Aquaman #45 Review
Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick
Art by Robson Rocha
Inking by Daniel Henriques
Colouring by Sunny Gho
Lettering by Clayton Cowles
This was a big surprise. I'll be honest: I wasn't terribly fond of this run before this issue, and I was very impressed with this effort by the team. This is more or less what I expected when Kelly Sue DeConnick was announced to write this book.
I will say that the issue-to-issue progression seems to be intentionally vague. Following the ending of the last issue, where we saw Arthur drowned by some crazy gods and his eyes turning yellow, he's just hanging out on the beach, found by Callie. I wish we'd have a more cohesive story but DeConnick is clearly quickly moving on.
Other than that, this issue was certainly a ride. There's clearly a big push to introduce and expand on the DC's overall mythology. We meet a new mythological figure, Namma, who's been teased throughout this entire run so far. We learn of her origins and how exactly the Earth came to be. DeConnick points out that many of our various mythologies seem to have some events in common, and it seems that she is presenting a definitive version, at least for this comic book world. It's pretty interesting and is typically mythological, but in a good way. She's channeling some combination of Jack Kirby and Jason Aaron, if that's even possible. The flashback scenes are intercut with Arthur and Callie making their way to Namma. These aren't particularly eventful and really only exist so we can get to the ending that seems pretty exciting.
The true star of the show here is the art team; Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques, and Sunny Gho. I really admired their work on the previous issues but here they simply level up. The scale is enormous, the storytelling is clear despite of this, and the double-page spreads are simply beautiful. I've read a lot of Rocha's comics, and this is by far the work of his career. Massive, mythological storytelling with amazing colours to boot by Gho. This was just perfect, artistically.
Oddly enough, there isn't much to discuss here aside from how amazing the art is and how wide in scope the plot is. If DeConnick can continue with this momentum, then we should have something special on our hands.
Art by Robson Rocha
Inking by Daniel Henriques
Colouring by Sunny Gho
Lettering by Clayton Cowles
This was a big surprise. I'll be honest: I wasn't terribly fond of this run before this issue, and I was very impressed with this effort by the team. This is more or less what I expected when Kelly Sue DeConnick was announced to write this book.
I will say that the issue-to-issue progression seems to be intentionally vague. Following the ending of the last issue, where we saw Arthur drowned by some crazy gods and his eyes turning yellow, he's just hanging out on the beach, found by Callie. I wish we'd have a more cohesive story but DeConnick is clearly quickly moving on.
Other than that, this issue was certainly a ride. There's clearly a big push to introduce and expand on the DC's overall mythology. We meet a new mythological figure, Namma, who's been teased throughout this entire run so far. We learn of her origins and how exactly the Earth came to be. DeConnick points out that many of our various mythologies seem to have some events in common, and it seems that she is presenting a definitive version, at least for this comic book world. It's pretty interesting and is typically mythological, but in a good way. She's channeling some combination of Jack Kirby and Jason Aaron, if that's even possible. The flashback scenes are intercut with Arthur and Callie making their way to Namma. These aren't particularly eventful and really only exist so we can get to the ending that seems pretty exciting.
The true star of the show here is the art team; Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques, and Sunny Gho. I really admired their work on the previous issues but here they simply level up. The scale is enormous, the storytelling is clear despite of this, and the double-page spreads are simply beautiful. I've read a lot of Rocha's comics, and this is by far the work of his career. Massive, mythological storytelling with amazing colours to boot by Gho. This was just perfect, artistically.
Oddly enough, there isn't much to discuss here aside from how amazing the art is and how wide in scope the plot is. If DeConnick can continue with this momentum, then we should have something special on our hands.
A Look Inside
