Aquaman unpopular because of Superfriends?

[Lightning Rider]

[Lightning Rider]

Nor did other depictions:

[Lightning Rider]

[Güicho]

Dave Chappelle...

[Lightning Rider]

This is why it bothered me a bit that Johns, in an effort to show how cool Aquaman is, had to start the comic openly acknowledging that he's a joke to the general audience. Because somehow that preface helps erase that stigma when they all change their minds more than it does introducing him as cool in the first place.

I liked the edge he had in STAS despite the classic look, but it was limited exposure.

The Harpoon hand was an effort to make him more badass. It was a symptom of the 90's but went a bit further from Aquaman. But it was a legitimate reinvention of the character, and a new generation of children were introduced to that version.



Invoking that look for the new cinematic universe sets him apart and makes him anything but a joke.



And we finally have memes like this floating around instead.

[JoeWithoutFear]

Super Friends is where my fandom of Aquaman BEGAN. Granted, I was a small child, but, it was a show AIMED AT small children. So, it really did make them all look pretty stupid, it just wasn't a real well made show. But it served its purpose very well. The fact that we are still talking about it today and some people can still get some nostalgic enjoyment from it says a lot.

Aquaman 4 life!

[Mace Dolex]

I watched SuperFriends as a kid and always found Aquaman lame but accepted him as part of the team because that's what I knew him from. My belief is that Aquaman has always been rather bland and the SuperFriends cartoon just enforced it even more, he just isn't an easy a character to crossover to live action like Superman and Batman.

[t hedge coke]

I watched SuperFriends as a kid and always found Aquaman lame but accepted him as part of the team because that's what I knew him from. My belief is that Aquaman has always been rather bland and the SuperFriends cartoon just enforced it even more, he just isn't an easy a character to crossover to live action like Superman and Batman.

I think, as far as the comics go, it's not that old school Aquaman was bland, so much as it wasn't as geared towards the same kind of hypermasculinity as Superman or Batman, that hard-edged, overpowering thing. Aquaman tended to be a prettier comic, for one thing, the sea and swimming bodies and such, and often more emotive. It's harder to do badass posturing while everyone's underwater, legs sweeping to the side as they swim.

Garth, who is the epitome of soft superheroes, was more than one Aquaman fan's early fictional crush, and I think that's emblematic of your "traditional" Aquaman comic.

What was tedious, wasn't comics Aquaman, it was TV Aquaman, the one most people know. And, that's where the jokes and eye-rolling come in.

And, so, starting with PAD, you get more stand-your-ground, rough and tumble, beardy spikehand Aquaman to compensate, villains with pretentious names who do horrible, dark things. Johns ups the machismo, with "I don't talk to fish," and parademons who are so weak that a shark can take one out. Thunder and angst, instead of fun and adventure.

Attempts to return Aquaman to fun and adventure seem, generally, to be met with disdain by the fans of the harder, no-talking-to-fish, I've lost everything and am enraged Aquaman, but then, I admit, I'm unfair to that version, myself.

Talking to fish isn't boring. Disney got a very successful franchise out of a girl talking to crabs and fish and visiting the surface world. But that's not where DC's bread and butter is, or what most people are looking for in a superhero comic. So, it was, I feel, a niche superhero comic and probably strongest as that. Though, obviously the tougher versions do clearly have their fans.

Die Hard's John McClane had to get harder and tougher with each movie, to keep appealing. It's just, perhaps, the way of the world.

I'm probably alone in hoping the movie will manage to encompass both versions, but who knows?

[Agent Z]

Superfriends might of been how it started but it for the most part is due to pop culture and even DC on why it stayed that way for so long.

Aquaman might of been a JL founder, had lots of runs and appeared in a lot of titles but he's never really been at the forefront of the DC Universe. There use to be heavily spread jokes about Batman and Wonder Woman's sexuality we don't really see them getting trashed on because of how prominent they are treated in the comic company in comics and in media (cartoons, games, shows)

There's comic fans that didn't like the character to much and I don't think that's completely on Pop culture but the company is to blame as well for how long they neglected the character.

He didn't really get a shove in till Brightest Day, Flashpoint was a really high point and this atleast for comic fans gave a look to the character.

I hear often comments like Injustice made Aquaman a badass, or Geoff Johns made Aquaman a badass. They pretty much just put him in the front so people could see more of the character which is something that should of been done along time ago.

I think every DC hero that's not Batman gets trashed repeatedly by the public. People may not joke about Diana's sexuality but that doesn't stop them from finding other things to ridicule her for.

[Outside_85]

Think Susperfriends did alot of damage to many characters, and all because the target audience were the same who watched Scooby Doo. Aquaman however is the only one save the Wonder Twins who hasn't managed to escape from the legacy, possibly due to how long it took for DC to realize there was a problem... when the generation after the Superfriends started to become comic-writers in the 90'ties.

Whenever Aquaman is truly unpopular is something I doubt, it's just that most people still can't see past his Superfriends incarnation and that somehow every attempt to toughen him up is somehow considered the shallow attempt to make cool something that isn't... much like what DC is now doing to Scooby Doo and the others by giving them lasers...

