Comics Weekend Issue two of Aquaman: Time and Tide sports a very nice cover by Jarvinen and Vancata, I especially like hazy, faded background. I think it gives the book a classy look that works well with a series designed to give a history of a classic character.
This issue opens with some dolphins getting snagged in fishermen's nets, and the cruel hunters set about clubbing their catch to death. But before the first blow lands, it is stopped by the King of the Seven Seas!
Aquaman explains to these, er, gentlemen, after they and try (and fail) to kill him that as a global citizen it is his duty to look out for all life, so they had better put the dolphins back:
...Aquaman, writing about this incident in his journal, recalls the conflict he felt, defending one set of "his people" against another.
We then flash way back, to Arthur as an infant, being abandoned on Mercy Reef, and being reared by a school of dolphins. His new "mother", Porm, take it upon herself to raise him as one their own, ala Tarzan.
When Arthur is of the age where he's ready to mate, Porm informs him that he is part of another race, and shows him others like him. It doesn't go smoothly:
Unfortunately, Arthur's "brother", Drin, gets too close to the boat's rotors, and is killed by accident. The sea captain, a much kinder soul than the one's from earlier, prepares to mercy kill it, but Arthur grabs Drin and takes him under.
He is told now that Drin is gone, he is to be eaten by a school of sharks. Arthur can't abide by this, and it's in this moment that he realizes that he does not agree with all of the ways of his "people."
A fine follow-up issue, my only quibble being this is where the "new" origin directly contradicts the classic one(unless someone can explain to me how it doesn't), and I've never been a big fan of ripping up a classic hero's history for the sake of a new one(see: Hawkworld), and I think Aquaman's post-1958 origin is so perfect and timeless that it shouldn't be messed with.
That said, Aquaman as Tarzan of the Oceans makes sense from a dramatic point of view, and helps underscore the "surface dweller vs. ocean dweller" conflict inherent in the character much more than his original backstory ever did.
Comics Weekend The Aquaman: Time and Tide mini-series is the only solo Aquaman title we have yet to cover on the Shrine, so let's get to it!
After the aborted Aquaman solo series from 1991-1992, the decision was made to try and "reboot" Aquaman and try and make him a bit more contemporary and vital, at least according to series editor Kevin Dooley.
So Aquaman got a new creative team of superstar writer Pete David and relative newcomers Kirk Jarvinen and Brad Vancata on the art, complete with new(ish) origin and backstory.
This issue opens with Aquaman, in the present day, writing a journal about his life, and he recalls the startling claim his mother, Atlanna, made in her own journals that her son Arthur was sired, not by surface dweller Tom Curry, but by an Atlantean wizard. Aquaman doesn't believe any of this, and is troubled that his family tree contains so many nuts, as it were.
The Arthur recalls the first day he ran into the first of many, many supervillains he would face in his time, in addition to the first other superhero he would meet, well rendered by Jarvinen and Vancata:
...The Trickster subdues Flash with some toy, and he sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Aquaman saves him from being eaten by sharks (this being the first of many instances where David would give us an example how dumb the average shark is, one of my favorite bits of business from him).
Aquaman and Flash have a talk, and even though Aquaman doesn't trust surface dwellers in general and these two brightly-dressed guys in particular, Flash explains what's going on up there and convinces Arthur he's on the level.
They quickly find and coral the Trickster, and the Flash tries to make it up to Aquaman by "vouching" for him to the people of Crescent Shore, the coastal town Aquaman is nearest.
It doesn't go well, as the bright lights and the various hucksters and politicians freak him out, and he storms off sick of the whole thing. As the crowd swarms their new hero, the Trickster, who has escaped, starts trash-talking "Water Boy." Aquaman just storms off, until Trickster gets too close, and:
Aquaman doesn't make many friends when he tells off the crowd and storms off.
The Flash meets up with Arthur, apologizes for all the chaos, and hands him a key to the city, calling Aquaman "a hell of a guy."
Like a lot of Peter David's Aquaman stories, these read a lot better to me than they I did when I first read them. I'm still not too keen on Aquaman being so angry and pissy at people, but this was at the beginning of his superhero career, and you need an extreme place from which to move him over time.
The art by Jarvinen and Brancata is solid superhero storytelling, and in some panels (like this one) you'd think it was by Michael Golden, no easy trick. Some later pages seem a bit rushed, but overall a solid effort, and Aquaman looks suitably heroic and imposing.
So not a bad start, and we'll see where the story goes tomorrow with issue #2! ___________________________________________________________
There's some other Aqua-related comics out this week. Aqualad didn't appear much in the first two issues of the adorably charming Tiny Titans comic, but in this week's third issue as you can see he gets a chance to shine!
