Hero of the Week: Aquaman

Going forward, I'm going to try to educate you, dear reader, about a hero, villain, or a lesser-known albeit important comic book character (Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, Jarvis) hopefully each and every week.  Sure, you may know the character... or at least think you know the character.  But the point is to make the character identifiable, and why I think you should know who the individual is.  These are meant to be fun, candid, and insightful... while all in the realm of comics and essentially useless in your daily lives.

Following one of my initial posts about the future possibility of a Justice League movie and its characters, some people argued that perhaps not all of the DC superheroes need to make an appearance in an upcoming JL movie - more specifically, the Dweller-in-the-Depths, Aquaman.

In order to bring the brightly clad hero some justice (pun intended), I intend on offering you some insight into the character.  Firstly, let me ask you a few questions:

• Do you like magic?
• Do you like stories about royalty and monarchies?
• Do you like pirates that have a hook for a hand?
• Do you like swimming?

If you answered "yes" to all of these, read on!  If not, well, go jump in the lake (idioms and puns, yikes).

Who is Aquaman?


I have to get a little generic here; Aquaman has been revamped a handful of times.  I'll try to stick to the most current and up-to-date, and the one I'm most familiar with.

Atlantis, itself, existed well before Plato's accounts of the city; it was a place of wonder, a place of sorcery and magic.  This magic both cursed the city into sinking, and saved it after it sank.  Prince Orin was born directly into royalty, unto the sovereign nation of Atlantis, hidden from society in the depths of the ocean.

Though accounts differ, essentially Orin is deserted  or shipwrecked, and was saved and raised by a fisherman, Arthur Curry, which Orin then adopted as his own name.

King Arthur went back to Atlantis to rule as king, and defends the ocean from pollution, magic, evil-doers, and the odd extraterrestrial that decides Aquaman is a chum-p (what's wrong with these puns today).

Why is he Important?


As king of Atlantis, Aquaman has a series of responsibilities.  He protects his people.  He represents his people as diplomat in the United Nations.  He makes sure people aren't excessively polluting the ocean (BP, I'm looking in your direction).

Also, he was one of the founding members of the first incarnation of the Justice League, before both A-List heroes Superman and Batman.
This probably was because he was used to being in leagues - like, 20,000 leagues under the sea (last one, I promise).  But the fact remains that he was an integral member of the Justice League from the beginning.

What can he do?


Can't he only breath underwater, and talk with fish???

If you think that's all he can do, well, "You damn fool, you're more useless than Aquaman!!"

Aquaman - Super Friends

Aquaman - Golden Age

The days of this guy are gone.  No more sitting on the sidelines waiting for an undersea adventure.

Yes, Aquaman can talk with the fishes.  But instead of mere telepathy, he has psionic domination of marine life.  It's not, "Hey, shark, wanna do me a favour?" but more along the lines of "Get over here and bite this guy, NOW!"

And yes, he can leave the ocean, even for an extended period of time (this was initially limited to approximately an hour, but has almost become indefinite).  In extreme heat he will dehydrate and require fluids, but, well, so will you.  He just requires them a little faster.

Aquaman's skin is hardened from the depths of the ocean.  He has a healing factor, which goes into high gear once he submerses himself in water.  He can resist extreme cold due to dwelling in the deep.

He has enhanced senses including excellent vision (able to see in the depths of the ocean, void of any sunlight), increased speed, agility, strength and reflexes.

He has access to the magic of Atlantis, and all of their advanced gadgetry.  He can form objects into "hard water," and use them as projectiles (without yelling, "KAMEHAMEHA!!")

Aquaman loses his hand to a villain, and comes to don a pirate-like hook.  Through the advances of Atlantean technology, the hook can be fired and retracted much like Batman's grapple hooks.

Eventually, Aquaman replaces the hook with a hard water magic replacement; this hard-water hand can function as a normal hand, but can be converted into objects like a sword or mace, or fire upon an enemy Megaman-style.

Why do I like him?

With time, Aquaman got harder with each retelling of his story.  Read this description from Wikipedia:

In the 1990s Modern Age, Aquaman's character became more serious than in most previous interpretations, with storylines depicting the weight of his role as king of Atlantis.^[2] Later accounts reconciled both facets of the character, casting Aquaman as serious and broody, saddled with an ill reputation and struggling to find a true role and purpose beyond his public side as a deposed king and a fallen hero.^[3]

The single-most reason why I like Aquaman and want to see him make a movie debut: once again, television (if you guessed this, good, you have been paying attention).

Aquaman - Superman: The Animated Series

My first real exposure to Aquaman was in STAS.  When Lex Luthor crossed the King of the Seven Seas, Aquaman blows up his ship and leaves everyone to drown, to a bewildered Superman.  Their first meeting wasn't exactly a good one, nor did they become super friends.

Later, when Superman & Batman formed the Justice League, they crossed paths with Aquaman.  He now had his modern look of beard, long hair, and an even harder attitude to go with it - kind of a "Conan-underwater" motif.

Aquaman - Justice League

Tough guy, eh?  Just because you're a jerk, doesn't make you Wolverine.  So why bother giving this guy a second notice?

Because he has heart.  In his premiere Justice League debut, he is trapped by his brother, Orm (who is attempting to usurp the throne), and Arthur, along with his son, are chained to a rock and left to die.  Starve?  Nope.  The rock is sliding into an underwater pool of magma deep within the recesses of the earth.

Aquaman & Son Going Down, Down, Down to the Burning Ring of Fire

Aquaman is able to free his right arm from the rock, but try as he might, he cannot free his left arm, and from his son's cries, he knows they're out of time.  Removing the "A" insignia from his belt, Arthur draws back his right hand, and....

As King, you have to make the Difficult Decisions

...cuts off his left hand to escape the chains, and save his son's life.

It's Time to Stop Orm

Yes, his next appearance he's sporting the hook.  And yes, all of the Justice League think he's insane for removing his hand - until Arthur's good wife, Mera, asks them if it's insane to love your family.

And that's what it's all about, folks.  Sacrifices.  Any good, well-respected hero has to know when to make sacrifices, even the ultimate one if need be.  Aquaman fits this quota, and then some.  Superman is inherently good from the mid-west values Ma & Pa Kent instilled in him.  Batman lost his parents as a child.  Aquaman is the king of a nation, a husband, and a father.  He knows his motivation, and if you threaten any aspect of it, he will make sure the tide runs red with you and your regret.

Can Aquaman translate to the big screen?

I believe that if you tell his story and introduce him the way they did on Justice League, his story will not only be relevant, but one that will be memorable and respected.  Surely they will go ahead and play the Thor aspect, one of arrogance from his royal beginnings, where he loses the throne and has to fight to regain it.  But it could be a story worth telling, and one to branch into a Justice League movie.

Final Thoughts

If you're still thinking of the campy Super Friends Aquaman, you may need to watch this compilation video I found of some of Aquaman's appearances in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

Still not convinced?  Well, go ahead.  Bring your army to Atlantis, threaten the throne.  Or equally as offensive, dump your waste into the ocean, or poach his marine life.  But I warn you...

"Hail to the King, Baby."

My Proposal...Or, What DC Can Learn from Marvel and "The Avengers"

I have always been a fan of DC Comics.


In the realm of movies, however, it can readily be argued that Marvel is doing a superior job marketing their properties.

Why?  Why is there such an issue in DC pumping out movies based upon their comic book properties?  Let's have a look....

Marvel Comics, initially, outsourced their movies.  Basically, they created Marvel Entertainment, and rented/sold their product to the highest bidder:

New Line Cinema - Blade, Blade II, Blade: Trinity

Fox - X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, Daredevil, Elektra, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Universal - Hulk

Lionsgate - The Punisher

Sony - Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3

Surely I'm missing some movies in there, but you get the point.  Marvel Entertainment, however, tried to maintain a say in the movies produced.  To further this point, Marvel Studios became more bold and confident, and started to produce their own movies, giving companies distribution rights instead.  This started with the more-modern era of Marvel comic movies:

Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger

and ultimately culminated in Disney taking notice, buying Marvel Entertainment, and releasing this year's box office smash, The Avengers.  For a more in-depth explanation and history of Marvel Studios, follow this link.

So, what started with Marvel "selling out" its properties resulted in a unification under one corporate head (for the most part, Sony still has rights to Spider-Man, hence Sony's reboot of The Amazing Spider-Man).

What about DC?  Where's their gusto, their go-get attitude?

Well, DC Comics has been under Warner Bros for an insanely long time.  Superman from 1978, for a leading example, was a Warner Bros production.

So, what's the deal?  Sure, not all of the Marvel films have been particularly spectacular - even Marvel has acknowledged this - but they took a swing at the ball.  And for every Marvel bomb, like Ang Lee's Hulk, most fans can still quip, "At least it's not Catwoman" - a DC property.  I know the obvious intent is to not lose money, but with "hero" comic movies at an all-time high, you'd think they would quit dragging their feet.  Maybe they feel they don't have to jump into the game, I mean, look at The Dark Knight.  Well, even for uber-successful DC films like The Dark Knight, you have films like Marvel's The Avengers.


"If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?"

Go ahead, call me on it.  I may not have all the answers, but I do recall reading something about how Warner Bros was so wrapped up in the Harry Potter franchise, that now that they've exhausted a good eight movies, they will be putting their attention into their comic book properties.  Let's see if that comes to fruition.

But until then, here's my proposal...

Christian Bale is done with the Batman franchise.  While the final movie of this trilogy hasn't been released yet, even if it's unlikable, this trilogy has garnered enough buzz that it will likely do well in the box office.  Spider-Man 3 did well in the box office, though it's well-accepted it's the worst of the three.

So now what?  Reboot Batman?  No.  It's done.  I know it sounds like blasphemy, especially from a dear fan of the protector of Gotham City.  But it's unnecessary to reboot.  Just move on, and pump up your other franchises.  Release next year's Superman film, Man of Steel.  Make Green Lantern 2.  Flash.  Wonder Woman.  Green Arrow.  Aquaman (with or without Vincent Chase).

You want to bridge these movies?  Find yourself a new actor to play Batman if Bale is definitely out, and have him fulfill the role of Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, recruiting the heroes for a global threat under the title of the Justice League.

Wow.  Seems pretty simple, right?  Once more:

1. Get some actors willing to sign 5 to 9 movie contracts (sounds extensive, yet Marvel is able to do it with high profile actors).
2. Introduce the characters with modern retellings of their origin stories.
3. Have Batman, a now properly established character with an origin story already firmly in place, bring the characters together to stop some sort of intergalactic force Wayne Industries detected - Darkseid, or perhaps Batman has already received a tip from J'onn J'onzz that the White Martians are ready to invade, whatever).

Warner Bros should have the chops to pull this off - they just seem to continuously shoot themselves in the foot with their own legal mumbo jumbo.  "We can't do this because Warner TV is doing that."  "We can't do this because the comics are doing that."  It's this short-sightedness that's leaving DC Comics any chance at franchising their properties always a few steps behind their competitor.  And now with Marvel having Disney's big bucks behind them, well, only Thanos himself could stop them now....

Oh, and kudos to anyone who noticed If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich is the title of an episode of BTAS - the first appearance of The Riddler, to be exact.

Why Comics?

Perhaps the first way to begin this blog is to explain the very nature of how this came to be.  And the best way I can explain this, I suppose, is to explain how I came to be the person I am.

*Sigh* Reader, let me first explain, I am not a man of few words.  My friends know this dearly, and I am accused of it often.  But in fairness, this is not a question that can be answered in few words.

I will attempt such a feat, though.

I grew up a fan of all-things comics and heroes.  The quicker I could get my hands on a comic book, the better.

But it was television that changed things.  Television would one day offer daytime children's cartoons that would steer my attention.  As a child of the 80's, ThunderCats, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and, of course, Hasbro toys-turned-cartoon-franchises G.I. Joe and Transformers all had heroes defending good against evil.  Television in the 1990s changed everything, however - and in particular, television can be be narrowed down to Fox Kids.

Fox Kids, for those unaware or did not grow up in the 90's, ran a plethora of comic book cartoons: X-Men, Spider-man, The Tick, and the Cadillac of them all, Batman: The Animated Series (affectionately known by fans as Batman: TAS or BTAS).

Comic books in cartoons was not a thing specific to the 90's.  Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Superman, Super Friends, 1960's Spider-Man (the one with the theme song we all know & love), etc had all come and gone before.  But there was a noticeable change in the 90's cartoons - kids, perhaps, were finally perceived as brighter and more mature than in the past.

"If I could only...get...the strength...to get my...___..." To me, this was very typical of cartoons of the past. I can close my eyes and picture, in my mind, any of the Super Friends, He-Man, Lion-O, Spider-Man (1960) etc uttering a line like this.  "Holy Shark Repellent, Batman," sit down and watch Adam West's Batman, and my point will be well made about people calling out their actions.

Understand, reader, these lines were necessary in comics back in the day.  A character had to make statements like these because there was no narrative - if the character was knocked down and reaching for something, it may have to be off-panel, and so such a statement was required.  In fact, a little-known fact, the character Robin (Dick Grayson) was created so Batman could say these things to someone instead of thinking them aloud all the time in the form of a Shakespearean soliloquy.

The problem is, once cartoons were created, it seems as though the same speech model was used, and so conversations like this were static instead of dynamic like the visuals you were watching at the time.
I think this is the major reason why people my age today have a problem going back and watching their favourite childhood cartoons again - the previous feelings of nostalgia are overshadowed by the current feelings of boredom.

When the 90's cartoons arrived, however, they seemed to drop a lot of these troubling lines - or, at the very least, hide them into dialogue (again, Batman explaining to Robin how he deduced a criminal's identity, etc).

Again, is this the product of better writers?  Or were writers finally giving kids the benefit of the doubt ("Gee, Batman's down, and he's reaching for his belt.... I bet he wants it...") of recognizing what was playing out on the screen in front of them?  Perhaps the children of the previous 60's cartoons grew up and were now themselves writing the cartoons of the 90's.

Cartoons of this time also dealt with heavier themes, like death.  In X-Men, the created character Morph died in the opening two-part episodes (only to be revived later, but still...); Mary-Jane Watson was killed in Spider-Man (or thrown through a dimensional portal, unbeknownst to Spider-Man); and in Batman: TAS, Batman made it clear, unlike many previous cartoon and/or Adam West appearances, why he was out pounding the pavement, night after night: so no kid would ever lose his/her parents to criminal scum the way he had.

Fox Kids had me hooked.  Outside of Fox Kids, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on CBS quickly took over my childhood, and most of my then toy collection.

And so it was, that cartoons drew me in ever-deeper into the realm of comic books and heroes.  How, then, does a now 30-year old man, married and working full-time, continue to keep such an interest in this genre?

Because in many cases, the writing continues to evolve and get better.  As I grew and evolved, so did my favourite cartoon of all-time, Batman: TAS.  The same creative team eventually paved the way for Superman: TAS, Static Shock, The New Batman Adventures (TNBA), Batman Beyond, and ultimately, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.  Creators of these series had characters cameo and assist heroes in each other's shows (ie Batman helping Static in Static Shock, Superman protecting Gotham City while Batman was away in TNBA, etc), and as I continued to grow, so did the shows and their histories.  By the time I had ventured into university and moved out on my own for the first time, Batman, the exact same Batman from my childhood and not some brand-new incarnation, had grown and decided that protecting Gotham City was no longer enough, and joined Superman and the Justice League to help people on a global scale.

And, to honour the long-time fans of their shows, the producers and writers of these shows knew that their once-upon-a-time target audience had grown up, and was still following these adventures.  So, once again, the stories got darker and more mature as the real world around me did too.

Fast-forward down the road even further, and it's not hard to see how most of the world is starting to embrace comic books in the media, especially the movies.  While DC and Warner Bros are seemingly dragging their feet getting their heroes to the silver screen,  The Dark Knight was the highest-grossing superhero movie of all-time (posthumously earning Heath Ledger an Oscar).  Marvel has been pumping out superhero movies as of late, and The Avengers, currently in theatres, has been breaking box office records in its first week out the gate.

So, as a fan of comics and comic-book related material, well, it's a good time to be me.

"And now you know the rest of the story."