I am not normally a fan of graphic novels. But with a daughter as an artist, I am gaining an appreciation of this genre. Mera: Tidebreaker, is very well done. Beautiful art work by Stephen Bryne and solid writing from Danielle Paige come together to create an enjoyable book. It was the perfect way to dip my toes into graphic novels.

What I Liked:

Illustrations:

The star of this book really is the beautiful artwork. The Illustrator use of a muted palette, punctuated by Mera's fiery red hair, creates a dreamy quality. The undersea scenes are haunting with the many details of sea creatures in every panel.

Characters:

I did not see the Aquaman movie, so my only knowledge of Mera is through this graphic novel. That being said, I could easily understand her character. She wants to be a warrior like her mother. She bristles when her suitor, Larken, shows marrying her is a means to his becoming the king. Everyone is making decisions for her. All she wants is a choice.

Larken is Mera's childhood friend and suitor. He is not a two-dimensional character. Although he can't see why Mera won't marry him, he does actually care about her. He really doesn't understand that Mera doesn't want to be taken care of. Also, he has no moral issue with killing Arthur if it will help him become king. While I didn't admire this about him, I also felt he was willing to be a killer so Mera wouldn't have to.

Moral Dilemma:

Choices, though, are not so easy. At first, she sees killing the heir to Atlantis as a simple matter. After all, it's easy to hate your oppressors from afar. But when she goes on land and finally meets Arthur, she realizes he doesn't even know who he really is. Can she kill an innocent person, just to become a ruler? It's the classic choice characters must make: are they villains or heroes?

What I Didn't Like:

I know this is a graphic novel so everything has to be packed in a short story. But I am just not a fan of insta-love. I thought throwing around the L word so quickly between Mera and Arthur was unnecessary. She didn't need the stakes to be so high in order for her to do the right thing.

This graphic novel, well written by Danielle Paige and lovingly illustrated by Stephen Byrne focuses on the backstory of Mera from the DC Aquaman series, while also introducing Arthur Curry, aka future Aquaman. Both characters' origin stories are included, but with Mera anchoring the story, which is a different take on the story that readers of all ages can enjoy, but I hope especially middle grade female readers who may traditionally be less included in comic book readerships. I would gladly give this to my 9 year old niece whose father is slowly indoctrinating her to the DC universe!

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! It gives a bit more backstory to a character I wasn't as familiar with within the DC universe, but I still admired her. And this is great and just the right length. The art is lovely, too!

I recently finished Mera: Tidebreaker which was given to me as an ebook ARC which is a graphic novel about Mera and Aquaman’s start.

SPOILERS AHEAD

In this graphic novel, we follow Mera a Xebellian girl who is the daughter of the Xebellian king and set to marry the other future leader. However, Mera has a mind of her own. She wants to be the one to save her people, not her future husband and to so she will have to go on a secret mission on land and kill Aruther. Mera begins this journey with a rocky start (having to be rescued and needing to spend days waiting for her powers to come back to her). In this time she starts to have feelings for Arthur and she realizes he doesn’t know who he really is. During this time Mera’s betrothed shows up and gives her an ultimatum, she now only has a small amount of time to kill Arthur or he will. However, Mera does not think she can do it but that could start a war or cause more problems for her people? Can Mera do it?

Overall, I enjoyed the story however, it was not as fulfilling as I wanted it to be. I wanted more from this story and maybe more is coming in another issue and I am just not being patient enough. This was my first encounter with both Mera and Aquaman so I was fresh to their world and I think that was an advantage. The other thing about this graphic novel that I really loved was the art style was amazing and the colors always made me want to keep looking at certain panels . I gave this three stars on Goodreads.

I had a chance to read a sneak peek of Mera: Tidebreaker last year and was excited to read more upon its release. Unfortunately, the strong start to Tidebreaker was quickly replaced by a predictable story that seemed keen to focus more on Arthur than Mera at times, which is understandable given the relationship between the two in the comics. That's one of my biggest issues with the story, because the beginning of the story is very-much centered on Mera as she struggles to accept who she is and what she's willing to do -- and risk -- for her own happiness. It's all about her getting to choose what she wants to do with her life. But then the story shifts to focusing more on Arthur coming to terms with his own identity. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but I'm not sure it's something I'll revisit.

