AQUAMAN: ANDROMEDA

Release the kraken!

RELEASED OUT NOW! Publisher DC Black Label

Writer Ram V

Artist Christian Ward

Cosmic Horror is not a genre you’d normally associate with DC’S underwater superhero Aquaman, but this three-issue miniseries does a spirited job of exploring the weirder depths of the deep sea.

The story is centred on an experimental submarine that’s sent into an isolated area of the Pacific Ocean called Point Nemo, in order to find a mysterious and potentially alien spacecraft. As the submarine’s crew encounter strange terrors and monstrous kraken, aquatic hero Arthur Curry and his nemesis Black Manta also home in on the mysterious alien craft, but much of the resulting thriller feels like it could easily have functioned as a completely standalone tale.

Writer Ram V conjures up a powerful sense of foreboding, as well as making the titular character feel genuinely strange and mysterious. There’s strong suspense storytelling here, and the script delves into each of the characters in interesting and satisfying ways, although the story’s influences are a little too obvious (especially the major debt owed to 1997 horror Event Horizon), and the first two issues’ build-up ends up feeling stronger than issue three’s pay-off.

Christian Ward’s stunning art gives the series a sumptuous visual style. He’s always had a wildly distinctive, borderline psychedelic approach to panel structures and colours, and here he pulls off some gorgeously lurid work, aided by the larger pages of Black Label’s Prestige format. Andromeda is definitely a distinctive and unique take on DC’S aquatic adventurer, but it’s Ward’s jaw-dropping visuals that push it into remarkable territory. Saxon Bullock

Andromeda’s location, Point Nemo, is a real place in the Pacific used as a dumping ground for rockets and spacecraft.