F.O.A.M.er Ilke Hincer sent me a scan of something I had never seen before--the original cover art to Aquaman: Time and Tide #1.
As you can see, the central Aquaman figure is the same, but at some point along the way someone at DC (or was it artist Kirk Jarvinen?) must have decided that a more empty background worked better, so all the stuff behind Arthur got removed.
We'll be talking about the Time and Tide mini-series for the first time tomorrow for our Comics Weekend segments, so I figured today was a good time to show this off. Thanks Ilke!
This is a passage from the book Where's My Jetpack? by Daniel Wilson, all about the wondrous toys we were supposed to have by now, if you believed 50s and 60s sci-fi.
So when discussing artificial gills, Wilson says "The time has come to don a bright orange spandex suit and join Aquaman for a lifetime of underwater adventure!"
It's passages like that that help reinforce my belief about how much Aquaman is part of the culture. There's no explanation as to who Aquaman is, what he looks like or what his powers are, that knowledge is all assumed. (Though I guess the argument could be made that the author figured his audience was a little more on the Nerd Side of Life and would therefore be more familiar with comic book references).
This was caught by F.O.A.M.er Siskoid, and alerted me to it (who, btw, just finished an Aquaman-themed week over at his blog). Thanks Siskoid!
This brief interview (click the graphic) with the musician/actor Common ran in Wizard #198 and was sent to me by eagle-eyed F.O.A.M.er John Lijewski III. Thanks John!
Common has a couple of comic book connections, with a role in the upcoming film Wanted and, last I heard, he was the main contender for the role of Green Lantern in the Justice League movie. But in this interview, he reveals to be a fan of another member of the League...
This is another set of Super Amigos Sticker Album pages, courtesy F.O.A.M.er Ramiro, from the Amos Del Retro site. (Ramiro sends me so much cool stuff I could probably do a Ramiro theme week!) I have no idea what's going on in these pics, other than the heroes and villains are playing a friendly game of Soccer (or is it Futbol?)--Aquaman in particular seems to be having a good time.
Except at the end, where all the heroes end up bleeding and wounded, and not even drawn by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, to boot!
Since the New York Comic Con is just a week or two away(and I'm getting in with a Press badge, thanks to the Shrine!) I thought I'd post another sketch from my book.
I got this piece at the last Philadelphia con, from the legendary Carmine Infantino. Once I heard Mr. I was at the con, I made my way towards his booth, figuring he'd have a line of people asking for sketches and I wanted to get my request in early.
But once I found him, I was shocked to see he was sitting there, with no fans/customers around him. What the? This is Carmine frakking Infantino here! I made my way over and quietly introduced myself to the man, and he was very nice and friendly, and offered his hand up immediately. When I asked if I could get an Aquaman sketch, Carmine directed the transaction to his handler and/or business manager, and after a few moments I started to understand why maybe Carmine wasn't all that busy.
I won't get into the specifics--not to be a tease but because people are allowed to have bad days, and maybe today was just one of those for him. But suffice it to say, I was treated pretty rudely, but I wasn't going to let that deter me from getting a sketch from this talented man.
A few minutes later, Carmine handed my book back to me and while the piece is very loose, its unmistakingly an Infantino, and I gladly handed over the money to his business person.
Carmine was initially only offering head shots, but as you can see he went the extra mile for me(without me asking), of which I greatly appreciated. As I was looking at the book, though, the manager snappishly said to me "He normally just does heads, I hope you appreciate what you got!" which left me sort of shaking my head as I walked away.
As I did, I looked back, and Carmine went back to having no other fans at his table.
Stuff like this bothers me. Carmine Infantino is one of the few legends the industry has left; he should be invited to, and treated at, these comic cons like baseball parks act when someone like Hank Aaron shows up--like visiting royalty. An Official Big Deal should me made, so people who come to con can take a moment to meet one of the giants of the field.
Comics Weekend Back when I did my Favorite Aquaman Covers week, I picked this one because it's such an exciting, dynamic image, expertly rendered by Alan Davis. Sadly, it was the last one he would do for the series. At least he went out on a high note.
Last issue ended with Aquaman taking Lorena back to the water to save her life, and dragging mad scientist Geist along with him.
Aquaman takes Geist on a grim tour of the destruction his experiment has wrought. He tells Geist just what if the people here knew Geist was the cause of all their misery...?
Geist though is confused, since all the mass destruction was not part of his equation. He then tells Aquaman that the people who helped him pull the plan off must have double-crossed him, and in fact they are probably watching all of this right now, via an implant they put in Geist a few years ago!
This leads to a really creepy sequence, where Aquaman morphs his water hand into Plastic Man-like form, and digs into Geist's head and pulls the implant out! Eww!