As for the artwork? Stephen Bryne did a stellar job. In fact, I often found myself just staring at each panel for a few minutes, trying to take in all of the minor details.

In the end: Despite my issues with Mera: Tidebreaker, it's still an enjoyable read and I'm all for more Mera.

Thank you to DC Entertainment and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book.

Feedback will be left on April 2 2019

The artwork was beautiful, & I really enjoyed seeing this character fleshed out in this graphic novel. I will definitely be buying it in print when it releases.

This was a great read! I loved seeing a strong female character at the center of the story. It was well written.

I was pulled into this one by the cover and the proximity in time to the big splash the Aquaman movie made. The story of Mera and her plan to claim her rightful place on the throne is doomed from the start. Her people are under the thumb of Atlantis and her father does not want her to be his successor. Then when she begins to execute her plan, she hesitates time and time again. High marks for the cover art and the incredible sea creature scenes. Those factors pulled this one out of the realm of the mediocre.

Thank you to NetGalley and DC Entertainment for the opportunity to view a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have very little exposure to graphic novels so I went into this pretty much with a blank slate.. I'm glad this was my first real graphic novel read, because I was able to go into it knowing I loved the subject and that I'd probably be very interested in the story. I think that helped a lot because quite a bit of the story felt rushed to me. I think part of that was my inexperience with graphic novels but also part of it was just that it . . . was rushed. I enjoyed it a lot, though. It was cute, fun, not super deep, and right in line with what I expected from Mera's story. The illustrations were gorgeous. I thought they complimented the story perfectly and the artist did a fantastic job highlighting Mera with the colors they choose. It was a crazy fast read, but I would read it again. I especially liked the ending. Danielle Paige is a talented author and I like how she handled Mera's story. This book was put together well and I'd recommend it to DC fans. General readers? Maybe not so much, but you never know!

I have to say I didn't know much about this character until I watched Aquaman and I grew to love her. I loved this graphic novel and I especially liked the artwork.

This graphic novel, Mera: Tidebreaker, tells the story of a lesser-known DC comics superhero. Mera should be the princess of an underwater kingdom, but her father, the king, has been dethroned. She trains herself to be a warrior, so she can claim the throne for herself. But when she realizes who she has to fight--a teen living in a lighthouse in Maine--complications ensure. How can you conquer someone you're falling for?

Mera is strong, passionate and driven, so she's not just another version of Disney's Ariel. I enjoyed this novel, and I think young adult readers will too, although I wish it had had more about Mera's mermaid life in it. My opinions are my own, but thanks to NetGalley for providing an e-copy of this novel.

With the popularity of Aquaman DC has now added by creating young adult novels from many of the characters. Watching and knowing of many of these heroes, I took at the chance to read about Mera. After watching the movie, I loved the character even more so even after reading the comics. 

Mera, Tidebreaker is about a princess of Atlantis who is a hero in her own right. The illustrations and story go back to a Mera before we even meet her love, Aquaman aka Arthur Curry. Just a side note that this story doesn't add up with the story we have seen on the big screen, but nonetheless brings the elegance and defiant character that I love. Mera will find out the truth about the Atlantis she grew up in, but what will she do with that knowledge? Yo0u'l have to find out as Paige keeps you on your toes and this is a page-turner. I wish we had more stories like this growing up!

I really enjoyed this graphic novel, and I also had my 10-year-old daughter read it, and she LOVED it. The illustrations are beautiful and expressive--I always knew exactly what Mera was thinking. I read the whole thing in one sitting, and then I went back and read it more slowly again. Wonderful characters and great energy. I would like to see more in this series!

I'm fairly new to reading graphic novels and so I am very pleased to have been accepted for this review. I must say that growing up I was always a DC fan but grew more into Marvel, BUT stuff like this make me want to discover what else is new in the DC universe.

I gave this a solid 4 stars. Only because some of the content I wish wasn't as cheesy, but it is for the YA age group. I thought the art was stunning. The colors of it all perfected the take of the story without being overly dramatic. I am not sure if it was completed or not, but from this ARC I believe it fit it perfectly.


Mera: Tidebreaker was an outstanding stand alone graohic novel. It showed a background story of Mera before Aquaman. Please know that this doesn't match up perfectly with the movie. So if you are reading this book because you loved Mera in the movie, then just know that this is not the "same" Mera. While yes, the character is still the same. The background story of Movie Mera could be different from this.

