Ah, fishing. Truly the most dad-like of all water activities. You spend hours upon hours in a boat hoping one of the little creatures decides your bait is tastier than someone else’s. And if not, you just end up staring at the ocean for a while. It’s a hard sport to make interesting. Yet STEVEN UNIVERSE #7 does just that. Written by Grace Kraft with art by Meg Omac, STEVEN UNIVERSE #7 captures the joy of the earlier episodes while still maintaining its own identity.

STEVEN UNIVERSE #7 and Boating 101

The story starts with Steven and the Crystal Gems preparing for a mission that’ll take them out in the sea. Steven decides he wants to go fishing like Onion’s father and takes some gummy worms to attach to the end of a stick with string as they venture out. Unfortunately, it seems only the seagulls have any interest in Steven’s gummies. As they move along and reach the island containing the gem artifact, they quickly learn that more than just fish lurk beneath the waves. As a result, Steven and his family must face off against a corrupted gem or get sent into the bottom of the sea.

For those of you hoping this issue will be an emotionally deep comic, I’m sorry to say it is not. It’s just a short, fun adventure with beloved characters out in the sea. Honestly, I really enjoyed it. I forgot how much fun the earlier episodes were. Before the days of intergalactic gem politics, the Crystal Gems fought monsters on a near weekly basis. The fun was simple, the monster designs unique. It’s hard to separate the gem monsters as being simply “monsters,” now that we know they’re corruptions of regular gems. And yet it’s still nice to read of the occasional call-back to the earlier era.

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Depicting a Gem’s Adventure

Meg Omac does a great job keeping to the background art of the show, all the while changing up the character designs. The backgrounds keep to a more ethereal quality, where the light bounces off the water in a way that’s similar to a gem’s surface. However, the characters appear much more cartoony. For example, Steven’s eyes often appear as small dots as opposed to the more defined, realistic shape in the show. Still, these design changes don’t appear too distracting. Much like the story, they’re simple. This helps emphasize the nostalgic feel the entire issue radiates.

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It’s a short story about adventuring on the high seas, nothing more and nothing less. Some readers might wish the issue would go deeper, but personally, I felt like it did its job just fine. Not every story about the Crystal Gems has to emotionally destroy the reader. Sometimes, all you need is a gummy worm, some string, and a stick to catch yourself a fun adventure.