Aquaman, Vol. 5: The Crown Comes Down

Aquaman (2016)

by Dan Abnett, Riccardo Federici (Illustrator), Phillip Kennedy Johnson

A new era for Aquaman continues here, as Arthur Curry attempts to reclaim his crown in AQUAMAN VOL. 5!

Arthur joins forces with his new ally Dolphin, his loyal frenemy Vulko and the love of his life, Mera, to rally the underworld of Atlantis and end the reign of the nefarious King Rath! But even as Rath doubles his efforts to destroy "the Aquaman," dangerous new enemies begin to emerge from unexpected places...some vying for the throne themselves!

The critically acclaimed creative team of Dan Abnett (Annihilation) and Stjepan Sejic (Sunstone, Death Vigil) continue remaking the mythology of Aquaman's world in this new saga mixing science fiction, fantasy and superheroics. Collects issues #31-33 and Aquaman Annual: Crownspire #1.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Comic Book

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2018

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I was a tad nervous that they were going to try and insert Dolphin in as Aquaman's love interest. And maybe that might still happen at some point, but it was a relief to see Arthur and Mera still going strong throughout volume 5.



I'm going to try not to ruin anything from this volume, but if you haven't read the last one?
Warning: Potential Spoilers for the previous volume.



Ok, so Aquaman is still pretending to be a ghost and channeling Batman in his vigilante crusade to clean up the mean streets of Atlantis, one bad guy at a time. Dolphin is still trying to convince him to get involved in the rebellion and take back his crown...with mixed results. And Mera is still fighting for her life in King Shark's turf now that she can't breathe underwater, due to some magic that backfired on her.



So who's gonna emerge as champion in this epic fight for the crown - Arthur or Rath?
Or is there another contender behind door number three?!



The one-shot at the end, Aquaman Annual: Crownspire #1 had a familiar feel to it, and after looking at some of my friends' reviews I found out that it was a homage to Alan Moore's old Superman story that had been turned into a Justice League Unlimited episode - which is where I remembered it from.
Oh, so bittersweet!



I can't wait to see how this all pans out!
Definitely Recommended.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but good continuation of the last volume Underground. A three issue arc where Aquaman has to bring down the dome trapping everyone in Atlantis. I love the Game of Thrones approach to the book and the wilder character designs giving the book more of an alien, underwater look. There's also a stand alone story that we've seen a few times before, originally in a famous Superman story by Alan Moore, For the Man Who Has Everything.

I enjoyed Riccardo Federici's art in the regular issues. He has a classical look to his art. Max Fiumara's art in the annual however is terrible. He draws everyone with these long giraffe necks so they look like E.T. when he cranes his head.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not so enchanted with the shift in art styles, and King Shark's decision to side with Our Hero honestly made zero sense... Plus, the Crownspire story was an embarrassing rehash of For the Man Who Has Everything, definitely major points deducted there.



Still, I'm digging on the Aquaman series as a whole, and definitely hyped for the movie trailer dropping on Saturday!


(OK, couldn't resist...)

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super short volume but pretty damn fun.

So Aquaman needs help taking the throne back. He goes to the Ninth, which are basically the ghettos of the underwater world, and ask for help. King Shark, which if you don't know about, is pretty much a big fucking talking shark, says nah bro we good. But then Aquaman goes to fight anyway because Mara is dying and he needs to take it, to break the spell, before she dies. So the war begins. Then we also have a one shot story of Aquaman and Mara much older living with their son in a perfect style world but we all know that can't be true...a what if almost style story.

Good: I think the art is fantastic. Like so damn good. My boy does his job. The pacing in this volume is perfect. Very quick and fun and the ending leads up to both Mara's solo mini-series and more aquaman love. The one shot, while I have issues, is actually pretty well done and I feel really bad for their life of the queen and king.

Bad: The art in the one shot is really bad in my opinion. Hard to take a lot of serious moments seriously.

Overall this was pretty great. It mostly is thanks to the fantastic art of the main story and of course the pacing a lot quicker than the start of this series. Hope it keeps up. A 3.5 out of 5, but I'll bump it to a 4.

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thing that I took away from this book is that changing the artist halfway through a book is really jarring. This something that both Marvel and DC do as they plan books by issues rather than by trade. In the case of this book, it starts out with a really beautiful, colored-pencil-like, realistic style. About 2/3 of the way in, it switches to a much more cartoony style. It kind of breaks the mood when that sort of thing happens. I believe that the second part is a side story since it is about a totally different event, but it isn't marked as so in the book as you are reading, so it's a bit confusing. Anyway, the stories are fine.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story continues with the intrigue of prior volumes, but the resolution is muted and unclear - sure, the crown comes down, but I still don't know how. And the final annual volume tacked on at the end is bizarrely drawn to the point of distraction.

