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Aquaman

post #1 of 25
8/9/06 at 3:20pm
Thread Starter 
People are floating into my local comic shop asking about Aquaman, and anything related to Aquaman, people that have clearly not been in a comic shop before.
The Aquman ep. of Smallville is the highest rated in the history of that inexplicably popular program. This is especially interesting considering Aquaman is primarily viewed as the bottomfeeder of superheroes.
This made way for an Aquaman pilot, which while dumped, is a very popular view on YouTube.
I'm confident that Entourage is responsible for some of the non-fan interest, if not most of it, and now there are rumors of the WB having "high-level talks" about a *possible* Aquaman film.

Is it just me, or is this character something of a secret weapon that DC comics doesn't know how to use?

I'm not exactly exactly carrying the torch for him (although I do like what Busiek is doing on AM:SOA, and the Ramona Fradon stuff is fun), I just think this character may still be pretty ripe.
Like Batman in '89, all any non-fan really knew of him came from the Adam West show, but the only thing people know about Aquaman is that he talks to fish and is supposed to be lame.
He's an unknown quantity to most people, and maybe almost perfect because of that.
I recall posting that anyone that touched was a necrophile, but I'm thinking that I was wrong.
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post #2 of 25
8/9/06 at 3:28pm
I liked the range of underused characters that DC has, but at the end of the day...it's still Aquaman.

He works well in the JLA team dynamic, but not too well outside of it.
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post #3 of 25
8/9/06 at 3:35pm
I'm a huge fan of the random paragraph spacing of the first post. I tried to read it but my head was about to explode from the random end of line characters.

Supposedly the Aquaman pilot is really successful on iTunes as well and there's talk that they would maybe make a movie from it. I remember reading something on Defamer about it a couple weeks ago.
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post #4 of 25
8/9/06 at 4:06pm
BobClark seems to be the Aquaman guru around here, seeing as he's the only one man enough to have an Aquaman avatar.
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post #5 of 25
8/9/06 at 4:29pm
It's all in the name, maybe- Aquaman is a pretty neat title. It's a bit more aggressive than "Wet Guy".
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post #6 of 25
8/9/06 at 4:33pm
It's also gayer.
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post #7 of 25
8/9/06 at 4:40pm
Aquaman is unfairly maligned. Sure he's no Batman, but he's really not any less interesting than Hawkman or The Atom (He shrinks. That's his power.). And none of those guys have been able to sustain their own titles for long either. Plus, The Black Manta is a wicked cool villain that would look great on film.
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post #8 of 25
8/9/06 at 4:44pm
Didn't I read around here that they've done a sort of "Conan the Barbarian" take on Aquaman? I guess that might work, but does anyone want underwater swordfights? Paging Jim Cameron.
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post #9 of 25
8/9/06 at 4:58pm
Peter David's take on Aquaman was great. Sex, politics, and environmentalism. Plus, he looked badass.
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post #10 of 25
8/12/06 at 12:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Multiple Miggs
Didn't I read around here that they've done a sort of "Conan the Barbarian" take on Aquaman? I guess that might work, but does anyone want underwater swordfights? Paging Jim Cameron.
Yeah, the Busiek Aquaman run going on now has some Conan-esque moments (there's a scene in a tavern a couple issues ago that could've been straight out of one of Busiek's Conan comics). Its been an okay few issues so far, but strangely King Shark has been the best thing about it.

The Justice League cartoon had a great Aquaman than was very much Conan...an asshole with a begrudging sense of honor.

The big strike against Aquaman as a concept is indeed his name.
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post #11 of 25
8/12/06 at 2:10am
I don't mind the name Aquaman. I'm not really certain what else you'd call him.

Fishtybuns McFinnigan?
Gilligan?
The Incredible Undrownable Man?
The Blonde Calamari?
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post #12 of 25
8/12/06 at 2:24am
I could see an Aquaman film becoming a huge sleeper hit for the same reason as something like Snakes on a Plane probably will be. Don't ask me why, it's just a gut feeling. Kind of like, "Wow, that sounds stupid as hell, I have to see it!".

I've never followed the comics, but I know the gist. No offense intended to Aquaman fans. All three of you, and Bob.
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post #13 of 25
8/12/06 at 3:41pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you for the replies, but my basic point is that I think that the proverbial iron is hot and a little creative synergy between the WB and it's subsidiary *right now* could generate some serious interest and profit.

I suppose you could say that of anything, but Aquaman in particular is the "major" DC property that your average person knows next to nothing about, but ironically has, at this current moment in time, just about the highest profile (how he gained it is almost irrelevant).

