Isla remains a mermaid in the desert. It’s okay...she’s got a high-tech powered exoskeleton filled with water. And she’s got a guide. He’s a guy named Torque who says he’s seen the giant silver trident that would mark a place of vast water known as an ocean. They’re going to get just a little closer to that trident in The Last Mermaid #6. Writer/artist Derek Kirk Kim continues a brutal and beautiful fantasy adventure story that continues to fill the page quite nicely as the first major story arc draws to a close with a narrative installment that engages emotionally on a powerful level.

There’s great danger. Torque and Isla are being attacked. It’s going to be a hell of a dangerous situation for them to try to get through, but there are other dangers that are coming to the fore. The toxicity of the water she’s swimming around in is at 70% and she could get really, really sick if they don’t find fresh water soon. The good news is that the trident can clearly be seen on the horizon. With any luck, they’ll be able to make it across the wasteland and find a safe and open place for her.

Kim’s got a great premise for a story. It’s the kind of fantasy that would all too often be bogged-down in needless exposition and tedious backstory. Kim knows that the basic struggle for survival is strong enough a concept that he doesn’t need to go into a whole lot of backstory in order to engage his readers. It’s a smart move on his part that allows his visuals to speak for themselves. A quick bit of text at the beginning to the issue for the uninitiated is all he really needs. The visuals carry the rest of the story.

And there are GORGEOUS visuals in places. The anime-inspired character design amplifies a lot of what’s going on with respect to the emotional end of the story, but there’s also some really, really sharp delivery of the drama. There is a really sweet silent moment between Isla and Torque that is delivered to the page with a deep sense of nuanced pacing that feels absolutely stunning in its ability to get across the deeper emotion of a silent moment. A gift is given. Sometimes words don’t work. All that’s important is a moment shared between a couple of people who aren’t strangers anymore. It’s beautiful. 

On top of it all, there are some beautiful landscapes that are drawn to the page. Kim does some very pretty work with light and shadow that bring a strong sense of atmosphere to the page. It’s not often that shadow is treated with such reverence on the page. The visual reality of The Last Mermaid is just as much about the unseen as it is about what’s actually apparent there in the desert. It’s breathtaking stuff in places. The story is taking its time as it slowly reaches its destination. There’s no telling what they’ll find when they get where they’re going. Exciting stuff. 

Grade: A