[Agent Z]

I think, as far as the comics go, it's not that old school Aquaman was bland, so much as it wasn't as geared towards the same kind of hypermasculinity as Superman or Batman, that hard-edged, overpowering thing. Aquaman tended to be a prettier comic, for one thing, the sea and swimming bodies and such, and often more emotive. It's harder to do badass posturing while everyone's underwater, legs sweeping to the side as they swim.

Garth, who is the epitome of soft superheroes, was more than one Aquaman fan's early fictional crush, and I think that's emblematic of your "traditional" Aquaman comic.

What was tedious, wasn't comics Aquaman, it was TV Aquaman, the one most people know. And, that's where the jokes and eye-rolling come in.

And, so, starting with PAD, you get more stand-your-ground, rough and tumble, beardy spikehand Aquaman to compensate, villains with pretentious names who do horrible, dark things. Johns ups the machismo, with "I don't talk to fish," and parademons who are so weak that a shark can take one out. Thunder and angst, instead of fun and adventure.

Attempts to return Aquaman to fun and adventure seem, generally, to be met with disdain by the fans of the harder, no-talking-to-fish, I've lost everything and am enraged Aquaman, but then, I admit, I'm unfair to that version, myself.

Talking to fish isn't boring. Disney got a very successful franchise out of a girl talking to crabs and fish and visiting the surface world. But that's not where DC's bread and butter is, or what most people are looking for in a superhero comic. So, it was, I feel, a niche superhero comic and probably strongest as that. Though, obviously the tougher versions do clearly have their fans.

Die Hard's John McClane had to get harder and tougher with each movie, to keep appealing. It's just, perhaps, the way of the world.

I'm probably alone in hoping the movie will manage to encompass both versions, but who knows?

Tbf, Johns does tone it down somewhat later in the run. And I think Superman often gets it worst in the "upping the machismo" department.

[Robotman]

Aquaman's negative public perception is pretty much why we have Jason Mamoa playing Arthur Curry in the cinematic universe. If you have the guy who played Khal Drogo as Aquaman people are less likely to call him weak/lame and "the guy who talks to fish". Everyone who actually reads comics will tell you that Aquaman is a badass but the public still views him as the guy from the Superfriends. So WB has to overcompensate. Which I'm fine with as I really like Jason Mamoa as an actor. And if his casting finally puts an end to people making fun of the character I'm all for it.

As Kevin Smith said, "I f%#$ing dare you to tell this Aquaman he sucks."

[Jon-El]

I think every DC hero that's not Batman gets trashed repeatedly by the public. People may not joke about Diana's sexuality but that doesn't stop them from finding other things to ridicule her for.

I think this is accurate. People I work with make fun of most super heroes. Actually, one guy remarked how he loved Aquaman on Superfriends & then someone else said "Oh I remember him". The show gave him recognition that only a handful of characters possess. Only Batman seems to be "badass" enough to escape ridicule. Seriously, people make fun of everything & curiously, things associated with childhood. How many SESAME STREET or MR ROGERS jokes have you heard? It's like people are embarrassed by what they enjoyed as kids.

Spider-Man was on ELECTRIC COMPANY & I'd say his appearances were about as silly as you can get. Maybe he gets a pass because he's a Marvel Comic characters were geared toward children then. Maybe this isn't a unique situation but is there another instance of a medium being aimed at children & later being primarily aimed at adults? Today, companies have to create lines of comics suitable for kids under 10. Just a different era.

[Brave Sir Robin]

As opposed to this...?


Or this...?


Or...?


It made them all look silly.

Yeah, but this made the cool!

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=...D9F4&FORM=VIRE

[Jim Kelly]

Well, look at the glass as half full.

Originally, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman managed to stay in publication because they were in the back of books that featured more popular characters. Then they all got membership in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA--which came at a good time as they all would lose their spots in ADVENTURE COMICS, DETECTIVE COMICS and WORLD'S FINEST COMICS.

Aquaman actually got his own title, while Martian Manhunter was moved to HOUSE OF MYSTERY. Poor Oliver didn't have any place to hang his hat but the Justice League HQ.

Getting his own cartoon show in tandem with Superman, in the '60s, probably helped Arthur to keep his title--for the time being. But J'Onn was ousted from HOM and from the JLA and would spend the next decade in the outer limits, rarely showing up in the odd guest appearance or short-lived back-up feature. Green Arrow was saved by GREEN LANTERN, but then that title got cancelled--which left Ollie floating from one book to another with no permanent home.

After the AQUAMAN title was cancelled, Arthur was often forgotten in the JUSTICE LEAGUE comic. It's only after SUPER FRIENDS that Aquaman started to get more play in some books like ADVENTURE COMICS and his own short-lived title.

I don't know if SUPER FRIENDS helped Aquaman stay out of limbo, but it probably didn't hurt. Aquaman hasn't landed on his feet like Green Arrow, but in the long run, he's done a little better than Martian Manhunter, the Atom and Hawkman, I'd say. And now he's won his own movie--something most Justice League members would give a hundred hours of monitor duty to have.