The climax of the book is Jake finding out - as everything else in his life seems to be falling to pieces around him - that his unusual birthmarks and affinity with water are because he is, in fact, the son of Black Manta. Jake’s DC connection feels similarly out of place. The parental scenes, while sweet, stand in for what could have been expanded conversations between the younger characters there’s an argument, a parent clarifies the situation, and the next time the two teens involved meet, everything’s basically okay now. Thanks to the number of things Sanchez is attempting to resolve by the final pages, though, we don’t get enough time to linger on any of these - everything moves at lightning speed, making the character shifts that take place over the course of the book feel perfunctory. The conflict between Jake and Kenny about where Jake is at in terms of his own sense of identity is deeply relatable, and there’s also something very refreshing about the various types of parental relationships Sanchez introduces in the script. That’s not to say You Brought Me The Ocean doesn’t hit on some important thematic elements. The plot gets busier as the book goes on, and while there is certainly a sense of delicate plate-spinning for anyone going through the high school to college transition, in the case of You Brought Me The Ocean it feels a bit more like a frenetically-paced script than a narrative choice.

In short order we’re introduced to Jake’s overprotective mother (who’s definitely hiding something), his best friend Maria (who thinks they’re dating), his college goals (which Jake is mostly hiding from Maria), and the overarching mystery of his origins - along with a quick cameo from Superman, just to remind you this is a DC book. Featuring a script by Alex Sanchez, art by Blue Is the Warmest Color creator Julie Maroh, and letters by Deron Bennett, You Brought Me The Ocean introduces Jake Hyde as a high schooler struggling with the transition to adulthood against the backdrop of the dry New Mexico desert.įrom the jump, writer Alex Sanchez packs a great deal of plot into a handful of pages. But as with some of their other recent YA offerings, this revisiting of Jackson Hyde’s Aqualad origins stumbles somewhat under the weight of its ties to the broader DC Universe. There are not enough LGBTQ+ comics in general, much less superhero comics, and so in that regard DC’s latest YA graphic novel You Brought Me The Ocean is a welcome addition to their roster.

You brought me the ocean