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Sunday, November 18, 2007

Aquaman Poster by Martin Egeland - 1994

sgBefore we start, let me apologize for the lousy scan--usually, if I find a better version online I use that, but no luck. And as you can see, I'm a lame photographer.

Anyway, this was the big promo poster DC put out to push the new Aquaman series by Peter David and new artist(and fellow Kubert School alum!) Martin Egeland.

As anyone who has been reading this site for a while knows, I'm, er, less than a big fan of this era of Aquaman, but to be fair, I haven't read any of these issue in a long time so maybe it's time to revisit some of these books--it wouldn't be the first time a comic that didn't work for me the first time around and then with the passage of time read much differently.

Also, this era certainly did have its fans(see Tim Schlattmann's interview earlier in the week), and David had a long, healthy run(over fifty issues total) on the book. So definite props to him for being someone who managed to do nearly the impossible--sell an Aquaman comic book!

10 comments:

Diabolu Frank said...

They forced his hand... into a shallow pool... of piranhas.

No, it was in fact that bad.

Also, that poster also ran as an easily scanable house ad. THe imagery hinted at a much better book than was delivered.

Anonymous said...

Best Era for Aquaman ever.
The supporting cast was very good.
The character development more fleshed out than ever.
His powers
at last matched his status as King of the 7 Seas.
PAD made him truly one of the Big 7, one of the most powerful and respected characters among the DCU.

Siskoid said...

I'm with anonymous. I was a big fan of this era too. I think I can love this AND the classic Aquaman without any kind of cognitive disconnect.

Anonymous said...

When this poster came out, I was so excited. I had no idea what to expect, but this just gave me hope.

I loved the Peter David run, a lot. The series fell apart one he left.

That said, I do prefer the traditional costume over the one-shouldered thing. Never cared for that.

Anonymous said...

I like to refer to the hairy, shirtless, pointy stick waving period as Arthur's mid-life crisis. It’s the only way I can reconcile this character with the Aquaman I followed from book to book for almost two decades. He acted like a macho jerk for a while and now he's better. Well, now he's dead, but you get my point.

The only person who "got" Aquaman during this period was Grant Morrison. In an interview (in Wizard I believe), Morrison said he couldn't get a handle on Aquaman until he just started writing him as a super-hero who happens to come from the sea.

Morrison's Aquaman was pretty darn cool. And if he'd been in the orange and green with two hands and the proper powers I get the feeling he'd have been just as cool.

"A super-hero who happens to come from the sea." Too bad Morrison didn't pitch an Aquaman series ...

Anonymous said...

I'm one of those who DIDN'T like this series. All of that Atlan, Orin, sorcery, Poseidonis as a possessed entity crap....Aquaman had been angry a long time, but he didn't need to be Wolverine of the Seven Seas. And the hook was just stupid. Now, having said that, I can't say that there weren't good things during the series. I just didn't like most of the tweaks.
I once met Peter David at a con and told him I was a big fan of the character, but not what he did to him. He kind of smiled and said, "Yeah, well, I made him popular for a while," and I agreed with him and got his autograph on a Kolchak: The Night Stalker book.

rob! said...

like i said in the post, Peter David made Aquaman sell pretty well for a long run, something hardly anyone else has been able to do, so he deserves credit for that. and writing 50+ issues is a solid record, in an age where most creative teams do around five issues then move on to greener pastures.

David said...

It Lob... nope, it the big A. Any run of its length is an ahievement, but I did find it hard to love.

Doug said...

I enjoyed this era, but my favorite of the promo posters has to be for the previous series, with covers by Kevin Maguire. The poster has Aquaman in a righteous rage holding a poor beleagured diver under the waves. Nice stuff.

Anonymous said...

Meh. PAD's run wasn't my cup of tea. The only good thing to come out it was the snazzy new logo.
C Healy