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Title: Fathom #3
Publisher: Aspen Comics MLT
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Alex Konat
Covers: Alex Konat and Beth Sotelo (Cover A), Oliver Nome and Peter Steigerwald (Cover B), Alex Konat (Cover C)

“Ocean Red“: Sometimes a comic book issue will take things to new depths. And in the case of Fathom, issue #4 takes us to new depths both in terms of writing and in the story. I believe in Fathom #2, I said that…

While the art was good, I felt the story was lacking. Not bad, there was nothing terribly flawed with it. It jut felt like there wasn’t something special to the story. It felt like it was more on shallow shores than deeper tides. For longtime Fathom fans, this might be a fresh serving of a new story arc, but newcomers might not get pulled into the story as much. The story won’t turn you off, but it felt like a lot of clichés already in modern comic books.

Well, if I had some reservations with Fathom #2, Fathom #3 blows all of them out of the water (pun intended). While it still feels like it’s a set up comic, this issue feels intriguing and grabs my attention right at the beginning. This one has several different locations, from the Royal House of Rytal, Saudi Arabia, to fathoms below hot magma, and into a new underwater world.

Not only do we get a healthy mix of locations, but for newcomers such as myself, there’s also a good cast of characters. Longtime readers will see familiar faces and already know much about Aspen Matthews. But for those of us who are still getting to know Aspen Matthews and friends (and enemies), this issue might serve as a pretty good introduction. The dialog is believable and the chemistry between the team is great.

But it’s not just the writing that makes it interesting. It’s also the artwork, meeting the Aspen quality that you know and love. Alex Konat is able to make each setting and character unique, not making them feel like a copy paste from somewhere else. And Beth Sotelo does a beautiful job coloring, especially when the crew’s ship dives down the magma landscape. And Josh Reed does great lettering as always.

I admit, as a newcomer, Fathom #3 has proven to me that the series is much more than just a pretty cover (there’s “eye candy” for both preferences before you accuse it of being sexist at first look). It has its own uniqueness and has a team that can deliver some quality. For those of you who are interested in Fathom but don’t want to buy a TPB just yet, now might be a good time to check it out. And if you’re into Namor or Aquaman, but want something beyond the same clichéd superhero, this might be your comic.

Andrew Hudson
ahudson@comicattack.net
@Hudsonian