Writer, Artist, Colorist, Letterer & Cover Artist: Derek
Kirk Kim
Publisher: Image
Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 13, 2024
The wind howls across the dunes, uncovering a vehicle in the
sand. Beyond rises the ruins of the Golden Gate Bridge. Inside the car’s glass
dome, a young woman lays curled up on her side. Bubbles escape her mouth. What
is her story? Let’s dive into The Last Mermaid #1 and find out!
Story
Amber light colors the cloudy skies. Dunes cover the
straight that once connected San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean. Yet
water fills the vehicle’s transparent cockpit. Wherever the woman hails from,
it’s not here.
A salamander named Lottie awakens her. An instrument
indicates rising water toxicity. After sleeping through the sandstorm, the
woman struggles to get her bearings in The Last Mermaid #1. She knows she must change
the water in the cockpit soon.
She revs the engine. The wheels spin. Still, the dune holds the
vehicle fast. So she rises in the cockpit, and the rover follows suit. It
stands on its legs and sprouts its arms. Now, in her walker, she can leap clear
of the dune.
In The Last Mermaid #1, Derek Kirk Kim introduces us to an
explorer. She travels to an abandoned or sparsely settled land. The outside
environment is toxic to her. Yet her rover cannot sustain life much longer.
Haunted by the urgency of her situation, we watch rapt as the unnamed woman
searches for fresh water. We wonder where she comes from, why she is here, and
hope that despite the odds against her, she will survive.
Art
Aside from the broken and tilted bridge, no sign of human civilization
rises above the dunes. The woman’s innocent features mirror her pet’s childlike
expression. Dark hair frames her face, and her lower body sports a tail. As her
eyes open, close, and reopen, the digital water toxicity readout rises from 86%
to 87%. As she sits up, her dark hair wafts off her shoulders. Bubbles rise
from the gills in her neck.
Light pierces the thick tangerine sky and bathes objects in
yellow. Rust turns the brown metal and concrete bridge red. The cockpit’s
interior ranges from light to dark green. The yellow light illuminates the
woman, tinting her skin light blue. In the immersive and compelling reality of
The Last Mermaid #1, scenes reveal character and convey grandeur.
Uppercase black letters float in white dialogue balloons. An
alarm scatters Beeps across panels. Lottie nibbles our explorer's face. Big
letters rise, crest, and fall as the engine roars and the wheels spin. A white
oval and a large Bump suggest the salamander's hunger to travel.
Final Thoughts
A mermaid and her pet roam a world that once belonged to us
in The Last Mermaid #1. As they hunt for the water they need to survive, a
cloaked figure without a face follows their progress in this mesmerizing and
atmospheric debut.
Rating 8.6/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
