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  1. #1
    Astonishing Member Timothy Hunter's Avatar
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    Default I Think Peter David's Aquaman Run Is Overrated

    First off I'll start off with the positives. The miniseries that capped off Peter David's Aquaman, Time and Tide was really fun. You get some nice early interactions between Arthur and Barry. Issue two of Time and Tide is one of my favorite single issue stories ever. I still prefer Aquaman's Silver Age origins, but the retcons this miniseries make work. I like Aquaman being raised by Dolphins and Ocean Master being half Inuit. Personally I'm not a fan of character reboots, but the stories being told with these changes are quite good. I also quite like the Legends of the Dead Earth & Year One annuals.

    Peter David was known as one of the main critics of Image Comics during the 1990s. He even debated Todd McFarlane about Image at the fan convention. However, I would argue that David's Aquaman revels in the the worst tropes of the 90s to a degree that it is just as guilty in that regard as a book like Spawn or Youngblood.

    Gratuitous violence? Check. Aquaman gets his hand bit off by Piranahas in the first issue.

    Extreme 90's artwork? Check. Egeland and Calafiore feel like DC's attempt to duplicate Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld.

    Heroes Fighting Heroes For No Good Reason? Check. In issue 16 Aquaman beats the Justice League half to death, including old friends of his such as Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter.

    One of the major problems of this run is characterization. Aquaman and all of his supporting cast are all portrayed as uncharacteristicly selfish, petty, and cruel. Aquaman is a grumpy recluse who hates humanity and is abusive to his friends. Vulko is a machiavellian schemer hellbent on usurping Aquaman and replacing him with his son Koryak. Garth is overrun with petty jealously towards his partner and surrogate father Aquaman. Dolphin is a ditzy airhead who cheats on Aquaman with his ward, Garth.

    I love flawed characters but the issue for me with how unlikable the "heroes" are written as, is that their reasons for acting the way they are feels so contrived. Why after all these years would Vulko want to hoist Arthur out of power? Why after all these years would Arthur be so cruel to Garth and Mera? It doesn't feel like a natural progression of the stories that came before.

    I thought the portrayal of the two main female characters, Mera and Dolphin was really sexist even for the 90s. Dolphin was treated as little more than a object of desire for Aquaman and Garth, and Mera was your archetypal spiteful ex wife. Supergirl, She Hulk, and Fallen Angel prove that Peter David can write women really well, but I found the gender politics in his Aquaman to be gross.

    Peter David is known for his humor, and I must say he is far more successful at comedy here than most superhero comics with a humorous bent. There are as many misses as hits, but I recognize how hard it is to be funny in comics, and David here does it better than most.

    My biggest problem with the comedy isn't that it's not funny, but that it feels so out of place in such a mean-spirited book. Martin Egeland's McFarlane-esque, expressive artstyle adapts well to the humor, but Jim Calafiore stiff, x-treme artwork makes any attempt at levity fall flat.
    Last edited by Timothy Hunter; 09-25-2022 at 02:14 PM.

  2. #2
    Mighty Member witchboy's Avatar
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    I could be wrong but I thought Dolphin and Garth didn’t hook up until PAD left and Erik Larsen was writing.

  3. #3
    Astonishing Member Timothy Hunter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by witchboy View Post
    I could be wrong but I thought Dolphin and Garth didn’t hook up until PAD left and Erik Larsen was writing.
    Darn. I can't find the exact issue that Dolphin and Twmpest get together, but I'm pretty sure it's revealed that Dolphin was sleeping with Garth at the tail (see what I did there?) end of Peter David's run. I know for certain that there was romantic tension between Garyh and Dolphin. I know for certain that Erik Larsen was the writer when Dolphin and Garth had their baby.

    Whether it was David or Larsen, it's pretty icky that Dolphin dated both Aquaman and Tempest considering that Garth is Arthur's adopted son. It's like having Catwoman dating Nightwing or Steve Trevor dating Donna Troy. Blegh.

  4. #4
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    I really don't care for it either.
    May we never forget:

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  5. #5
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    The one thing I can say about the book is PAD kept things unpredictable and escalating, albeit the characterizations didn't always jive with me and it's never been my ideal take on Aquaman or his world.

