DC’s New Aquaman Finally Accepts his Villainous Legacy
Spoiler warning for Aquamen #5
After years of clashes with his father, Black Manta, DC's newest Aquaman finally embraces his villainous legacy in Aquamen #5. Jackson Hyde only recently stepped into his role as Aquaman after spending time as Arthur Curry's sidekick, and for much of that time he fought against the stigma of being Black Manta's son. Now, Jackson is learning to use his anger and his relationship with his father to be an even stronger hero—and Aquaman—than he was before.
Jackson Hyde debuted as Aqualad in 2016, just as DC's line-wide reboot Rebirth began. Though he's spent time with both the Teen Titans and Young Justice, lately Jackson has been training and working closely with the Aqua-Family, especially Mera and the original Aquaman, Arthur Curry. Most recently, Jackson and his father, Black Manta, each starred in their own mini-series—Aquaman: The Becoming and Black Manta respectively. After the events of those series—including Jackson exploring his mother's complicated history undersea, culminating in her current comatose state, spurring much of Jackson's subsequent anger—Jackson graduated to the role of Aquaman. Now, in Aquamen, both Aquamen and Black Manta have teamed up to defeat a horde of Atlantean sleeper agents around the world.
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In Aquamen #5 by Brandon Thomas, Chuck Brown, Sami Basri, Vicente Cifuentes, Adriano Lucas, that team-up and battle comes to a head as the entire Aqua-Family—now including their former nemesis, Black Manta—works together to combat the sleeper agents. Jackson, after months of anger stemming from his mother's coma and his father's villainous history, finally embraces Black Manta's legacy.
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