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Monday, August 17, 2009

Wednesday Comics #6 - 8/12/09

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Belated Comics Weekend Aquaman finally shows up in Wednesday Comics!

I normally would've covered this yesterday, but that day's special Guest Post bumped this to today--but I couldn't possibly wait until the next Comics Weekend to get to this!

As most of us know, Aquaman will be making a guest appearance in Kyle Baker's superb Hawkman strip, but he's also showing up in Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner's goofily fun Supergirl strip:
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In this story, Supergirl has been trying to corral Krypto the Superdog and Streaky the Supercat, who have been on a bit of a rampage. Supergirl can't quite figure out what's gotten into them, so she decides to consult an expert...the King of the Seven Seas!

But Aquaman rides in on his whale friend Ralph, he seems a bit...distracted:
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This appearance takes Mark Waid's now-iconic Kingdom Come line about how Aquaman oversees "70% of the world" and takes it to its logical conclusion: Aquaman is really, really busy.

He keeps Supergirl waiting as he schedules his day:
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Finally, after finishing up on his clam phone (hey, DC Direct--get on that!), he gives Supergirl his undivided attention:
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I was really happy to see this strip for several reasons: 1)I'm happy to see Aquaman in Wednesday Comics, period, 2)This is Classic Aquaman, nicely rendered by Amanda Conner, and 3)This lighter take on the character is a nice tonic to all the death and gore Aquaman is involved in over in Blackest Night.

With Hawkman's strip just about getting to the point where Aquaman's going to show up, and now this, it looks like Aquaman will be getting to appear in two different Wednesday Comics strips simultaneously--yay! And I didn't think I could enjoy this series more than I already do!

10 comments:

Dixon said...

Aquaman uses a clam as a phone? Brilliant.

That being said, I was always terribly amused by any and all Flintstones jokes involving animals as appliances. Those bits kill me.

Saranga said...

That one has been my favourite strip so far.
On a different note- are you aware of the Family Guy episode Blind Ambition with a cameo from Aquaman (and Bats, Wondy and Supes)? It's non speaking and only for about 30 secs or so but it's an entertaining interlude!

Wings1295 said...

How awesome. And you are so right, just the thing we need to counteract all the doom and gloom in Blackest Night.

Aaron said...

Loving Wednesday Comics, it is my summer comic event, it's the antithesis of stuff that's been boring me for years.

David J. Cutler said...

A lot of the writing in Wednesday Comics isn't connecting with me, but the art is glorious across the board. Supergirl's always been an exception (to the writing thing) and looks like it just got even better.

Vincent Paul Bartilucci said...

Umm .. okay ... nice art, I suppose ...

Okay, I'll be the killjoy and ask, Isn't there some sort of happy medium between flesh-eating zombies and twee stuff like this?

David J. Cutler said...

I like both, Paul, haha... so, I'm happy.

(And to be fair, they don't eat flesh, they remove and absorb hearts... splitting hairs I know, but it's a distinction I like to make!)

Oscar Olalde said...

These are great, I was reluctant to see what these comics were about, but turns out they're great... really hope the add Aquaman to the WC main line-up.

Russell said...

I knew Arthur was going to apear in HAWKMAN, so when he appeared here, I was floored. I love Amanda Conner's art; she does a cute, sorta young-looking Aquaman which is SO nice to see nowadays, ya know?

rob! said...

Vince-

I see your point, and I wouldn't want this Aquaman to be the one that stars in his own title again, but for this storyline I think its a funny take on the character.

The fact that Aquaman's been pretty mishandled by his corporate overlords the last few years isn't writer Jimmy Palmiotti's job to fix (nor will it be Kyle Baker's when he has Arthur show up in Hawkman)--he's simply trying to craft a fun story, and work Aquaman into it.

One of the things I really like about the Supergirl strip is that its light, silly fun, a very all ages approach that I think works well in WC (as a nice contrast to the other, more serious strips) and is also needed more in comics as a whole.