My latest poll touches upon that venerable, oft-relaunched, oft-canceled superhero of the seas, Aquaman. Feel free to give your opinion, then VOTE in the poll on the sidebar.
As DC mulls over how to relaunch Aquaman, I put the question to the fans:
Classic Aquaman?
Hook-Hand Aquaman?.jpg)
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Blue-Costume Aquaman?.jpg)
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Water-Hand Aquaman?
Younger Aquaman With Screwed-Up History I Don't Understand?
Smallville Aquaman?
Entourage Aquaman!
ReplyDeleteOh, okay, I'll be honest:
Classic Aquaman. You can't beat the original lame flavor!
Oh classic Aquaman all the way. I just like the orange and green. And short hair. Having all that long hair, must drive him nuts underwater.
ReplyDeleteClassic Aquaman ftw.
ReplyDeleteClassic Aquaman all the way. Just update the style a little bit, and give him something interesting to do.
ReplyDeleteI must raise dissent and say Hook-Hand Aquaman. He's the first Aquaman I ever read and the only Aquaman I've seen anybody take seriously. Plus, I always thought he was just about the only "90's gritty extreme" character makeover that worked.
ReplyDeleteClassic Aquaman by far. All those attempts to try and make him cooler just come off as trying too hard.
ReplyDeleteI liked the hook-hand, and I think long hair and beard emphasizes his Poseidon side. But I never understood the silver thing he wore instead of a shirt during that era.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the classic, though I liked the idea of the extra-magic water hand.
ReplyDeleteI like Angry animated Aquaman, especially from the Superman series. Plus he has the bonus of the classic look!
ReplyDeleteI'm ok with water hand and new confusing Aquaman.
I have to go with Hook hand Aquaman. I hate most of the 90s characterizations, but this one took Aquaman from being "that fish guy" to being a real ruler. The back story surrounding the hook was solid, and the character developed so much in that form under Grant Morrison that it is hard to think of him otherwise.
ReplyDeleteClassic Aquaman is tainted by Superfriends and Alex Ross.
I liked New Aquaman for as long as Busiek was writing him. Barring that, Classic is best.
ReplyDeleteI'm with rob s., Busiek's New Aquaman was the only time I was ever really interested in the character. Shame how that turned out.
ReplyDeleteThe Superfriends Aquaman
ReplyDeleteIf not water-hand Aquaman, then classic Aquaman.
ReplyDeleteAquaman was such a great book pre-OYL, then it got messed up - same thing happened to Hawkman.
Can I vote none? Intensely uninteresting character. Even during Peter David's era.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to pick, it would be classic Aquaman. Simply for the sake of his history being the least unwieldy of the bunch.
Classic Aquaman look, hook-hand Aquaman flavor. I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. Also, if it's really the hook that sells it, why not give Arthur a trident or something to carry around?
ReplyDeleteThe water hand (under water) never made much sense. Or at least the creators and editors never seemed to know what to do with the hand and all but ignored it once it was in place. And the recent re-envisioning seemed like it just had nowhere to go.
I suspect DC will continue to see a lack of interest in any future re-launches of Aquaman until they get back to Silver Age basics with Aquaman, just as they've done with virtually every other character.
Sourpuss aquaman with water hand, keep the hook-hand attitude, lose the heavy metal look.
ReplyDelete"My latest poll touches upon that vertiable, oft-relaunched, oft-canceled superhero of the seas, Aquaman."
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure "vertiable" is a word... do you mean venerable?
Vertible is too a word -- it means "green tights," taken from the French "vert"
ReplyDeleteNo actually I f**ked up.
I also would like to know what the "new younger" Aquaman is. Anyone care to explain?
ReplyDeleteI go with Classic Aquaman, but give him powers of a flying fish so he can soar over the ocean...that'll bring in the sales!
"No actually I f**ked up."
