WB Picture Frame - 1996

This was one of the approximately ten thousand cool items they used to sell in the Warner Bros. Studio stores--a picture frame featuring animated series-style, 3-D sculpted renditions of some of the big stars of the DCU (and Poison Ivy). Aquaman's beard looks so thick you could open a tin can with it.

For some reason, I never got around to picking this up. Luckily newest F.O.A.M. member Shag Matthews (aka The Irredeemable Shag) was nice enough to take a picture of his and send it to me! Thanks Shag!


Shag, Aquaman, and I have a peculiar history--he and I "met" online way back in 2001, when I had a small version of the Aquaman Shrine attached to my pro illustration site namtab.com. He emailed me about it and we corresponded a few times, bonding over our mutual case of hero worship.

When I almost lost an illustration gig because of the site's Aqua Content, I decided to get rid of all of it, figuring I'd find some other way to do an online Aqua Tribute. Shag and I lost touch and just recently he emailed me again, this time with each of us having a blog (or, in my case, fifty).

The only thing the above pic needs is a picture inside the frame. So...

...ah, that's much better.

Thanks Shag, welcome to F.O.A.M.!
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Contest Update: Remember, there's one week left to get your entries in for our Aquaman Design-A-Header Contest. All entries must be received by midnight, Sunday, June 1st.

Also--a fourth possible prize has been added. The chosen winner will be able to pick from a DC Super Friends Aquaman figure, a DC Universe Aquaman figure, a one-year subscription to a DC comic, or a MIB DC Super Friends Aqua Sub!

Get designin', AquaFans!
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Shameless Plug Department: Proving you can't keep a good blog down, starting today we have a week's worth of new posts over at my Digest Comics blog.

Those of you who love having to strain to read their comics, please check it out!

The AquaFamily at Dragon*Con 2012

My Fire and Water Podcast co-host The Irredeemable Shag attended this year's Dragon*Con, which many of you know is a mecca for cosplayers of all shapes, sizes, and colors!

Shag took approximately fifteen thousand photos, many of which were of members of the Aqua-Family! Here's a few choice ones:

There are more, many more, which you can see here!

Shag took photos of so many cosplayers dressed as members of the DCU that you can see them all over the web today:

• Atom at Power of the Atom
  
• Booster Gold at Boosterrific
• DCU Obscura at DC Bloodlines
  
• Doom Patrol at My Greatest Adventure80
• Dr. Fate at Tower of Fate
  
• Firestorm at Firestorm Fan
• Flash at Speedforce
• Hawkman/Hawkgirl at Being Carter Hall
• Martian Manhunter at The Idol Head of Diabolu
• Vixen and Zatanna at Justice League Detroit
  
• Wonder Woman at Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman
  

Thanks to Shag and The Superhero Costuming Forum (for what, I'm not sure, Shag just told us all to mention them)!

The Fire and Water Podcast, Episode 143

THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST: Episode 143

The official podcast of THE AQUAMAN SHRINE and FIRESTORM FAN

Episode 143 - The Dirty Dozen of the Nuclear Subs World Tour

Shag's World Tour continues! This time he stops in Columbus, OH to visit with a gaggle of geeks: Little Russell Burbage, Professor Alan Quarterbin, Emily Middleton, Thom Zahler, Michael Bradley, Van Zee, and JC Beirau! Next, it's off to Kyle Benning's recording studio for a chat! Then, you'll hear new bumpers recorded while visiting with Michael Bailey and David Sopko! Finally, we close the show with a brand-new version of our closing theme by Daniel Cynical Adams and Ashton Burge, this time accompanied by The Irredeemable Shag! All together you'll hear a dozen different Nuclear Subs that were unfortunately stuck hanging out with Shag. Those poor souls.

Have a question or comment? Looking for more great content?

