Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

It is so often the way that a new writer at the helm of what has become a genuine contender in the realm of graphic novel fiction can somehow be seen as a setback in the character’s development or in the way that it is perceived to be heading.

Aquaman had long been seen as a joke by many whose delight in the exploits of all things superhero had kept them reading graphic novels long past the time when many others believe such things should be perhaps lost to a time of childhood and the next generations imagination, not for the adult and the supposed serious. Like many of the New 52 offerings, Aquaman became a force in which D.C. Comics could actually be justifiably be proud and it was in major part to the writing of the celebrated Geoff Johns that this was to finally be realised.

In the fifth volume of Graphic Novels since Aquaman was re-launched under the New 52 banner, Sea Of Storms, the trepidation of a new writer taking over a character and a long running story-line is not only felt with trepidation, a sense of change which might arguably send the development and growth that had been fascinating and well earned, scurrying backwards and become once more entrenched into a backwater of graphic novel heroes.

Jeff Parker doesn’t veer to far from the trusted path laid down by Geoff Johns but there is still the feeling of the absurdly fantastical emanating from within the storyline as Aquaman, Mera and the entrusted Wonder Woman battle beasts that would feel more at home within the pages of the Justice League than in Aquaman.

One excellent aside is the re-introduction into his dry-land community as Arthur Curry, a man to whom the social event of a class reunion holds more fear than battling monsters from the deep dark of the ocean and taking on Gods in a fight to the death. It is into this scene of perceived normality that Arthur Curry and his regal alter-ego fight one of their deadliest battles, the past and the frayed ends of memory, a memory which can lead to truth being distorted and twisted.

Thankfully through these small touches of personal back-story Jeff Parker doesn’t let the story slip too far, the overwhelming urge to put your own stamp onto a character, whilst honourable, nevertheless tempered by obvious respect for what the character has come to represent, a noble addition to the D.C. world and a far cry removed from his early unsettling origins. It is hoped that the overall arc will pick up a pace again as Jeff Parker gets into his stride.

Aquaman: Volume 5, Sea Of Storms is available to purchase from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.