Aquaman Vol. 1: The Dark Tide

Aquaman (2025 #1-6

by Jeremy Adams, John Timms (Artist), Michael Shelfer (Artist)

The king is back, baby! Aquaman stars in his first solo series in years as a major part of DC’s bestselling, new-reader-friendly All In initiative!

In the wake of the blockbuster DC event Absolute Power, Arthur Curry’s powers have evolved to powerful new heights, and this is one king ready to use them to kick some serious butt. Mammoth water-construct Kaijus have emerged from each of the seven seas, and only Aquaman’s water-warping abilities can stop them—but not if they kill the good king in the process!

Enter Dagon, Arthur’s guide on the quest to unlock the secrets of the “blue.” But what deadly secret awaits Arthur on his journey?

An all-new era of Aquaman begins, courtesy of the splashy creative team of writer Jeremy Adams (the architect of fan-favorite runs on The Flash and Green Lantern) and artist John Timms (known for his amazing visuals on Harley Quinn and Action Comics)!

This high-energy new take on Earth’s uncanny undersea hero will leave you cheering!

This volume collects Aquaman #1-6.

Genres: Dc Comics, Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics

184 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2025

Reviews

[Bill Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad start to the new Aquaman series. I like the inclusion of Arion and other lesser known characters.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.2 stars

[James DeSantis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, reading a Aquaman book in last few years has been torture and this is no different. Adams did a solid Flash run, a bit overrated, but fun. But his Green Lantern after first arc has been lackluster to say the least, and his worst run so far is this garbage ass comic. Sorry, but this lacks everything I love in comics. It has stupid jumping around time period bullshit, Aquaman doing poses, and acting cool, only to get wrecked 10 seconds later, and snappy but not witty dialogue.

Overall pass, a snooze fest, read something better.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t like to call comics bad, so we’ll just say this one was un-good.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid start!

I can't say I'm the biggest fan of the pacing or the big bad BUT I find myself compelled by this cast of characters and Arthur's new beginning in a rare way within the last few Aquaman runs. I like most of the swings Adam is taking and look forward to what may come and how things resolve.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed the start to this series ...and look forward to some more explanations

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is anybody ready for another power shift and some retconning?

No? Sorry. You're in an Aquaman book. He's gone past being the token member of the Justice League, but they can't decide on how to keep him relevant/interesting/consistent...

Here's a breakdown:
- Golden Age (1940s?): can breathe underwater; control fish for ONE MINUTE
- Silver Age (50s-70s): same as Golden Age but now half Atlantean and half human; royalty!
- Post Crisis (80s): new (ugly) purple/blue bodysuit; now half Atlantean wizard and human
- ...the 90s: Shaggy, bearded, and possibly bipolar; lost hand and replaced it with harpoon
- ...more 90s: banished from Atlantis; given hardwater hand by Lady of the Lake; heals stuff
- One Year Later (2006'ish): Arthur Joseph Curry; NOT Aquaman just looks similar; dies
- Darkest Night (2009'ish): Resurrected. Focused on the best lore. Life as king (with Mera)
- New 52 (2011): most stable version; life as regent and balancing hero, family, and kingdom
- All In (2025): hydrokinesis (Avatar waterbending); king who hates 'kinging'?
------
For this All In update, we're given a bunch of weird new pieces of lore.

-The Blue (Elemental totem of water; Parliament of Waves(?))
= The Lady of Lake (the same that gave Aquaman the water hand??)
= Captain Nemo (yes, THAT character from the classic Verne novel)
= Arion(!) (depending on lore, a demigod, a wizard, or an ancestor of Aquaman)
= Lori Lemaris (that one mermaid who fell in love with a young Superboy AGES ago)

=================
(if you're still reading this, kudos)

I'm impressed with this reset to Aquaman. It's firmly embedded in the 'All In' events, but gives Arthur Curry strong legs to stand on on his own. I'll be curious to see how the end events of this volume influence the rest of the DCU.
----
Bonus: RIP Peter David
Bonus Bonus: When in doubt, use time travel...

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kinda fun and like a great new adventure for Aquaman after the Kelly run!

This one sees him becoming king again and having hydro kinesis powers (power swap with mera) and due to this we see him on adventures until one day Atlantis disappears so he goes on a quest with some mysterious pearl through an omega gate and on the way he has to fight a villain called Jenny greeneth only to find out its lady of the lake, Vivienne and teaming up with Arion and learn of THE BLUE, a mysterious new elemental thing like the green.. so good world building and adding to the existing dc lore.

I like how it shows Aquaman learning about it for the first time and it adds more to the DC myths basically and him teaming up with all these characters that have existed in DC continuity for a while and then with them trying to find where his kingdom is and then fighting mer-cenaries including one old friend and even coming across CAPTAIN NEMO?! That was a fun addition haha! So many more character surprises in this comic!

I like how the author is pulling from all sorts of legends and continuities and weaving together such a fascinating tale adding new lore and setting a great new villain in Dagon whose like this demonic force controlling the blue and the battle vs him and the fated hero Aquaman will be fun like its here and I LOVE THAT! Definitely loved this!! The set up of these two and when they end up clashing will be amazing and the new things and adventures Aquaman is having is just .. new and fun!