• THE AQUAMAN SHRINE - http://www.aquamanshrine.net
• FIRESTORM FAN - http://firestormfan.com
• THE FIRE & WATER TUMBLR - http://fireandwaterpodcast.tumblr.com
• E-MAIL: firewaterpodcast@comcast.net

Visit the Nuclear Subs on the Inter-Webs:

• RELATIVELY GEEKY NETWORK - http://relativelygeekypodcast.blogspot.com
• LEGION OF SUPER-BLOGGERS - http://legionofsuperbloggers.blogspot.com
• THOM ZAHLER - http://thomz.com
• GREAT KRYPTON - http://www.greatkrypton.com
• VAN ZEE on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/people/Van-Zee/100001113785548
• JC BEIRAU on Twitter - https://twitter.com/ClaymationHowl
• KING-SIZE COMICS GIANT-SIZE COMICS - http://kingsizecomicsgiantsizefun.blogspot.com
• VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX - http://www.viewsfromthelongbox.com
• SHOUT AT THE DEVIL PODCAST - http://shoutatthedevil.podomatic.com
• BAD MAMMA JAMMAS - http://www.facebook.com/BadMammaJammas

Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-fire-and-water-podcast/id463855630

Opening theme, "That Time is Now," by Michael Kohler. New updated closing music by Daniel Adams and Ashton Burge of The Bad Mamma Jammas accompanied by The Irredeemable Shag!

Thanks for listening! Fan the Flame and Ride the Wave!

Aquaman Shrine's 2nd Anniversary

Welcome to The Aquaman Shrine's 2nd Anniversary!

If anyone had told me, when I started this blog mostly on a whim on a quiet October night that I would still be doing it two years later I wouldn't have believed them.

At the same time, I feel like in some weird way, this blog is my life's work, to the point where I can't imagine not doing it.

Last year, I celebrated the Shrine's anniversary by finally obtaining one of my Aquaman Holy Grails--the Ben Cooper Aquaman Halloween costume.

But this year, between rough financial times (have you seen the stock market?), and there being fewer and fewer "Holy Grails" to get, I decided to do something different.

No, this year, we'll be looking back at what I call "Aquaman Shrine Pre-History" as well as how some of you choose to worship the Sea King, thanks to photos generously submitted by some of the regular Shrine readers.


When I say "Aquaman Shrine Pre-History" I mean at what the Shrine looked like before it existed as a blog.

Back around 2001, I was still messing around with the format of my pro illustration site, namtab.com, in that I had sections of it devoted to my hobbies and personal stories, as if that was appropriate.

I went so far as to have an "Aquaman Shrine" section of the site, and here's what some of those pages looked like (please don't laugh):

...poorly laid out, ugly to look at...basically a mess. And completely inappropriate to have on my professional illustration site, when I was desperately trying to establish a name for myself a reliable professional illustrator.

This point was underlined to me when I almost lost a potential job from a client when, through a third party, I was told that they wanted to hire me, but then looked at my site, and asked "What's with this Aquaman stuff?"

That question left me "Scared Straight", as it were, and within a few days I had all the Aquaman stuff pulled down, as if it was never there. I was convinced this whole Aquaman-collection-on-line thing would just never really work out.

But...I had forgotten that, even with my half-assed effort, it had, incredibly, managed to attract a fan or two.

One of those fans was Shag Matthews, who at the time sent me emails commiserating over our mutual hero worship. When Shag "re-surfaced" on the web a little while ago, he emailed me again (we hadn't talked in years), telling me how glad he was to see I repurposed the Shrine in this way.

Shag had even managed to keep some of those emails from way back in 2001(!), so here are some of my thoughts at the time about what I wanted the Shrine to eventually become:

"Speaking of, I've been lucky enough to get sketches of Aquaman in a book I have from some comics pros, including Fradon and Nick Cardy. I hear that Aparo, when does do cons, doesn't do sketches, which kills my dream of having a triumverate of the three most famous Aquaman artists in my book.

I want to expand the shrine to being all about Aquaman, not just the stuff I own--a history, lots of covers, etc, plus all my doodads. But just keeping the site fresh to try and attract potential illustration work is hard enough, let alone spending hours on those bright-orange pages. It'll have to be a gradual process."

...not only was I amazed Shag kept six-year-old emails around, but that I had the general scope of the Shrine already in mind, this early on. I just simply lacked the right format to implement it (thanks Blogger!)

Here's what I wrote the day I created the blog, and was talking about it on my very first blog, which was (and I guess still is) a hodge-podge of random thoughts:

I'm also glad that I did manage to get a sketch from the late, great Jim Aparo, as well as making friends with many of the pros whose work I grew up admiring via the Shrine. So this whole Shrine thing was a long wait, but it was worth it!


Ok, enough about the past! Let's talk about now, for Neptune's Sake--like, let's see some of the other Shrines out there!

This the Shrine of F.O.A.M. member Andy Luckett:

...nice collection, Andy!

