Chris Lemmerman's Reviews > Aquaman, Vol. 1: Unspoken Water

Kelly Sue DeConnick returns to mainstream comics to pen a brand new arc of Aquaman, spinning out of the events of Drowned Earth as Arthur finds himself an amnesiac trapped on an island full of strange men and women with even stranger secrets.

First off, I love that this manages to be both an organic continuation from what came before and a brand new starting point all at the same time. That takes some doing, but DeConnick does it really well. She dives into (pun intended) the mythology of the sea and the gods in interesting ways, crafting a twisty and turny mystery that keeps you guessing right to the end and upends Aquaman's world by the end of it. She also never forgets what's going on back home, and the rare glimpses of Mera are tantalising as well as teasing what's going to happen next.

On art is Robson Rocha, who has really come into his own as part of Rebirth and gets to headline the book here as the main artist. He does some hyper detailed panels, and his big, bombastic action splashes are super great. You can see from his process pages in the back of the trade how talented he is, and I'm glad he's getting the opportunity to show it off on a bigger stage.

Aquaman's new direction is great from start to finish. With DeConnick steering the ship and Rocha at the rudder, the seas have never looked brighter and I can't wait to see where we're heading. Is that enough boat puns? Can I stop now?