Justice League Road Game

You can stave off road ennui while fighting Darkseid with this new Justice League Road Game! Great to see Aquaman in there, of course--I'm assuming we'll see similar items like this related to the movie next year, so let's just enjoy Arthur rocking his classic look!

(h/t: F.O.A.M.er Ilke Hincer)

The Aquaman Family in Scribblenauts Unmasked

I received an email from long time F.O.A.M.er Benton Grey, who bought the Scribblenauts Unmasked game and was impressed:

"I recently picked up Scribblenauts Unmasked, and I was totally blown away by the depth of the DC Universe present in this game.  I discovered tons of characters I previously only knew from your Who's Who podcast!  Imagine my surprise and delight to stumble across the likes of G.I. Robot and the Ghost Patrol! 

Anyway, I was also really impressed by the completeness of the Aqua Family in the game. All they were missing was the classic Aqualad (really, an inexcusable oversight when they include the likes of the Creature Commandos), so I created him and had to see the whole gang together. I thought you might enjoy these screenshots, including a rumble with the Aqua-foes! If you haven't picked this game up, you totally need to, even though you aren't a big gamer. It's a blast just to try to stump the game with DC characters and objects.  You'll be amazed at how thorough the are!"

As Benton mentions, I am not a gamer, so I never seriously considered getting this when it came out, though being able to play the entire Aqua-Family is awfully tempting. Thanks Benton!

DC Crisis Expansion Pack

Not all that long ago, Aquaman was always left off stuff like this, but that has changed so profoundly and so quickly that once in a while I forget that fact. So let's all take a second and appreciate this glorious new golden age, Aqua-Fans!

Atlas of the DC Universe: Atlantis

Here are two pages from the Atlantis chapter of Mayfaur Games' Atlas of the DC Universe, written by former Aqua-Scribe (and current Archie murderer) Paul Kupperberg. This book is discussed on the current episode of The Hero Points Podcast, which is available now!

Click here to view/download all ten pages of the chapter, and then roll that die!
 

Heroclix Black Lantern Aquaman

Long time F.O.A.M.er Rick Duncan sent in these pics of the Heroclix Black Lantern Aquaman figure, so you can relive the flesh-chomping goodness of Blackest Night!

DC Chess Collection - Aquaman The Rook

Courtesy F.O.A.M. member Ilke Hincer (who is always finding fun Aqua-stuff on teh interwebs) comes this Aquaman piece for the DC Comics Chess Collection.

This is a handsome piece, and I know how these themed chess sets tend to assign pieces to characters based on their importance to the franchise, but...wouldn't it have been appropriate to make an actual superhero king the king piece in the game?

My nephew excels at chess, and while I generally don't like to play a game I know I'm going to lose, this set might change my mind. Thanks Ilke!

Scribblenauts Unmasked

The Shrine is a little behind on this news, but the Scribblenauts game is releasing a DC Comics-inspired version called Scribblenauts Unmasked, where you can play as various DCU characters, including Aquaman!

Even though he's not pictured with the rest of the JL there (grrrr), Arthur is part of the game, as you can see from these screenshots from it:

I love that last shot, with the heroes and villains running at each other; it reminds me of the Challenge of the Super Friends credit sequence (although is that the Monster of Stanley and His Monster fame bringing up the rear??).

You can learn all about Scribblenauts Unmasked here!

Injustice: Gods Among Us Promo

Injustice: Gods Among Us hits game-outlets tomorrow and with it the Sea King will be making a huge splash not just his hardcore fans, but with many who up until now have been members of the "He Talks to Fish Club." In the coming weeks, the Shrine will be posting game-play reviews submitted by fans and followers of the Shrine but today we are featuring two videos for your viewing pleasure.

The first is a TV spot that's gone viral online and Twitter featuring Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith (keep an eye out for the art of Reis/Prado/Reis as well as the great Jim Aparo in the background) and the second is the Official Injustice Cinematic Trailer which just touches on some of the amazing moments and dialogue that Aquaman has in the storyline. If you plan to play, be sure to let us know your thoughts too and if you're doing so on Twitter, use the tag #MadSharks to see who else is talking about Aquaman.

Injustice Gods: The Shrine Needs You!

As everyone pretty much knows by now, the Injustice: Gods Among Us game is coming soon, very soon--and as we've seen, Aquaman plays a huge part in it!

