Aquaman meets Aquawoman!

Aquaman’s former assassin and current love interest, Mera, dons the mantle in Aquaman #49 by writer Dan Abnett and artist Vicente Cifuentes. Aquaman AKA Arthur Curry grew up in a lighthouse and sees himself with a similar duty to watch over both land and sea. He proposes Atlantis join the global community to foster a lasting peace in light of the war nearly started by his brother Orm AKA Ocean Master.

Arthur begins by taking his fellow Atlanteans to a festival where Mera reluctantly poses as a mermaid in a carnival cutout. The humiliation presumably plays a part in the superheroine ditching her scaly green costume. Mera accepts an offer to become the face of Atlantis and starts dressing the part though she clearly fills out the suit better than Aquaman, who is left speechless by the siren.

Clothes don’t make the woman in this case. Mera isn’t just Aquaman in heels. While Aquaman commands fish in the ocean, Mera commands the ocean itself! Her superpower allows her to create water hard water constructs similar to Green Lantern.

Ironically, Mera chose the costume of DC Universe’s most underappreciated superhero to be taken seriously.

“I must be what they expect…” she explains. “This is a surface-dweller thing called ‘marketing.'”

The cover for Aquaman #50 features Mera’s old costume however that may have just been to avoid spoilers. The solicitation specifically refers to her as Aquawoman and suggests that Aquaman has some competition for the title of the “most famous oceanic hero on Earth.”