Definitely recommend it!

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeremy Adams can do no wrong, it seems. Between Flash and Green Lantern and now Aquaman, the guy's tearing up a strip at DC, and I'm here for it.

Managing to upend Aquaman's status quo while also preserving everything about it that I love, Adams throws Arthur into a new adventure into the Blue, bringing some familiar faces from both DC history and literature into his orbit. Arthur's new powers as a result of Absolute Power play into things nicely, and everything manages to be a stealth DC KO tie-in without it derailing any of the main plot.

The entire Dark Tide story being collected here is a good choice by DC as well, so well done them for letting the trade be the size it needs to be.

[Comic Book Yeti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every chance to reboot Aquaman is a free hit. DC never expects any run to truly have legs so I was delighted to see Jeremy Adam’s get a chance to step up to the plate as the new writer of the series. Swing he did. I can understand why it wouldn’t resonate with everyone but this is pure superhero sweet tooth candy. It’s over the top and pretty much a non-stop action expose for eight issues worth of material with loads of tentacles thrown in for good measure, and it’s root Aquaman without the political intrigue inherent to a story about him being a king and in that way feels inspired by Jason Momoa’s portrayal in the movies, a bad ass on a rampage. I thoroughly enjoyed it for what it is.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's nice to see Aquaman back in action. He has Mera's powers of aquakinesis now after the power mixups that happened in Absolute Power. The first issue begins with Aquaman returning to Atlantis to find it destroyed and all its people missing. He's drawn to a gate that takes him to another dimension that has something of a underwater Arthurian feel to it as he searches for his people. John Timms' art looks fantastic in here. Good stuff. I'll continue to get this one monthly.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hugely entertaining. The plot combines Aquaman with assorted aquatic figures of myth, legend, and literature. It introduces, I think, the concept of The Blue, to go with other DC elemental forces like The Green and The Red. It very much stands to reason. There is a plot twist towards the end of the book that I don't love and that I suspect will get undone by the end of this run, but I'm very willing to see how that plays out.

[Erik J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest ... I'm torn with this one. I absolutely LOVE Aquaman but this one felt very ... lackluster. Very much so. I'll try my best to explain my reasoning:

1. The pacing was horribly inconsistent. At times it was super rushed and at others it felt like it dragged on.

2. It honestly felt like I was watching someone's D&D campaign and that wasn't for the best.

3. ZAN! Loves me my boy Zan! It was nice to see Arion again too.

Overall - 3/5

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects Aquaman #1-8

I'm a long-time fan of Aquaman, and often support his ongoing series. I happen to own each of these individual issues, but this is my review of the collection as a whole.

There's a mystery here that I'm interested in.

There are new characters introduced (or reimagined characters) that I'd like to see more of.

Aquaman is dealing with new powers, so that was also entertaining.

Plus, I liked the art and the writing. A solid comic book from DC.

[DayDay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like anything Jeremy Adams writes at DC, is GOLDEN. He brought some freshness to King of the Seven Seas you hear me ?!?! This was so much fun. And I hope this run goes for a good while. I want more. It went by too fast though, that’s my only problem. I hope he allows the reader to breathe going forward, I want some time with him and his supporting cast. I also hope Arthur continues to grow in this run. Well done man. I want MORE.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like timms' art, I dont love it. colours are definitely really good.

the storyline just keeps on going in a negative way. eight issues to get to the climax. the time dilation twist was interesting, however I haven't read issue 8 yet.

I dont see myself reading this again. it wasn't very entertaining journeryibg through the Blue, meeting captain nemo and the mer-cenaries.

[VoidLoaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

“This is not the story of Arthur curry… a boy… a hero… a lover… or even a king. No… this is the story of this dark tide… this is the story of Arthur Curry… THE GOD KILLER!!!”

It was pretty entertaining with some good art. But other then that that’s all I really have to say about it there’s not much other than

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty epic in a way, and it’s got some great supporting characters (Lori Lemaris, Arion the Immortal & Captain Nemo).
But it didn’t quite click with me. I get what Jeremy Adams is going for here but there’s something missing. It also doesn’t read that great in single issues.

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this. Maybe Aquaman could've done a bit less whining but the art was pretty decent, story kept me invested and expanding my mind with more Aquaman lore is always good.

NB: The Volume of this I read contained #1-#8, not just #1-#6

[Hades Grayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aquaman goes fantasy and literary!

[Cal Edgar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise is nifty and the art stuns but where visuals and concept race ahead, writing and dialogue fall far, far behind. The emotional content is watery and motivations are hackneyed.

[CrisMarte · Rating 3 out of 5]

no good no bad just mid
art is great btw

[Edan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid start to Aquaman back to getting a regular comic run and the premise is very good adventure mystery.

[Doug Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

a solid start overall to the new series, although it didn't grab me as much as I may have hoped. the artwork is good, and the story is alright, but I didn't feel pulled in at the same time.

[Will Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 stars, but I'm feeling generous, because it was also fun to read!

[Ruhul Arif Amit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good start to what has potential to become a legendary run.