The Mermaid now has a goal and another companion, but what challenges will they face on their long journey? Find out in The Last Mermaid #5 from Image Comics!

THE LAST MERMAID #5

Writer: Derek Kirk Kim
Artist: Derek Kirk Kim
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 3, 2024

Previously in The Last Mermaid: The Mermaid chooses to help the human in his fight against the water beast. Together, they destroy the monster. The human, who is named Torque, stays around to help fix the HAVC. As he starts to leave, the Mermaid asks if he has ever seen a giant silver trident impaling the sun. He has, and he can show here where it is. But the Mermaid is skeptical about his help. She has only ever met Mutants, and they are not helpful. However, Lottie is inclined to trust him.

UNDER THE BRUTAL SUN

Cooked meat can make a meal for a Mermaid, as we see in the opening scene of The Last Mermaid #5, but less so for an axolotl. The Mermaid promises to find her a bug and starts to doze off. She forces herself awake, and Torque tells her that she can sleep; he will take the first watch. She warns him that her HAVC has a proximity alarm. She does not trust him, but she is tired. As she sleeps, she dreams, and as she dreams, she remembers her mother.

She awakens to see Torque standing on top of the HAVC. He brings his staff down onto the dome, squishing a scorpion and offering it to her for Lottie. While Lottie happily eats it, the Mermaid considers the human again.

Some days later, the Mermaid uses the HAVC to climb the cliffs of the mountain range. There may be easier ways to go, but her water toxicity level is rising again. Speed is of the essence. A loose boulder causes her to slip and Torque just barely manages to hold on with the rope, until it snaps at a weak point. He falls, and the Mermaid jumps down to follow him. They land safely, but they are in a valley and up among the cliffs there are several Mutants.

The Mutants watch and then leave. The Mermaid goes after them. They can only be planning an ambush, so she feels their best strategy is to ambush them before they are ready. But when they reach the top of the cliffs, the Mutants are still headed away. She and Torque realize they intend to alert their whole gang. They must take out these Scouts before then. Torque says he can do it if she can get him close enough to them. She changes the HAVC to a wheeled vehicle and the chase is on! Then the scouts split up, and the Mermaid and Torque do as well.

The Mermaid’s chase takes her after a mutant on a motorcycle. A skid causes her to slip off over the edge of a lava pool. Torque faces down a mutant riding a larger mutant creature.

BATTLING TIME AND MUTANTS

The art of The Last Mermaid #5 is stunning, as we have come to expect. We get some particularly charming moments with Lottie as the Mermaid has her good, solid meal. Lottie swims after a bone and tries taking some nibbles, which is not very satisfying. The Mermaid belches out some bubbles, and Lottie tries swallowing those to see if they are any better. They just fill her cheeks with air like some kind of aquatic chipmunk before it all bubbles out in even tinier bubbles. It is amusing, but I was happy that Lottie did get a more satisfying meal just a few pages later.

In the scene in the mountains, I like the limited color palettes and the use of two palettes to represent the outside world and the interior of the HAVC. Outside in the unrelenting heat, the colors are a dreamy, dusty blend of oranges and browns. The sky glows and the terrain is cracked and looks parched. The Mermaid’s color scheme is grayish green which reminds us that the interior of her HAVC is full of water, but also that it is getting a little off-color as the toxicity level rises. When we see Torque in close proximity to the Mermaid, his face and equipment pick up the orange glow of the outside world. In the longer shots, a hint of green immediately informs us of where the Mermaid is. I like the way this helps clarify the action while, on another level, reminding us that the Mermaid’s world is different from Torque’s.

BOTTOM LINE: BEAUTIFUL AND DANGEROUS

The Last Mermaid #5 is another gorgeous visual feast of a story, crafted in such a way as to cover a huge scale of distance and time while concentrating on key moments to keep the pace humming along smoothly.

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