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lightning strikes twice!!! This is the most amazing turnaround I've read in a while.

World: The art is great, I love that since the last arc with Sejic and now with Federici the world under the sea is dark but full of beautiful cold colors and debris. The splash pages and the redesign of the characters and tone is just simply amazing. The world building is also very solid. Since Arthur lost his Throne and is in the lower levels the world building has been amazing. It's underwater 'Game of Thrones' as it should be. All the pieces here are great, from the sisterhood, to the gangs to the lower levels and the library it's all wonderful. This is the world I wanted when DC did a Rebirth Aquaman book.

Story: The Annual has all the feels. It's a story that has been done before, the premise and the villain has been done so many times and by so many heroes that it's a cliche. That being said this single issue with it's great pacing and wonderful art was so very emotionally strong that it really moved me. Then there is the three issue arc with 'The Crown Comes Down' which is paced well, small and contained and all the pieces and characters are written well and internally logical. I like how Abnett is taking his time with this new status quo for Arthur, he's finally really allowing the world to breath. I really like this...I know the art is different after this arc and it's brighter again...NO!!! But please keep this tone going. It's so good.

Characters: Arthur is done well, he's smarter and less overwhelmed compared to the start of Rebirth. He has a large arc this time and so does Mera, so very very good. The other characters are also done well, they have time to breath, from the sister to the Vulko to even the little bit of the surface it's really solid and detailed.

I really love this new direction for Aquaman, please please keep this up Abnett! He's turned the book around and I'm astounded.

Onward to the next book!

*read individual issues*

[Cisz Geverink - Strasters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geweldige serie, toffe artwork!

[Dr Rashmit Mishra · Rating 3 out of 5]

So we are still continuing the whole dethroned storyline , and this one progresses the story well , with a new candidate for the crown finally selected .

In terms of the story , there was a lot of cliched occurrences but reading it didn't feel too out of place , I did have fun reading and didn't feel too bothered , the real strength of the book however lays on it's art, and particularly the coloring , which is simply superb to look at .

Meanwhile , having read this in single issues , the Annual story was pretty neat and I really liked it more than the original story . Overall a fun book

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars all day! The artwork by Federici & colors by Sunny Cho alone makes this book amazing. DC Comics has spared no expense in bringing comic readers I feel the best superhero storytelling around. Abnett has been telling a great story with Aquaman filled with political intrigue, epic action and the romance you have come to expect from the DC Universe's foremost high seas swashbuckling hero. Abnett and the artists take the reader into the world of atlantis. We get to learn its history, culture, and its citizens. Abnett's Aquaman is a reluctant king and forever walks as the bridge between our world and the unknown kingdoms of the ocean. We catch up with our hero as he desperately seeks out alliances with Atlanteans willing to overthrow the iron fisted rule of King Rath. Arthur is aiding in his quest by the mysterious mute, Dolphin, his one time trusted advisor Volko, and longtime foe King Shark. All the mention are excellently written and are as interesting as our hero. The story kept me engage all the way until the end. I also enjoyed the Aquaman Crownspire Annual which was the weakest story artwork wise but nevertheless a well told elsewhere tale. The story cemented for me the idea that Mera and Arthur are without a doubt the DC Universe's best couple. In short this is the best time to read Aquaman as we head towards the release of the highly anticipated Aquaman motion picture. When you put the best artist and writer together you without a doubt get a masterpiece. Here are few epic books comparable with this series: Thor: God of Thunder, Volume 1: The God Butcher,Black Bolt, Vol. 1: Hard Time, Wonder Woman, Volume 2: Year One, The Omega Men: The End is Here, & Demon Knights, Volume 1: Seven Against the Dark.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]
After the events of Underworld, Aquaman’s life is in disarray; his kingdom is under the control of a madman, Mera is under self-imposed exile on the surface, and the Crown of Thorns still cages Atlantis from the outside world. There’s only one thing for it – rebellion! And then, Arthur finds himself in a perfect world…but it’s all too good to be true, right?

Underworld really raised the bar for this series, both in terms of writing and artwork, so to say The Crown Comes Down is a step down isn’t really a negative, since it was going to be nearly impossible to capture that lightning in a bottle twice. Abnett’s renewed focus on Atlantis continues here, with the Mera: Queen Of Atlantis mini-series dealing with what’s happening elsewhere. The battle to bring down the Crown of Thorns feels urgent, especially as the Game Of Thrones-esque politics seems to be driving Corum Rath further and further into madness.

Stejpan Sejic was always going to be a hard act to follow on art, but Riccardo Federici does a very, very good job. I’m not overly familiar with his art aside from the Murder Machine one-shot from Dark Nights: Metal, but it’s a good fit for the more serious nature of the book now. It’s not as pretty to look at as Sejic’s, but it’s more real and less…I hesitate to say cartoony, but that’s the word that’s springing to mind.