Unfortunately, Geist can't tell Aquaman who the really bad guys are, since it was all done through fronts and middlemen. Geist realizes that, now that he has been discovered, these same guys will have no problem killing Geist to wrap up any loose ends.
Geist heads to the surface, still being watched by this shady organization, and watches him commit suicide by opening up his veins. As if that wasn't gruesome enough, a school of sharks come by and chomp Geist to bits. The bad guys thank Mother Nature for doing their job for them. Or did they?:
...turns out it was all a fake! Aquaman figured they'd be watching, and he wanted them to think Geist was dead. The sharks added the final touch of verisimilitude. I love that line about "fighting 100 million years of evolution."
Aquaman tells Geist this is his chance to atone for what he's done, so he will live down here, with the people, and try and help them put their lives back together.
Lorena is disappointed that Aquaman allowed Geist to live, but Aquaman tells her that was not the right thing to do. And since these people can never leave the ocean, and they are all genetically connected to him, he will take the responsibility of looking out for them.
And we see just that, as the fish in the sea help the humans adjust, as well as Lorena start taking it upon herself to dispense some justice to would-be crooks. And as Aquaman watches from above, he thinks:
...a great final image to wrap up this storyline with, courtesy Patrick Gleason and Christian Alamy.
Rereading this storyline again, all the grim stuff that bothered me so much the first time played a lot better, and the great moments writer Will Pfeifer gave to Aquaman are just that--great. Sure, Arthur is serious and grim, but he's not a jerk, an important distinction not all writers have recognized.
Will Pfeifer would go on to write two more issues of the series, but we'll stop here for now and move on to something else next weekend. I for one would love to see these issues collected in a trade...especially if you included the Alan Davis covers!
Comics Weekend While there are more dynamic, "better" covers by Alan Davis during his brief run on Aquaman, this one might be my personal favorite.
That's because it so clearly harkens back to the Silver Age of Comics, where heroes were always getting shrunk down and put in test tubes by some nefarious baddie.
(And since nothing like this happens in the book--the image is metaphorical--it's even more like old school comics, in promising the reader something that doesn't actually occur, hopefully before they noticed yet after they've paid for it).
Anyway, we pick up from last issue where Aquaman and Lorena have discovered the guy(named Geist) behind this whole bizarre plot to "convert" a vast chunk of San Diego's citizens into water-breathing beings. This issue opens with Lorena kicking the crap out of the guy, and Aquaman has to literally lift her up off the ground to get her to stop.
After Geist seems, er, less than contrite, Aquaman slaps him around a bit, but Geist is still unrepetant. You see, Geist is so sure that Global Warming will convert a turn much of the Earth into the sea, he wanted to help people prepare for a life underwater. Classic comic book mad scientist!
Aquaman demands to know where Geist came up with this genetic anomaly which enabled him to inject into people's bloodstream, and he doesn't like Geist's answer:
...that is one pissed-off Sea King.
Geist tells Aquaman how he stole some of Arthur's DNA after a public appearance Aquaman made (in a flashback where we see Aquaman's previous hook look), so it came from him.
Geist is proud of what he's done, but Aquaman knows he didn't do it alone, judging from the vast machine that helped drop some of the coast into the ocean he discovered(in the previous issue). Geist refuses to say, which leads to a nice moment where Aquaman threatens to kill him.
Geist isn't scared, since he knows Aquaman is a hero, etc. Aquaman's response?: "You may know that when I wore a crown...delegating unpleasant tasks was a common occurrence."
Sure, Aquaman's bluffing, but its a nice, Batman-esque bluff.
Anyway, suddenly Lorena starts convulsing, and its Geist who injects her with a solution that gets her out of it, but Aquaman knows she needs water. As he leaves with Lorena, Geist smugly tells Aquaman he'll be right here when its convenient for Arthur to come back and continue their conversation. Luckily, Aquaman can multi-task:
As it says, To be continued!
Like the previous issues, its a dark story, both thematically and visually, but I like how Aquaman does not take any Karp in this story from Geist. Geist may be a brilliant guy, but he's such a smug jerk that you do wanna see Arthur paste him one. Or several.
This isn't technically "breaking news" since it's been all over the web in the past few days, but it deserves mentioning here nonetheless:
"Batman isn't going at it alone this time! From Warner Bros. Animation comes the latest interpretation of the classic Batman franchise. Our caped crusader is teamed up with heroes from across the DC Universe, delivering nonstop action and adventure with a touch of comic relief. Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Aquaman and countless others will get a chance to uphold justice alongside Batman.
Though still based in Gotham, Batman will frequently find himself outside city limits, facing situations that are both unfamiliar and exhilarating. With formidable foes around every corner, Batman will still rely on his stealth, resourcefulness and limitless supply of cool gadgets to bring justice home.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold is a 30-minute animated action/adventure created by Warner Bros. Animation and executive produced by Sam Register.
