Fathom (comics)
Fathom is a comic book created by Michael Turner and originally published by Top Cow Productions. It debuted in 1998 and was Michael Turner's first creator-owned comic book series. Fathom is currently published by Turner's own company, Aspen MLT.
Its protagonist is Aspen Matthews, a member of a race of aquatic humanoids called the Blue who possess the ability to control water.
Publication history
Fathom was created by Michael Turner, who said that he found the inspiration from an issue of National Geographic. The first series began in 1998 and was abruptly halted in 2002 when it was discovered that Turner had been diagnosed with cancer. During the period of inactivity on the main series, comic book artist Talent Caldwell drew a miniseries titled Fathom: Killian's Tide. After Turner's cancer went into remission, he left Top Cow and launched his own company, Aspen MLT Inc. During this period there was a legal conflict between Turner and Top Cow as to who owned the rights to Fathom.In 2004, Turner restarted the Fathom series and had a preview of its premiere in his company's first comic, Michael Turner Presents: Aspen. After that, a Fathom miniseries titled Fathom: Dawn of War was produced and, shortly after that, the series Fathom: Cannon Hawke was started. The second volume in the Fathom series was drawn by artist Koi Turnbull. The third Fathom series was drawn by artist Ale Garza and inked by Sal Regla. In 2017, Fathom got a sixth volume, this time written by Blake Northcott, pencilled by Marco Renna and inked by Mark Roslan.
Dynamite Entertainment also did a Fathom: Prelude one-shot, which was co-published with Aspen MLT.
''Fathom'' (1998–2002)
Fathom begins as the cruise ship Paradise arrives in San Diego 10 years after its disappearance had been reported. A military quarantine is established to cross-examine the crew and passengers; however, no one on board is aware that they had been missing. Compounding the mystery is a little girl who had been discovered by the crew while still at sea. The girl could only remember that her name was Aspen. Aspen is taken from the ship by a vacationing naval officer, Captain Matthews, who adopts her and raises her as his own. Aspen has a strange attraction to water, and spends much of her youth swimming, eventually making the US Olympic team for the 1988 Seoul games. She wins the gold, but has her medal taken away and receives a permanent ban after she fails a rigged drug test. Afterwards, Aspen attends UC San Diego and receives a degree in Marine Biology. She is then invited to study at a top-secret underwater science facility known as the DMD, or Deep Marine Discovery. The DMD is a joint project between the United States and Japan. The facility was built over a strange underwater craft of unknown origin which both nations study to determine its origin. However, the Americans and Japanese no longer trust each other and rely on an intermediary named Cannon Hawke to share research data. Aspen is also introduced to a mysterious man who somehow entered the DMD and requested to be placed into a tube filled with water. He requires no air, leading the DMD to deduce that, despite his appearance, he is not human.A US Navy test pilot named Chance Calloway is testing an experimental amphibious fighter plane for Admiral Maylander, who heads Naval Intelligence. Maylander is also the man who oversaw the quarantine of the Paradise. Chance's wingman is killed by a craft resembling the one at the DMD. Violating orders, Chance pursues the craft, first in the air and then underwater. Again disobeying orders, he fires a torpedo at the craft only to have it dissolve into the water before the torpedo reaches its target. Without a target, the torpedo locks onto the generator at the DMD and destroys it, severely damaging the facility. Before she drowns, Aspen is rescued by the man in the tube who springs to life and attempts to take her with him. He begins to dissolve into the water, just like the alien craft, and Aspen begins to dissolve as well. Naval rescue teams arrive and the man flees: Aspen is rescued, but not before Calloway sees her in a half-dissolved form. He goes AWOL to try to find Aspen and figure out what he saw. He eventually finds Aspen, who cannot explain her abilities. Before she can find out any more, she is abducted by government personnel and brought to Killian who is held in the DMD. He tells Aspen that she is a member of a race of aquatic humanoids called the Blue who possess the ability to control water.
