The most misunderstood character in comics Part 3
To recap, I have talking about Aquaman, who is a very misunderstood hero. I hope you have been enjoying this story.
I feel I should mention that Aquaman also appeared in several issues of World's Finest Comics as a backup feature while he began his first series.
So let us pickup from before...
After the Crisis, DC spent some time redefining its heroes and mythos. Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern all made major changes (Batman had minor changes, but his timeline was changed and Jason Todd's origin and how they met became new). There were new heroes such as Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. Aquaman was no different.
Sporting a new look, and receiving updates to his origin and to the origins and story of Atlantis (for those interested in such things, we finally start getting explanations for all the different "Atlantises" and how they became to be), a four-issue mini series was printed beginning with the cover date of February 1986. Of note, Vulko is king in this story and Ocean-Master has become much more powerful and is only listed as Arthur's step-brother in this series. This series did not sell very well and Aquaman did not have anything published until a single special came out in 1988.
1989 brought us a new special, called the Legend of Aquaman, which led to an updated origin for the character. In this version, he was an orphan of the sea (named Orin) that was adopted by Arthur Curry. He ends up in an Atlantean prison and gets the derogatory nickname "Aquaman" which along with the prison uniform that becomes his outfit, he decides to use. He then adopts Aqualad and marries Mera, as per the Silver Age version. This year also brought out another mini-series that again changes some information, for example Ocean Master is changed into his half-brother again, but this time it is through the mother and not the father, making OM a water-breather. This series also introduced the fact that Aquaman and Mera's marriage was rapidly deteriorating. We also find out that Orin had a son he didn't know about, named Koryak (the son of Orm Marius (Ocean Master's) cousin Kako.)
A new series was granted to him in 1992, during the explosion of comic's titles issued through to the speculation era. This series did not really catch on with the comic readers, and was cancelled with issue 13. Other than the first Post-Crisis appearance of the Sea Devils in issue #9, and an appearance of Batman in issue 8, there wasn't much of significance in this series (although the cover for 8, pictured above, was pretty awesome.).
After a miniseries called the Atlantis Chronicles, which really outlined the differences and histories of the various areas called Atlantis, a new series for Aquaman began. This series had more traction, lasting for 75 issues beginning in August 1994.
I feel I should mention that Aquaman also appeared in several issues of World's Finest Comics as a backup feature while he began his first series.
So let us pickup from before...
After the Crisis, DC spent some time redefining its heroes and mythos. Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern all made major changes (Batman had minor changes, but his timeline was changed and Jason Todd's origin and how they met became new). There were new heroes such as Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. Aquaman was no different.
Sporting a new look, and receiving updates to his origin and to the origins and story of Atlantis (for those interested in such things, we finally start getting explanations for all the different "Atlantises" and how they became to be), a four-issue mini series was printed beginning with the cover date of February 1986. Of note, Vulko is king in this story and Ocean-Master has become much more powerful and is only listed as Arthur's step-brother in this series. This series did not sell very well and Aquaman did not have anything published until a single special came out in 1988.
1989 brought us a new special, called the Legend of Aquaman, which led to an updated origin for the character. In this version, he was an orphan of the sea (named Orin) that was adopted by Arthur Curry. He ends up in an Atlantean prison and gets the derogatory nickname "Aquaman" which along with the prison uniform that becomes his outfit, he decides to use. He then adopts Aqualad and marries Mera, as per the Silver Age version. This year also brought out another mini-series that again changes some information, for example Ocean Master is changed into his half-brother again, but this time it is through the mother and not the father, making OM a water-breather. This series also introduced the fact that Aquaman and Mera's marriage was rapidly deteriorating. We also find out that Orin had a son he didn't know about, named Koryak (the son of Orm Marius (Ocean Master's) cousin Kako.)
A new series was granted to him in 1992, during the explosion of comic's titles issued through to the speculation era. This series did not really catch on with the comic readers, and was cancelled with issue 13. Other than the first Post-Crisis appearance of the Sea Devils in issue #9, and an appearance of Batman in issue 8, there wasn't much of significance in this series (although the cover for 8, pictured above, was pretty awesome.).
After a miniseries called the Atlantis Chronicles, which really outlined the differences and histories of the various areas called Atlantis, a new series for Aquaman began. This series had more traction, lasting for 75 issues beginning in August 1994.
Written by Peter David (who would later move on to the Supergirl series of 1996) from issue 1 - 48, this series would have some of the more seminal moments for our hero. He would lose his hand in issue 2, replacing it with a hook in issue 0 (which came out right after number 2...go figure) This was also the period of the beard, the one that has been immortalized now by Momoa's performance. Aquaman faces many challenges, whether taking on gods like Poseidon, or engaging in vision quests, handling constant challenges to the throne, having guest stars like the Martian Manhunter and Supeman, dealing with Aqualad and old flame Dolphin having a child; this series has some surprises and doesn't get the respect it should (especially compared to the first series and the New 52 one, which we will talk about next time.)
I will call it quits for today on this topic, join us next time when I bring him to the current day.
Ottawa Comic News - I had planned this weekend to go to Myths, Legends and Heroes (website https://www.mythslegendsandheroes.com/) new shop located at 256 Bank Street, but I see through Facebook that the proprietor Rob Zedic is heading down to the Toronto Comic Con this weekend, taking a good chunk of his inventory with him. For those that haven't seen it, their old store was featured once on Comic Book Resources (https://www.cbr.com/store-tour-myths-legends-heroes-in-ottawa/). Just follow the link to check it out. These guys are usually at the Ottawa Comiccon as well. (I will point out that this link leads to a picture of Rob with "Aquaman", which is why I chose to mention the article.)
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