Art by; Lan Medina & Richard Friend
Colors by; Vero Gandini
Published by; DC Comics

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network