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Written by: Jeremy Adams
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Art by: John Timms
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Colors by: Rex Lokus, Matt Herms
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Letters by: Dave Sharpe
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Cover art by: John Timms (cover A)
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Cover price: $3.99
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Release date: October 8, 2025
Aquaman #10, by DC Comics on 10/10/25, invites readers to batten down the hatches as Arthur Curry wrangles ghost pirates, unraveling a centuries-old mystery off the coast of Coast City.
First Impressions
The issue hits with the force of a rogue wave: kinetic, crowded, and consistently bonkers. The undead buccaneers are the standout spectacle, and every panel oozes haunted nautical energy. If there were any doubts about Aquaman deserving a blockbuster series, this chapter buries them where only Atlanteans could find them.
Recap
Previously, Aquaman #9 saw Arthur returned to Earth newly empowered as the avatar of the Blue, mourning his wife Mera who is thought dead, and grappling with an Atlantean realm cloaked from him by magic. Atlantis was magically aged, Mera was among the presumed lost, and Aquaman established his new destiny with his now-adult daughter, Andrina, at his side. The prior issue crackled with tension as Aquaman brushed off Superman, reconnected with the battered remnants of the Justice League, and faced the daunting path ahead, all while mysterious observers lurked on the ocean floor.
Plot Analysis
The curtain rises with the citizens of Atlantis reeling from their recent battles, trapped behind a magical barrier that leaves Atlantis hidden in plain sight, its citizens cut off from the world and the sea itself. Mera and Jackson feverishly search for escape, grappling with an arcane lockdown that baffles even the magicians in the crew, while Garth exhausts himself trying to untangle the eldritch web.
Elsewhere, surface dwellers contend with sinister omens, as children tossing coins into a pond become the accidental witnesses to a monstrous presence lurking just offshore. Chaos erupts when a ghostly pirate ship storms into Coast City, spewing undead marauders and sparking panic among the locals. The Justice League Blue gets a rude awakening, and, in signature Aquaman fashion, Arthur picks up trouble from halfway around the world, diving headfirst into spectral skirmishes.
As the clash escalates, Aquaman’s water-manipulating powers surge to new heights, funneling pirate corpses into Arion’s magical trap and forcefully scrubbing clean the polluted ocean. Yet, even with victory at hand, questions fester. What ancient force raised these restless spirits, and why? The finale lands with a flourish: a red-haired woman, revealed as Aquaman’s daughter from a future timeline, seizes a mysterious artifact buried by the pirates long ago and sets her course for parts unknown, leaving the cast, and readers, bracing for the next storm.
Writing
Jeremy Adams packs the script tighter than a sunken galleon. Dialogue skewers the melodrama with quips and banter, grounding outlandish stakes in family tension and team dynamics. The pacing lunges from contemplative moments below the waves to all-out spectral dogfights, but never lets the atmosphere drown the plot. Every page is salted with genre flourishes: cryptic magic, undead pirates, and legacy intrigue that somehow mesh into a brisk, intelligible ride.
Art
John Timms goes full throttle on the visuals, stuffing each page with detail and kinetic movement. There’s a grit to the undead hordes and a wet, vibrant sleekness to the watery effects that gives the book a proper monstrous edge. Rex Lokus and Matt Herms layer the color with ghostly green and stormy blue, dialing up the supernatural elements against an anxious, storm-lashed backdrop. Panels flow smoothly even when the sea is anything but calm, and the flashier scenes crash into the reader with satisfying weight.
Characters
Arthur’s two-worlds dilemma is as clear as the mid-Atlantic, with his struggle for balance mirrored in both dialogue and deed. Supporting characters, from Mera to Garth to the pirate queen-and-daughter-from-the-future, get just enough spotlight to intrigue without losing the thread. The pirate antagonists bark and bluster with best-in-show theatricality, while the reintroduction of Arthur’s grown daughter ups the emotional and narrative stakes without overstaying her welcome.
Positives
This issue is a haunted shipwreck treasure: the genre mashup of superhero drama and horror works, not in spite of its weirdness, but because of it. The undead pirates are both a narrative threat and a visual feast, amplifying the ghost-story tension without skimping on action. The pacing keeps the tension tight, the characters spark with new conflicts, and every page builds toward a supernatural twist that finally cashes in on the undersea mythos. The creative team’s synergy is undeniable as art and writing sail in perfect tandem, never leaving the reader adrift.
Negatives
Not every narrative current runs smoothly. A few jumps in scene and logic, especially the magical mechanics of Atlantis’s imprisonment and the impact of the artifact theft, are murky at best and risk swamping casual readers. Some supporting cast fade into the briny background, their subplots left to drift while Arthur and the pirate ghosts hog the spotlight. The abrupt appearance of the future-daughter might prompt raised eyebrows for anyone not keeping close tabs on continuity, making the twist land with more confusion than awe.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Score
Final Thoughts: Aquaman #10 is a boisterous slice of supernatural seafaring, surging with enough pirate grit and sorcerous chaos to leave readers gasping for air. While the plot occasionally knots itself in mystic fog, it’s all hands on deck for spectacle, suspense, and some much-needed comic swashbuckling. If every storm ends with a treasure, consider this one worth its weight in Atlantean gold.
9/10
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