To date, the Aquaman Shrine's coverage of games (both video and card) has been pretty thin, mostly because I'm not a gamer, never really have been, so this stuff has just not been on my radar. But Injustice: Gods Among Us is too huge to ignore, and we want to give the game the exposure it deserves. And that's where you come in!

None of the Aquaman Shrine staff (myself, Joe Slab, Russell, and Andy) is equipped to play the game and report back on it, so we're offering an open invitation to any Aqua-Fan out there who wants to take on the task of covering Injustice: Gods Among Us for the Shrine. All you have to do is email the Shrine and let us know you'd like to do the job! We'll pick a small handful of gamers and go from there!

Thanks everyone!


(Photo courtesy McCarron)

INJUSTICE: Battle Arena Aquaman vs. Cyborg

Aquaman made a huge mainstream splash last week when he was confirmed for the highly anticipated INJUSTICE: Gods Among Us game and this week he faces off against Cyborg in the battle arena! Only one hero will emerge victorious and move on in the tourney. You can vote for the Sea King here and the winner will be announced on the game's site Friday.

 

Its interesting to watch some of the game footage and see just how similar some of the scenes are to the current Throne of Atlantis story arc, even down to Aquaman using his trident like the Dead King's scepter to call forth tidal waves...Talk about cross-platform synerygy , eh, Mr. Johns?

 

Aquaman Official for INJUSTICE

Although this news has already been "leaked" by NetherRealm Senior Producer Adam Urbano and Aquaman writer Geoff Johns, the makers of Mortal Kombat officially confirmed today that Aquaman will be a playable character in INJUSTICE: Gods Among Us! So what do you guys think? Let us know in the comments below!

UPDATE: The INJUSTICE Team has reached out to the Shrine asking us to send them our viewers top characters picks for Aquaman to face-off against in the game! Name as many as you want in the comments and we will tabulate the top five and send them over.

DC Deck Building Game

F.O.A.M. member (and regular Fire and Water Podcast* listener) John Godwin sent me these scans from the new DC Comics Deck Building Game, and as you can see, the Aqua-Family is well-represented!

It wasn't that long ago that, even if Aquaman was included in a project like this, Mera definitely would not have been. It's a testament to the work of Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, and Rod Reis (whose work is used for four of the five cards) that the Queen of the Seven Seas has rocketed to prominence in the new DCU, which means she's there alongside her husband.

Thanks John!


(*I could point out that there wasn't a single Firestorm card in this game, but I won't).

DC Universe Online: The Tides of War

While we are still waiting for an imminent announcement regarding Aquaman as a playable character in the soon to be released Injustice: Gods Among Us, this week did see the update to DC Universe Online with "The Tides of War" featuring the Sea King and his would-be usurper brother, Ocean Master!

Check out some of the screen shots below and watch the video to get the back-story on DCUO's latest update.

(click images to embiggen)

Promo for the update also teases involvement by the Fisherman and "new pets" for players to adopt. Are you playing DCUO? If so, be sure to let us know what you think of Aquaman and the Tides of War!

Heroclix Aquaman

Several F.O.A.M.ers sent me news of this new Heroclix figure...Aquaman!

If you click the graphic, you can see the details of the figure and what its play traits are (I may be mis-using that phrase, I don't know anything about the HeroClix figures other than they're really cool to look at!). Click here to see HeroClix's own write-up of the figure, which comes out in September!

DC Super Friends Hawaiian Ice Mystery App

These are shots from the super-cool, brand new DC Super Friends Hawaiian Ice Mystery app, written by Friend of the Shrine (and DC Super-Pets author) J.E. Bright!

As J.E. says: "It takes place in the waters around Hawaii, and so Aquaman has a major role in the adventure as the heroes battle Mr. Freeze underwater and save some coral reefs."

You can download DC Super Friends Hawaiian Ice Mystery right here on iTunes, and we recommend you do so, Aqua-Fans! And tell 'em the Shrine sent you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to color some turtles.

Thanks J.E.!

Aquaman in LEGO Batman 2!

Aquaman makes his official LEGO gaming debut in the new game Batman 2: DC Superheroes, out June 19! For the first time, the Sea King will be a playable character, another big moment in pop culture awareness for ol' Arthur.

This exciting bit of Aqua-News was first mentioned to the Shrine by newest F.O.A.M. member Kevin Scanlan, via the Shrine's FB page. Kevin also mentioned that an exclusive EB pre-order of the game will come with a Lego Black Manta!