Since all my Aqua-Stuff is in storage, I get wistful when I see a whole bunch of it all together like that. Bonus points to Andy for having his F.O.A.M. certificate in there (right behind the First Appearance DC Direct figure), and I like all the framed comic covers--gives it a sort of museum feel.

Next up are photos from F.O.A.M. member Chuck "D.C." Dill:

Another well-stocked collection, so big its gone from its original home on the shelves and has started to taking over the wall (I've been there). Chuck even has some stuff I don't have--I see an Aquaman party favor (third picture) that I must have had as a kid and now I really want again!

And that custom King Arthur-ish Aquaman figure perched on the pedestal is also really sweet. Nice job, Chuck!

Next is the collection of F.O.A.M.er Joe Mello:

Framed on the wall is an page of an original art that Joe says "my wife gave me as a gift several years ago, signed by Calafiore and McKenna." Sweet!

Joe's collection also features something mine does--that limited edition Aquaman statue (next to the Mac and Cheese box) that is really nice, but I have yet to cough up the money for. Like I said, sweet! Thanks Joe!

Next up is the collection of F.O.A.M.er W.T. Raschendorfer:

Awesome collection, W.T.!

Not only is it a nice Shrine to the Sea King, its, according to W.T. "This is about half of what I have. Lots in storage still..."

I know that pain, W.T.

Next up is the amazing collection of F.O.A.M.er Cindy Healy:

This is how Cindy describes it:

"Here's photos of my humble fan setup The Library/Shrine. It resides in the fourth bedroom of our home. I keep all my comics on heavy-duty shelving in here. (Over 18,000 at last count.) Most of the books in the Healy household are also in this room. Most of my action figures are on display in the bookcase and in a display case from IKEA. Framed original art is on the walls along with commissioned art and collector plates.

I've already run out of wall space to display art; there's a bunch on top of the shelves I haven't gotten framed yet. The closet holds my t-shirt collection and some of the hard to display pieces like the Superfriends sleeping bag. So here's to many more years of blogging at The Aquaman Shrine."

Thanks, Cindy! That's an amazing collection--the glass case makes for a classy touch.


I was really thrilled to get all these photos and see how some of you out there choose to show your love of the King of the Seven Seas. As I've said before, Aquaman fans may not be as legion as Superman or Batman ones, but they are extremely devoted.

So starting tomorrow, we kick off Year Three of the Aquaman Shrine. As usual, I've got lots of fun and unusual stuff planned, and, if all the stars align, maybe even some really exciting news. We'll see.

Until then, I again thank everyone who stops by the Shrine (and there's more and more of you, if Google Analytics is right) and takes the time to check out what I'm doing here. And thanks to all the members of F.O.A.M., which now outnumbers The Legion of Super-Heroes I believe.

I also want to thank people like Paul Kupperberg, J.M. De Matteis, Shaun McLaughlin, and Tim Schlattmann, who are always willing to deal with my crazy, random emails asking for various forms of help and have been instrumental in helping me make the Shrine as cool(?) as it is.

And of course, thanks to Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris, without whom this would be The Sub-Mariner Shrine.

Just kidding.
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To bring this full circle, today I'm announcing the start of another addition to what I call the Rob Kelly Family of Blogs--Rob Kelly Illustration, which will focus solely on my illustration work (er, hence the title).

My lives as an illustrator and my work as a blogger have always been very separate--I didn't plan that, it just sort of turned out that way. But starting this blogs offers me the flexibility to put up newer work faster, talk about recent art-related events, etc., that the four-times-a-year update schedule I maintain on Namtab.com kept me from.

I'll still be keeping Namtab.com of course, but now there'll be a place I can blog about art every day. So please go check it out...when you're done here, of course.

Underpants Ahoy!

My Fire and Water Podcast co-host The Irredeemable Shag spied this set of children's underwear on sale (at an unspecified department store just a few miles away from stately Shag Manor), part of the DC Super Friends merchandising juggernaut. As you can see, Aquaman may not be represented on the tag, but he's there where it counts--on the product itself!

Sadly, that situation is reversed with this pair of Batman: Brave and the Bold briefs:

Here, Aquaman is pictured on the, er, package (along with some of the other B:BATB quasi-regulars), but on the product itself it's nothing but Batman. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

Thanks Shag!

The Fire and Water Podcast, Episode 102

THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST: Episode 102

The official podcast of THE AQUAMAN SHRINE and FIRESTORM FAN

Episode 102 - Five-Star Nuclear Sub Spectacular!

