MERMIN

A goofy indie comic that reads like Aquaman told though James Kochalka’s whimsical lens doesn’t quite stay afloat.

When Mermin, a friendly green sea creature, washes up on the beach, siblings Claire, Pete and Toby can't believe their eyes. After Mermin uses his superstrength and saves Pete from a vicious shark, Pete repays the favor by letting Mermin stay with him. Truly a fish out of water, Mermin tries to adapt to life with humans on dry land but naturally struggles to fit in. On top of this, a gang of renegade sea creatures tracking Mermin are determined to bring him back to the sea, for reasons that are never explained in this volume. First volumes are often heavy in exposition, but this one offers little else, relying more on antics tenuously strung together than building a cohesive, engrossing storyline. Too many unanswered questions hinder any real fulfillment: Why would Mermin have superstrength on land? Why are the bad guys chasing him? What is he running from? Weiser maddeningly offers his readers nothing on this front; not even the tiniest hint. However, readers looking for a funny, bubble-gum comic with art vibrant as a Saturday-morning cartoon and action to match will find that this suffices.

A decent-enough offering, but there are plenty of other fish in the sea.