A day or two later F.O.A.M.er Joe Huber sent me the above graphic (from GameInformer magazine), making this post a real team effort! Thanks Joe and welcome to F.O.A.M. Kevin!

JLA Puzzle

Newest F.O.A.M. member Michael Bailey (who runs the awesome Fortress of Baileytude blog) sent in this pic of a JLA puzzle which he got for Christmas. He wrote "As soon as I saw it, I thought of the Shrine!"

I'm pretty sure this was part of a line of JLA puzzles that focused on just two or three characters at a time. Check out those spiffy dolphin saddles Aquaman is rocking!

Thanks Michael, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

DC Heroclix Checklist

Courtesy F.O.A.M.er Rick Duncan comes this poster checklist for the 2011 line of DC Heroclix figures (click to embiggen)...which, thankfully, includes Aquaman!

This wave is clearly centered around Superman (which leaves me confused as to why characters like The Queen of Fables, Swamp Thing, and Element Woman are included), so I guess that's why we don't have some of the bigger stars of the DCU represented, not to mention Mera.

If you're an Aquaman merch completist, prepare for a night job, because with the Sea King being such a big part of the New 52, there's going to be a lot of new stuff like this to buy!

Thanks Rick!


Speaking of Heroclix, the Emperor Aquaman Heroclix figure came out on Wednesday, 9/28, making it an even bigger day for Aqua-Fans who are also gamers! F.O.A.M.er Daniel Hemmann sent some pics:

Thanks Daniel!

Happy Birthday To Me: Super Heroes Checker Set!

Ok, so this is me, on my 7th birthday, exactly thirty years ago today. It was quite the birthday haul, so much so that it left me plum exhausted and passed out on the floor of our cabin in the Poconos--a Shogun Warrior (Mazinga), some Star Wars items not pictured, and a DC Superheroes Checker Set. And therein lay the tragedy.

Over the years, I have been able--if I ever wanted to--repurchase all the wonderful toys I had as a kid, except, for some strange reason, this DC Superheroes Checker Set. I have never seen it on eBay once, or at a convention, ever. The only evidence I have of its existence outside the above photo is this shot of it from a catalog:

...as you can see, its way cool. Its got little pieces featuring the usual suspects like Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman, but also The Cheetah, Gorilla Grodd, Dr. Light, Hawkman, and Black Canary!

Over the years, my desire to own this thing again has grown in direct proportion to my inability to find it. If I saw it on eBay all the time, I'm not sure I would even want it all that bad. Its because I can't find the damn thing that its become one of the Holy Grails of Aquaman Collecting.

So, basically, what I'm saying is, if one of you out there ever finds one of these, can you please let me know? You'd make the seven year-old me--and the + thirty years older version--very happy.

That was me, on this blog, August 16, 2008. I am now happy--nay, thrilled--to report that I have finally acquired the SuperHeroes Checker Set!!

A couple of months ago, F.O.A.M.er Delmar Osborne tipped me to an eBay auction for the set which was ending a few days hence. I kept my sights on it like a hawk, worried someone else would discover it and I'd get locked into a bidding war, which would lead to Mutually Assured Destruction.

Luckily, I guess no one else was interested; I placed a bid a few hours before the auction ended, and it was the only one. So just like that, the #1 one Aqua-Item I've been searching for for years was mine!

The checker set features Aquaman of course, but manufacturer Hasbro had to dip into DC's bench a bit to have enough characters to fill all the pieces. So in addition to Superman, Batman, et al, you've got Gorilla Grodd, The Shark, Dr. Light, The Cheetah, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Metamorpho as part of the game.

I could ask hey, why no Black Manta?, but I'm in no mood to be critical, I'm just thrilled this baby is finally mine!


Special thanks to Delmar for the tip, and to Shrine Mascat Frankie for being as fascinated with the game as I am:

French Superman Target Game

This is a super-cool Superman-brand "Target Game" made in France in the 1970s!

As you can see, there are some headshots of some of Superman's pals, including Aquaman! In this case, its Neal Adams' drawing of the Sea King which showed up on a lot of DC books at the time, usually on Justice League of America (also pictured: Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin, and Batgirl).

I've never seen this baby before, until F.O.A.M.er Delmar Obsborne sent the Shrine a link to an eBay auction for it. The seller was asking $99.99, which was way too rich for my blood. Now, if it had been an Aquaman Target Game...

Thanks Delmar!