Aquaman walks into a sea-side restaurant; he orders seafood and reassures horrified onlookers that he does not talk to fish as they believe, but rather he telepathically pushes them into action. An enthusiastic self-styled blogger sits uninvited at the table and questions Aquaman’s choice of shiny orange outfit, his friendship with animals, and his complex Atlantean heritage. If this sounds like the windup for a joke, the blogger makes it clear: “How’s it feel to be a punchline? How’s it feel to be a laughingstock? How’s it feel to be nobody’s favorite super-hero?” (Johns 2012: 15).
The restaurant exchange above takes place in issue #1 of the first six-part Aquaman story arc of The New 52, which was later published as Aquaman Volume 1: The Trench (2012). DC Comics’ The New 52 was a relaunch across their entire line of superhero comics. Running from 2011, after the universe shifting actions of Flashpoint created the Earth Prime universe, each comic series in the line was either cancelled, made anew, or wound back to issue #1. Although this was then reset again after 52 issues, following the Convergence and Rebirth events of 2015 and 2016, it was a clear opportunity at the time for characters to be reshaped and redefined in earnest.
While Aquaman may appear to be something of a modern-day joke due to his sea-based connections, considering the range of monsters (King Shark, Abe Sapien, Swamp Thing), gods (Poseidon, Neptune, Triton), and humans (Riptide, Aspen Matthews), he is far from the only aquatic comic character, or even the first superhero of his type. Created by Bill Everett for Timely Comics as a counterpoint to the fire-based Human Torch, Namor the Sub-Mariner appeared in Marvel Comics #1 (1939). Namor is half Atlantean, of royal blood, lives underwater and can be seen fighting Nazis on the deck of a U-Boat in his first cover appearance of Marvel Mystery Comics #4 (1941). Aquaman was created by DC editor Mort Weisigner, who wrote Aquaman’s first story, illustrated by Paul Norris, which debuted soon after Namor in More Fun Comics #73 (1941). Aquaman also lives underwater and can first be seen fighting Nazis on the deck of a U-Boat, nine months after Namor. Aquaman’s origin story initially posits that his father discovered Atlantis and “by training and a hundred scientific secrets” taught his son to live underwater (Weisinger 1941: 33). In Adventure Comics #260 (1959), the narrative shifts into him being called Arthur Curry, the son of an Atlantean princess and imbued with the “power to live underwater […] communicate with sea creatures [and] perform great water feats” (Bernstein 1959: 20). The ways in which comic publishers have directly influenced the creation of new characters from their competitors is well documented (see Morris 2015: 11), but there is usually a crucial point of differentiation. Here, Namor is driven by his anti-heroism, capable of siding with the Avengers or Doctor Doom and Magneto depending on his own objectives, whereas Aquaman became synonymous with the saccharine, selfless heroics of his Gold and Silver Age antics.
There are 3 key periods in Aquaman’s development, leading up to the reflexive moment in The Trench: 1941-1959 (parallel to the Golden and Silver Age of comics); 1960-1985 (Silver and Bronze Age); 1986-2011 (Modern Age). With each accretion of history, Aquaman’s relationship with the water and his own identity shifts. In the first twenty years, Aquaman would ride sea-turtles or porpoises while shouting out jolly, water-based quips such as “I’ve oceans of love for you boys” (Weisinger 1941: 35), or he would be assisted by “sea friends” such as Ark the seal and Octy or Topo the octopus. These stories are largely uncomplicated adventures; as Brian Cronin explains: “He was just Aquaman 24/7. In fact, we never got a NAME for him besides ‘Aquaman.’ He was just some guy in the water who helped save the day every month” (Cronin 2018). Grant Morrison offers that “Because of their status as backup strips in Adventure Comics, second stringers like […] Aquaman weathered the storm” of the Golden Age ending (Morrison 2011: 53). With the influence of the Silver Age of comics, Aquaman was promoted in stature, being given a regular name (not a secret identity) and then a plot-complicating weakness in Adventure Comics #256 (1958): he must always return to water or his powers would fade with fatal repercussions. Aquaman’s assets at this point then were also the first steps in tethering and refocusing his sea-based character in a different direction, away from humorous romps and derived from punitive measures…
The full 2,900 word version of this article is published in The Deep: A Companion, edited by Marko Teodorski and Simon Bacon, published by Peter Lang, 2023.
Carl Wilson 