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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The New 52 Aquaman Timeline

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• Amnesty Bay lighthouse keeper Thomas Curry is rescued during "The Raging Eye" a mysterious ocean-wide storm by Atlanna, the Queen of Atlantis.


Tom and Atlanna fall deeply in love and conceive a child.
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Atlanna journeys back to Atlantis with the intent to renounce her throne but is imprisoned and forbidden contact with the surface world.

Atlanna escapes and gives birth to a son, Arthur. For the sake of his safety, she leaves the baby with his father before again returning to Atlantis.

While searching the ocean for Atlanna, Thomas rescues renowned marine biologist Dr. Stephen Shin who is shipwrecked while on a deep-sea expedition.
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After an arranged royal marriage to the Captain of the Atlantean Guard, Atlanna bears a second son, Orm.

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Raising Arthur on his own, Tom travels the United States introducing his son to new experiences and natural wonders far from their coastline home.
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When Arthur’s abilities begin to manifest, Tom brings him to Dr. Shin for consultation.
 

Shin uses his expertise to help Arthur explore his telepathic connection to sea life and is entrusted with details of Arthur’s Atlantean ancestry.

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When her husband is killed in battle, Atlanna, with the help of her advisor Vulko, secretly plans to abandon Atlantis to be united with Tom and Arthur. She is murdered the night before implementing her leave.


Orm assumes the Throne of Atlantis.
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Vulko accuses Orm of orchestrating his mother’s death and is charged with subversion. Escaping punishment he takes refuge on the coast of Norway.

At his lighthouse home, Arthur, still unaware of the full details of his heritage, survives a cadre of Atlantean Guardsmen attempting to eliminate competition for the throne.
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Tom and Arthur abruptly end their association with Dr. Shin after he insists on going public with the existence of Atlantis and Arthur’s parentage.
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Shin consults with author David Graves who publishes the book The Secret History of Atlantis.

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Resentful after being discredited in professional circles, Shin hires the treasure-hunter known only as Black Manta to obtain a sample of Arthur’s blood in order to prove his discovery of the "Man from Atlantis."

Black Manta attacks Arthur but fails in his mission. Tom suffers a heart attack in the battle to defend his son and Manta escapes.
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On his deathbed, Tom reveals to Arthur the truth about his mother and implores him to find her.

Blinded by grief and rage, Arthur attempts to extract vengeance for Tom’s death accidentally killing Black Manta’s father, who himself is a criminal wanted for murder.
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Black Manta flees and vows to avenge his father’s death at Arthur’s hands.

Arthur honors his father’s request and begins to search the ocean for Atlantis and his mother. Finding the reclusive Vulko, he learns of his mother’s death and is taken to Atlantis for the first time.
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Upon his older brother’s arrival in Atlantis, Orm abdicates the throne to Arthur who assumes his birthright as the King of Atlantis.

For a time Atlantis is at appears to be united and at peace, but King Arthur cannot shake the feeling that he is an outsider and perhaps unwelcome.
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Arthur bands with The Others, a group of global adventurers who accompany him to the tomb of the Dead King of Atlantis to prevent Black Manta from obtaining the king’s relics of power.

The Atlantean relics are recovered and Arthur claims the indestructible trident. The Others continue to hunt for the elusive Manta.
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Arthur encounters the island-stranded Oliver Queen and the two develop a mutual animosity, the details of which are known only to one-another.

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As other remarkable individuals begin emerging in the public eye, the media begins referring to the mysterious Man from Atlantis as "Aquaman."

Arthur encounters six other newly-coined "super-heroes" and together they halt an invasion of earth by Darkseid.
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The Justice League is formed as the heroes reluctantly agree to work together when required.

With his responsibilities as King of Atlantis and working with the League, Arthur detaches from the Others in hopes of sparing them from the threat of Black Manta. All go into hiding with the exception of the Operative.

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The ruler of Xebel, a forgotten and exiled undersea colony, dispatches his daughter Mera to infiltrate Atlantis and assassinate Aquaman.

