Mera-Tidebreaker: Teen Angst Under the Waves

If you blended the vibes of say Ultimate Spider-Man and Mulan this is more or less what you would get. It’s a cool take on an origin we’ve seen before but never truly in depth. Danielle Page does a great job making the characters both young and old relatable to the reader despite the age of whoever is reading Tidebreaker. As a grumpy old man and big fan of Mera this was excellent to see, in an age where teen friendly books typically skip over solid writing for the sake of lolz this book takes the higher road.

It captures that feeling we all have had of wanting to be independent while also wanting to be respected by our elders. It’s a conflicting and confusing time most teens/ young adults go through that at times just makes zero sense to us despite us all going through it. Add to that themes of young love and craving adventure and so on, we’re left with either a potentially engaging tale or some tryhard nonsense that will make your inner angsty self roll it’s invisible eyes. Luckily enough for us Tidebreaker nails all the right notes as it goes along.

The relationship between Arthur and Mera develops at a brisk but still natural feeling pace and avoids getting overly dramatic or cheesy. So much so that I’d have to say this might be one of the better portrayals of the two of them falling for each other. In fact as I read through it I found myself wondering why this story was used out of proper continuity, barring a few minor details (like Aquaman being a brunette) I could find no real reason why this story would be a bad fit in canon.

That being said I did find it humourous to see the Xebel youth acting and dressing so similar to water breathing teen hipsters considering the differences in their respective cultures, but it still didn’t take away from the story. Add to that Stephen Byrne’s unique art style in particular his color palette choices and how amazingly it fits the tone of the writing and overall vibe they’re going for and Tidebreaker is a solid OGN to introduce new readers to Mera as well as a fun read for older fans of the character.