I am being open minded about Aquaman in the upcoming Justice League movie. I was once pretty rigid about how I wanted the character to be represented, and did not like the "hook and beard" phase. But then the Justice League cartoon did a lot of cool stuff with that version. When I first saw the Aquaman that was on Batman: The Brave and the Bold, I was initially put off - but was soon won over. So, while Jason Mamoa doesn't seem like my Aquaman, I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
This cover was inspired by a suggestion from Mike Shirley, a Patron of this blog. Thanks a lot, Mike!
Outrageous!
ReplyDeleteAquaman has been portrayed differently over the years. I wasn't fan of his blue costume in the Peter David years; Or the hook and beard phase. I think it was Mark Waid that had him very shy in JLA: Year One. Geoff Johns did a pretty decent job re-invigorating the character and making him cool.
Great team-up!
Outrageous!
ReplyDeleteLove it! I'll be messaging you about another suggestion later Ross ;)
Not bad! But, your Aquaman-meets-the-Sea Monkeys is still my sentimental favorite.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes! STF #792. Such a nostalgic smile that brings to my face.
ReplyDeleteThe whole "harpoon hand" Aquaman never made a lick of sense to me. With the level of technology already established in the DC Universe and Aquaman's easy access to that technology given his connection to the Justice League, I simply could not imagine why he would choose to replace his hand with the end of a harpoon. To me this was THE epitome of the absurd, style-over-substance, "edgy" comics of the 1990s.
ReplyDelete@Sonofjack: when you're right, you're right.
ReplyDelete@Sonofjack:David's stated reason for the hook is that it was meant to be Arthur turning the tools of whaling against people exploiting the sea and it's animals.
ReplyDeleteNaturally it was never used like that.
He actually DID get a cybernetic hand for a while...but may as well have been given it for five minutes before the whole Worlds at War/Obsidian Age/series relaunch before Infinite Crisis.
Now that you mention it, Simon Dyer, I do remember Peter David trying to justify the harpoon hand. So we're supposed to accept that Aquaman used an 18th century solution to his missing hand as a symbolic gesture? Hmmmmm.... I would have preferred it if he had just been honest and said, "I think it looks badass." (On the other hand, he's a successful writer, and I'm not.)
ReplyDeleteAnd if I'm not mistaken, it was Erik Larsen (the anti-Peter David) who came up with Aquaman's cybernetic hand.
@Sonofjack: Batman probably got it for him from Cyberforce.*
ReplyDelete*I loved their one-and-only crossover; especially the flirtatious banter between Bats and Cyblade!
Sonofjack - well said--the hook was the nonsensical push to make all characters "edgy"; it appeared DC was also responding to the minority of readers who still associated the character with his terrible Super Friends incarnation. Most comic readers ignored or cursed the cartoon, so any changes to the comic character should have been based on his printed history.
ReplyDeleteOr, at the very least, his pre-SF Filmation cartoons. IN those, he kicked serious butt _without_ a harpoon hand!
ReplyDelete