Aquaman: Andromeda is a 2022 Aquaman series by DC Comics released under the DC Black Label imprint. The series is written by Ram V with art by Christian Ward, and takes cues from both the main Aquaman franchise and Arion.
A three-issue miniseries, it follows a band of scientists from Point Nemo as they explore a mysterious undersea structure. As tensions rise between the crew, it becomes clear that some secrets should remain buried... and while the King of the Sea, Aquaman, is here to help, his old enemy Black Manta isn't far behind. When the presence inside the structure begins to awaken, everyone is endangered as its powers are shaped by the human mind.
Aquaman: Andromeda contains examples of:
- Adaptational Abomination: Aquaman himself looks more inhuman underwater compared to most depictions, with completely black eyes and coral-like growths protruding from his shoulders similar to his time as the Dweller in the Depths. This only applies to the present day, as in flashbacks he looks like his usual self.
- Burial in Space: The Atlanteans got rid of the Darkworld by launching it into space, and the main story deals with what happens when it finally came back down to Earth.
- Cosmic Horror Story: The drive of the story is something awakening undersea and putting lives, and the world, at risk.
- Eldritch Ocean Abyss: The comic revolves around Point Nemo, a spot in the Pacific Ocean known for being the furthest away from any land surface on the planet and a submarine crew going down to it to investigate a strange signal that also draws Aquaman to itself.
- Hate Plague: The Darkworld stirs up hatred and paranoia among the crew, leading them to turn on and attempt to kill one another.
- Human-Focused Adaptation: The scientists' lives and backstories take precedence over Aquaman and Black Manta, and it's largely told from an outsider's perspective and how normal humans see these super powerful beings.
- Imagination-Based Superpower: The Darkworld's power is built on the energy from stray thoughts and feelings, and it's so strong it can create a kraken out of a picture from a book.
- Make My Monster Grow: Black Manta finds himself battling a giant copy of Aquaman as the Darkworld takes hold of his fears.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In a story Tom Curry tells to his son, he reveals that after Atlanteans used the Darkworld's thought-shaping powers for their own benefit, it made the people's worry that Atlantis would sink manifest and actually happen.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Black Manta refuses to let Aquaman die to anyone but himself and saves him from the Darkworld.
- Postmodernism: A key part of the story is that it's about stories, with flashbacks showing people from all over telling their own tales of the sea. It's implied the story itself is just one of many such tales.
- Your Mind Makes It Real: The Darkworld's power is based on thoughts, and can manifest anything into reality if the person so much as thinks about it. This nearly gets the crew killed when, for example, they feel it's impossible for the structure to withstand ocean pressure, and it immediately starts to collapse in response.
