Aquaman Vol. 5- The Crown Comes Down

Quick Summary

Pros: The main storyline is exciting and fun. The conclusion places the series in a unique place for future stories. The volume’s final chapter is a fantastic story all on its own. The artwork looks beautiful and suits the collection well.

Cons: One element of the story lacks a bit of justification.

Overall: The fifth volume in the Aquaman series continues the trend of high-quality storytelling and beautiful artwork that has been established by the previous four volumes. This collection has action, tension, and a resolution to aspects of the current storyline that offers satisfaction. It also contains an individual story filled with emotion. Anyone who enjoyed the previous volume should read this volume because it offers just about everything a fan of the last previous could want.

Story

Aquaman Vol. 5: The Crown Comes Down, by Dan Abnett, is an epic continuation to the captivating narrative that has already been created through the progression of this series. This volume tackles the conflicts from the previous volume in a way that allows action and tension to flourish. While this is going on, the narrative is simultaneously being pushed into the future and placed in a unique position for future stories. The collection then concludes with a chapter that tells an emotional and meaningful story independent from everything else. All in all, the positives in this collection are numerous and the negatives are so small that they mostly go unnoticed, making for a fantastic read from start to finish.

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The main storyline in The Crown Comes Down is essentially an immediate sequel to the main storyline from Underworld (Review). It has Aquaman rise up against the oppressive rule of a tyrant king and bring down the Crown of Thorns that has sealed of Atlantis from the rest of the world. The journey to this end is fraught with tense moments of suspense and plenty of great action.

This collection also spends a bit of time setting up futures volumes in a rather interesting way. It truly seems as if Aquaman has detached himself from the throne and has decided that royalty is not for him. This could signal a major shift in his entire identity and could even go on to have an impact on all of his relationships. The conclusion of this book also leaves Corum Rath still at large, so it is obvious that Aquaman’s work in Atlantis is not quite finished. In the end, this is another optimistic conclusion for an Aquaman book that leaves me excited to read more.  

The only significant problem with the main storyline in The Crown Comes Down is the lack of justification behind the decision to place Mera on the throne. On a personal level, I love this decision, it opens a ton of new avenues for Atlantis and has the potential to turn into something incredibly interesting. However, within the context of this series, a decision like this does not make a ton of sense. Just a few volumes ago, Mera was the center of a lot of hate from the Atlantean people, even more so than Aquaman. So having someone less popular than the recently deposed monarch take over seems illogical. A slight justification for the decision is given by the Widowhood but it isn’t quite as well constructed of an argument as it needs to be. Hopefully, the next volume will provide some more satisfactory justification for this decision.

After the main storyline concludes, The Crown Comes Down tells a short tale about Aquaman and Mera’s encounter with the Black Mercy. This leads into an emotional preview at a possible future, one where all of Aquaman’s dreams have come true. Seeing him as a happy husband, a proud father, and a successful ruler is simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking since it shows readers that these ideals are possible yet reminds them that they are, currently, not reality. The entire tale is very well written and is a wonderful addition to this collection.

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Art

Following Stjepan Šejić’s gorgeous artwork in Underworld (Review) is no easy task for the Aquaman comic series, however, Riccardo Federici and Rick Leonardi manage to successfully hold their own. Their work in The Crown Comes Downmaintains the gritty and realistic style seen in the previous volume. This level of detail makes the characters look beautiful and makes the depths of Atlantis stand out in the way one would expect them to. It also allows the comic to portray the intense action necessary in telling this particular story. The overall visual appeal of this collection is slightly less than its predecessor but the difference is so small that most readers will not mind.

Continuity

Aquaman Vol. 5: The Crown Comes Down continues the story from Aquaman Vol. 4: Underworld (Review).

The main story here continues in Aquaman Vol. 6: Kingslayer (Review) and Mera’s story continues in Mera: Queen of Atlantis (Review).

This volume also references the stories from other comic books, detailed below:

• Vulko’s past with Aquaman comes up again. This past is detailed in Aquaman Vol. 3: Throne of Atlantis (Review).
• Mera mentions working with the Justice League recently. This started in Justice League Vol. 4: Endless (Review).
• The conclusion of this collection makes vague references to a child between Aquaman and Mera. In a previous continuity, they had a child who died in Adventure Comics #452.