ReplyDeleteIt's okay. Now, if you'd confused Aquaman for another DC character, THAT would be unforgiveable.
I'd like to see classic Aquaman by Mark Waid and Jim Lee (see For Tomorrow). He's a great character who's been badly handled.
ReplyDeleteClassic Aquaman. And make him King of the Seas again for God's sake. He can rule Atlantis too, but it's too limiting to restrict him to just that.
ReplyDeleteI'm saying: Aquaman as keeper of Ry'leh. Gaurdian of the Lovecraftian world below the waves.
ReplyDeleteThis brings up a good question...
ReplyDeleteCan ANYONE explain what the HECK is up with Aquaman these days?
Water-hand Aquaman is pretty much classic Aquaman with an awesome water-hand, right? But yeah, him.
ReplyDeleteRocketeerz:
ReplyDeletehttp://fizzit-fzam.blogspot.com/2008/01/30-second-recap-aquaman.html
Classic Aquaman is the only Aquaman anyone can understand, but the DCAU "Underwater Conan" concept holds a lot of interest for me.
Classic Aquaman all the way.
ReplyDeleteAnd if they do it... they sure as hell better have him talking to some goddamn fish. You cannot have an Aquaman story without him talking with some fish. Otherwise, he's not the Goddamn Aquaman.
Crap... give me an issue, just so I can have him speaking with some Goddamn fish.
Even if it's "Hey, Marlin! What's new in Florida? Could you please give this bucket of clams to Aquaman at Teen Titans Tower?"
I'd be happy with that. Do that... and I won't care if you put him in those beyond-gay blue tidal tights, slap on that ridiculous hook hand and I'll even toss in a pair of Charlie the Tuna's thick black glasses.
But he'd better be speaking with some goddamn fish.
And I want those "boop-boop-boop-boop-boop-boop" sound effects too.
Crap. I meant to say "Aqualad."
ReplyDeleteI'm a dork.
I guess I'm in the minority. I really liked Blue-costume A-Man.
ReplyDeleteAfter that, I thought the Busiek relaunch was a great read.
Everything else... meh.
I'm with juan - none of the above, please.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but I just think the character is a ponce. I'm new to the whole comics world (only been reading about fifteen months or so), so I may yet come across a storyline that interests me; but at the moment, I'm sticking with my ponce-thought.
Mind you, I also feel the same way about the majority of the Green Lanterns (can only really get into the Justice Society/Golden Age GL for some reason), so my thoughts amount to less than two cents, but there they are :)
I wish I was enough of a hipster and/or Superman's son so I could claim to prefer the original Aquaman. Alas, however, I must cast my vote for the hook-hand version.
ReplyDeleteAs someone up there in the comments said, it's the one "gritty" '90s makeover that actually made the character stronger.
Hook hand
ReplyDeleteIn the last couple of stories he's appeared in, they seem to be hedging their bets and making the current "Arthur Joseph Curry" version act like Aquaman Classic, since part of his soul got attached to Arthur's corpse after he raised part of Sub Diego. The last Meltzer issue of "Justice League" even had J'onn J'onzz sitting with the current version and acting like he was his old friend. I say go all the way and come up with a quickie story that establishes how AJC was just a shell that Orin's soul took up residence in, a la Kevin Smith's "resurrection" of Ollie.
ReplyDelete34 comments?! Val, your audience is clearly demanding one thing: more Aquaman.
ReplyDeleteAnd how can Microsoft Word not recognize Aquaman as spelled correctly? No problem with Superman or Batman. Friggin Microsoft. It’s a conspiracy.
Hook hand Aquaman was the only version that ever held my attention.
ReplyDeleteI've got to say - I grew up with the classic Aquaman, of course, Super Friends, Jim Aparo and all, and while the Hook Aquaman was certainly interesting, I didn't care that much for the grim'n'gritty (a general aversion to grim'n'gritty after a slew of those kinds of characters in the late 80s and early 90s) version.
