Aquaman Questions AKA I Was Wondering #10

[Philip Portelli]

With Aquaman once more an important figure in DCnU (at least while Geoff Johns is writing him), I have a few queries about the Sea King from the Silver Age:

• In perhaps the only occurence of National (DC) mimicking a Timely (Marvel) character, Aquaman was inspired by the success of the Sub-Mariner. Was he ever shown being in the same power level as the Avenging Son? Even in the Golden Age?
• Was Aquaman the only one capable of communicating with sea life? Could Aqualad and/or Mera? One of my favorite SA comics was Brave & Bold #51 where Aquaman and Hawkman teamed up to battle Tyros, the Exile of Atlantis. He could command the creatures of the deep, too. Could anyone else?
• When did the dreaded "One-Hour-Time-Limit" begin? Did he have to submerge himself? Take a shower? Or drink a glass of water? How did this affect him growing up? It must have really limited his experiences on land.
• With his body able to handle the pressure of the ocean depths, could he have been bullet-proof like Namor?
• Was Aquaman DC's first father? At least, of a newborn?
• How big of a deal was Aquaman becoming King of Atlantis? Marvel was full of monarchs but was Earth-One affected by Arthur's rise to political power?
• I grew up watching the Aquaman cartoon show but how and why did it happen? Instead of the Flash or Green Lantern? Was it Mort Weisinger's influence?
• Did Aquaman ever patrol the Pacific Ocean? And how did he get there?
• Did being on The Super Friends help or hurt Aquaman's viability, marketability and reputation? Because it didn't affect Superman and Batman's.

I hope this baits your interest and nets some comments!

[Kirk G]

Naw, wasn't that Marina, from over in Alpha Flight, that married that hybred love machine Namor? Damn, that dude any picky.... he went after the pink skined Sue, the Blue skined Lady Dorma, slept with green skin Illira, and married yellow skin Marina.  Talk about color blind.  He as bad as Capt. Kirk, dude!

The Baron said:

 

Didn't they do something like that at Marvel when they re-worked the Squadron Supreme a few years ago. I vaguely recall that their "Aquaman-analogue" (Amphibian, maybe?) was shown to have multiple forms, one that was noticeably less "human" looking.

[Commander Benson]

Craig Boldman said:

Does anybody else remember the Silver-Age DC house ad, promoting their cartoons as well as the Superman Broadway musical, that also mentioned to be on the lookout for Plastic Man and Metamorpho on TV?

 

 

You mean this one . . . ?

 

[Luke Blanchard]

In the original version of this post I wrote that I had no way of knowing if the possibility of pairing some character other than Aquaman with Superman was discussed. But that was before I saw the Commander's post; apparently the possibility of doing those other heroes in some form was at least considered.

 

When the cartoon came along Aquaman hadn't had his own title very long, but he was DC's longest-running character after Superman and Batman and Robin (he debuted just before Wonder Woman).

 

Reasons for doing Aquaman could have included that he was an accessible character (his name explains him pretty well; Green Lantern's Guardians of the Universe premise may have seemed too high-concept); he had a boy sidekick (by that point Green Arrow had lost his series, so he was the only DC hero other than Batman who did); his series would be set undersea, an accessible exotic element; the underwater backgrounds could be reused, and static images could be livened up by having fish move in front of them. Possibly everyone just liked the concept art of Aquaman and Aqualad riding around on giant sea horses.

[Philip Portelli]

If one has the Adventures of Aquaman: The Complete Collection DVD set (which I do), there's a retrospective feature where they talk about the success of the Superman cartoon, leading them to do acompanion series. Mark Waid states that Aquaman was chosen because he was so much NOT like Superman. Beyond the powers, they were visually very different. Superman=dark hair, blue, red and yellow. Aquaman=blond hair, orange, green and black. One flying through the sky; the other swimming through the ocean. You were never going to confuse the two. Plus you never saw Supes hanging around with a walrus!

Still, Unca Mort was listed as "Story Consultant" and I'm pretty sure that he wasn't the editor of Aquaman (the comic book) so he was still involved in the process.

[Philip Portelli]

Wasn't there a failed Wonder Woman TV pilot at this time?

And why do I recall seeing a picture of the cartoon Aquaman with the Blackhawks (in their red and green outfits)?
 
Commander Benson said:

Craig Boldman said:

Does anybody else remember the Silver-Age DC house ad, promoting their cartoons as well as the Superman Broadway musical, that also mentioned to be on the lookout for Plastic Man and Metamorpho on TV?

 

 

You mean this one . . . ?

 

[Randy Jackson]

Are you referring to this?

Philip Portelli said:

Wasn't there a failed Wonder Woman TV pilot at this time?

[Henry R. Kujawa]

Phillip Portelli:

"As for the Aquaman cartoon, I still think that Mort Weisinger had something to do with it, probably gloating that HIS Marine Marvel was a STAR while Julius Schwartz's were rotating GUEST stars!"

You know, that SOUNDS like Uncle Mortie!   : )

[Commander Benson]

Philip Portelli said:

And why do I recall seeing a picture of the cartoon Aquaman with the Blackhawks (in their red and green outfits)?

 

 

You're thinking of this one . . . .

 

 

 

And I can even point you to the explanation for it. I discovered it at the web site, "The Aquaman Shrine", while researching some of my answers to your earlier questions.

 

Here's where you'll find it:  http://www.aquamanshrine.com/search?q=meets+the+blackhawks

 

 

[The Baron]

 

 

 

Kirk G said:

Naw, wasn't that Marina, from over in Alpha Flight, that married that hybred love machine Namor? Damn, that dude any picky.... he went after the pink skined Sue, the Blue skined Lady Dorma, slept with green skin Illira, and married yellow skin Marina.  Talk about color blind.  He as bad as Capt. Kirk, dude!

 

 

No, this was the character I was thinking of.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Regarding what it took for Aquaman to refresh himself, in his chapter of the nulti-parter in which wonder woman fought to regain her JLA membership, after collapsing to the ground due to lack of water, he kicked a bottle of soda out of a bystander’s hand and revived himself that way. Funny… I’d’ve all that would have made him was sticky. Talk about the “Pause that refreshes”! (I thought I’d say it before someone else did.)

Regarding the differences between Aguaman’s and Lori Lemaris’s Atlantis, I refer you to Peter David’s (decidedly non-Silver Age) Atlantis Chronicles. For many years he cited this series as his best work. Whether or not he still feels that way, it’s a pretty damn good story.

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...Wanna read this .