Arthur Curry / Aquaman Appreciation Thread 2020

[daBronzeBomma]

AQUAMAN: KING OF ATLANTIS, the 3-part animated miniseries for HBOmax has its composer

The cartoon is in continuity with the movie and bridges the gap between 2018's AQ1 and 2022's AQ2.

Probably next year.

[Silvermoth]

Which is weird... he's already had his enviromental activist period.... AND he's had a video game. Which is more than can be said for the likes of Flash or even Wonder Woman. Yeah, it SUCKED... but it EXISTED!

Which is funny because I didn’t even know this game existed until like a week ago when I watched it on YouTube. They should remaster it!

[married guy]

For me, there have been only two occasions over the last 30-odd years where Aquaman REALLY didn't work for me and I stopped reading.

Sword of Atlantis - loved the creative team attached to it, but HATED this take.
Erik Larsen - Aquaman #51 - 62. I liked his idea of Noble, but it was all a bit of a mess.

Also claiming the bronze is the Rick Veitch 'Lady of the Lake' water-hand reboot Aquaman (vol. 6) #1 - 12. The Thirst was a good villain, but dragged too long. (Not bad enough for me to drop, but it was a close call)

[Robanker]

For me, there have been only two occasions over the last 30-odd years where Aquaman REALLY didn't work for me and I stopped reading.

Sword of Atlantis - loved the creative team attached to it, but HATED this take.
Erik Larsen - Aquaman #51 - 62. I liked his idea of Noble, but it was all a bit of a mess.

Also claiming the bronze is the Rick Veitch 'Lady of the Lake' water-hand reboot Aquaman (vol. 6) #1 - 12. The Thirst was a good villain, but dragged too long. (Not bad enough for me to drop, but it was a close call)

PAD is it for me. I like him as a writer, but breaking up Arthur/Mera and treating the latter like his awful ex, the overly aggressive hook hand, removing the lighthouse keeper origin, having Arthur cheat on Mera with Dolphin... It's just designed to not be appealing to me. Just felt like it was trying way too hard.

[Frontier]

PAD is it for me. I like him as a writer, but breaking up Arthur/Mera and treating the latter like his awful ex, the overly aggressive hook hand, removing the lighthouse keeper origin, having Arthur cheat on Mera with Dolphin... It's just designed to not be appealing to me. Just felt like it was trying way too hard.

It was unpredictable, if nothing else...

[Flash Gordon]

For me, there have been only two occasions over the last 30-odd years where Aquaman REALLY didn't work for me and I stopped reading.

Sword of Atlantis - loved the creative team attached to it, but HATED this take.
Erik Larsen - Aquaman #51 - 62. I liked his idea of Noble, but it was all a bit of a mess.

Also claiming the bronze is the Rick Veitch 'Lady of the Lake' water-hand reboot Aquaman (vol. 6) #1 - 12. The Thirst was a good villain, but dragged too long. (Not bad enough for me to drop, but it was a close call)

I read the Veitch stuff fairly recently and I liked it as a standalone thing. Reads a lot better now that it's divorced from the character a bit. I love Veitch though, and I'm a sucker for good ole Arthurian myth- so I am biased. It was trying to mend a broken character, and also introduce some interesting concepts- I think it did alright.

PAD's 90s run is the only AQUAMAN that doesn't work for me. I don't even register it as Aquaman, tbh. It's overly macho/aggressive. I hate the hook and the treatment of Mera. All of it is just bad news, man. Maybe if you divorce it from A-Guy, it's fine as a fantasy comic.

[Captain Craig]

For me, there have been only two occasions over the last 30-odd years where Aquaman REALLY didn't work for me and I stopped reading.

Sword of Atlantis - loved the creative team attached to it, but HATED this take.
Erik Larsen - Aquaman #51 - 62. I liked his idea of Noble, but it was all a bit of a mess.

Also claiming the bronze is the Rick Veitch 'Lady of the Lake' water-hand reboot Aquaman (vol. 6) #1 - 12. The Thirst was a good villain, but dragged too long. (Not bad enough for me to drop, but it was a close call)

I agree these are the two most lackluster runs of the last 20years, I just didn't stop reading. I pushed through and endured it.

[Psycwave]

For me, there have been only two occasions over the last 30-odd years where Aquaman REALLY didn't work for me and I stopped reading.

Sword of Atlantis - loved the creative team attached to it, but HATED this take.
Erik Larsen - Aquaman #51 - 62. I liked his idea of Noble, but it was all a bit of a mess.

Also claiming the bronze is the Rick Veitch 'Lady of the Lake' water-hand reboot Aquaman (vol. 6) #1 - 12. The Thirst was a good villain, but dragged too long. (Not bad enough for me to drop, but it was a close call)

I agree with this though I'd also add Bunn to this list. He had some decent ideas I felt like but the execution was just baaaad. While Abnett's early stuff was really good I didn't care for the accompanying Booth art.

PAD's 90s run is the only AQUAMAN that doesn't work for me. I don't even register it as Aquaman, tbh. It's overly macho/aggressive. I hate the hook and the treatment of Mera. All of it is just bad news, man. Maybe if you divorce it from A-Guy, it's fine as a fantasy comic.

I know that's a lot of folks favorite run but I wouldn't even put it in my top 5 lol.

[Robanker]

Yeah, Bunn wanted out just as much as the fans wanted that arc to end. I think he only wrapped the arc because he respected his editor or contractual obligations, but since 2011 that's been the one real hiccup in Aquaman's series. What a ride.

[Vordan]

Bunn is great at writing villain protagonists like Sinestro or Magneto, but he is absolute ass when it comes to writing straight up heroic characters. I don’t think there’s a single straightforward hero that I’ve read from him that I’ve enjoyed. Still one bad run in like 9 years is something that most fandoms would love to have. Only Daredevil has a higher hot streak of quality imo.

[Robanker]

Bunn is great at writing villain protagonists like Sinestro or Magneto, but he is absolute ass when it comes to writing straight up heroic characters. I don’t think there’s a single straightforward hero that I’ve read from him that I’ve enjoyed. Still one bad run in like 9 years is something that most fandoms would love to have. Only Daredevil has a higher hot streak of quality imo.

Yeah, he was brought on to change the tone and direction, but DC was out of their mind on that call. I have no doubt he can write a Black Manta or Ocean Master book, but Arthur? He was practically set up to fail.

[Frontier]

Wasn't that run the last time Siren (Mera's sister) appeared? And she raped Arthur by pretending to be Mera?

[Flash Gordon]

Wasn't that run the last time Siren (Mera's sister) appeared? And she raped Arthur by pretending to be Mera?

Yeah, she hasn't appeared since. That story seems to have been ignored, luckily.

[MadFacedKid]

I won’t lie I was sad the Poseidon Blessing left with Bunn when his run ended. I won’t say I agreed with the direction but I definitely don’t think it was as bad as some claim. I think the start of the premise is what hurt Bunn more than anything. Shouldn’t have ever put the idea of Mera turning on Arthur as a eye raiser. If anything she should of been on the run with him and Xebel overtook Atlantis during the chaos.

[BBally]

While it was the Mamoa Aquaman that made Aquaman "cool" again, I like to think stuff like Peter David's run, being part of Grant Morrison's acclaimed Justice League run, Geoff Johns' New52 run and John DiMaggio's "if Aquaman was played Brian Blessed" version from Batman: The Brave And The Bold helped pave the way for the character's recent mainstream reappraisal.