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During the course of her mission, Mera sees Arthur’s noble character and realizes she has been misled. The two fall passionately in love.

Mera forsakes her mission and her people, is branded a traitor, and joins Aquaman in Atlantis.

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Aquaman and Mera decide to leave Atlantis and begin a new life, living at Arthur’s childhood home in Amnesty Bay.

Residents of a coastal town are terrorized by carnivorous creatures from the depths of the ocean, with ties to ancient Atlantis, known only as "The Trench."
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Aquaman and "Aquawoman" seal the Trench in an undersea volcano.

Black Manta resurfaces, hired to recover the Atlantean relics including the Scepter of the Dead King, the power source that sank Atlantis.
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The Others reunite with Aquaman and enlist Mera’s aid to track and stop Black Manta. Although ultimately defeated, Manta kills the Seer and Vostok and manages to deliver the scepter to his unknown benefactor.

Black Manta is imprisoned at Belle Reve Prison in Louisiana.
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Aquaman visits with his brother Orm, the current King of Atlantis to inquire if he’s plotting against the surface world. Orm denies this and states that he wishes Arthur nothing but happiness…



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...Throne of Atlantis!


12 comments:

Diabolu Frank said...

Great work Rob! Love the logo/timestamps.

This makes me want to do a Martian Manhunter one...

? Years Ago: Fights JLA. Possible member/traitor.

? Years Ago: Joins Stormwatch. May have occurred before fighting JLA.

Present Day: Quits Stormwatch.

Um... mine was less impressive.

Anonymous said...

Its crazy, its been just over a year and theirs so much history. And enough room for 10 years plus ...

Earth 2 Chris said...

Thanks for the recap. I've only been following any New 52 action here. I have to say I think Arthur did benefit from dropping some of this baggage (dead son, crazy Mera, hook hand, water hand, Squid-Man/Arthur Joseph). I can't say the same for just about anyone else in the DCnU though.

Chris

Wings1295 said...

Amazing history lesson! Thanks!

Jorge PR said...

Great job Rob! Tahnks for this!

I must confess, I thought Arthur was older than 28, interesting. And it's also interesting to see that Orm was only 14 when he conspired against his mother... that's what I call bad to the bone.

Also, Black Manta might be at least 10 years older than Arthur, right?

And I hope they decide to tell us the story between Arthur and Olvier some day, and just not forget about it.

Diabolu Frank said...

I will admit that while I swiftly tired of his writing style, Geoff Johns has been a godsend to Aquaman history. The emphasis on Tom Curry as a single father has been smart and contemporary. At the same time, Atlanna has a more active and sympathetic role in Aqualore, especially now that Orm makes sense as a character. Pozner and especially PAD made a mess of Ocean Master as a viable villain, and I think we can all agree that Atlan's shenanigans won't be missed.

Dennis Doucette said...

This is so impressive Rob. And amazing!!

rob! said...

Credit Where Credit Is Due Dept.: Today's timeline was conceived and written by Shrine Correspondent Joe Slab. I formatted and added the graphics, so it was a team effort!

Joe Slab said...

@ Jorge PR

Aquaman, Superman, & Batman etc. have all been pegged at 27 years old in the New 52, hence the timeline starts 28 years ago with the meeting of Tom & Atlanna.

We hope you guys appreciate the timeline!

Joe Slab

Ryan said...

Very cool! I agree with Diablu Frank. The beauty of Johns writing and you only see it from afar like in this timeline is how he take the core of a character and enriches it from its Silver Age silliness by ascribing meaning to events, motivations to relationships, and emotional content to circumstances.

And if Johns stays on Aquaman you can be sure he will continue to add to the timeline and fill in the gaps with more and more mythos and world-building just like hes done for 5 years in Green Lantern.

Andy Luckett said...

This is a fantastic resource to refer back to as Throne of Atlantis unfolds, and beyond. Great work, Rob and Joe, putting it all together!

Russell said...

Nice work, guys....like always! :-)