The Deep #1
Kaboom! (Boom! Studios)
Written by Tom Taylor
Art by James Brouwer
Letters by Wolfgang Bylsma
Available now!
Journey into The Deep with the daring aquanaut family, The Nektons, aboard their state-of-the-art (and oh so shiny) submarine, The Aronnax. When an earthquake off the coast of Greenland leads to strange reports of monster sightings, William and Kaiko Nekton, along with their kids, Fontaine and Ant (and of course, Ant’s pet fish, Jeffrey), dive into the mystery! Will they find what they’re looking for? Will they teach a fish to fetch? Will they be accidentally eaten? Find out in the all-ages adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Tom Taylor (Injustice: Gods Among Us, All-New Wolverine, Star Wars: Adventures) and James Brouwer (Justice League Beyond).
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Coming from Kaboom! (Boom! Studios’ “all ages friendly” line of titles), this is a pretty sharp book all around. The writing, while not going beyond the Y7 rating of the Netflix series it’s based on, should keep kids entertained without causing too much pain to parents reading along. That alone is a feat that should make writer Tom Taylor a candidate for sainthood. The dialogue between the members of the Nekton family, particularly brother/sister duo of Ant and Fontaine, is quick and full of the barbs anyone with siblings should appreciate.
The other all-important area of comic books is in the artwork. No worries, cuz this book is gorgeous. James Brouwer uses a style that’s in keeping with the Netflix show, and the design works great on the page. The mark of a really solid artist is, in my oh-so-humble opinion, how they can show emotion and personality in their characters. Once again, Brouwer doesn’t disappoint. He’s rendered all of the interactions between the Nektons with every bit of snap and detail you could possibly want. Just a few pages in, and it felt like I had a pretty solid handle on the distinct personalities of the family of Aquanauts. Sure, the writing had a hand in that, but even when there wasn’t anything being said, personality and character showed through.
I’m gonna stop gushing, because at this point even I’m starting to feel like a promoter instead of a fan. I’ll just leave off with this: As a parent who spent time reading to and with his kids when they were younger, I would’ve been ecstatic to have had access to more quality reading like The Deep. I’ve even got the series queued up on my Netflix account, and thinking I might go sit down with a cup of coffee and check out the first episode after I post this review…
Keep an eye out for some follow up thoughts on the show.
