The King of the Seven Seas recently returned with a new costume, new creative team and new enemy—Atlantis! With the ocean looking decidedly stormier for Aquaman and his relationship with Mera seemingly over, it’s clear that writer Cullen Bunn and artist Trevor McCarthy are out to make some waves in the long running title. Earlier this year, we spoke with them about Aquaman and what we can expect from their run on the book.

There are so many different types of stories you can tell in an Aquaman comic book. What sort of stories are you looking to tell? Are these straight super hero stories, or is it going to be more kingdom and palace intrigue?

Trevor: I think there’s going to be some big changes that are going to come.

Cullen: If we’re going to sum it up, it’s almost a weird fantasy. That’s really the vibe I want to go for in the series. Yeah, you’re right. I think you’re going to see a number of different kinds of stories. Some could skew horrific even in some cases. In the overarching story we have planned, there are definitely going to be some horror elements that we’re going to get to see Arthur facing off against. We’ll see how he’s going handle those things.

There’s definitely some palace intrigue, I can’t remember how I described it to you, Trevor, but we get to see some sinister forces that are working behind-the-scenes in Atlantis and how they are influencing things…

Trevor: It’s a slightly different tone than what has been in Aquaman recently, and even visually, there will definitely be some changes. But it will hopefully be more of an organic evolution, rather than BOOM! Just throw it out there just for change’s sake. It all has to work contextually, I think.

Trevor, I always hear animators complain about animating water. What’s it like to draw it? Have you drawn any crazy underwater creatures yet?

Trevor McCarthy: Well, no, not yet. The reason I was looking forward to getting on Aquaman and working on the book, is that aspect—the undersea world and using water. I like to use a lot of design elements in my page layouts, and sort of push the way the visual space moves. By using water as a design element, I want to bring a different aesthetic to Aquaman that maybe hasn’t been around in a while. And of course, the undersea creatures, animals, leviathans and all that sort of thing, too.

So, last question. With all these new titles that are coming out, is there one that personally you are just really excited to read or check out?

Cullen: There’s a couple. The Dark Universe stuff—those are the types of books that speak to me. We Are Robin—that book, honestly, I had no idea what that book was until we talked about it today and now I’m super excited.

Trevor: I’m interested in Prez because I’ve never heard of DC publishing anything like that. It seems really cool.

AQUAMAN #42 by Cullen Bunn, Trevor McCarthy, Jesus Merino, Walden Wong and Guy Major in now available in print and as a digital download.