Queen Of The Seven Seas! Mera Appreciation 2020

[Flash Gordon]

I really wish Mendonca and DeConnick were still doing more issues.

Same here, man.

Or, on the topic of art I'd love- Riccardo Federici doing more Mera and Arthur. Man that was some rad art at the tail end of Abnett's run. Captured that vibe that Sejic was going for (but didn't capture IMO). His work on LAST GOD has been killer, too.

[Robanker]

Same here, man.

Or, on the topic of art I'd love- Riccardo Federici doing more Mera and Arthur. Man that was some rad art at the tail end of Abnett's run. Captured that vibe that Sejic was going for (but didn't capture IMO). His work on LAST GOD has been killer, too.

His art really played into fantasy. You could just hear Zeppelin reading that book.

[Flash Gordon]

His art really played into fantasy. You could just hear Zeppelin reading that book.

It's not something I'd want always (much prefer sci-fi elements in AQUAMAN), but for a big bombastic story it rocks your socks ya know?

Sometimes you just gotta tear down a tyrant king with some friends.

[Robanker]

It's not something I'd want always (much prefer sci-fi elements in AQUAMAN), but for a big bombastic story it rocks your socks ya know?

Sometimes you just gotta tear down a tyrant king with some friends.

Ah, yes. I remember last Sunday the boys and I saddled up to do just that. Great weekend. :P

...

That legit might just be a thought Arthur's had. Hah.

But yeah, Federici brought some goddamn majesty to the book. Real sight to behold. And we did. For $3.99 a month. God, I love comics.

[Goldrake]

mera.jpg

Classic Mera from the latest issue,

Aquafans have been waiting to read her calling Arthur as husband and referring to a child of theirs.

[Robanker]

mera.jpg

Classic Mera from the latest issue,

Aquafans have been waiting to read her calling Arthur as husband and referring to a child of theirs.

Feels good, man. Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

[Frontier]

mera.jpg

Classic Mera from the latest issue,

Aquafans have been waiting to read her calling Arthur as husband and referring to a child of theirs.

Sounds good to hear .

So she's back to the late Abnett-era costume, then...?

[Goldrake]

Sounds good to hear .

So she's back to the late Abnett-era costume, then...?

seems so, Its the best suit. Honestly I hated the one they gave her when she was pregnant and not because of the sash. WTF is she wearing?
meraxebel.jpg

[Frontier]

seems so, Its the best suit. Honestly I hated the one they gave her when she was pregnant and not because of the sash. WTF is she wearing?
meraxebel.jpg

I was happy when it looked like her Reis look was coming back, but that seemed short-lived.

[MosSuperman]

KSD Aquaman run being promoted in Mera's Appreciation thread. The disrespect.

[Robanker]

KSD Aquaman run being promoted in Mera's Appreciation thread. The disrespect.

You mean the one where she was a monarch that actually commanded respect in Atlantis and forced it into a new age rather than allow it to betray its monarch and repeat the same cycle it's been in for 80 years?

Perhaps the one where she manipulated the political powers of Atlantis to get what she wanted despite their best efforts?

Or the run where she took on a gigantic Black Manta mech designed to kill Aquaman and crafted to do so by Lex Luthor?

No, wait, I think you mean the one where Mera was able to do all that and still get Arthur to marry her and their baby born without Manta or editorial screwing the pooch.

Yeah, her run wasn't perfect, but Mera was pretty damn-well respected throughout. The only real disrespect was that awful Jean Grey Phoenix with sash costume she had to wear during most of it.

I would argue Arthur himself got the runaround harder in that run. Yeah, Mera lost her temper and accidentally killed Arthur, but I wouldn't say that was disrespecting her so much as him. She's been written as capable of great rage since Blackest Night and he literally tried to leave her (from her perspective) when she told him she's pregnant. She also immediately regretted losing her cool and was deeply hurt over what her anger brought out of her. Her character was respected throughout.

[Frontier]

Her "Royal We" phase was short-lived but kind of weird.

[Goldrake]

You mean the one where she was a monarch that actually commanded respect in Atlantis and forced it into a new age rather than allow it to betray its monarch and repeat the same cycle it's been in for 80 years?

Perhaps the one where she manipulated the political powers of Atlantis to get what she wanted despite their best efforts?

Or the run where she took on a gigantic Black Manta mech designed to kill Aquaman and crafted to do so by Lex Luthor?

No, wait, I think you mean the one where Mera was able to do all that and still get Arthur to marry her and their baby born without Manta or editorial screwing the pooch.

Yeah, her run wasn't perfect, but Mera was pretty damn-well respected throughout. The only real disrespect was that awful Jean Grey Phoenix with sash costume she had to wear during most of it.

I would argue Arthur himself got the runaround harder in that run. Yeah, Mera lost her temper and accidentally killed Arthur, but I wouldn't say that was disrespecting her so much as him. She's been written as capable of great rage since Blackest Night and he literally tried to leave her (from her perspective) when she told him she's pregnant. She also immediately regretted losing her cool and was deeply hurt over what her anger brought out of her. Her character was respected throughout.

