Aquaman #14 – Jeremy Adams, Writer; Daniel Bayliss, Artist; Rex Lokus, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: For the last few issues, ever since Arthur returned from Dagon’s realm, it was clear something was very wrong. He had lost Mera, and Andy was now an adult – one who was behaving very oddly and menacingly when her father wasn’t looking. But it’s now clear that it goes far deeper than that. Andy is actually still a little girl, along with her very much alive mother trapped in a realm below the sea – and the Andy we know is actually someone else entirely. That would be Lollana, a dark sorceress and the mother of Mera, whose exile from Atlantis began the entire cycle of revenge that’s unraveling now. When she protested against the King of Atlantis, she was arrested for treason – but her sorcerer father negotiated for her to be sent into exile instead. That would become the realm of Xebel, where she and other rebels were sent – and where she met the dark god Dagon for the first time.
Her obsession led her to cut a deal with the God, and she was transformed into stone to await her revenge. We saw a lot of this from Mera’s perspective last issue, but now we see just how obsessed Lollana is, and how far she’s willing to go to avenge her banishment generations later. She targets the new council Arthur has formed, imprisoning his allies, and even sends an assassin after Mera to ambush her and Nereus in the deep. There are some dark and emotional scenes in this issue, even before Arthur is able to confront his “daughter” and discover the disturbing truth about her. This sets off a brutal battle for survival, as Arthur quickly discovers just how much power she’s assembled – and Mera discovers how far her mother is truly willing to go. Jeremy Adams is getting ready to set up a big new status quo, titled “Emperor Aquaman”, and it all begins here.
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