Blue Sun
Aspen enters the world of the Blue with Killian training her to be a warrior. Aspen has unique powers, even for the Blue, and Killian tricks her into helping him create an enormous weapon. This weapon, later called the "Blue Sun", is a huge ball of energy out in space powered by three underwater stations on Earth. Killian intends to use this weapon to drill a hole in the Earth's crust at a place known to the Blue as Chanarnay, or the "Valley of Stairs". This hole would drain much of the world's oceans although the purpose is not fully known except to Killian.Before Killian can accomplish this, Aspen is convinced by her new friend Kyla to leave Killian and escape with Cannon Hawke, a member of the Blue himself, who has been following Aspen for years to prevent Killian from using her to activate the Blue Sun. Kyla is an agent of Cannon's who was placed into Killian's group to collect intelligence on him. Killian nonetheless manages to get his plan in motion but not before Kyla reveals herself to Killian and helps Aspen escape, dying in the process. Aspen, Cannon and Chance follow Killian to Chanarnay where Cannon fights Killian to buy time for Aspen to stop the Blue Sun. Cannon is wounded and Killian throws Aspen into a light beam and thinks he has killed her. Aspen in fact has gained near god-like abilities from the raw energy of the beam. She then kills Killian and destroys the beam.
The Spelunker
After the Blue Sun incident, Aspen finally gets some rest, or so she thinks. After strange deaths occur from the jaws of an unknown sea creature, a crazy old man shows up at Aspen's door. The man brings her aboard the Spelunker, a strange submarine-like vessel, and in a very Moby-Dick-like fashion, they hunt down the creature named "Big Moe".Aspen ends up killing two of the unknown sea creatures after finding Big Moe to be their parent. Big Moe gets away and the old man and Aspen part ways. The old man has since appeared in a single issue of Aspen Seasons as a possible foreshadow for his and the Spelunkers eventual return to the series.
Resurrection of Taras
Around a year after the Blue Sun event, Cannon finds himself on his yacht with Lara Croft, an archaeologist and adventurer. While relaxing, he is attacked and kidnapped by Biranha, the brother of Taras. Lara goes unnoticed and contacts her friend Sara Pezzini, a New York detective and wielder of the Witchblade, for help.Cannon awakes in an underwater city in the Atlantic. He is being held hostage by Vana, leader of the Arctic Blue, and mother of Biranha and Taras. The Arctic Blue are a separate sect of the Blue living in the freezing cold north and have adapted abilities to control ice. Vana wants revenge on Cannon for the near death of her son. It turns out that Taras was not actually killed in the Blue Sun but rather evaporated to a large degree. Vana uses a machine to try to place Taras' remains into Cannon so that Taras might live again in Cannon's body.
Meanwhile, Sara and Lara begin searching for clues as to where Cannon might have been taken when they run into Aspen. At the same time, Aspen is being targeted by Biranha's men. Aspen and Sara end up working together only to be knocked out and kidnapped. They awaken in the underwater city below the Atlantic Ocean. It turns out Vana also blames Aspen for what has happened to her son and wishes to see Aspen dead. Thankfully Lara is still free and on the way to rescue the women, having followed Biranha's team home.
Vana's experiment comes to a saddening end when Cannon absorbs all of Taras and turns into a horrible abomination, a mere shadow of a man that can barely speak. Vana intends to kill this haunting image of Cannon, believing her son fully lost, until Taras' mind bleeds through, forcing Cannon to say, "I learned to walk before I could crawl". Realizing Taras is still in Cannon's body, Vana tries to undo the experiment, hopefully getting things right this time. As this is going on, Lara sneaks in and frees Aspen and Sara. The trio of women leave the base only to return, realizing they must free Cannon at all costs.
This time, Vana's experiment works, bringing Cannon back to his normal self as well as recreating Taras' body. However, when Sara and Lara break into the chamber, a fight ensues. During this, Sara is in her own fight, facing and killing Biranha. Vana and Aspen exchange blasts of ice and water until Vana shoots one directly at Aspen. Rather than dodge it, Aspen reflects the blast by turning her arms into a form of hard water. The blast ricochets off Aspen's arms and blows up the capsule Taras was in, killing him. The girls grab Cannon and run as Vana makes a desperate suicidal final move. It is a race against time for them to get out of the enemy base as Vana explodes her body into hundreds of long sharp icicles. The group manages to escape to Cannon's yacht, and they relax after such a dangerous adventure.
Cannon did not leave Vana's headquarters without cost. As he looks in the mirror he sees Taras smiling back at him as he is now stuck in the deep recesses of his subconscious.
This was the last storyline of the first volume of Fathom, as well as the last Fathom story to be published through Top Cow Productions.