Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Special #1: Remember Arthur Curry

With three stories in this 64 page issue, the events within will in some way shape or form hold relevancy into the new Aquaman movie coming out this month.

In the first story, “Changing Tides,” written by Tim Seeley, depicts Aquaman’s wedding and the chaos that surrounds it. During a Wayne Foundation Science and Technology Conference, Aquaman, along with Wonder Woman and the Flash, take down an armored group who speak against the Justice League. The group immediately opens fire on the three members, with the Flash revealing that the group is made up of disgraced marines who were dabbling with classified information. He also reveals there’s a metabomb in place somewhere.

Somewhere in the Hudson River, there’s a man and a woman in a submarine with the same armor as those at the conference who feel the impact as Aquaman hurls said weapon into the lake. The man crawls out of the river’s depth, only to mourn for his companion, Scylla.

Back at Atlantis, Aquaman’s fiancée, Mera is expressing to him her worries about how him being in the Justice League puts them in the crosshairs of villains. Their discussion doesn’t get far, as Mera disappears.

In Roanoke, Virginia, Scylla captures the marines who failed he first mission. He recruits them to fight against Aquaman, to gain revenge for his lost companion. He turns one of the marines into a half-shark human , convincing all of them that he’s the real deal when it comes to taking down Aquaman.

At the wedding, Mera is worried Arthur isn’t going to show, but the wedding takes a turn for the worst when an army of sea creature, human hybrids attack the Atlantean guards. As soon as the attacks start, Arthur shows up and fights alongside his fiancé and the guard. He grabs a hold of the shark hybrid, and being able to talk to sea-creatures, manages to get the truth out of it. The shark reveals that Charybdis, the man who survived in the Hudson River, was behind the attack.

The earth shakes, with the steam fields that power Atlantis being troubled. Aquaman dives to the vents and meets Charybdis. The two fight it out with Charybdis being convinced that Aquaman never thinks about others and that he took the love of his life away. Aquaman delivers a powerful blow that fractures Charybdis, making him retreat out of the sea.

The final panels of the story show Aquaman and Mera’s wedding being a small one held on the beach.

Miguel Mendonca’s art stands out in this story, not just suiting Atlantis and the characters that hail from the fictional city, but also suit the likes of Wonder Woman and the Flash with very alive feel.