Production & Animation: Warner Bros. Animation, Executive Producer: Sam Register, Producers: James Tucker, Linda M. Steiner, Line Producer: Amy McKenna, Story Editor: Michael Jelenic, Animation Directors: Ben Jones, Brandon Vietti, Michael Chang
Launch date: Batman: The Brave and the Bold is slated to premiere on Cartoon Network in 2008." You all caught the most exciting name in that list of guest-stars, didn't you? I take it as a very good sign that, of the literally thousands of DC stars to choose from, Aquaman is on the short list. Between that and his prominent place in the DC Super Friends toy line, it looks like Classic Aquaman will have an outside-comics presents as big as his Super Friends heyday.
I really like the art shown above, it's cute and fun and looks exciting. I think there have been enough Batman cartoon series at this point that a lighter-toned one could work just fine.
And...dare to dream: A Brave and the Bold toy line?
(thanks to F.O.A.M.er Charles Howell for the tip!)
This brilliantly goofy ad for Aquaman #39 was sent to me by none other than Robby Reed of the brilliant Dial B For Blog blog. That makes Robby the newest member of F.O.A.M., this being the first time that an actual character from the DC Universe has joined F.O.A.M.! Can Aquaman himself be far behind?
This isn't the only ad DC did like this. Check out my Coming Super Attractions blog today to see another one featuring Henry Boltinoff's charming hipster kids "Dig What's Coming."
This is a nifty little item I somehow missed the first time around but found on eBay a few months ago.
The cover is made of a puffy foam(hey!)-like material, as is the bonus little key fob it comes with.
In fact, it's a little too nice to use as a notepad, so despite owning this I still use my old business cards for such a purpose. I can't bear to write a grocery list over Jose Luis Garcia Lopez art. __________________________________________________________
Shameless Plug Department: I finally got around to creating the Treasury Comics Blog, something I wanted to get to for a long time. Now via the blog I will be able to update the site more, and of course finally get to hear(?) comments about what I'm doing over there. So please go check it out!
Wow, this was exciting! President and Publisher of DC Comics Paul Levitz took time out of his busy schedule to have a chat with the Aquaman Shrine!
I had wanted to interview Paul for a while, since he wrote a solid series of Aquaman tales in Adventure Comics. But then I saw that Aquaman Chronicles editor John Schwirian had beaten me to it, by talking to Paul about those stories in the Aquaman cover feature in TwoMorrows' Back Issue! #27.
Then I realized that, as President of DC, Paul would have an additional perspective on the character apart from that of a writer, so I asked if he would be willing to talk about that, as well. He generously agreed, and here's what we talked about: Aquaman Shrine:Aquaman was your first superhero story for DC. How familiar were you with the character? Paul Levitz: Gee, I probably had read all but the twenty or thirty stories from More Fun. One of the first things I collected as a kid was Adventure Comics, so that had led me to have pretty much all the stories that had any meaning for the mythology.
Aquaman Shrine:Did you buy it partly because Aquaman was in it? Paul Levitz: I was led to it by the Legion, and then went from there in the usual fashion of collectors of "Oh, I've got 150 issues of this, what's the next logical starting point", so I made way back to the first appearance of Superboy in the series.
Aquaman Shrine:You probably don't have too many writers saying that are that excited to write Aquaman. Paul Levitz: I have to say, it wasn't, "Oh my God, I can get my hands on Aquaman." It was much more at that moment in my life and career, "I can write a superhero and not these mystery stories which I really liked to read as a kid? Please, sir!"
AMS:Was there a particular combo on the character that you really liked, either before or after your time on it?
PL: I was a big fan of when Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo came on it, when Dick[Giordano] took over the book. As an artist, I adore both Nick Cardy and Ramona Fradon--both wonderful human beings and extraordinarily talented artists, so I had loved a lot of what they had done.
The stories in those days, even though a lot of them were by Bob Haney, who was a very talented man, were very much of their time, and I think don't stand up as well as some of the other material.
AMS:I don't know anyone who doesn't like the Skeates/Aparo material.
PL: I really think it was Steve's shining moment as a writer. AMS:With characters like Superman and Batman, you obviously have one or a team of people who are "steering" the character, thinking long term, etc. Was there ever someone like that for other characters? Is there someone who says 'I'm going to do something with Aquaman down the line' or is it if someone comes up with an idea?
PL: Well, for most of the history of the company, its kind of a Possession is 9/10ths of the Law logic. The editor who is editing the character's principal book tends to be the loudest voice about what they're doing. It varies from time to time, and certainly the way Dan[Didio] is running the editorial department there's certainly a little more centralized control and centralized vision of the continuity and character development that we've had through DC's history.