I wish stories like these existed when I was a little girl. I was really into heroes growing up because I lived with my dad and brother. My dad grew up in the 60's and 70's and therefore superheroes became his favorite and most collected thing. Just, as I was growing up, there wasn't much out there for the girls. Yes there was Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn every so often, but come on, lets be real. The ratio of boy heroes and girl heroes is widely different.

This definetley put a nice fresh face for a new audience for DC Comics.


Mera proved her worth to the readers in this. She is a strong, independent, teenage princess who only wishes to follow in her mothers powerful footsteps. Along the way she actually discovers her truth and the truth she discovered the actual world to be. She is a strong warrior and not one to be messed with. I personally loved this take on Mera. She is a new face for the crowds and has made a great impact for girls everywhere.

Danielle Paige knocked me out my socks with this. I loved how she wrote this and made Mera such a inspiration for girls. Stephen Byrne has creatively conveyed each artistic detail and set the tone with this novel. The vibrancy of Mera's hair and the dull-ness of her girly outfits. This is defying the typical teenage girl role, and that is what makes Mera: Tidebreaker a breaker of traditions and stereotypes.

As much I want to spread the word and get this review out there, DC has asked not for any more reviews to be published until release day of APRIL 2!

So this will be published then and I hope you all go out and find this book, read it, then let me know how much you enjoyed it. Honestly, I LOVE how DC is not afraid to give its readers and young readers the ability to grow with all their characters. By doing the DC Icons series, the YA GN books, the adult GN's they do, DC is definetley there for everyone in their audience. So THANK YOU DC for this!

I have a few more to come your way from DC
so Stick around and stay tuned!!
Love,
DauntlessReading

The file for Mera: Tidebreaker kept crashing for me while I tried to read it, but what I read of it before it would crash was very interesting and I enjoyed the art style.

It's hard for me to really pin down how I feel about this, since Aquaman and Mera are a fairly sizable gap in my DC knowledge. Since this is set as a sort of origin story of the characters, though, maybe that's perfect to give this an unbiased opinion.
Overall this is a pretty fun book. The art's pretty good. The story line, though not exactly anything fresh or overly original, worked well enough to be compelling. There are places that things break down a little-- some of the terminology used in Xebel didn't parse well-- for example, it seems weird that an undersea nation uses "douchebag" the same way Americans may-- but other than a handful of issues along those lines, and a handful of instances where people totally change their minds about big important things in a couple of lines of dialogue, this was pretty solid.

I really wanted to like this graphic novel, but i just couldn't get into it. I really wanted to like Mera but she just was just kind of an eh character to me. So were the other characters i just couldn't connect to any of them. I do enjoy reading other YA books, and graphic novels but this one just seemed too young for me. I did like some of the art, but the color pallet was kind of distracting.

Mera: Tidebreaker is a story about a young woman's journey. It's about realizing the ways we should speak up, using our own power, and growing into our own voice. I loved the art style in this graphic novel, it was colorful and detailed. The story was high paced and wonderful to see come alive on the pages.

Mera of Xebel wants more than anything to fight for her throne, but no one seems to be listening. Everyone, including her father, expects her to marry her childhood friend, Larken of the Trench, and let him take over their country's long-running rebellion against Atlantis. Mera, determined to follow in her mother's warrior footsteps, hatches a plan to eliminate the heir of Atlantis. But the Atlantean prince turns out to be not who Mera expected to find.

I always enjoy Mera when I read Aquaman titles. She's consistently portrayed as a strong partner to Arthur, and I'm delighted to find that this origin story stays true to this characterization. Paige writes Mera as a believable teenage young woman, pigheaded and trying to figure out who she is.

Mera: Tidebreaker is an excellent introduction to the Queen of Atlantis, appropriate for young readers. I would readily put this in the hands of my 10 year old as a next step up from the DC Super Hero Girls series. If this is representative of what DC is trying to do with their new DC Ink (young adult) and DC Zoom (middle grade) series, then the series is off to a great start.

The story is beautifully illustrated in muted colors, with Mera's flaming red hair the brightest part of every page. Stephen Byrne's illustrations are full of strong lines, the scenes are uncluttered, and the emotions are clear.

I was provided with a complementary copy of this book via NetGalley in order to facilitate this review.