
Written by: Kevin Hopps
Directed by: Dan Riba
Original Air Date: December 3, 2001
Only a few episodes into the new Justice League animated series, Aquaman (replaced in the original JLA line-up with Hawkgirl) made his debut in a two-part story, that opens up deep below the surface of the ocean.
A Navy sub detects detects some sort of object headed right towards them. After ramming into the sub, the intruder turns around and rams them again, causing the sub to begin to sink.
We see who it was who rammed the sub: an Atlantean cruise ship, captained by...Aquaman!

The JLAers cripple the ships, and Aquaman warns them in person to leave. He'll allow them to rescue the crew, but the ships must remain sunk. Of all of them, Green Lantern has the toughest time dealing with Aquaman's attitude:

Back in Atlantis, Aquaman is mulling over this decision:

Aquaman retires to his private chamber, where he talks about it to his wife, Mera:

Later, Aquaman arrives on land by simply walking out of the water, onto the beach, and into the streets. He's not familiar with Surface Dweller customs, and has little time for niceties like...street-lights:

At the UN, Aquaman delivers the terms in which Atlantis could live in harmony with the rest of the world, but it doesn't go well. Amid arguing, Aquaman storms out onto the streets.
Suddenly, a shot rings out, and Aquaman is blasted by some sort of laser rifle, knocking Aquaman out!
Back in Atlantis, Aquaman's people see the news, and Orm takes command:

Aquaman is accused by Green Lantern of taking the plutonium, but Aquaman says he ordered no such thing. He begins to leave, stopped only by a request from Batman.
Moments later, we see Aquaman back on a stretcher, being wheeled out of the hospital in a flurry of activity. A few blocks away, we see Aquaman's would-be assassin re-emerge, which is caught by the JLA, laying-in-wait.
We see that the Aquaman being shot at again this time is not Aquaman:



Deadshot is told he was paid in Spanish dubloons, and that means they came from...Atlantis!
Back in Atlantis, Orm is riling up his troops, preparing them for a full-scale attack on the Surface World. Aquaman barges in, demanding Orm stand down, but Orm has pulled off a coup:

This was the debut of Aquaman's then-new look in animated form, and while I was never much of a fan of this version of the Sea King, the people behind Justice League made some modifications--both in terms of look and character motivation--that made it work a bit more, for me at least.
As solid as this episode is, the concluding chapter is even better, which we'll get to tomorrow!
By the way: Today is the 1,500th post on The Aquaman Shrine. Who knew there'd be so much to say?
6 comments:
Man oh man, was this really 9 years ago?
I just downloaded and watched this off Itunes a couple weeks ago, not a shabby episode, with the King would get more airtime in general in animations
Eh. That wasn't Aquaman, it was Namor with blond hair.
I'm in the same boat Rob. I prefer classic Aquaman, but JLU's version of angry, hook-handed Orin was the best. But then again, Timm and company (and his proteges) have outdone the DCU proper in almost every way since 1992.
Chris
1500th post? Congratulations! I can't wait for the next 1500.
I prefer the B&B Aquaman these days, but great review of a great episode!
And congrats on 1,500!!! Here's to many, many more!
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