DC Relaunch: Aquaman

For sometime now, poor ole Aquaman has had it kind of hard. Admittedly, most of the character that appeared in Superfriends didn't really get a fair shake, but he's in particular had a hard time carrying a series in recent years, and he's also come under fire from fans and Adult Swim as a useless character. Can he talk to fish, he can swim really fast, but what else is there? Well, y'know, being able to easily swim the depths of the sea typically gives you a pretty durable body and really impressive superstrength. He's also had some very interesting methods of his talking/controlling sea creatures, like the time he set Superboy straight by dropping a tsunami and a ton of whales on him.

Anyway, Aquaman has been getting some better attention these days, after being killed uneventfully and eventually brought back to life by Geoff Johns in the pages of Blackest Night and Brightest Day.

Aquaman is connected to the sea. And there's alot of stories to tell there, you just really have to grab the reader's attention in the first place. Over the years Aquaman has had it pretty rough, so while he can be an alright guy, he is often closed off from his friends. He's a king, but he'd much rather handle biz himself that send someone else off to do it. And since he's only half Atlantean anyway, his family, to him, is usually those he keeps close: his wife Mera, Aqualad, and Aquagirl. Mera is just as powerful as he is, and also has powers of hard water manipulation (essentially creating effective weapons out of nothing, which the current Aqualad has as well). He does have a short temper, especially when it comes to people messing around with his oceans.

Aquaman is an adventurer. When checking out his stories, fully expect there to be lots of stuff going on, and some hard action. It's fun, and all those people talking about Aquaman just talking to fish are missing out on that.

The new Aquaman will be handled by the Geoff Johns along with Ivan Reis. Together, they've worked on Green Lantern and Brightest Day. Reis has also worked with former Green Lantern Corps writer Dave Gibbons on the cosmic mini-series The Rann-Thanagar War.

My favorite Aquaman stories have been the work done by Peter David in the early 90s. While his run was cut short, his notable changes to the character (including the harpoon hand seen throughout the Justice League cartoons) have not been without recognition. However, much of it has not seen collection. Here is what you can find, aside from the Showcase and Archive volumes:

Aquaman: The Death of the Prince by Jim Aparo & Others

Aquaman: Time & Tide by Peter David & Kirk Jarvenin

Aquaman: The Waterbearer by Rick Veitch

Come back tomorrow where we'll be taking a look at the The Flash!