This week Shag and I each host some Nuclear Sub guest stars! First up, Mike Gillis and I discuss superhero comics continuity. Then Shag hangs out with Aaron Bias, Russell Burbage, and Prof. Alan Middleton, and chaos ensues. Finally, Shag and Michael Bailey discuss whether they'd like to own Action Comics #1, recorded live at the 2014 Dragon*Con!

Have a question or comment? Looking for more great content?

THE AQUAMAN SHRINE - http://www.aquamanshrine.net

FIRESTORM FAN - http://firestormfan.com

THE FIRE & WATER TUMBLR - http://fireandwaterpodcast.tumblr.com
E-MAIL: firewaterpodcast@comcast.net

Mike Gillis: Radio Vs. The Martians - http://radiovsthemartians.com
Aaron Bias: The Arrow Cave - http://trickarrows.blogspot.com
Russell Burbage: The Legion of Super-Bloggers - http://legionofsuperbloggers.blogspot.com 
Prof. Alan Middleton: Quarter Bin Podcast - http://relativelygeekypodcast.blogspot.com
Michael Bailey: Views From The Longbox - http://fortressofbaileytude.com/viewsfromthelongbox

This episode brought to you by InStockTrades - http://instocktrades.com

Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-fire-and-water-podcast/id463855630

Opening theme, "That Time is Now," by Michael Kohler. Closing music by Daniel Adams and Ashton Burge of The Bad Mamma Jammas! http://www.facebook.com/BadMammaJammas

Thanks for listening! Fan the Flame and Ride the Wave!

Guest Post by Rascal

Welcome to the Aquaman Shrine's first-ever guest post!

I had been wanting to do something like this for a while (Great Neptune, how many times have I said that?), but it wasn't until my pal and F.O.A.M. member Shag Matthews posted the first of a series of commentaries by his step-son, "Rascal", that I knew who was the first person I would ask to do an Aquaman Shrine Guest Post.

When Shag had him write his first guest-shot, Rascal chose, out of all the possible subjects and characters, to talk about Aquaman, which you can read here.

Rascal's blunt statements regarding Aquaman charmed me to no end, so I asked Shag if Rascal would like to write something for the Shrine. Not only did Rascal say yes, but he also whipped up some accompanying drawings--enjoy!

Aquaman's Better Than You Think
by the Rambunctious Rascal (age 9 ½)

Aquaman's a pretty cool guy because he's got some pretty good powers. Like he can talk to underwater animals. See if you can do that. Betcha can't.

I like him on Batman Brave and the Bold. Except he's a showoff himself. I'm sorry Peter David but they are trying to make a fool out of your guy.

I would really like to see another one of Aquaman's comics. I'd like to have one of his comics myself. Wouldn't it be neat if I were in one? You know what I would do? I would kick Black Manta's little tail-hole across the Pacific. And then if Mysterio came into the picture, I'd pull that little goldfish bowl off his head. What do you expect, a guy in tights, with eyes for a cape holder, and a purple cape, with a fishbowl for a helmet. You gotta say that Mysterio's pretty stupid. And if Aquaman ran into Mysterio, I think he could do better. He could summon some sharks to eat Mysterio's legs off and arms. And then he could punch him with his super-strength.

If I were King of Atlantis, I would make them clean up all the garbage in the ocean and then come up to the surface and then kick the garbage companies butts. If you were King of Atlantis, what would you do? If you would like to tell me, then just write a comment.

Well thanks for coming on to this awesome web site.

"They run in fear, because of his power...Aquaman."

Well said, Rascal, and thanks for filling in for me today on the Aquaman Shrine!

DC 75 Poster - 2010

Courtesy F.O.A.M.er Brent Almond is a scan of the huge-o "DC 75" poster that comes with the Music of DC Comics CD released a few weeks ago (click the image to see a bigger version). Nice to see Aquaman on the front lines!

Brent also scanned the CD tray, which is another multi-character image:

(click to see everybody!)

He also has this to say about the CD itself: "The interior of the CD book also lists all the tracks are available as ringtones! Unfortunately, they don't work on iPhones, so if a generous Shrine member wants to convert the Aquaman ringtone into a format that iPhone users can use, I would be eternally grateful!"

Me, too. Thanks for the scans Brent!


