iFanboy Mini Video Podcast
iFanboy Mini #18 – What’s Wrong With Aquaman?
Show Notes
Did you know Conor Kilpatrick was a huge Aquaman fan?
He doesn’t know why, but he is, and he recommends checking out Peter David’s run on Aquaman for some good Aquaman comics.
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Hi Guys. Thanks for the headsup on where to start. I think a lot of people would like to see more of this charcater. what with everything that happened with the 1 year later stuff followinf infinite crisis do we know if DC has any future plans for Aquaman?
The Aquaman that i really like was the one from the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoon
thanks for answering my question conor. I will definitly check it out. His peter david’s run collected or am I gonna have to hunt through back issues
I make fun of the guy too, no doubt. The dude talks to fish. Not that impressive, compared to his peers. But he’s a KING! And he controls the realm that takes up ..what? 75% of the planet? He should kick so much ass. I just haven’t seen any writer make him compelling enough for me to read his series for more then 2 issues at a time.
It’s a concept that’s hard to sell to a modern audience. To make him interesting, he has to be reinvented, and then he’s not really Aquaman anymore.
I watched the WB Aquaman Pilot with Justin Hartley and Ving Rhames and that sucked. He sucked in Superfriends but was cool in JL episodes. Other then that I never picked up his book.
I can’t wait to see what DC finally does with Aquaman, hopefully bring back the original one. I’ve been wanting to follow him in a comic for awhile but right when I was about to they switched Aquamans.
This probably doesn’t help Aquaman’s case either:
http://www.wonderwoman-online.com/flash19.html
Ok, Conor, I gotta totally agree with you; Aquaman is a great character. I’ve always been annoyed when writers get lazy and treat him like a second stringer. Aquaman controls most of the surface of the planet Earth. He is the sovereign of the seven seas and all it’s inhabitants, nations, animals and ecology.
I loved the Grant Morrison JLA because, one he’s a great writer and two he gave Aquaman his due. He was fighting alongside everyone and kicking ass. He even had Aquaman travelling through time and distant worlds. He also had some amazing one liners;
To The Flash (Upon seeing Metron showup at the Watchtower) "I’ve done cosmic. I’ll handle this"
And the classic "Angels, meet Diana."
I also recall the first post Morrison Hitch Millar issue when Millar had some crappy internal dialogue for Aquaman feeling inferior next to the other leaguers. That was extremely lazy writing on Millars part and he isn’t alone. As a king Aquaman feels inferior to no one.
That trend continued a few issues later with the Martian Manhunter actually telling Aquaman that he would be useless in Los Angeles since there wasn’t any water nearby!
So…what’s wrong with Aquaman? Lazy writers.
MarkS nailed it. The only thing wrong with Aquaman is lazy writing and lazy jokes. Morrison was always good about showing that Aquaman is indeed a badass in both JLA and the JLA: EARTH 2 graphic novel.
I’ve defended Aqua Man in the past, although I’m more of a Namor fan. I just don’t get how characters that control a huge portion of the world and have large armies etc, can’t be taken seriously. People make stale old jokes about him not being useful outside of the water when they should be thinking about him being able to crush cities.
I liked his portrayal in the Justice League cartoons, and was glad they kept away from the orange costume. I usually have respect for classic costumes and don’t mind the colour schemes but that orange top is just bad. Although Aqua Man in the 90’s was kind of an extreme 90’s version with his hand being lost and all it’s still my favourite version.
Yah, that time in the 90’s with David’s run was when I originally got into comics and Aquaman was one of the books that I really looked forward to every month. You’re definitely right that Aquaman needs a writer that gets his power and has a vision for where this character could go. Still, it kind of feels like he’s been left behind. Anyone know the last time we’ve seen him in a book anywhere??
COUNTDOWN #9 might have been the last issue he was in that wasn’t set in the past i.e. TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE and JLA: CLASSIFIED.
Conor, did you read any of the most recent series? Specifically, I remember hearing a lot of good buzz a few years ago when Will Pfeifer and Pat Gleason jumped on the book at issue #15. This Mini episode made me start scouring the net to find a good deal on some of those issues.
I definitely read the latest series. I read from issue 1 to about 50 or 51 and then I just couldn’t take it anymore. For one thing, I just didn’t care about Arthur of Maine, as entertaining on the podcast as he may have been. I wanted to read about Arthur/Orin. For another thing, the creative team they brought on at the end – Tad Williams and Sean McManus – they just didn’t do it for me.
The best sustained run has been, by far, Peter David’s. That was good comics.
I remember the issue 0 of that run, but it was all that I read. My favorite use of Aquaman was Smallville. He was awesome in that episode. Overall he just isn’t my thing. Although Conor does have me interested in the old school Aquaman, since he seems so passionate about him.