I totally agree.

However to be honest that her killing him, was dumb. It was the moment she lost fans. Just took a look at the sales of her run, that killing took place in the 7th issue of her run, till that issue, fans had been on board. We cannot say they did not give her a chance.
After that issue, sales started to drop issue after issue and it never recovered. It fell from 30k to 15k over the months. Lowest point was reached with the Aqualad solo fillers with 12k(lowest ever for an Aquaman book) but that wasn't KSD writing them.
Another valid point many made, that following that 7th issue, KSD prolonged too much their estrangement. She could have resolved it earlier. That gave the impression that she had no intention to do it.

I loved her run but honestly it had flaws.

[MosSuperman]

You mean the one where she was a monarch that actually commanded respect in Atlantis and forced it into a new age rather than allow it to betray its monarch and repeat the same cycle it's been in for 80 years?

Perhaps the one where she manipulated the political powers of Atlantis to get what she wanted despite their best efforts?

Or the run where she took on a gigantic Black Manta mech designed to kill Aquaman and crafted to do so by Lex Luthor?

No, wait, I think you mean the one where Mera was able to do all that and still get Arthur to marry her and their baby born without Manta or editorial screwing the pooch.

Yeah, her run wasn't perfect, but Mera was pretty damn-well respected throughout. The only real disrespect was that awful Jean Grey Phoenix with sash costume she had to wear during most of it.

I would argue Arthur himself got the runaround harder in that run. Yeah, Mera lost her temper and accidentally killed Arthur, but I wouldn't say that was disrespecting her so much as him. She's been written as capable of great rage since Blackest Night and he literally tried to leave her (from her perspective) when she told him she's pregnant. She also immediately regretted losing her cool and was deeply hurt over what her anger brought out of her. Her character was respected throughout.

Abnett put her as queen and then KSD had Mera give a speech at the end and that was it. You act like this was some master plan, big brain type of move. And a plan that was going to fail. She lost control of the situation fast and got herself captured. Nothing to rave about. I'd actually like to see her do things besides talk down the widowhood (forgot their name). Is that is what you meant by commanding respect and manipulating?

Next time we see her, she took down Black Manta with Jackson's help then fainted. Sure she was pregnant but Spider-Woman didn't have a problem. I guess you and I have different standards.

She almost killed Arthur and it made her look mentally unstable. Plain and simple. You're supposed to move characters going forward, not move them in circles. This just gives writers the excuse to have Mera lose control when the plot demands it. So no, I don't see how KSD respected her.

[Robanker]

I totally agree.

However to be honest that her killing him, was dumb. It was the moment she lost fans. Just took a look at the sales of her run, that killing took place in the 7th issue of her run, till that issue, fans had been on board. We cannot say they did not give her a chance.
After that issue, sales started to drop issue after issue and it never recovered. It fell from 30k to 15k over the months. Lowest point was reached with the Aqualad solo fillers with 12k(lowest ever for an Aquaman book) but that wasn't KSD writing them.
Another valid point many made, that following that 7th issue, KSD prolonged too much their estrangement. She could have resolved it earlier. That gave the impression that she had no intention to do it.

I loved her run but honestly it had flaws.

Yeah I wasn't crazy about it, but I'd take the word of a mother that hearing that from the love of your life and future babydaddy would make a woman feel murderous rage. I don't think she intended to make Mera look entirely sympathetic there, but she's a woman with some anger issues put in an extremely stressful situation while pregnant. It would be very strange if she was 100% rational and stopped to ask why he felt leaving was the appropriate response and if she should be concerned. She came across as having a very human moment that ended really, really badly. I didn't love it, but I also didn't read it and think "well that's character assassination" aside from, well, Arthur getting killed. Honestly, of the two of them, Arthur was the one out of character for me in that moment in his needing to bail to process what just happened. I always assumed Arthur would be excited by that news, but he does have abandonment issues and Atlantis routinely tries to kill him so perhaps he would be worried about bringing a son that Atlantis would be predisposed to hating since he would be the heir to the throne.


I agree entirely her run had some flaws, but it still remains a favorite and I think she did a great job. People were so worried about Arthur/Mera getting split but she went on numerous podcasts and said "I'm doing the Odyssey for them, they get back together" and her intent was to focus on Arthur alone to further characterize him because she worried that Mera was so well-defined she made Arthur a sidekick in his own book. You can disagree (and I kind of do), which is fine, but she knew what she was doing. I know that's not explicitly in the book, but that's just the nature of storytelling; you can't give up the ghost on your endgame. It was really clear to me (again, I know the Odyssey a bit too well I guess) that she was playing the court because she knew Arthur was alive and he'd find his way back to her. I was interested in how they'd reunite and after over a year of King Rath, I guess I was more patient than most.