A few weeks after Brent sent me these scans, I was having a discussion about the CD with F.O.A.M.er Shag Matthews and Walter from Boosterrific.com, and Shag noticed something interesting about the the art in the CD tray--which I assumed was the same group shot used as a print ad for WB's licensing department, posted here a few months ago:

If you look closely, you can see that Aquaman--and only Aquaman--has been redrawn. In the original ad directly above, his costume looks like the one he has in Brightest Day, where his tunic is goes all the way up his neck. But in the piece used for the CD tray, his tunic is more of the traditional variety.

In addition, some folks have been moved around (Booster Gold behind Aquaman instead of Mr. Terrific, for example)--the kind of thing I never would have noticed had Shag not pointed it out. Weird!

Aquaman Calling Card

Now this is an odd--now totally outdated-- item, sent to me by F.O.A.M. member Shag Matthews: an Aquaman calling card!

I vaguely remember some TV ad campaign involving the animated Justice League and the Best Western chain of hotels, but I never saw Aquaman pictured in any of the ads, so I think I just tuned them out.

But as we can see, he made it onto at least one item, and all told its a nice looking piece--I find Aquaman's hook-for-a-hand look much more palatable in the animated style, and the coloring is nice and simple.

I'm guessing, like beepers, items like these calling cards will be a complete mystery to the next generation, who grew up with cell phones as an ordinary part of life.

Thanks Shag!

Update: Shag just sent me an email, telling me he did not send me this item--obviously, my memory is going in my old age. So which one of you did? Please let me know, you deserve proper credit!

Crisis On Earth-Blog: Crisis Hardcover - 1998

It's time for another Crisis...on Earth-Blog!

This time, the team-up wasn't my idea, but that of Shag Matthews, he of the FirestormFan blog. Today he is writing about the mind-bogglingly detailed wraparound cover to the Crisis on Infinite Earths hardcover, by George Perez and Alex Ross:

Of course, with the approximately ten million characters depicted here, there's a good shot that any DC character you could think of is represented on here somewhere.

Shag thought it'd be fun for each of us (Speedforce, My Greatest Adventure, Idol-Head of Diabolu, Dispatches From The Arrowcave, Being Carter Hall, Plastic Man Platitudes, Mail It To Team-Up, Justice League Detroit, and my own I Am The Phantom Stranger) to all pick the part(s) of the cover/poster that interest us the most and post about them on the same day. So here's where we can find Aquaman:

...if you're going to have temporarily float in space due to some giant disaster, then floating with Mera and Dolphin is the way to do it!

Tula, aka Aquagirl, is hanging around, too:

I wonder why she isn't in the same vicinity as Arthur, Mera, and Dolphin. Is it because she died in the Crisis, and George Perez (who did the layout and the pencils for this piece) was trying to symbolically portray that by having her separated from the rest of her AquaFamily?

I'm reading too much into this, aren't I?

Anyway, where's Aqualad? He must be around here somewhere. Oh, there he is, looking very sad:

...considering the loss of Tula hit him the hardest, its a nice touch for Perez and Ross to have Garth looking like he's in mourning.

This cover/poster is truly the work of madmen--if there was one person in comics with the same interest in insane levels of detail the way George Perez had, its Alex Ross. Putting them together on one image was a stroke of obsessive-compulsive genius.


Thanks to Shag Matthews for including me in this multi-blog team-up!

JLA WB Store Jacket - 1997

This was another one of those cool items they used to sell in the Warner Bros. Studio stores, again sent to me by F.O.A.M. member Shag Matthews (aka The Irredeemable Shag).

Even though I loved the old-school-ness of this, I never did pick it up. I think at the time I wasn't confident enough to wear something with such a high Fanboy Quotient (I'd say its around 90%). Now, of course, I'd wear it all the time if I had it. Progress.

Thank Neptune Aquaman has some sort of iconic symbol that people recognize as standing for him, otherwise he might have been ignominiously left off like Martian Manhunter was! Ouch!

Here's a close-up of the back, where our heroes look a tad angry. Maybe because they miss J'onn?

Thanks Shag!

The Aqua-Family @ Dragon*Con 2011!

As mentioned on the second episode of The Fire and Water Podcast, earlier this month was Dragon*Con 2011, and thanks to F.O.A.M.er (and F&W co-host) The Irredeemable Shag we have photos of the members of the Aqua-Family who attended!

First up (seen above) is another F.O.A.M. member, Rick Stafford, rocking his awesome Aquaman outfit. But as you'll see below, there were other Aquamen there, as well as Mera, and Aqualads old and new:

...Outrageous! Thanks for the pics Shag!