Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Mera Queen of Atlantis #1

By Hervé St-Louis
March 28, 2018 - 21:18

Orm, the Ocean Master, former ruler of Atlantis, and brother of Aquaman hears about the political strife in Altantis and decides to abandon his new surface-world human family to seek the throne he lost. Meanwhile Mera is recuperating from the effects of the Atlantean magic that took away her ability to breathe underwater. As the newly named Queen of Atlantis, how will her path meet that of Orm?

First, comics can be very circular. The theme of Mera losing her ability to breathe underwater is not new and was explored in the Aquaman Sword of Atlantis run by Kurt Busiek in the late 2000s. Then, as now, Mera was Queen of Atlantis but without her powers. To vaguely echo Gail Simone’s work on the matter, why is it that strong and powerful female characters who eclipse their male counterparts often lose crucial powers rendering them much weaker? Is this another case of women in the refrigerator?

The power loss is obviously a set up so that Mera can regain her powers through the course of her own series and show for now, that she is more than a set of powers that topple Aquaman. The whole point of this series is to show how great a character she is and how much potential there is for her. This is something that Geoff Johns started during the Black Lantern event years ago when he invested heavily in building up Mera’s character. She then joined Aquaman’s series and continued to develop as an independent character like never before.

Through Mera’s appearances since Geoff Johns decided to push her forward, we have seen a unique character who is brazen and more aloof than the boring Silver Age princess or the angry Bronze Age divorcee who blamed Arthur Curry for the death of her son. Mera will be a central character in the Aquaman movie later this year so it was high time to give her a series. This is what this series is about.

It starts with the world of Aquaman and his own opponents. So far, even the supporting characters are from Aquaman’s series. The very conflict of this series centers around Aquaman’s world. We have not seen an independent Mera yet with her own villains and challenges. This issue is a setup and as I wrote above, Mera is weak and severely depowered. This formula has worked many times to give challenges to characters and help redefine them. I don’t know it this will work with this series. It could all unravel and go either way.

On the visual side, Mera got solid artwork but not the best she could have gotten. Lan Medina is a solid artist and the inks by Richard Friend are competent. But there is nothing compelling or unique about their work. It is standard comic art which does the job but does not redefine the character. This is a missed opportunity.

I like Mera a lot and am confident that Dan Abnett has her best interests, but the series is a bit formulaic and does not take enough chances with a character who could easily escape the shadow of Aquaman.

Rating: 8 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12