Even if I don't quite care for much in the history of this character, there is a ton of incredible stuff that you can do with this property, just the Harryhausen-esque spectacle involved in an Aquaman film (brilliant fantasy oceanscape, Atlantean armadas, giant sea creatures, weird humanoid races, etc.) would be a hook for your average person. Aquaman himself isn't exactly trapped by superhero convention either, as a secret identity has never been an issue w/ him.

Concerning Busiek's AM: SOA; the book is far from flawless, but I like Butch Guice's pencils, and the basic ingredients of myth that Busiek is sprinkling into the work. The Dweller of the Depths (who I'm assuming is the former Arthur Curry turned water elemental) being the Virgil to the current Aquaman's Dante is interesting to me even if Nu-Aquaman is coming off like a pissed of Kyle Rayner.
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post #14 of 25
8/13/06 at 1:22pm
In the puny sub-genre of water-based superheroes he is by far the best. I know that's not saying much, but it is still something of an accomplishment. And, yes, Black Manta is a great villain. The majority of credit for his name recognition outside of comic book fans must go to the long running '70s Superfriends cartoon show.
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post #15 of 25
8/13/06 at 1:27pm
I like the chracter. I think he just needs a writer who understands the potential. To me the best way to write the character is to blend in different items from politics with his relations between Atlantis and the rest of the earth, some Clive Cussler/Dirk Pitt like adventure, and some Carl Hiaasen/Randy Wayne White/Trav McGee indignation of what is happening to the coasts and the water.
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post #16 of 25
8/13/06 at 3:07pm
Aquaman is only lame in the context of the old-school JLA, where they had to keep finding excuses for him to be able to use his water-powers. As a standalone "defender of Earth's seas" he works fine. Didn't they say that they were going to spin him off Smallville into his own show? That could work.

The thing is, most people have heard of Aquaman. More so than have heard of characters like Daredevil and Ghost Rider. I'd even say he was somewhat above the Fantastic Four and the X-Men in terms of general awareness, until their respective movies came out. Admittedly, I wouldn't have thought Aquaman would excite people the way those more-obscure properties do, but if the fanbase is there, sure, go for it. Personally I'd rather see a Seaguy movie.
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post #17 of 25
8/13/06 at 3:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Prankster
Personally I'd rather see a Seaguy movie.
...directed by Richard Linklater.
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post #18 of 25
8/15/06 at 4:06pm
I hope Marvel gets their Namor movie into production soon so we don't have to see an Aquaman movie get made. Namor is, after all, a much more interesting character, and the first underwater superhero film to get made will make others redundant.
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post #19 of 25
8/16/06 at 4:36pm
Nobody's mentioned the Aquaman pyjamas from Superman Returns. Best part of the movie! (Okay not really, but shit, Aquaman PJs? So Airwolf!)

For some reason I dig Aquaman aesthetically - the green tights and gloves, the scaly orange jumper - but the character is so... uncertain. Namor has the much more defined personality, and even the JLU animated aquaman seemed more Namor-esque.
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post #20 of 25
8/16/06 at 4:41pm
I liked the bit in Kingdom Come where Aquaman tells Superman to fuck off because he's got his hands full protecting the other two-thirds of the planet.
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post #21 of 25
8/16/06 at 5:25pm
As a somtime comic fan, but all around geek - I think Aquaman is so uncool, that he is can be considered "hip' by the cool kids.

I'd love to see Aquaman done right on teh big screen (or DTVD), but he he has to be the Aquaman with two hands and not a weird trident-type thing on instead of a hand. I have no idea if it's the same Aquaman or two different versions, but that hook thing on the toy of AM my son has bugs me.
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post #22 of 25
8/17/06 at 9:30am
Maybe a strike against him is that he doesn't have a quick and accessible nickname like Supes, Wondy and Bats do.

What do we call him? Acks? Quammie? A-Man? Amos? Charlie?

I am glad they stepped away from the bearded, silver breast-plate AquaJesus thing from the late 90's. They went back to his classic look for a while in recent years, then have gone and updated that particular look rather well with the sea-inspired armor in Sword of Atlantis. I haven't been the biggest fan of Aquaman, but I am now since the OYL Reboot.
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post #23 of 25
8/17/06 at 9:35am
....Wondy?
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post #24 of 25
8/17/06 at 9:36am
Is this Barry Woodward reincarnated?
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post #25 of 25
8/17/06 at 9:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Millette
....Wondy?
I know I know, but it's true. I've seen it countless times.
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