But if you go back through history, Dick Giordano was the editor, or Joe Orlando, they tended to be the largest voice in the character's destiny at any given moment.
It wasn't usually a big issue through most of the character's history because it wasn't like people were lining up to say "Can I please add Aquaman to this other book that I'm working on?"
AMS:[Laughs] Dan Didio has said on Newsarama and other places that there I guess will be another Aquaman book this year. Is there someone that steers that? Is there someone who says 'We want to get Aquaman in a book again, let's get this moving' or...
PL: Could be. Could be Dan or could be any one of his guys. AMS:One of the things I've learned from doing this blog is that the character is much more well-known in the outer culture than he is in the comic books.
PL: He's had a disproportionate awareness in large part I think because of Super Friends. That's one of the first superhero characters to get that kind of consistent airing. We had original Super Friends material on the air I think for twelve years--I think at the time the second longest-running Saturday Morning show ever.
It had a tremendous opportunity to imprint on people. And then unfortunately he also makes a good joke, so there's a wider range that knows him from that.
AMS: Do you know what the disconnect is between the people that know him and the reason why he's such a tough sell in the comics? Just in the last five years--or even less than that--I could reel off a few dozen TV shows or movies that mention him or have him in it.
PL: That's different from somebody wanting to buy it. There's a lot of virtues to the character, and he's survived in comics pretty much as long as anyone--one of the five characters in our mythology who went straight through the fifties when pretty much everything else was cancelled.
AMS:You've got Aquaman on a lot of merchandising, there's that new Mattel line...
PL: We've had him in toys now for like, almost thirty years. The first stuff I remember seeing may go back to the stuff done around the time of the Superman/Aquaman Hour, the Ideal toys that were done at the time.
AMS:Does a merchandiser, like Mattel, ask for or accept Aquaman as a part of their toy line? Do merchandisers ever specifically ask for him, or does DC say 'Here's a list.' I mean, obviously they're going to want Superman and Batman...
PL: It's been done every which way. One way or another, you're sitting there, trying to figure out what will make the greatest success at the time.
AMS:As President and Publisher, do you have a specific goal of saying 'Ok, we want to get these certain characters more out into the culture'?
PL: You try and work with the opportunities for each character. If you've got a film or TV creator who are driving projects, and they come in and say, "I'm looking for a DC project to do, what do you have that nobody's working on?", you start a discussion.
Often a guy comes in, I've certainly lived through it many times in my career, "You know I have this wonderful idea for an Aquaman movie, or TV show, or video game", and you see if you can get it some traction.
AMS:And finally, growing up reading comics and writing fanzines as you did, do you sometimes wake up in disbelief when you realize you're the President and Publisher of DC Comics? It seems like an astounding trip for a fan to make.
PL: I've had a very odd life. There's not many people who work as a grown-up in something they were involved with in their childhood.
Kind of like the equivalent on some level--there was a kid I went to Junior High School with. We didn't know each other, who is the manager of the New York Mets. I imagine that's probably the only other kind of way you go through life, and you wake up one morning and say "Hey, how did I get here?" I've avoided honest work all this time.
As a big of a Aquaman and/or comics fanboy I am, one of the things I like to think I always keep my eye on is acknowledging the reality of what it takes to get these books (or toys, or cartoons...) made, and the hard work required to do so from various writers, artists, and editors. It was neat to get a small peek "behind the curtain" of the legendary DC Comics and I really appreciate Paul for taking the time to talk to the Shrine.Thanks Paul!
As you can see above, the pin-up is in fact by Mike Mignola, from a 1981 issue of the magazine The Comic Reader. Mignola, in an interview with Comic Book Artist several years ago, said he was still "searching for a style" at this point and you can clearly see the Berni Wrightson influence on this piece. And considering Mike's well-known apathy for superheroes(drawing them, at least), this will probably be the only time we'll ever get to see a Mike Mignola Classic Aquaman.
I've decided to declare two winners from the guesses--Sean, who guessed Mignola first, and Frank Lee Delano, who guessed correctly but also figured out that it was probably a fanzine pin-up. Well done, fellas, send me your addresses and your choice of stand-ups!
Hope everyone enjoyed our first contest, I don't think it'll be our last!
This nifty pin-up of Aquaman in a very dire situation is by...ah, but that would be telling, wouldn't it?
All you have to do to win one of the Super-Hero Stand-Ups from yesterday is name the artist. The pin-up is only by one person(pencils and inks) so only one name is correct. Leave a comment with your answer, multiple guesses ok!
If no one guesses correctly by around 9:30am Tuesday, a hint will be given. Further hints will appear if no one manages to guess correctly. Good luck, everybody!
