Dan Abnett does good stuff with weird palace intrigue and odd ruling arrangements. He’s done it all his career, and that makes him screwing up Atlantis’s ruling culture in the pages of Aquamanall the more exciting. The fact that we’re also getting a full Mera: Queen of Atlantis miniseries is just an added bonus.

For those of you not up to date: Aquaman is no longer the king of Atlantis. He’s been usurped by Coram Rath, a man tapping into Atlantean magic to maintain control. Much of that magic is a barrier of thorns that keeps Atlantis isolated. Arthur is presumed dead, but hanging around in the Ninth Tride (read: the bad part of town) with Dolphin, a classic character from the ’70s that Abnett brought back. Mera, originally trapped outside the barrier separating Atlantis from the rest of the world, used a busted old magic medallion to get in, and lost her ability to breathe underwater in the process. That’s pretty much where we stand today.

He and his team have been setting Mera up since the Rebirth relaunch as the spine behind the throne. She’s always been a badass, with waterbending powers that are almost a cooler visual than Arthur’s, but now she’s also a strong advocate for the Atlantean people. And that’s where she’s at when her solo series, a six-issue mini that DC sent a preview of over, kicks off.

Here’s what they have to say about the first issue: