Aquaman Shrine Interview with James Tucker - 2010

Yes, Brave and the Bold Producer James Tucker is back for an unprecedented third interview with The Aquaman Shrine!

I didn't plan to go back to James after this episode, even though it featured Aqualad's debut on the show. But when I saw how much Aquaman appeared in the show, I filled James' in-box with questions. As usual, he was kind enough to respond...

The Aquaman Shrine: Did you purposely not include Aqualad in "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure" so his B:BATB debut could be in this episode?

James Tucker: It's wasn't really a conscious decision to exclude Aqualad from "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure", but I wanted to show Aquaman as a husband and a dad in that episode. It just worked better resurrecting Arthur Jr. than to confuse the issue by having Garth along for the ride. Plus at this point, Garth's about 17 or 18 and doing his own thing. He's not going on family trips with the Currys.

I do hope to explore the unique dynamics that Aquaman's family would have. Is Aqualad treated like an adopted brother? Is Arthur Jr. intimidated by the fact that his father has a sidekick who enjoys super hero-ing while Arthur Jr. would just as soon stay in his room playing video games? Interesting topics to explore...

TAS: When you assign a show's teleplay to a writer, does a backwards-and-forwards knowledge of the DCU matter a lot, or does the staff add those little details down the line if necessary? (In this episode, I'm thinking particularly of the inclusion of obscure characters like Killer Moth and Ubu)

JT: Well in the writers meetings, sometimes the writers we bring in have a knowledge of DC comics, sometimes not. But I'm usually the one who decides which DC characters are thrown in at script stage for the most part. Michael Jelenic, my co-producer and the story editor for the show accommodates my fanboy flights of fancy and manages to work them into the stories artfully with the writers. Oh, and you can blame me for the "Sit, Ubu, sit" line.

TAS: When you decided to do a "Teen Titans" episode, was the line-up sort of a given, since the show had established Aquaman and Green Arrow more than, say, Wonder Woman and Flash?

JT: Well, "Sidekicks" isn't technically a Teen Titans story. It's about the sidekicks of the characters we're already familiar with on the show, so using Robin, Speedy and Aqualad made sense for the story. We do have plans for Kid Flash in the very near future and hopefully, we'll see a version of the Teen Titans down the line.

TAS: When will Ra's Al Ghul learn he just can't trust his daughter?!?

JT: Actually, I think Ra's can trust Talia since in the end she always sides with him. Hopefully, they never get family counseling because they have one of the most entertainingly twisted father/daughter relationships in comics.

TAS: I couldn't help but notice Aquaman was clean shaven in the flashback. Any chance we'll ever see an Aquaman episode titled "The Adventure When Aquaman Grew A Beard"?

JT: If we do another flashback, which in this show can happen at any time, the clean shaven A-man may reappear. But there's another clean shaven hero on the show who needs to get some facial hair first...

AMS: That sounds like an hour-length show to me. I bet I can safely say for many of my fellow B:BATB fans that the opening shot of the whole JLA was tantalizing! Any chance of a JLA episode?

JT: Not officially, since this is the Brave and the Bold, but stay tuned...

AMS: I love the last scene, where Batman coins Robin's new name, Nightwing. But that wasn't the name Robin had in mind! What was he going to say?

JT: Good question...This calls for a poll!

AMS: Ha! That's a good idea. You mentioned in our last interview that you'd love to do an Aquaman DTV movie. Anything us legion of Aqua-Fans can do to help that happen? Mail postcards, send dead fish wrapped in Aquaman comics...?

JT: Keep watching the show and spreading the word. Ultimately, money talks, so buy the dvds, even the four episode only discs, because those sales count toward letting the powers that be know that you dig the show. Of course, letters and emails don't hurt. Be persistent but polite, and we'll see what happens.


For this Aqua-Fan, Brave and the Bold is the gift that keeps on giving. After broadcasting Aquaman's finest TV appearance just two weeks ago, now we have an episode featuring Aqualad, plus Aquaman with his Classic JLA pals!

Thanks to James Tucker for all the great work and for talking to the Shrine yet again. Related to James' answer about what Robin was going to call himself before Batman chimed in, leave your guess in the comments.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Target to buy some DVDs...