I had this cool Aquaman cardboard stand-up (drawn by Neal Adams, no less) for a while, but had yet to post it, when my pal and F.O.A.M. member Damian "Tiny Titan" Maffei generously sent me the whole complete set of 'em! Thanks Damian!
These stands-ups(made by the same company that made the Super-Hero Stickers put up here a few weeks ago) each measure around 6" high, and use some classic stock art to represent the characters. We've got a Neal Adams Aquaman, Flash, and Captain Marvel, plus a Curt Swan Superman and a Dick Giordano Wonder Woman. But no Batman, oddly enough.
Neat as they are, I never could understand what the appeal of these were, exactly. Even back in the mid 1990s, when I was working in an art studio designing products for Comic Images and we actually made Marvel character stand-ups, I didn't see why anyone would buy them, at least in the quantities we were producing them. After you pull out the little perpendicular base support, there you were. Put in on a shelf and don't touch it.
That said, these are still pretty nifty, so maybe you should just ignore the previous paragraph. _________________________________________________________
Coming Tomorrow: Our first-ever AquaShrine Contest! The contest will involve identifying the artist whose work is shown, and the first person to submit the correct answer will receive any one of the Super-Hero Stand-Ups shown today. (I presume you'd want Aquaman, but you can pick any of 'em!)
Be advised Tuesday's post will go up around 12:15am Tuesday. Good luck!
Comics Weekend I know I say this every time, but what a nice cover by Alan Davis--hard to beat a giant globby creature with a million eyes as a bad guy!
While the citizens trapped underwater are learning that some of the other denizens of the sea seem to be looking out for them, Aquaman and Lorena are encountering this weird creature living inside a machine underwater.
The creature seems intertwined with the machine, and Aquaman can sense that. But what he doesn't know is, he's beign watched. One of the people watching orders the creature to kill Aquaman, and it explodes into action.
Aquaman fights it momentarily, but then realizes that the creature is, in fact, a collection of smaller creatures, which he commands to separate, which it does, shattering a large chunk of the machine in the process!
Aquaman does his telepathy thing with part of the creature, and "sees" someone in involved in this, just a few blocks away from the disaster! At this point is a neat sequence, where we see this stranger working away, while the fish in his fish tank start congregating all together in one corner of the tank, as if they're...expecting someone.
Aquaman and Lorena come to the surface, where they discover something unexpected:
...I like how we don't get the hackneyed "don't tell me what to do" bit. Instead, Lorena realizes who's the experienced one here. And even though Lorena's no wallflower, she's not stupid, either, so we're spared a few panels of drummed-up conflict.
The suspect in question notices his fish acting strange, when Aquaman and Lorena bust in! To be continued!
I think my favorite moment of the book is the one with the fish, because it gives Aquaman a deep, deep connection to the Earth itself, and you get the idea that there's a whole level of conversation going on that humans have no awareness of, but that Aquaman is tapped into.
It's another small moment that, to me, makes Aquaman impressive and different among almost all other DC superheroes.
Comics Weekend I have decided to move my weekly Aquaman comic review to the weekends, so now I'll be doing two Aquaman comics per week, on Saturdays and Sundays, which I think will help with following continued stories, for those of you who don't own the comics themselves.
So for now we're going to keep talking about the brief run of the last Aquaman series, where writer Will Pfiefer and artists Patrick Gleason and Christian Alamy were joined by master illustrator Alan Davis on the covers. As you can see, Davis continued his streak of dynamic, exciting Aquaman images. At the end of the previous issue, Aquaman--with the help of Martian Manhunter--had tapped into Lorena's mind, and discovered that many of the victims of the San Diego disaster had not, in fact, died, but were still alive and living underwater!
This issue opens with the people getting a series of telepathic messages from Aquaman telling them that he is here to help them, and to stay right where they are as he attempts to free them from the rubble they're trapped under. And boy, does he:
Some of the kids don't listen of course and find themselves in the middle of a school of sharks. Luckily for them, Aquaman commands the sharks not to attack, and the kids return home.
Aquaman explains to them what has happened, and how something has changed them to allow them to live underwater, and that they can not return home.
Meanwhile, Lorena wakes up in the JLA Watchtower and she is met by Manhunter, who assumes a more usual form(that of a young human man) to talk to her. After being told by J'onn what has happened, she decides to head back down to help Aquaman, who is single-handedly rescuing people from the wreckage.
Aquaman then gets a message from a dolphin about a machine it found, and he and Lorena check it out. The machine didn't fall in the water, like the rest of the city, but put there...and then turned on.
They look inside the center of the machine, and find some sort of living, amorphous creature! To be continued!
