In this review of Aquaman #3, Arthur searches for answers regarding the disappearance and demolition of his home and family.
Aquaman #3
The Dark Tide, Part 3
Written by: JEREMY ADAMS
Art and Main Cover: JOHN TIMMS
Variant Covers: GAVIN GUIDRY, JENNY FRISON, TULA LOTAY, SWEENEY BOO
Page Count: 32 Pages
Release Date: March 12, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Aquaman #3 takes us back to Arthur’s Childhood and childhood lessons that were being taught by his Father. The first page from and artistic point of view uses some great Birds-eye perspective to show off the beautifully illustrated Lighthouse and picturesque Amnesty Bay.
Aquaman #3 also addresses key parts of information that have so far not been tackled, which in the first instance left the readers asking a lot of questions. Though now having got 3 issues in to this run, I feel that Adam’s is truly setting us up for something great to come later in this arc.
The flashback scenes in this issue address a monstrous problem that arises from a large storm that is blowing in on the coast of Amnesty Bay. Which leads to a great piece of life advice given to Arthur by his Father, which ties in fittingly with the rest of the issue. He turns to Arthur and says “Do you see it now? It Doesn’t matter what other’s say about me…or what others say about you. Sometimes we are called to things…and this is my calling”.
I myself often wondered as a child, what my calling in life would be, because like Arthur my parents too gave me a similar message growing up, everyone has a calling in life or more simply put, everyone has a talent. I feel in this digital age that kids don’t get the opportunity or they lack the drive to want to find these things out about themselves. Hopefully with Adams subliminally adding in a message like this, any younger readers out there picking up this issue continue to try their best at new activities/hobbies until they themselves find their true calling in life. Timms’ great use of facial expression in his artwork during the flashback scenes give you a real sense of how the characters are truly feeling in the moment and within the conversations that they are having.
Between Flashbacks we rejoin Arthur, Arion and The Lady of The Lake who is revealed to actually be named Vivienne. In these scenes we see Arthur, Arion & Vivienne managing to get back to Vivienne’s home where Arion & Vivienne begin crafting a weapon for Arthur to use and harness the power of the Blue. Then halfway through the issue, where Arion begins to educate Arthur on what it is that’s truly going on in the Universe, we are blessed with more beautiful imagery from Timms. His art in this instance is truly awe inspiring, depicting the likes of the early Universe, Galaxies, Green Lantern Central Power Battery and Swamp thing amongst other things. Lokus’ use of colour greatly aids the beauty captured in the art on the page here as it depicts what it is we’re seeing in this somewhat montage styled page.
We are also introduced to the next villain of the Arc who is revealed to be Lord Dagon, who turns out has managed to remove all of the blue from the Universe and converge it all into one part of space where he is now residing. We are at this time also introduced to more new characters but it later turns out that they are familiar to Arthur already, in the way of the the Mercenary Maids. Though they don’t quite turn out to be how he remembered them originally. It is here where we get the pivotal turning point in the issue. Arthur is in trouble. We’ve had a fair bit of story this issue so far which is great as it helped clear up a lot of questions I had from the last couple of issues, such as what I predicted in my previous review of issue #2. I had a feeling that Arthur may be being set up to be the Avatar of the blue and by what has been revealed in this issue that looks as though that is the case. This issue also begins to open up the new avenues for the story to go down in the issues to come.
And with that, Aquaman #3 comes to an end. I feel that Aquaman #3 addresses a lot that was missing from the previous 2 issues, such as where they are and the purpose for being there which is great for the reader. As I mentioned many times throughout the review, the book has great art from cover to cover drawn by the great John Timms, and the colours used by Rex Lokus are simply stunning and appropriate throughout.
Aquaman #3 in particular isn’t quite as fast paced as the previous issues, but with Adams taking the time to elaborate on the story and address things that really did need addressing before people jumped off the title thinking “What is actually going on here?” Though it has to be said that Aquaman #3 still carries a great amount of action throughout and jumping between time and characters really helps with character development of both Arthur and the new Characters we are introduced to in this issue.
The standout feature of this issue for me though, was the inclusion of the subliminal message in this issue, which I feel every story should always have. Absolutely phenomenal issue by all creatives involved, please, please, please keep up the amazing work! Will Arthur come up trumps against Dagon? Will Arion and Vivienne get this special weapon to him in time? We now await the next issue!
