Press were invited to a special “state of the union” featuring DC Comics publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio in attendance. They spoke about new imprints like DC Zoom and DC Ink as well as new creators that will be joining DC Comics very soon. Aside from the incredible news of Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp taking on Green Lantern, Dan DiDio let slip Kelly Sue DeConnick is taking over Aquaman later this year. The audience audibly gasped at this news, as she’s never written for DC Comics before. After speaking to growth possibilities and other series like Justice League Dark, Jim Lee was tasked with explaining how excited he and DiDio are about their newest Aquaman writer.
On top of her joining DC Comics with the Black Label imprint, DeConnick is jumping on board with Aquaman due to an incredible pitch she delivered to the likes of longtime Aquaman writer Dan Abnett and Geoff Johns. “The writers would have five minutes to pitch,” Lee said, “and she went for 40 minutes and it was spellbinding. It was the most amazing pitch for Aquaman.” To my surprise, Lee went into great detail about what the comic will be about, so much so that he even admitted he was spoiling too much. As a joke, Lee asked the press to blame what he was describing on DiDio.
“It’s in many ways a re-examination of who the character is and, to me is kind of similar to [Daredevil] “Born Again” with this or Batman Year One. It’s sort of reexamination of what makes the character tick.” Lee explained DeConnick will focus on Aquaman’s mother issues due to her leaving him to go back to the sea. He’s a hero who can literally summon fish and yet he cannot summon or even find his mother, Lee explained. “What kind of hole does that leave in his psyche?”
Lee then went even deeper into spoiler territory (fair warning!), saying DeConnick’s series will start with Aquaman washing up on a mysterious island. “He’s got amnesia and doesn’t know who he is and so he’s got to discover that he’s the king of the seven seas again. How does that happen?” He’s not alone on the island, Lee explained, and these other characters are very unusual and are also sea gods from other mythologies and cultures all around the world. “They are gods of the sea that had been thrown out from the very angry ocean,” Lee said, “And that’s happened to Aquaman as well and you don’t know why.”
The first story arc will be drawn by Robson Rocha and will arrive in comic book shops this December. Come back here to AiPT! because we will certainly be reviewing one of the biggest titles of the year.
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