Comics 411: Can Aquaman Be Cool?

Welcome back! I’m Steve Gustafson and if you enjoy discussing anything comic book related, you’ve come to the right place. Each week we cover something in the industry and I always enjoy your input in the comment section below.

Previously on…

 
Last time we asked Which Comic Books Could Benefit From a TV Show? Here’s what some of you had to say:

loineli: “Saga”

KipSmithers: “Creeper as a mini-series.”

El Atomico: “A Groo the Wanderer cartoon series would be awesome!

Oh, and a Squadron Supreme miniseries, of course! :)”

William Jansen: “Judge Dredd was on its way before the pandemic. The character has such a rich lore to pull stories from so with the right creative minds involved it could reach Walking Dead-levels of success on TV.”

Mondo Von Wer: “Legion Of Super-Heroes
Power Pack
Ambush Bug
Super Sons”

あかねずみ: “Johnny the Homicidal Maniac would make a good (if dark) surreal TV show, so long as Vasquez were on board.”

Dresden: “So for 100 Bullets, do you do the actual story where Graves is recruiting people for his war with The Trust, and the gun / bullets are just a small part of the beginning story, or do you turn it into a weekly morality tale and write new characters for the gun to be given to and make that the focal point?

Transmetropolitan needs to be done. With Patrick Stewart voicing Spider (apparently Sir Patrick is a huge Spider Jerusalem fan). I’d give almost anything to hear Stewart say “If anyone in this city gave two tugs of a dead dog’s cock about the truth, I wouldn’t be here.”

Saga would be good, but Vaughn is not interested at all in doing it.

I’d also like to see Top 10, but a show about a planet where everyone has super powers might get a little too expensive to make.”

Benjamin Kellog: “A TV version of those “Showcase” shorts included on DC Universe Movie releases, structured like the “What-A-Cartoon Show” or “Oh Yeah Cartoons.” Back in the day, these latter two revitalized US animation and created several generations’ worth of excellent programs. (“Oh Yeah” gave us “Fairly OddParents,” “Teenage Robot,” and “ChalkZone,” while “What-A-Cartoon” spawned practically every Cartoon Network original you’ve ever heard of, “Powerpuff Girls” being probably its biggest success story.)
The “DC Showcase” shorts do something similar, giving non-mainstream characters like Adam Strange, the Phantom Stranger, and Death a brief time in the spotlight, then encouraging viewers to seek out more of their adventures on the printed page. (To quote the theme from PBS Kids’ ZOOM, “If you like what you see, turn off your TV and do it!”) The trouble is I’d rather see more of these characters onscreen, whether in the form of a full film or at least a TV miniseries, some indication that my personal investment in these characters is justified. After all, wasn’t the best part of the original “Showcase” comic series (and “Brave and the Bold,” which already given us one excellent Batman team-up show, this stuff can work) that the best-performing characters or concepts would get their own comics down the line, and that’s how much of the modern DC pantheon was established? I bet that’s how a more cohesive DCEU could come to be.”

Jed Shaffer: “Cry For Dawn would make for a hell of an interesting horror anthology show. Tales From The Crypt meets Red Shoe Diaries.”

D2Kvirus: “I’ve been saying for years that Global Frequency is made for TV (and, yes, I am aware there was a pilot made way back when) and would work brilliantly as a portmanteau series in the vein of Inside No9 as every episode has a fresh set of characters and very different missions that range from action to sci fi to straight up horror”

Cruel Angel: “Dredd
Kabuki
Ghost
Spider Girl
Rising Stars
Rex Mundi”

Tayo Jones: “An adult animated series based on Hellboy would be awesome. It has deep lore that references real life folklore and literature that they can use for one shot stories while slowly developing the main plot. And their is a good chance that Ron Persian will reprise as Hellboy.
Another candidate for animation adaptation is Usagi Yojimbo. It would be similar to Samurai Jack but with anthropomorphic animals. There were rumours of an animated adaptation but nothing has come up. Shame. After seeing Usagi guest star in TMNT cartons it be nice to see him in his own cartoon for once.”

John: “Crossed on Shudder would elevate the platform…honestly Avatar Press should make a deal with Shudder. Caliban, Providence, and Caligula are all great books that could translate very well into limited series.”

Some awesome comments last week! Thanks for the input and keep it coming!
This week we ask…

Can Aquaman Be Cool? I’m not talking about the cinematic one. Jason Mamoa is cool and while his character seems…fine, I’d much rather focus on our comic book versions. Aquaman is the latest iconic DC hero to get the 100-page spectacular treatment to celebrate his 80th anniversary and it got me thinking about his longevity.
The Aquaman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular goes on sale August 31st to recognize the King of Atlantis’s first appearance in November 1941’s More Fun Comics #73.

“This all-star-filled anthology spans across the ocean king’s legacy, not just celebrating his own triumphs but also those of his greatest allies and enemies,” reads DC’s description. 

For a number of years it seems that Aquaman has had an identity crisis. On one hand, his primary strength is in the water, talking to fish. Then we get a writer who tweaks some things and he’s supposed to be a threat, no matter where. In his early Golden Age appearances, Aquaman could breathe underwater and control fish and other underwater life for up to a minute. Initially, he was depicted as speaking to sea creatures “in their own language” rather than telepathically, and only when they were close enough to hear him.

Then came the Silver Age. Aquaman’s ability to talk with fish expanded to full-fledged telepathic communication with sea creatures even from great distances and he was also retroactively developed a specific weakness: He had to come into contact with water at least once per hour, or he would die.

After the ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ series, Aquaman started sporting a deep-sea blue costume. His own series added mystical elements to Aquaman’s mythology and in the Legend of Aquaman Special, they rewrote Aquaman’s mythos and origin, though keeping most of his Silver Age history intact.

The tweaking continued. Peter David’s Aquaman: Time and Tide further explained Aquaman’s origins as he finally learned all about the history of his people through the Atlantis Chronicles. Aquaman discovered his birth name was Orin and that he and his enemy Ocean Master shared the same father.

Then came 1994’s Aquaman #1. David was back and made some more changes. First up was giving Aquaman a new look. He now sported long hair and a full beard and liked to brood in caves. Then he lost his left hand when Charybdis stole his ability to communicate with sea life and stuck Arthur’s hand into a piranha-infested pool. Rolling with the punches, Aquaman attaches a harpoon spearhead to his left arm in place of his missing hand.

He’s been more mystical at times and more royal in others. He’s never been a consistent character and he’s had a hard time shaking the “wimpy fish guy” stigma, especially among the mainstream audience. We can thank the cartoon Super Friends for that as well. 

Is it fair?

Let’s take a look.

* Besides communicating with fish, he’s been shown to have a slight hypnotic influence on people. He can swim really fast and has super strength. I believe I’m correct in saying that the density of his skin can shield him from bullets and he can see in the dark.

* Depending on the time period, he’s the King of Atlantis. Those stories have tended to be the better ones, since they give Aquaman something to do.

* He’s a founding member of the Justice League. In fact, he’s been there during some of their biggest battles and held his own next to the likes of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

* While his rogues gallery isn’t as well known as Batman’s, he has overcome some heavy hitters. Black Manta, Ocean Master, Charybdis, The Thirst, King Shark, Siren, Triton…Umm, the Human Flying Fish. OK, so they need to really work on his villains.

So what’s holding this guy back from being accepted as the A-lister he should be? Costume? Villains? Writing?

Weigh in below with your thoughts, good or bad on Aquaman!

That’s all the time I have. See you next week!