Father Sea And Mother Salt: Aquaman #45 Reviewed
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Aquaman and Caille set out to find Caille’s mom, a sea-witch named Namma. Andy (Aquaman) has gotten past his fear of the sea, and he now believes the answers to his lost memories lie in the ocean. On the way, we are given a new origin myth for the world itself, centering around the union of Father Sea and Mother Salt and the birth of their children.
Aquaman #45 largely consists of this new origin story, and it does tie back into what Arthur and Caille are currently doing, though I won’t say how.
It doesn’t really jive with any previous origin myths in DC; it’s more of a broad, vaguely Greek, neopagan setup that centers around the ocean.
Of course, this being a DC comic with a strong fantasy streak to it, you can bet that much, if not all, of it will turn out to be true.
That said, the general consensus in both Marvel and DC has always been to just assume that all mythologies are true and intermingle to some degree or another. This comic does mention that the offspring of Father Sea and Mother Salt had offspring of their own, and that there are many gods that are descendants of these two.
Arthur and Caille, despite ostensibly being the main characters of this comic right now, don’t really get much page time or focus, so pervasive is the origin myth presented throughout the issue. That leaves the issue feeling a little slow and floundering at times, but it doesn’t sink it outright.
The strongest aspect of the comic and what makes it easily worth picking up is the artwork of Robson Rocha. The explanation of this origin myth is accompanied by gorgeous splash pages depicting these gods going about their activities. It’s wonderful and fantastical, and it’s aided by the brilliant color work of Sunny Gho that brings even more life to the book throughout.
Aquaman #45 is a fairly slow issue that opts to spin background myths rather than advancing the story in the present very far, but the myth is interesting and easy to understand. Plus, the artwork of Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques, and Sunny Gho is fantastic. This one gets a recommendation. Feel free to check it out.
Aquaman #45 comes to us from writer Kelly Sue DeConnick, artist Robson Rocha, inker Daniel Henriques, color artist Sunny Gho, letterer Clayton Cowles, cover artist Rocha with Henriques and Brad Anderson, and variant cover artist Cully Hammer.