Aquamen #6: Next Comes the Response

Aquamen #6 picks up after the fighting has ended and the plot by Ocean Master has been defeated. Serving as both the final issue in the mini and the epilogue to the events of the series, the sixth issue cements what the status quo of the Aquaman family is as the DC universe makes its descent into the recently retitled Dark Crisis of Infinite Earths. 

Brandon Thomas and Chuck Brown anchor the story in the interpersonal fallout of the series. Mera and Arthur Curry are forced to reevaluate the secrets of Atalantis that are opening between them. Jackson and his father start to find some peace. But Jackson still is trying to determine how to fulfill the duties of Aquaman despite the anger and capacity for brutality that he inherited from his father. While there is political fallout that shares page space it is quickly overshadowed by the not so surprise ending as Aquamen leads into the already in progress DC event Dark Crisis of Infinite Earths.

While the art of Max Raynor and colors of Adriano Lucas are able to hit the emotional marks while the characters deal with the aftermath of the past five issues, it is in the final pages that they shine. With limited panel space and no dialogue, it is the art that needs to deliver the grief of each character while they learn the fate of the Justice League. It is in the silence of those two pages that art allows for the impact of the characters’ loss to sink in.