Again, another solid issue, although I found Aquaman a bit cold here--instead of gentle and warm, he sort of stands in front of these trapped people, rigid and cold, and just sort of declares what's happened to them.
But with the addition of Lorena to the book, I can see that writer Pfefier is drawing a greater contrast between the imperious Aquaman and the more earthy Lorena, which will help loosen Aquaman up a bit. (Sure, you could make the argument that Aquaman, having lived with Surface World people for decades, shouldn't be so aloof, but I have no idea anymore what stories in the character's past are canon and which ones aren't)
Gleason and Alamy's art is effective, if a tad dark and gloomy, but that's the story they've been given to tell. And there are moments like this:
...where the super-realism is set aside for a more graphic approach, which I think is quite nice. I love Aquaman's head poking out of the water in the second panel there. __________________________________________________________
Bonus! This week's issue of JLA: Classified saw the final installment of a nifty Classic JLA storyline by Roger Stern and John Byrne.
Aquaman doesn't have much to do in this particular issue, but its still fun seeing Arthur, as we all know him, alongside his fellow JLAers.
Sadly, this is the final issue of JLA:C, which frustrates me to no end. From the issues I read of the book, all I could think was, "Why isn't this the regular JLA book?"
(By the way--writer Roger Stern has one of the most fun official/fan sites devoted to him and his work that I've seen for any comics pro, and you can check it out here.)
This is one of a handful of Aqua-Centric pages from a DC Comics Super Heroes coloring book. I've never seen this particular book, but the pages were scanned and sent to me by F.O.A.M. member Doug Zawisza(author of the upcoming TwoMorrows' book The Hawkman Companion). Thanks Doug! Sure, Aquaman is in his pirate/Wolverine look, but what the hey--I'm just happy he was included. And I love that goatee Ocean Master is rocking there!
He also sent the cover, which sadly does not feature the Sea King--but it does have the mullet Superman, so there's that.
Another spiffy ad by Ira Schnapp (I should really do a theme week for these ads sometime), where he has to jam a lot of copy (including the goofily-named criminal organization O.G.R.E.--twice!) in a small space. But, somehow, it all works. "See them pull it off", indeed.
It was handy having two distinct Aquaman logos to use--the classic one, and then one that could fit into a tinier space since it contained no curve. Couldn't have done that with Superman!
I think I had this cheerily goofy Super Friends Car as a kid, but I've never seen it since...not at a con, not on eBay, not anywhere, so this catalog ad will have to do for now.
They look like they're part of some Macy's Day parade or something(at least until the inevitable super-villain attack). Unusual that Aquaman is there instead of Wonder Woman, isn't it? Thank Neptune for small miracles.
My pal and F.O.A.M. member Rick Phillips had this ad up on his Mail It To Team-Up blog, so of course as soon as I saw the Sea King on it I asked him if I could use it, too. Rick is nothing if not generous.
Even though there's no issue number shown, this ad is promoting the new WF line-up of Superman/Batman, Aquaman, Hawkman, Green Arrow, and Shazam! that started with World's Finest #264 and ended...just two issues later, when Aquaman got replaced by Red Tornado (who would then get replaced by Zatanna...until DC finally gave up and stopped with the Dollar Comic format altogether).
I'm not exactly sure who drew it, but it looks very Joe Staton to me, though I'm not sure of the inker. And while the ad itself is just great, I love the Black Canary down there in almost all black...that looks really cool!
This is the wraparound cover to a DC Comics Style Guide, generously sent to me by F.O.A.M. member Ramiro, who also sent those Super Amigos sticker pages that I've been posting occasionally. Thanks Ramiro!
If you click the image to see a larger version, you can see the amazing breadth of characters included here by, of course, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez.
You've got some of the Legion of Super-Heroes, The Spectre, The Warlord, Elongated Man, even some of the Super Jrs.! Wow!
This is the Super Powers line that haunts my dreams...
Today I'm putting up pics sent to me by F.O.A.M. members of some tantalyzing Aqua-Stuff that will hopefully be on toy shelves near you soon!
The above photo was sent to me by Mark Campbell, who wandered into a Target one day and found all five figures from the second wave of the new DC Universe toy line, which includes the Sea King and his fearsome foe Black Manta. Bah! At my local Target they rarely have any of the first wave! I must have a lot of eBay Power Sellers living in my area.
...and this pic was sent to me by Tommy of The Bat-Blog, who told me he saw this beauty at the WonderCon.
I don't know when this AquaSub from the DC Super Friends line is planned to come out, but its pretty historic--I think this is the first time since Mego that Aquaman got any kind of accessory item! I know Aquaman doesn't need an AquaSub but I don't care--I'm buying as many of these as I can find.