ReplyDeleteI'm chiming in for the Animated Aquaman - he had the temperament of the Hook Aquaman, but what made him all the more interesting to me was the different way he lost his hand: not to a pool of piranhas, but to save Arthur Jr. Call me sentimental, but that I can get behind, and shows me so much more about the character.
I want the classic aquaman look with a bit of hook hand action and psychological development thrown in, a touch of the 'ruler of the majority of the earth' attitude coming to the fore as a eco warrior with a long view working as the conscience of the DCU.
ReplyDeleteA snippet of this in the recent superman/batman stroy arc i liked very much. More of that.
Why don't DC just put out a monthly trade format book featuring all their non solo book heros within serial stories ie showcase?
Make it black and white - try some new formats, cheaper paper stock, tinker with it, test markets out - what have they got to lose??
I'd love to slap down a couple of bucks on some ripping yarns every month for what would be an ongoing DC anthology. Throw indy artists at their licensed characters and see what comes up.
Come on people - be brave. Watching coporate american comic companies deal with manga, webcomics and the rise of straight to book store graphic novels is like watching neanderthals quizically looking at cromagnum man.
Evolve.
Anyway - where was i - oh yeah. I'd read aquaman and a bunch more if they put him in a much better format and i could let a bad story or two wash over me if it came packaged with a bunch of other good material.
J
JLU Aquaman ftw. =D
ReplyDeleteWish they'd stuck with Arthur The Barbarian (AKA Hook-Hand), who was flirting with Diana and attracting all the other ladies.
ReplyDeleteThe only flaw I found there--in terms of design or characterization--was the hook's endless chain and firing mechanism, which was apparently stowed inside his, uh, remaining...arm. Ew. That, and his moments of "Am I Going Nuts?" emo-ism.
JLU made Arthur The Barbarian cool. Now? It's either Super Friends again, or Teen Aquaman. Way to screw up again, DC.
I'll take classic Aquaman with a side of Topo and his finny friends.
ReplyDeleteRight now, the voting is a dead heat between Classic and Hook Hand, with Classic in the lead by...a fin!
ReplyDeleteI want another Aquaman as badly as I want a Captain Planet comeback. Which is to say, not at all. I just can't buy into the idea of Aquaman, and I definitely don't think he could be the conscience of the DCU.
ReplyDeleteThere are no bad characters, only bad writers. If it weren't for SUPERFRIENDS, most Aquaman haters wouldn't exist. Superhero comics have had far lamer characters in concept, but Aquaman--thanks to mainstream exposure from that show--unfairly remains a joke. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI vote for classic costume, just slightly modified in some way (ala Hal Jordan's current costume).
For the look? Water hand. For the actual character? The New Aquaman was pretty damn good, and I'm disappointed in DC for canceling the book when it had so much potential.
ReplyDeleteGive me the classic Aquaman -- lame, my butt! He's the only guy who can rock an orange, finned shirt. And yeah, yeah, I've heard the snarky Gen Y "talks to fish/what kind of power is that" jokes, but admit it ... if you could get a shark into attacking a bad guy, you would totally groove on it.
ReplyDeleteWhat, no love for Justin Hartley and "Mercy Reef"?
ReplyDeleteWhat about Neptune Perkins, the Aquaman replacement?
ReplyDelete"Water-hand Aquaman is pretty much classic Aquaman with an awesome water-hand, right?"
ReplyDeleteExactly!
I know I'm late to the party, but Will Pfeifer and Patrick Gleason were doing a great job with Aquaman before OYL.
He commanded respect and seemed tough even though he wore an orange shirt, had short hair, no beard, and no hook. It's all in how he's handled by the creative team.
Classic Aquaman with a healthy overlay of the Smallville Aquaman.
ReplyDeleteClassic Aquaman with a healthy overlay of the Smallville Aquaman.
ReplyDeleteHook hand Aquaman. