A Better Aquaman

[unytis]

How would you improve Aquaman? I would realy like your input. New powers? New look? New person? I realy liked the idea they used in Justice as far as new powers go. I always wanted to get into Aquaman but either the writting sucked or the art sucked. I can't wait to have a realy kick as Aquaman story.

[The Spirit]

make him a viable character. give him compelling stories, good villains, make him his own in comics today.4 and take away whatever "Gayness" that might surround him.

[JoeK32880]

Peter David's Aquaman was great, with great art by Martin Egeland and Jim Calafiore. He streamlined the character with Time and Tide and gave him his own "universe" with a great supporting cast and villains. There was no reason to fire him. Now Aquaman is a mess.

[BillReed]

I'd use the classic version. Face it, if Aquaman were real, he'd be super awesome and famous. The ladies would swoon over him. Here's the guy that can talk to sea life, who plays chess with octopi and knows the strangest secrets of the Earth. He's seen the bottom of the Marianas trench firsthand and he's the most beloved citizen of an entire undersea continent once thought mythical. He'd be travelling the world informing people of how to protect the environment and fight global warming, he'd be in the UN representing his homeland, all that stuff. Atlantis would be revamped into a Republic and there'd be a round table of sea knights. The ocean landscape would be filled with mermaids and krakens and ghostly, ancient mariners and all kinds of weird creatures.

It's Arthurian fantasy meets madpop science. I'd revamp most of his rogues gallery (let's bring back OGRE and Fire-Haired Karla and the Invisible Un-Thing and Thanatos and classic Black Manta and turn the Fisherman into The Fishermen, an underwater group of scuba pirates/poachers who hunt mermen and the like). Let's have Poseidonis protected by a squad of Aquamarines (heh) and knights wearing seashell armor and riding seawarhorses. Let's have Topo be Arthur's octopus butler and confidant, keeping the ol' Aquacave in order. Let's have Poseidonis be a beautifully rebuilt city composed of old-timey castles hiding magical technology under their walls.

I'd maybe tweak the costume, but the basic elements would be intact: orange scalemail, green everything else.

Aquaman is the strongest and noblest of all the Atlanteans, and he's had a horrifying and tragic background. He should, however, be a character of hope.

I'd love to write the title. It's one I want to do more than almost anything else.

[loupgaroukid]

I'd buy it.

[unytis]

I think I would change the costume up a bit. The same look as the classic but modified a bit. Kinda like Green Lantern (Hal) and Spider-Man (Ben Reily). I like the longer hair on him...just looks better when he is in the water...swishing aroung and such. Did I just type "swishing"? Anywho....as for NEW powers. They have to give him something cool. Something badass. Talking to sea life is awesome. It realy is...but it seems he needs more. I have no idea what though. I guess nobody else does either or he would of got new powers by now:D

[JoeK32880]

Well, he is super strong, so he has that going for him.

And when he had the harpoon hand he could do all kinds of stuff with it. Then it became a magic water hand and I think that did something too. . .

[greenman]

Well, they are bringing Tad Williams in to write Aquaman, so I plan on starting to read the series. Williams is a brilliant fantasy writer, maybe the best writing today. I don't know if he's ever done anything in comic book format, but his novels are wonderful. A really good writer can turn around a comic book in an instant, without changing all that much about the character. This will be my first time reading Aquaman outside of JLA. In the League he always annoyed the crap outta me. It seemed he was always whining "Oh this is a matter for you surface dwellers, Im king of the ocean, la de da". I kept wanting Supes or J'onn or someone to say "yeah, well, if thats how you feel go back there and stay there fishboy. And if see your pompous fish-ass up here again I'll make sushi of you!"

But, who knows, maybe Williams can make me like the character. I'm willing to give it a shot.

[Herowatcher]

I'd bring back most of Aquaman's Silver Age origin and mix it with elements of Peter David's version. Queen Atlanna became an outcast from the dome Atlantean city of Poseidonis. Lighthouse keeper Tom Curry rescued a frightened Atlanna shipwrecked from a hurricane. While nursing Atlanna back to health the two fell in love. It was during this time that Tom learned Atlanna was already pregnant and from someone other then him. Tom married Atlanna and soon Arthur Curry was born. It wasn’t long before Tom learned his adopted son could breathe underwater and communicate with sea life. On her deathbed, Atlanna revealed to Arthur where she came from and how the child born of her pregnancy would carry the “The Mark of Kordak”. She was shunned and forced to leave her home in Atlantis. Tom Curry later helped Arthur to control his abilities before he too passed away. From the Atlantis Chronicles Arthur would then discover his Atlantean name to be Orin and that Atlan is his biological father, who also gave birth to Arthur’s half-brother Orm.

I think the Silver Age element of Tom Curry and Atlanna being together is important and gives Aquaman more of a connection to the surface world. I like the cameo of it in the Wolfman & Perez Book Two of “History of the DC Universe”. I see nothing wrong with Aquaman’s orange and green costume (or the Peter David version) and his existing abilities. Maybe a writer and artist can depict Aquaman using them in more interesting ways.

I’ve always liked Aquaman, but too many changes over the years has left me detached from the character…especially what is going on now.

[wingnut69]

For me the magical water hand was too much. And while I really like Kurt Busieks stuff I wasn't interested in a replacment Aquaman.

I was over at the DC message boards and in the Aquaman section there is a thread titled 'Questions for Tad'. It's a long thread and Tad has posted loads in there. Based on his responses I think this title will be looking pretty damn good as of #50 and I've added it to my pull list. Any Aqua fans should check out the thread.

[JoeK32880]

I haven't read any of Tad Williams' novels, but I was underwhelmed by his Helmet of Fate book. Still, I like the idea of a fantasy-based Aquaman. Too bad Busiek ditched it after, like, two issues when he brought in the Sea Devils or whatever. Anyway, I haven't read it in a long time, so maybe I'll start again with 50.

[mmmrrrr]

I would go back to the Golden Age origin, kind of like Busiek is doing right now. It's the best take on the character, and it has the most potential for interesting stories, if you ask me. I do think that the Atlanteans should exist and Aquaman should interact with them, but having him be half-Atlantean like in the Silver Age version is rather lame.

[JAGII]

I'd use the classic version. Face it, if Aquaman were real, he'd be super awesome and famous. The ladies would swoon over him. Here's the guy that can talk to sea life, who plays chess with octopi and knows the strangest secrets of the Earth. He's seen the bottom of the Marianas trench firsthand and he's the most beloved citizen of an entire undersea continent once thought mythical. He'd be travelling the world informing people of how to protect the environment and fight global warming, he'd be in the UN representing his homeland, all that stuff. Atlantis would be revamped into a Republic and there'd be a round table of sea knights. The ocean landscape would be filled with mermaids and krakens and ghostly, ancient mariners and all kinds of weird creatures.

Amen, brother. I am so sick of scary, grouchy Aquaman that everyone seems to like so much. Namor is just fine as a dark underwater character; Aquaman is not.

[IvCNuB4]

and take away whatever "Gayness" that might surround him.

Says the poster with a sig pic of a muscley shirtless guy wearing a leather harness :D

[Timberoo]

For powers, I'd have him be able to control water as well, like Aqualad on the Teen Titans cartoon.

[skaly]

I kind of like Kurt Busiek's approach, treating it more like a fantasy (i.e., "sword and sorcery") book. Those first couple issues weren't terribly exciting, though. I liked them fine, myself, but I can see why new readers jumped ship. Busiek's stories unfold at their own pace.

What I liked most about Peter David's Aquaman was his personality. He made Aquaman interesting as a character. Both Aquaman and Wonder Woman appear to be in similar situations right now, as their personalities are hard to pin down and it appears we can't get a writer to stay on board long enough for a "definitive" take.

[SouthtownKid]

Amen, brother. I am so sick of scary, grouchy Aquaman that everyone seems to like so much. Namor is just fine as a dark underwater character; Aquaman is not.Me too. I can't stand grouchy Aquaman going on and on about his responsibilities and whatnot. My first request would be to get Aquaman out of government work (I guess that's taken care of) and keep him out.

I'm fine with the water hand...it's better than a harpoon (which makes zero sense in a modern DCU), or a morphing metal thing or whatever. I don't need him to get his original hand back or anything. And I'm fine with green and orange...way better than his swirly-blue look.

Don't be afraid to let him talk to fish. It's not a dumb power, and it's just about the only unique thing he has going for him. People like to say it's lame because the character is lame, and they're looking for something easy they can point at and blame. But being able to breathe underwhater would be freaking cool, and being able to talk to sharks and whales and whatnot would also be extremely freaking cool. Embrace these things. Stop trying to make him a poorboy version of Namor.

[Hokeyboy]

The harpoon-hand was the singlemost idiotic addition to the character ever. As much as I loved PAD's run, that thing looked ridiculous. Here's one of the most powerful beings on Earth, but his hand gets eaten by freakin' pirahnas?! What's next, Martian Manhunter gets his foot bitten off by a schnauzer?!!? Please.

Not to mention that fruity gladiator harness he wore as well.

[holtom2000]

I'd use the classic version. Face it, if Aquaman were real, he'd be super awesome and famous. The ladies would swoon over him. Here's the guy that can talk to sea life, who plays chess with octopi and knows the strangest secrets of the Earth. He's seen the bottom of the Marianas trench firsthand and he's the most beloved citizen of an entire undersea continent once thought mythical. He'd be travelling the world informing people of how to protect the environment and fight global warming, he'd be in the UN representing his homeland, all that stuff. Atlantis would be revamped into a Republic and there'd be a round table of sea knights. The ocean landscape would be filled with mermaids and krakens and ghostly, ancient mariners and all kinds of weird creatures.

It's Arthurian fantasy meets madpop science. I'd revamp most of his rogues gallery (let's bring back OGRE and Fire-Haired Karla and the Invisible Un-Thing and Thanatos and classic Black Manta and turn the Fisherman into The Fishermen, an underwater group of scuba pirates/poachers who hunt mermen and the like). Let's have Poseidonis protected by a squad of Aquamarines (heh) and knights wearing seashell armor and riding seawarhorses. Let's have Topo be Arthur's octopus butler and confidant, keeping the ol' Aquacave in order. Let's have Poseidonis be a beautifully rebuilt city composed of old-timey castles hiding magical technology under their walls.

I'd maybe tweak the costume, but the basic elements would be intact: orange scalemail, green everything else.

Aquaman is the strongest and noblest of all the Atlanteans, and he's had a horrifying and tragic background. He should, however, be a character of hope.

I'd love to write the title. It's one I want to do more than almost anything else.


i'd buy the title if you wrote this
loved david's run as well.

[Metall-x]

Aquaman should be treated almost like the Lord of the Rings of DC..filled with fanastic creatures, a history of heroes and villains of mile long. Magic and so on. Lose the talking to fish thing and perhaps just leave it with sensing sea life like in current series.

[archangel]

I really liked Will Pfeifer's Aquaman story "American Tidal".

It made Aquaman a "real" character for me and he is the reason I started to read Aquaman in the first place (up untill #39 - I dont really like "Fantasy Aquaman" except for King Shark which is a good character).

I also love the Aquaman pilot episode' it's a shame that CW didnt picked it up.

[CYOTI]

. Still, I like the idea of a fantasy-based Aquaman. Too bad Busiek ditched it after, like, two issues when he brought in the Sea Devils or whatever.. Too bad you never made it pass the second issue or you'd know that it was false.

[jedifish]

I kind of like Kurt Busiek's approach, treating it more like a fantasy (i.e., "sword and sorcery") book. Those first couple issues weren't terribly exciting, though. I liked them fine, myself, but I can see why new readers jumped ship. Busiek's stories unfold at their own pace.

What I liked most about Peter David's Aquaman was his personality. He made Aquaman interesting as a character. Both Aquaman and Wonder Woman appear to be in similar situations right now, as their personalities are hard to pin down and it appears we can't get a writer to stay on board long enough for a "definitive" take.

Yeah, I'm really enjoying Busiek's approach. It makes perfect sense to use the character in that setting, and it differentiates it from a regular superhero book.

[whitemarkd]

I really enjoyed the Sub Diego storyline and where that writer (can't remember who - Arcudi?) was going... I got into that title (including buying up the rest of that run) just several months before the OYL change was announced... I can appreciate what Busiek tried to do, and I understand why some people like it, but I just couldn't get into it. I'll give Williams a chance, and I look forward to the return of Tempest, but I want a little integration with the larger DCU (besides the Sea Devils) and Orin's past (more of Vulko and Mera, as well as Garth), and I'll be happy.

[Strict31]

I've never really been a fan of DC's Atlantis until Arion came along. I like the idea that Atlantis was once a landed city with a strong magical tradition. But beyond that, I never really felt the vibe. And as a result, the closer Aquaman was linked to the goings-on of Atlantis, the less I became interested.

I would have Arthur start to move away from Atlantean intrigues and move out more into the entirety of the ocean. Not just as a place for aquatic tribes and communities, but as a spiritual entity.

DC's got this elemental thing going on, beings who tap into primal elemental forces as guardians of a sort. I wish they'd explore this more with their mainstream characters. I'd like to see Aquaman either become and elemental, or tap into the elemental force as a guardian. I guess they came close to this with Water-Hand-Arthur, but I wasn't reading much DC at the time. But I really dug Willinghams' Elementals, and Fathom in particular, and that's sort of guiding my thoughts right now.

Total mastery over water. Over the oceans, over the creatures in the oceans. A sort of planetary awareness, with the planet's water-bodies actings as a sort of spiritual, conductive medium for Aquaman, connecting all things. Sea of consciousness sort of.

So, you can keep the mystical undersea stuff, and still have him be powerful enough to stand alongside the Big 7 JLA and do something more than yell at Kyle and Wally. I mean, I liked Morrison's idea that he could use his telepathy to affect anything that had evolved from marine life, and they should have run with that. Just like Animal Man can tap into the energy of the Red, so too can Aquaman tap into this primal sea of consciousness to affect anything that was born of the sea.

And because his link with the elemental ocean is spiritual and mystical instead of physical, he's no longer limited to only tryuly being bad-ass in water. He could drain the moisture from every cell in Superman's body, leaving him a withered husk. He could cause a battlefield to be flooded. He could step through a mystical floodgate to move to any point on the planet with sufficient ambient moisture.

I dunno. I just think it would be cool if Aquaman realized that since the entire planet is affected by its oceans, then the entire planet is his to defend, not just the oceans.

[greenman]

Well, I can tell you from having read Williams' novels, that if Aquaman has that kind of stuff in his background, I suspect he will delve heavily into the magical and epic elements of Atlantis. Williams loves mysterious cities with hidden and magical pasts, and characters discovering slowly unfolding prophecies.

[unytis]

WOW
Strict31....that is a GREAT idea. The best I have heard. That would take Aquaman, who is very limited and make him damn near unlimited. He would be able to actually be on the same level of the Big Seven if they did that. Kudos! There is just so much more he can do with powers like that. Thats what I wanted. Thats why I started the thread. Good stuff. Thank you all.

[Michael Hawk]

I think I would turn Aquaman the book into a cosmic story (like Star Wars, the Fourth World, etc.) except in the ocean where the seas and oceans themselves become characters. Since I figure DC wouldn't want me to change the character too much, I'll develop his "world". Also, I would add a history to him not unlike Black Panther's at Marvel where there's been previous guardians of the seas (called Aquaman's by the surface world). Like what Strict31 said, I would give him water control and a magical trident but he uses them very rarely (he prefers to use his fists). I guess he would be like Namor without the asshole part and with a sense of humor.

For the first story, I would have him go against a mind-controlled Superman devoid of all morals and the JSA recruits him to take Supes down. The younger people on the JSA would view him the same way most people view him; as a joke who's only power is to talk to fish but when he utterly and completely destroys Supes without any help, people will start taking him serious.

[Wright Blan]

For powers, I'd have him be able to control water as well, like Aqualad on the Teen Titans cartoon.

In the 60's cartoon, Aquaman could conjure up these "watter ball" things that he'd throw at his foes. I think some of them even exploded. It's been a while since I looked at the VHS collection, so don't hold me to the exploding part.

[Evan Waters]

You know, I've been reading some of the Aquaman Showcase collection, and honestly- the talking to fish ROCKS. It's fun. Don't run from it. Without it he's just a strong guy who can hold his breath forever and needs to be doused in water frequently.

He is the out-and-out lord and master of all sea life. He wants to hurt you? Herd of great white sharks willing to overlook the fact that humans aren't their favorite food. Or killer whales. Or eels. Or giant squid. And who knows what crazy crap he could do with all the microscopic organisms in sea water. You do not mock the guy.

Really, the only problem has been that in pop culture, he's known from SUPERFRIENDS, where the writers went to weird lengths to try and involve the character- and since they tried to have as little violence as possible on that show, he couldn't just punch people even though he's good at it. So he looked out of place. And I'm not sure how much of a pop culture problem this really is- people do still know the name.

He's always been just shy of the A-list, which isn't a terrible place to be.

Also- more Topo. If he's dead, bring in his spawn, who is also called Topo, because octopi aren't very imaginative when it comes to names. But Topo is awesome.

[Wright Blan]

You know, I've been reading some of the Aquaman Showcase collection, and honestly- the talking to fish ROCKS. It's fun. Don't run from it. Without it he's just a strong guy who can hold his breath forever and needs to be doused in water frequently.

He is the out-and-out lord and master of all sea life. He wants to hurt you? Herd of great white sharks willing to overlook the fact that humans aren't their favorite food. Or killer whales. Or eels. Or giant squid. And who knows what crazy crap he could do with all the microscopic organisms in sea water. You do not mock the guy.

Really, the only problem has been that in pop culture, he's known from SUPERFRIENDS, where the writers went to weird lengths to try and involve the character- and since they tried to have as little violence as possible on that show, he couldn't just punch people even though he's good at it. So he looked out of place. And I'm not sure how much of a pop culture problem this really is- people do still know the name.

He's always been just shy of the A-list, which isn't a terrible place to be.

Also- more Topo. If he's dead, bring in his spawn, who is also called Topo, because octopi aren't very imaginative when it comes to names. But Topo is awesome.

I always thought they downplayed his super-stregnth and other abilities so that he didn't do anything to outdo Superman. Same with Wonder Woman. She always seemed to use her lasso and plane more than her Amazon stregnth.

[Strict31]

WOW
Strict31....that is a GREAT idea. The best I have heard. That would take Aquaman, who is very limited and make him damn near unlimited. He would be able to actually be on the same level of the Big Seven if they did that. Kudos! There is just so much more he can do with powers like that. Thats what I wanted. Thats why I started the thread. Good stuff. Thank you all.

*blushes*

I honestly didn't think anyone would care for my idea...

I think I would turn Aquaman the book into a cosmic story (like Star Wars, the Fourth World, etc.) except in the ocean where the seas and oceans themselves become characters. Since I figure DC wouldn't want me to change the character too much, I'll develop his "world". Also, I would add a history to him not unlike Black Panther's at Marvel where there's been previous guardians of the seas (called Aquaman's by the surface world). Like what Strict31 said, I would give him water control and a magical trident but he uses them very rarely (he prefers to use his fists). I guess he would be like Namor without the asshole part and with a sense of humor.

For the first story, I would have him go against a mind-controlled Superman devoid of all morals and the JSA recruits him to take Supes down. The younger people on the JSA would view him the same way most people view him; as a joke who's only power is to talk to fish but when he utterly and completely destroys Supes without any help, people will start taking him serious.

You know...

I wonder if Aquaman might not actually shine the best as a JSA member. And I tend to think that with all the growth Courtney and Jakeem have undergone, they'd come at Arthur from a sense of profound respect. Remember how Court grabbed jakeem aside and read him the riot act about dissing Mr. Terrific?

[New Way]

I think I would turn Aquaman the book into a cosmic story (like Star Wars, the Fourth World, etc.) except in the ocean where the seas and oceans themselves become characters. Since I figure DC wouldn't want me to change the character too much, I'll develop his "world". Also, I would add a history to him not unlike Black Panther's at Marvel where there's been previous guardians of the seas (called Aquaman's by the surface world). Like what Strict31 said, I would give him water control and a magical trident but he uses them very rarely (he prefers to use his fists). I guess he would be like Namor without the asshole part and with a sense of humor.

For the first story, I would have him go against a mind-controlled Superman devoid of all morals and the JSA recruits him to take Supes down. The younger people on the JSA would view him the same way most people view him; as a joke who's only power is to talk to fish but when he utterly and completely destroys Supes without any help, people will start taking him serious.

that's brilliant dude!:)

[Michael Hawk]

*blushes*

I honestly didn't think anyone would care for my idea...



You know...

I wonder if Aquaman might not actually shine the best as a JSA member. And I tend to think that with all the growth Courtney and Jakeem have undergone, they'd come at Arthur from a sense of profound respect. Remember how Court grabbed jakeem aside and read him the riot act about dissing Mr. Terrific?
"Mr. T" or "that one dude who's only power is talking to fish": who do you wanna be?

Thanks, New Way.

[Wright Blan]

*blushes*

I honestly didn't think anyone would care for my idea...



You know...

I wonder if Aquaman might not actually shine the best as a JSA member. And I tend to think that with all the growth Courtney and Jakeem have undergone, they'd come at Arthur from a sense of profound respect. Remember how Court grabbed jakeem aside and read him the riot act about dissing Mr. Terrific?

Aquaman does date to the 40's. Might not be a bad idea. It would be a nice change from all the legacy characters with connections to the JSA and All-Star Squadron, kind of like Capt. Marvel.

[Michael Hawk]

Aquaman does date to the 40's. Might not be a bad idea. It would be a nice change from all the legacy characters with connections to the JSA and All-Star Squadron, kind of like Capt. Marvel.
I think Tempest would be a better fit.

[Wright Blan]

I think Tempest would be a better fit.

How so? :confused:

[Michael Hawk]

How so? :confused:
Because I said so. Take that, punk. :p

[nolanjwerner]

I'd use the classic version. Face it, if Aquaman were real, he'd be super awesome and famous. The ladies would swoon over him. Here's the guy that can talk to sea life, who plays chess with octopi and knows the strangest secrets of the Earth. He's seen the bottom of the Marianas trench firsthand and he's the most beloved citizen of an entire undersea continent once thought mythical. He'd be travelling the world informing people of how to protect the environment and fight global warming, he'd be in the UN representing his homeland, all that stuff. Atlantis would be revamped into a Republic and there'd be a round table of sea knights. The ocean landscape would be filled with mermaids and krakens and ghostly, ancient mariners and all kinds of weird creatures.

It's Arthurian fantasy meets madpop science. I'd revamp most of his rogues gallery (let's bring back OGRE and Fire-Haired Karla and the Invisible Un-Thing and Thanatos and classic Black Manta and turn the Fisherman into The Fishermen, an underwater group of scuba pirates/poachers who hunt mermen and the like). Let's have Poseidonis protected by a squad of Aquamarines (heh) and knights wearing seashell armor and riding seawarhorses. Let's have Topo be Arthur's octopus butler and confidant, keeping the ol' Aquacave in order. Let's have Poseidonis be a beautifully rebuilt city composed of old-timey castles hiding magical technology under their walls.

I'd maybe tweak the costume, but the basic elements would be intact: orange scalemail, green everything else.

Aquaman is the strongest and noblest of all the Atlanteans, and he's had a horrifying and tragic background. He should, however, be a character of hope.

I'd love to write the title. It's one I want to do more than almost anything else.

I've talked to Bill about this off the board.

He has some awesome ideas about it. Though I don't necessarily agree with every single one of his, its a step in the right direction.






Personally, I think Aquaman has an identity issue in that no one cares what it is. He has so much ridiculous baggage that has to be sorted through to do anything and, honestly, the last 10 years or so of Aquaman stories have made him incredibly schizophrenic.

The first thing to do would be to drop the superfluous continuity. None of the stupid stories happened anymore and its not important for a new reader to know.

After that, I'd find a single identity for him. The Silver Age identity seemed to make the most sense but I'd tweak it by adding a consistent view of surface dwellers, whether positive or negative.

Mostly, the issues are conceptual, which makes them harder to dealw tih them a simple costume change.

[hickryhawkin]

It's been a slow build up but I still like this current Aquaman, it is interesting watching this new character grow. As far as powers, the coolest AQ in my book was the Grant Morrison on during is run on JLA. That AQ was a major badass!

I dig the whole magic/undersea realms thing right now but I'd still like to see him have to deal with the surface world, then again. It's almost like Warlord in that his world stands on it's own. I like that.

[paulski]

How would you improve Aquaman? I would realy like your input. New powers? New look? New person? I realy liked the idea they used in Justice as far as new powers go. I always wanted to get into Aquaman but either the writting sucked or the art sucked. I can't wait to have a realy kick as Aquaman story.
How would I improve the comic?

I'd use the real frickin' character instead of the Aquaboy Lite currently masquerading as him. :(

[greenman]

How would I improve the comic?

I'd use the real frickin' character instead of the Aquaboy Lite currently masquerading as him. :(

Ouch. Harsh!

I've started borrowing Busiak's run from a friend and Im kinda likin' the new guy.

[jrp001]

I read Peter David's Time and Tide Ages ago. Think that should be used as the real origin, although keep Mera.

Just started with the latest series with #46. Hoping it gets better with Williams.

I'd go with a soft/in-story reboot. Aquaman in space.

Well not really... but just like when they need to 'clear the deck' in Superman they send him into space for a year so he can 'think' and/or find himself.

Here aquaman (aka the dweller) finishes the education of Arthur, and goes 'super' deep to the bottom depths of the ocean.

While there he finds 'answers' and a new enviroment. He dicovers new 'powers' (water balls and such)

At the end of the 7 to 12 issue arc, he comes up the surface to stop THE major threat he found at bottom of the deepest trenches (which he thinks he caused). Along the way Arthur sacrifices himslef to stop the threat.

That way when reappears (to the surface world/alantis/JLA, it's with a new sense of purpose and looking for some payback.

2-3 page back-ups in the issues could show whats going on with SubDiego, Mera, Tempest, Arthur.

[jmcl89]

I think the biggest problem with Aquaman is the sheer number of radically different takes on him that there have been, which leaves him with a pretty impenetrable continuity. But sticking with the current Aquaman leaves that baggage with Orin, where it's far less of an issue. I'd like to see Williams continue in the vein that Busiek's been working, and only gradually introduce his own twists - from what I know of Williams' writing, he seems well suited to telling the epic fantasy, sword & sorcery stories that this version is built for, anyway.

[greenman]

I read Peter David's Time and Tide Ages ago. Think that should be used as the real origin, although keep Mera.

Just started with the latest series with #46. Hoping it gets better with Williams.

I'd go with a soft/in-story reboot. Aquaman in space.

Well not really... but just like when they need to 'clear the deck' in Superman they send him into space for a year so he can 'think' and/or find himself.

Here aquaman (aka the dweller) finishes the education of Arthur, and goes 'super' deep to the bottom depths of the ocean.

While there he finds 'answers' and a new enviroment. He dicovers new 'powers' (water balls and such)

At the end of the 7 to 12 issue arc, he comes up the surface to stop THE major threat he found at bottom of the deepest trenches (which he thinks he caused). Along the way Arthur sacrifices himslef to stop the threat.

That way when reappears (to the surface world/alantis/JLA, it's with a new sense of purpose and looking for some payback.

2-3 page back-ups in the issues could show whats going on with SubDiego, Mera, Tempest, Arthur.

Along those lines, if your really want to parallel the Superman in Space bit, and really take him out of play for a year, you could send him off to the water dimension Mera came from.

[exultant801]

peter david's run was one the single greatest on a DC book ever. maybe the best dc run ever. the harpoon-hand made the character more iconic and it was pretty much all about the symbolism, peter made that pretty apparent. wonderful and fleshed out supporting cast(dolphin, aqualad/tempest) and villains. there was even a blossoming relationship between arthur and wonder woman.

find it and read it.

[Jrad32]

Well, they are bringing Tad Williams in to write Aquaman, so I plan on starting to read the series. Williams is a brilliant fantasy writer, maybe the best writing today. I don't know if he's ever done anything in comic book format, but his novels are wonderful. A really good writer can turn around a comic book in an instant, without changing all that much about the character. This will be my first time reading Aquaman outside of JLA. In the League he always annoyed the crap outta me. It seemed he was always whining "Oh this is a matter for you surface dwellers, Im king of the ocean, la de da". I kept wanting Supes or J'onn or someone to say "yeah, well, if thats how you feel go back there and stay there fishboy. And if see your pompous fish-ass up here again I'll make sushi of you!"

But, who knows, maybe Williams can make me like the character. I'm willing to give it a shot.


Agreed I already put #50 on my pull because I'm going to give Williams a shot. I'm rereading his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy and it is awesome.

[md62]

Why can't you keep both Aquamen? Orin can be returned to his former state & rebuild Atlantis along with the Sub Diego residents. Arthur can continue as an explorer of all the oceans. That way the readers get the best of both worlds.