] type='image/vnd.microsoft.icon'/>

Friday, December 02, 2011

A is for Atheist, A is for Aquaman

sg
Our newest F.O.A.M. member, Mike Gillis, is the Producer of the AM talk show Ask An Atheist. Mike appears on air as well, and decided to announce to all who his favorite superhero is:


It's kind of funny...listening to this clip makes me think, thanks to the New 52 and Geoff Johns, how uncontroversial this statement seems now. My, how things change!

Thanks for the on-air declaration, Mike, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

12 comments:

Mike Gillis said...

Thanks for the FOAM membership, Rob! You'll be happy to know that since the episode aired, we've gotten the following comments from fans:

"wow..... you have changed my mind about aquaman"

"Aqua man is way cooler than Super man."

"I pretended to be Aquaman a fair amount as a kid-- Mind you, I generally did it when I was at the BEACH or in the bathtub, and he filled out the second half of the SUPERMAN/AQUAMAN HOUR cartoon at the time..."

"If only there were a show right after yours about Aquaman."

That last one sounds like an invitation to take the Fire and Water Podcast to radio!

Thanks again and we love the altered logo!

Shellhead said...

Hmmm. I have mixed feelings about this endorsement. Seems like a nice guy, though.

rob! said...

Thanks Mike! Welcome to FOAM!

wich2 said...

The question is (and don't laugh here; after all the long years such a character's existed, such internal evidence is usually found in the text):

Is AQUAMAN an atheist?

Happy holidays,
-Craig

rob! said...

Frankly I don't know how anyone in the DCU could possibly be an atheist--there are daily appearances by ghosts, other-dimensional beings, roman gods, norse gods, The Spectre, Deadman, etc.

Randy said...

Dr. 13 would have to be an atheist. From what I recall, a sensible explanation always turns up when he gets involved with something 'mystical.'

rob! said...

Dr. 13 was, and is, a complete ninny! He should just leave the DCU and join the Scooby Gang.

Shellhead said...

While I don't know if Aquaman is an atheist (probably not), I'm sure he's not a member of any organized religion (surface world religions, anyway). It's actually an interesting question. To the best of my knowledge, DC has steered away from religion in its characters a bit more than Marvel has (that Daredevil is Catholic has been widely known for decades, for example).
Any crazy stories from the Golden or Silver Age shed light on this subject, Rob?

Wil Radcliffe said...

Accoring to this site, Aquaman worships the Greco-Roman pantheon, with Poseidon/Neptune being the parton god of Atlantis.

http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/Aquaman.html

However, I seem to recall during Peter David's run there was a battle between Poseidon's son, Triton, and Aquaman during which Aquaman mocked Triton and claimed to believe in a supreme being beyond the traditional Greco-Roman gods. He was actually quite dismissive of Poseidon, and at one point I believe Poseidon more or less gave up his role as protector of the seas and handed it off to Arthur.

Now that Aquaman's origin has been re-booted to the Pre-Crisis "Son of a Lighthouse Keeper" story, perhaps Arthur was raised with a more traditional "surface-dweller" religion. I believe Curry is an Irish name, so there's a good chance Arthur may have been raised Catholic. Just speculation on my part.

Wings1295 said...

Woohoo! This is great! And I think its funny how things have changed since I was a kid! When I was young, it was the sign of a dork to say you were an Aquaman fan. And it was also heretical to admit being an Atheist! And now, people like Mr. Gillis and myself can proudly admit to being both and not be kicked in a corner. Well, not often. LOL

Great post!

Wings1295 said...

Love the Aqua-A in the Atheist logo, too! :)

Mike Gillis said...

I always assumed that Aquaman -- like Wonder Woman -- followed the Greek/Roman pantheon, with an emphasis on Neptune, at least culturally.

Arthur has never seemed particularly devout. He says things like "Great Neptune" as an exclamation of surprise or shock, but that might be a cultural. Even *I* say stuff like that.