Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Aquaman #10

By Hervé St-Louis
November 8, 2016 - 13:56

One of the Nerid seer sees Xebel blood in the future of Atlantis and the world if Mera marries Aquaman. But Mera will have none of this and wants to rescue Aquaman who collapse on land after his fight with the Shaggy Man. Will the Nerid’s prophecy become reality?

On the way to hero’s journey is that of his consort. Super hero featuring co-stars of male heroes who are heroines themselves have always been difficult to balance. On one hand, you have the Hawkgirls of the world who are equals of their male counterparts and can have their own comics. On the other side, you have the female love interest with no power but whose presence defines the hero.

And then you have Mera; physically more powerful than Aquaman but always treated as a trophy who is not worthy of being a Justice Leaguer but who at the same time is as regal. And for years, Aquaman operated without Mera. They married, divorced, got back together. She was ill-defined for decades, until Geoff Johns expanded her personality and what she meant to Arthur (Aquaman) in Blackest Night.

Since, Mera has been revived as a viable character who more so than Aquaman is a fish out of water. Dan Abnett continues to play with Mera the way Johns did, showing what an incredible character she really is and how she can act alone. Yet this storyline and the prophecy of Mera’s madness is directlty related to Aquaman. So in a sense, Mera has not quite grown up, like Hawkgirl or even Lois Lane.

My fear, regardless of the excellent quality of this issue, is that Mera will be turned into Jean Grey, or another Dark Phoenix and become mad with power, since she so easily can best Aquaman. It is the way that Abnett seems to be exploring the fact that Mera is much more powerful than Aquaman. There are too many clichés of powerful heroines becoming crazy and having to be downgraded or controlled for their own good. I hope that Mera, who has been portrayed as mad in the past, does not follow this trend.

I still have hope for Mera and like how Brad Walker drew her this issue. His Mera is both beautiful and dynamic. An important aspect of his Mera is that she has real human proportions. Another aspect is how to draw underwater scenes and land ones. He excels at both. I would argue that his underwater scenes have also improved, particularly since Mera’s hair actually looks like it’s in water in this issue. It wasn’t always the case in earlier issues.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12