  6. #6
    Mighty Member LifeIsILL's Avatar
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    His Supergirl and Hulk are way better.

    Aquaman seemed like he was just making it up as it went.

  7. #7
    Astonishing Member Timothy Hunter's Avatar
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    Erik Larsen's run suffers from a lot of the same problems (mainly the characters acting really, really petty) but it has some really amazing art by Eric Battle that's so good that I can get past the writing.

    Also I find it really interesting that the writer that DC chose to replace Peter David was someone who had a public feud with him. I specifically remember ads for Erik Larsen's Freak Force poking jabs at David and John Byrne (another creator Erik Larsen was beefing with)
    Last edited by Timothy Hunter; 09-25-2022 at 04:55 PM.

  8. #8
    Mighty Member witchboy's Avatar
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    I dug out the issues and can confirm Garth and Dolphin got involved while PAD was still writing.

  9. #9
    Astonishing Member Timothy Hunter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by witchboy View Post
    I dug out the issues and can confirm Garth and Dolphin got involved while PAD was still writing.
    Ok, thanks. I wasn't sure.

  10. #10
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    I'll say it's the only Aquaman series I've ever read for more than three issues.

    I absolutely LOVED PAD's Aquaman. It gave the character a very cool and unpredictable new direction. I read it until David left the book.

    Everyone is different but this is by far my favorite Aquaman.

  11. #11
    Astonishing Member Timothy Hunter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by caj View Post
    I'll say it's the only Aquaman series I've ever read for more than three issues.

    I absolutely LOVED PAD's Aquaman. It gave the character a very cool and unpredictable new direction. I read it until David left the book.

    Everyone is different but this is by far my favorite Aquaman.
    I respect that. I really like the look of the 90's Aquaman with the hook hand, the long hair, and the beard. I'm also a fan of the Aquaman who appeared in Bruce Timm's Justice League cartoon and how he was portrayed in Grant Morrison's JLA. Both of which based off of PAD's interpretation.

  12. #12

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    Well whether you like it or not it's the gold standard for Aquaman runs (Historically the most successful)

    I haven't read it in decades but I'm sure it's got a lot of the tropes of the 90's (Trying to be overly angsty and gritty)

    Still it's world better than some of the crap DC's been putting out the last two years or so.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Captain Nostalgia View Post
    Well whether you like it or not it's the gold standard for Aquaman runs (Historically the most successful).
    While it has indeed become the definitive Aquaman, shirtless and long-haired and bearded, I still like the older version, too. My favorite being the Aquaman from the 1986 limited series by Posner & Hamilton, with the blue 'underwater camouflage' suit, which seems to be exponentially less popular.

  14. #14
    Three Legged Member married guy's Avatar
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    While not without it's flaws, I thought it was a pretty great run.
    It certainly worked by bringing Arthur back into the spotlight.

    It was plenty better than Erik Larsen's run.

    The ONE thing that drives me nuts when I read an Aquaman comic is that writers/artists seem to forget that Atlantis is UNDERWATER!!
    Characters read things on sheets of PAPER!!
    Arthur has blankets on his bed! (Although he may have a dry living space.)
    How on Earth do the character's voices carry when they're 300ft below??!!
    I swear sometimes it's like an episode of Spongebob. I'm waiting for them to start a fire....
    "My name is Wally West. I'm the fastest man alive!"
    I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sutekh View Post
    While it has indeed become the definitive Aquaman, shirtless and long-haired and bearded, I still like the older version, too. My favorite being the Aquaman from the 1986 limited series by Posner & Hamilton, with the blue 'underwater camouflage' suit, which seems to be exponentially less popular.
    Ah the 1980's Point Breakish surfers look. Long blonde mullet hair and the multi blue shaded uniform. I own that stuffed away in a long box somewhere, it's cool, but....

    You've got to admit but nothing is sexier than shirtless hand hooked Aquaman teasing that pectoral nipple. That alone made Peter David and Martin Egeland true legends.

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