Posted in: Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: Andromeda, aquaman, Black Label, Christain Ward, dark knight, dc comics, ram v

Aquaman Andromeda Will Get Multiple Eisner Nominations Next Year

Published Thu, 26 May 2022 08:27:10 -0500

I was pleased to see that Wonder Woman Historiawas nominated for a number of 2022 Eisner Awards. First I thought that it did great to get those many nods on the basis of its first book by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Jimenez alone. And secondly I thought, oh in that case, Aquaman Andromeda is bound to get Eisner nominations next year too.

Writer Ram V and artist Christian Ward are both attending this weekend's MCM London Comic Con and I am hoping that they may be bringing some of it. Bleeding Cool understands that the first book is full of double page spreads with dense storytelling but set in an expansive and lushly realised world. People who have read previews have been describing it to me as Aquaman's Dark Knight or All-Star Superman.

DC Editor Chris Conroy tweeted "The good news is, AQUAMAN: ANDROMEDA #1 is very, very worth an "at the office until 8pm doing lettering notes" night. I hope you all take a chance on this one, because you will be rewarded."

Artist Christian Ward tweeted: "I think Aquaman Andromeda might be my prettiest book yet if I do say so. If you've missed me doing cosmic books like Invisible Kingdom or ODYC this one will scratch the same itch. Was so so happy when the team gave me the thumbs up to go bananas on the coral armour. Before I even knew what @therightram had in mind I sent him this, together with a bunch of Bob Peak art , in particular his art for Excalibur – I wanted to go full on psyche rock opera with it. once I read @therightram AMAZING pitch & learned more about what he had in mind, It was clear this wasn't going to be the usual Arthur Curry. In Ram's words he was going to be 'mythical' & 'ancient' so my approach changed. bringing in costumes from Bram Stokers Dracula & Dune. I knew i wanted coral to be a feature. @therightram had this idea that he might even look like an underwater Grecian statue and I wanted to add more life to that. The idea that life continues on around his stillness & a way to play to my visual strengths: Colour & organic form. For me tho, always, beyond everything else the inspiration comes from the story. Put me in the room, closed off from everything with a good story and ideas naturally come out"

Journalist Graeme McMillan tweeted "Holy sh-t, Aquaman: Andromeda is glorious. Just read a digital preview, and one of my first thoughts was that it'll look even more impressive in print. (It's the DC Black Label mini from Ram V and Christian Ward, whose art feels like the center of the whole thing. It's visually stunning, maybe my favorite thing he's done.) One of the original impulses behind Black Label was to create evergreen, continuity-free stories featuring DC characters — this 100% succeeds; I could see this becoming a perennial seller. One last thing about Andromeda: it'll demonstrate once again why Aditya Bidikar is one of the best letterers around right now. It's really playful, smart work that allows Ward's art to sing while communicating what it needs to with immediate clarity."

Bleeding Cool, of course, doesn't get digital previews from DC Comics. Not officially anyway. But let me see what I can do. Aquaman Andromeda #1 is scheduled for the 7th of June, with #2 currently on the books for September 2022.

AQUAMAN ANDROMEDA #1 (OF 3) CVR A CHRISTIAN WARD (MR)
(W) Ram V. (A/CA) Christian Ward
Deep in the Pacific Ocean, at the farthest possible distance from any land, sits Point Nemo: the spaceship graveyard. Since the dawn of the space race, the nations of the world have sent their crafts there on splashdown, to sink beneath the silent seas. But there is something…else at Point Nemo. A structure never made by human hands. And that structure seems to be…waking up. The crew of the experimental submarine Andromeda, powered by a mysterious black-hole drive, have been chosen to investigate this mystery. But they aren't the only ones pursuing it. Anything of value beneath the ocean is of value to the master pirate Black Manta…and anything that attracts Black Manta attracts Arthur Curry, his lifelong foe, the Aquaman! But heaven help them all when the doors of the mystery at Point Nemo swing wide to admit them… Bringing a bracing cosmic-horror sensibility to the world of Aquaman, rising superstars Ram V (Venom, The Swamp Thing) and Christian Ward (Thor, Invisible Kingdom) team up to put Arthur Curry through an exercise in psychological terror that could break the will of even a king!
Retail: $6.99 In-Store Date: 6/7/2022

AQUAMAN ANDROMEDA #2 (OF 3) CVR A CHRISTIAN WARD (MR)
(W) Ram V. (A/CA) Christian Ward
When an underwater explosion rocks the crew of the Andromeda, Aquaman comes to their rescue, but the damage has already been done. The explosion has damaged the ship's core and unleashed a sickness that will threaten everyone on board. But as tensions flare, Black Manta makes his move—it's information he's after, but what do ancient aliens have to do with Atlantis?
Retail: $6.99 In-Store Date: 8/2/2022

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