The Annual is basically any Black Mercy story that you’ve ever read before; it’s For The Man Who Has Everything, but for Aquaman. It’s not an inventive concept, but guest writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson pulls it off fairly well, aided by Sebastian Fiumara’s murky visuals that help portray the underwater world beautifully. It’s mostly padding, but it’s the good kind.

The only thing that really stands against this volume is its short length; the story continues into volume 6, so this feels a bit truncated. It’s still exceptionally good (and I really enjoyed the first 3 volumes of the series anyway), despite being not quite as good as the previous volume, but it kind of ends when everything is getting even more exciting.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essa fase do Aquman por Dan Abnett está sendo bastante divertida de acompanhar. Ela começou a ganhar corpo e sentido a partir do terceiro volume, quando o autor começou a explorar mais as peculiaridades do Reino de Atlântida. E, nesse sentido, com as conspirações para tomar e retomar o trono da cidade submersa, ela lembra bastante o filme do Aquaman que esteve em cartaz até poucos dias e já é a maior bilheteria da DC Comics nos cinemas de todos os tempos. A edição também conta com os desenhos realista de Riccardo Federici que faz a narrativa ficar ainda mais semelhante ao deslumbramento do filme do herói aquático. Neste encadernado também temos uma edição Anual de Aquaman, em que Arthur e Mera se veem capturado pela Clemência Negra, a planta que aparece na história canônica Para o Homem que Tinha Tudo, do Superman e que foi escrita por Alan Moore e desenhada por Dave Gibbons. Se o Aquaman está passando por uma boa fase nos cinemas, também está acontecendo isso nos quadrinhos. O personagem está sendo valorizado e repensado como nunca foi. Quem tem a ganhar, como sempre, são os fãs. =)

[Cristian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The annual was decent, but the highlight in here is the incredible art on the regular series by new artist Riccardo Federici. WOW! I read the first three arcs of Abnett's run, but without strong visuals, the whole underwater fantasy just didn't completely click. It seems, that I just got out when it really got interesting. Guess now I need to get the much-lauded previous volume (no 4), too...

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very short volume of the main story arc with a meh bonus story. The main arc was really great, although I did miss Sejic's art style. I felt a little cheated with this being considered a full volume.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Aquaman title just keeps getting more and more dynamic: from the title character and his conflict of hero vs. king, to the story itself, with all of its many, MANY layers. Aquaman and the rebels have finally destroyed the Crown of Thorns... but that's only part of the drama that unfolds in this volume. Add into it Mera nearly dying and then being declared by the Widowhood the ideal ruler of Atlantis--I mean, wow. It makes perfect sense--for all parts of the plot, and all aspects of both her and Aquaman's characters. Plus, it's a major "girl power" moment that doesn't feel like it was put into the story just to please politically correct agendas: it feels organic and natural with everything that has happened thus far. And THAT is how you write an awesome female character--not by undermining what makes the male characters cool, but by highlighting what makes HER awesome. I also loved that we still have the final showdown between Rath and Aquaman to look forward to in the next volume--that has been building for a long time, and I am ready to see it finally culminate. The stand-out issue, for me, though, was the annual at the end. The Black Mercy is one of the most fascinating elements of the DC Universe--ever since it was first introduced in "For the Man Who Has Everything," it has been an excellent tool to dive into the innermost desires and dreams of our main characters... often with heartbreaking results. This story was no different, and was as poignant as any other with that devilish plant. All in all, Dan Abnett keeps impressing me, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else he has in store.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I was only going to go with a 3...until I read the Annual collected in this volume. It features something introduced back in 1985's Superman Annual #11 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. If you don't know what that means, great, because you have no idea what you're in for. If you do know what that means, this is another winner with that creation. Well done, Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Max Fiumara!

As for the 3 issues of the regular series that are contained in this volume, they were good, but didn't feel quite as sharp as what came before. Maybe the fact that there were only 3 issues led to that feeling? Still, I am going to keep reading this Aquaman run and can now shift to the DC Universe app for the next 4...

[Társis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A trama política é ótima. A arte maravilhosa. Ficaria melhor em um papel de melhor qualidade, mas o sacrifício em prol do preço é válido: o TPB custa 20 pilas.
A história se aprofunda nas manipulações políticas e uso da população pobre de Atlântida para destronar o rei Corum Rath, tirano que a própria elite de atlântida escolheu com apoio do clero.
Agora que o déspota radical "saiu do controle" das elites, eles precisam se unir para destroná-lo e tentar encontrar alguém moderado que sirva aos seus interesses.
É um enredo que a gente meio que conhece, né?

