Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis TPB: Once and Future - 2007

Since it's Comic Friday again, I thought why not take the opportunity to talk about the current Aquaman comic, now dubbed Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis, by Kurt Busiek and Butch Guice. This is the recently released trade collection reprinting issues 40-45.

When I first heard that the book was changing title, storyline, and--gasp!--main character, I was admittedly very skeptical. Busiek's idea sounded like Savage Sword of Aquaman The Barbarian to me, in yet another vain effort to re-jigger a supposedly ailing character.

Almost a year in, I can now admit I was wrong--Busiek and Guice definitely had a long-range, thought-out plan in mind, and the story's been told very well to this point. I have always felt that Aquaman, for the last decade or so, has suffered from being--forgive the pun--neither fish nor fowl. He wasn't given all the standard trappings of a mainstream superhero character--secret identity, consistent base of operations, large Rogues' Gallery--yet all the things that made him different were sort of cut off at the edges, to make it more like a standard superhero book. Writers and editors never fully committed him to either approach, so I think as a character he's suffered mightily.

This time Busiek has decided to push Aquaman fully into the latter, seperating him almost entirely from the regular DCU and creating a whole other world for him to operate in. And while I wish Aquaman would get a shot to be in full-on Superhero Mode, I think Busiek's idea was good one. Aquaman: SOA doesn't look or feel like any other DCU book on the stands.

As for the new Aquaman? He's not a bad character at all, and I'm enjoying watching him assume the mantle. I do hope that the original Arthur Curry returns, and maybe there's room enough in the ocean for both of them. I still haven't yet figured out whether it's Aquaman I love, or Arthur Curry as Aquaman. I don't know what I'd do if I was a Flash fan...
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Two days ago I posted a cool Aquaman plush doll made by The Toy Factory, and F.O.A.M. member Charles Howell (who designed, and let me know about, the doll in the first place) then told his company about my blog.

The next day, they did a nice little write-up about it on the Fun page of their company site, which you can see here! I'm so glad they liked what I wrote, because I sure do love the doll...more Aquaman products, please!