‘Aquaman #46’ (review)

Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick
Illustrated by Robson Rocha
and Daniel Henriques
Published by DC Comics

We’re at part four of five of DeConnick’s freshman story arc, “Unspoken Water”, which focuses on an amnesiac Aquaman facing Namma, a goddess of the sea bent on destroying all life on the planet.

Her daughter Callie is actually the personification of her deadliest power, Caillech, left to The Village of Unspoken Water to be raised and kept safe.

Now, as Aquaman and Callie square off against Namma on Namma’s Island, her power becomes stronger and Andy (Arthur Curry) starts to fear for his life.

In The Village itself, the wise men and women of the town reach a quorum and reveal themselves to be ancient gods sworn to protect The Ocean.

With Andy and Callie at their weakest against Namma, the assembled crew comes up with a plan of action.

The showdown comes to a head as Namma is able to transform in to a dragon and start to salt the Earth and kill all living things. Our hero, Aquaman, is able to hitch a ride on Namma as she heads out on her evil mission. And though our leading man has forgotten his identity, he’s now able to tap into his power of communicating with all of the sea creatures and reveal himself to Mera and Atlantis as being alive.

Meanwhile, the elder gods of Unknown Water have assembled with a response to Namma’s actions.

This is the first step to restoring Aquaman to remembering who he is, sending out the sonic sonar signal to fish around the globe, visualized here the same war it was in the Super Friends days.

Hopefully this arc wraps up with Arthur reunited with Mera in Atlantis.

The story is moving along now headed for a conclusion that not only restores his memory, but restores Aquaman back to interact with the rest of the Justice League and friends. This has been a good restart but it’s time to bring Arthur home.

Robson Rocha’s art with Daniel Henriques on inks make for fine large scale creatures and dragons. DeConnick has brought in a nautical Game of Thrones element and introduced The New Gods of the Seven Seas in a short amount of time, so we’re happy about these additions to the lore, but perhaps it is time to put Arthur back on the throne.