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Crown Comes Down was pretty interesting and had good art. I liked that the colors looked more like colored pencils in this volume as well. The annual was ok, but felt entirely filler and unconnected. I'm interested to see where Mera and Arthur go from here.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aquaman leads the resistance against his usurper and time is not on his side with a whale of a cliffhanger ending to this graphic novel.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wounded Mera is chosen to be the next ruler of Atlantis. She needs to get to the surface and recover, but the forcefield caging Atlantis is blocking the way. Aquaman must find a way to bring it down, and let her recover.

Dan Abnett has been slowly unfolding the story of Arthur and his quest to dethrone Rath and free the people of Atlantis once more. The pace of the story makes it feel grandiose and epic. Each volume deals with the next logical step in Arthur's quest and because of that, imbibes the story with a realism that makes it feel majestic - not to mention dangerous as well. A lot of times when reading comics, you understand the quest, and its a quick process for the hero to complete it. But by slowing it down, you get to understand the nuance of each choice made by Arthur, and the struggle that it takes to accomplish his goals. Abnett has been doing a great job with the book as the Aquaman has been one of my favorite Rebirth titles so far.

A big part of why the book is so good is the art. And to be honest, after last volume with Stepan Sejic, I thought the book was going to suffer or at least drop in quality from the last volume - if the artist wasn't as good as Sejic. But they brought in an artist that I wasn't familiar with named Riccardo Federici, and boy does he knock it out of the park. His style is similar to a more European style similar to Esad Ribic. It enhances that feeling of epicness that the story is striving for. The art really knocked my socks off and I will be looking for more work from Riccardo Federici, because the book looks amazing because of his work.

Seems like the next coming chapters have to do with the Rath dethroned, and I'm very much looking forward to it. Highly recommended for fans of Aquaman.

[Kyle Berk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright so this volume continues the resistance story from last volume. And he art is really good. Other than that I like the little story they have after the three issues they give you. It’s just for the man who has everything but with Aquaman.

The story is alright but it goes against some of Abnetts earlier run. Cause now the sisterhood wants Mera to be queen and Aquaman is going to fight for Atlantis for her and for the good of Atlantis.

It’s alright I’ll tell ya. It’s not great but it’s entertaining enough and I enjoy how Abnett seems to really dig Batman and I enjoy that. But the elements of the story that renounce Arthur as King then all the sudden these same people that opposed Arthur now want Mera? Didn’t work for me.

There’s some good here, but it was alright.

2 stars.

[Felix Zilich · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Let These People Go!» - провозглашает Аквамен, лишний раз подчеркивая, что в этой истории он больше не Моисей, а лишь случайный пассажир. Тем не менее, стратегические союзы сомнительной надежности заключены, королева спасена, бойцы из «Undercurrent» штурмуют башн�� и готовятся к перевороту.

На посту главного художника хорвата Седжича (слава Богу) временно сменяет итальянец Рикардо Федеричи. У Федеричи более выпуклый карандашный стиль, напоминающий на каверах Бориса Вальехо на минималках, но в новый концепт Аквамена он вписывается неплохо. Еще в комплект входит сингловый ежегодник в стиле знаменитой суперменовской новеллы Алана Мура «For The Man Who Has Everything» и необычным лемировским рисунком аргентинца Макса Фиумары.

[Trae Stratton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid entry for the King of Atlantis. Heartbreaking backup tale originally printed in the Annual.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 🌟

Aquaman and the resistance fight to save Mera and destroy the Crown of Thorns.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely love the art. It's so different for a fairly mainstream superhero comic, but it also perfectly suits Aquaman, especially with this story arc. The storyline is, as in the previous volume, a good idea that makes sense in the context of what's happened with Aquaman to this point, but somewhat clumsily told.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume Aquaman teams up with the underground resistance as well as mutated criminals to lead an open rebellion against King Rath. Atlantis finds it's loyalties split, but this is just the beginning. But it's not Aquaman everyone wants to put on the throne, it's someone else.

Also, there's a one shot story that I thought was just another throw away imaginary story, but there's a secret to it instead that references a really cool Superman story by Alan Moore. I won't do a spoiler, but the twist made the story pretty cool.

Overall a good volume, and the next one will be the big battle I'm assuming.

[Sean Goh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The long-awaited comeback and reunion. With great art and pacing.

[John H · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 3 chapters were OK, but I think they would go better with the conclusion of the Rath storyline. The 4th chapter (which was an Annual)? Woof.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still enjoy this series, but I'm getting a little tired of the fight for the crown.

[Gabriela · Rating 3 out of 5]

no lie, I read this mostly because of Mera 🤷🏻‍♀️
ps: stjepan sejic I miss you