This is an unpublished Sunday from the World's Greatest Superheroes strip (click to see a bigger version). This is--was--the oldest piece in my "To Post" folder, and for the life of me I can't remember how I got it, or why it was unpublished.
One thing I learned from seeing this is, even though I still think George Tuska was not a great superhero artist (he was a great comic book artist, but someone who I think was marginalized a bit when superheroes pretty much took over comics), his work was so much better in its original pencil form.
Maybe he was just subjected to bad (or, at the very least, indifferent) inkers, but I can really get behind the stuff I see here, even with Aquaman's perm.
This awesome, astounding unpublished page from the second Aquaman mini-series is by Jerome K Moore, who was hired to replace Craig Hamilton as the artist.
As Mr. Moore comments on his DeviantArt page, he was asked by DC to try and adapt his style to be similar to Craig's (a herculean--and dubious--task to ask of any artist, sheesh) and due to various complications the whole series was finally scrapped. As if we didn't know already, we can see from this piece what a tragedy that decision was.
A while back, I asked Mr. Moore for permission to post this piece on the Shrine, and he granted it. I also asked him to do an interview with the Shrine, which he (politely) turned down, so sadly this will probably be the only input from Mr. Moore we're going to get in regards to his brief-but-important association with Aquaman.
A few weeks ago, F.O.A.M.er Jerry Resendes sent me a link to the Brave and the Bold: The Lost Issues blog, which featured some beautiful pieces of unpublished original art by none other than Mike Allred!
They were apparently done for the JLA Monopoly board game, which was released in 1999, but for some reason Allred's work wasn't used. Go check out the whole post to see more examples, its some really beautiful stuff.
I don't think I've ever seen Allred on Aquaman before--I like it a lot. Allred's work in general has a delightful kitschy charm that reminds me of Nick Cardy's Aquaman stuff of the early 1960s. I'd love to see Allred draw an Aquaman adventure set in that time, with Mera, Aqualad, Tula, the whole gang.
I realize I'm coming a little late with this, but I wanted to make sure and say something about Mike Wieringo.
I always admired "Ringo"'s work, and when I saw these sample Aquaman pieces he did in conjunction with Mark Waid's pitch for a new Aquaman series, I got so angry and sad. Angry that DC passed on this idea--twice--and then sad knowing now that Mike is gone it will never, ever be, and us AquaFans fans will be denied it, not to mention all the other wonderful work Mike would've gone on to do.
I'm always searching the web looking to see what writers, artists, and editors I can contact for either an interview or maybe even an Aquaman sketch. Not that many of the people I pursue have their own website, but Mike did, and when I came across it I made a mental note to someday email him to commission a sketch. I would've loved to send him my book and get an original Mike Wieringo sketch of my hero. Seeing the above piece makes me mad at myself for not doing so immediately, it woulda been great, and I would've had the chance to tell him how much I liked his work.
Below is the text from Waid's proposal(which he posted at Newsarama's tribute to Mike). I know there's lots of variables in the world of comics that we as outsiders don't know about, but considering a lot of the stuff that does get published, I'm at a loss to explain how this idea, from two established talents like Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo, didn't get the immediate green light: AQUAMAN: Title TBD A One-Issue Prestige Format Mark Waid/Mike Wieringo Preliminary Pitch/August 3, 2003
I am so sick of people making fun of Aquaman that I'm beginning to take it personally. For the last ten years or so, the way we've been scrambling to combat Aquaman's "Dork of the Sea" image--and I've been guilty of trying this, too--is by making Aquaman increasingly darker, grittier, and tougher, the brooding, angry king beset with trouble. Each incarnation of the character seems grimmer than the last, to the point where all that's left for us to do is give him two hooks. And a peg-leg.
OR--here's ANOTHER thought. Yes, the seas can be turbulent and stormy, but y'know what? Far more often, the ocean is a universal symbol for peace and contentment. It's a calming influence. If it weren't, Bermuda would be deserted and Hawaii would be an industrial trade port. It is most people's "happy place." Yes, the ocean is the set piece for A Perfect Storm, but it's also the world of Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid. I have never yet met anyone of any age who didn't come away from Sea World envying the guides who swim with the whales and porpoises. I propose we turn this "grim Aquaman" paradigm around for a one-shot and see what happens. "Test the waters," if you will. I know, I slay me. Anyway...
Our POV character in this story is a female marine biologist--and since Aquaman's turf covers the world, there's no need to make her American. (In fact, Russian is preferable--I've been doing a lot of reading about the culture of Russian courtship, and that could really play in nicely.) At any rate, our biologist--let's call her Yelena for now--may have heard the name "Aquaman" here and there, but to her, he's about as real and significant as, say, German football stars are to you and me.
Yelena's work is done with grungy old equipment and spit-and-bailing-wire technology, the best she has to work with. Her whole world has a gritty feel to it--
--so when this bright, blond, shining knight of a man pops out of the water and into her life, she's addled simply by the contrast.
Their paths cross, she's drawn into an adventure, and to Yelena, this "Aquaman" is, yes, mysterious like the sea--but in a warm, enticing way. To Yelena, he is otherworldly, like a fairy tale character come to life. He rarely speaks (though when he does, he's staggeringly charming), he lives in the water, and he smiles. Constantly. In fact, at first, Yelena has a nearly impossible time taking him seriously. He's like a walking cartoon.
And yet...the more she gets to know him, the further she’s drawn out of her world and into his, she'll come to realize that there's something going on behind those wide eyes of his. Looking in them, she sees peace and confidence; looking through them, she's gradually introduced to an underwater world of absolute wonder, a place that is far more colorful and in tune with nature than is her own gritty lifestyle. Once she surrenders to the implausibility of it all, she's rewarded a thousandfold, and so are we. Aquaman’s joy becomes her joy becomes OUR joy.
There will be no mocking. NO jokes about how "dumb" talking to fish is. Anyone with a keyboard can make cynical jokes. That’s easy. What’s harder is reminding you why, when you were a kid, you thought the idea of living underwater or commanding the creatures of the sea WAS cool. We can do that. We can remind you, and Yelena’s awed voice will be there to back us up.
Ah, what might have been...not only did/does Waid get it--what was wrong with DC's then-take on Aquaman as well as how to fix it, but as you can see it would've looked like gangbusters. Rest in Peace, Ringo.