Tommy also sent this photo, of the super-cute DC Super Friends Plush Doll line! Mattel must be pretty happy with the sales of the initial line for them to produce a spin-off, so that's good news. More mixed is that there doesn't seem to be a plush Aquaman (yet, at least), although there is the addition of Hawkman to the line! Shouldn't he come with a plush mace or something? Thanks guys!
Anyone who ever read a Silver Age DC comic pretty much knows this ad, it ran on the inside back cover of about a million different comics in 1968. I still can't get over the idea there was an era when Aquaman was treated with the same attention and respect as Superman.
I also enjoy the other DC heroes making an appearance, including the Martian Manhunter, who to my knowledge never actually made it into a Filmation cartooon!
I'm not sure if I want to keep going through this run of Aquaman (covers by Alan Davis, written by Will Pfiefer, drawn by Patrick Gleason) for every Comic Friday until its over, but until I decide for sure I thought we'd keep going.
Like he did for the previous issue, Alan Davis delivers an awesome cover, a classic "superhero in jeopardy" situation.
Picking up from last issue, Aquaman is dealing with the ramifications of part of San Diego falling into the ocean. It appears that no one has survived, except for the curious case of a young boy who was found on the beach. He died not from drowning, but from being out of the water! This issue opens with Aquaman at a press conference explaining to the residents of San Diego what has happened regarding the boy, and that he and the local authorities will be on the lookout for others.
Just as he finishes, a young woman bursts out of the water in the throws of panic. Arthur quickly jumps into the water, grabs the girl, and Pfiefer gives us a super-cool, Batman-esuqe moment, where we see Aquaman had a plan in place:
Aquaman and the girl are beamed to the Watchtower, where she is placed in a specialized tank of water. Arthur, reading her mind, calms her by saying her name--Lorena--and she falls asleep underwater.
Aquaman leaves Manhunter to monitor her and heads to his quarters, where he has a nightmare of visiting the disaster site and is overwhelmed by zombie-like survivors.
Manhunter wakes Arthur up, and Aquaman gets worked up over the idea that the JLA decided to build an HQ on the moon, instead of on Earth, where, under the water, they could've been just as separated from the rest of world's population. It's here that we see a bit of the old Aquaman, who can be a bit of a jerk, when Pfeifer cuts the tension:
I like Manhunter's smile in panel one; this is another of the many rants you have to put up with being friends with Aquaman.
Manhunter taps into Lorena's mind to see first-hand what happened in San Diego, and we see the moments leading up to the disaster. Through Manhunter, Aquaman sees that there are, in fact, many survivors, still underwater! To be continued!
I like Pfiefer's Aquaman here--serious, of course, but not without a sense of perspective on himself, and the moment where we see Aquaman had a plan in place to me is priceless. I find moments like these a thousand times cooler in a hero than someone who can just punch the hardest.
Related to how I started this post, I'm thinking of changing things up a bit here at the Shrine. Instead of Comic Fridays, I'm considering devoting weekends to Aquaman comic posts, giving Fridays "back" to merchandise and the other goofy stuff I talk about.
I also thought this might make the comic reviews flow better, since there would be two parts of a continued storyline in a row, instead chapters being a week apart as they are now. What does everyone think? __________________________________________________________ Bonus! Classic Aquaman makes another return appearance on comic shelves this week in the first issue of DC's new DC Super Friends title, of course based on the Mattel toy line.
I am thrilled that Classic Aquaman got included in this toy line, that it seems to be a success, and that DC has now given young comics fans the same Aquaman in print they can find on the toy shelves.
This first issue's story is "Hungry For Power" by Sholly Fisch, and Dario Brizuela, where Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and the Sea King square off against the deadly robot, Amazo!
It's a perfect comic for wee kids, and all the heroes get to participate equally. Heck, it's even Aquaman who comes up with a plan to beat Amazo!:
...there's also some puzzle pages and a nice letter column by Johnny DC!
From what I've seen of future issues solicited in Previews, DC Super Friends will have different art teams on both the insides and covers. May I suggest Ramona Fradon? __________________________________________________________ Extra! I got an email from a nice woman named Lynnette with an Aqua-Problem:
"My five-year old has the DC Super Friends Aquaman and I can't figure out how to get water into the base (the instructions were thrown out during the Christmas morning frenzy).
I understand that the water shoots from the trident when you push down on the base, but how do you get the water inside the base!
Sorry to bother you about this but I'm desperate. My son is quite anxious to defeat Lex Luthor with the water spray."
Having never played with mine(no, really) I wasn't able to give Lynnette a definite answer. Any of you AquaFans know?
Comics Weekend Issue two of Aquaman: Time and Tide sports a very nice cover by Jarvinen and Vancata, I especially like hazy, faded background. I think it gives the book a classy look that works well with a series designed to give a history of a classic character.
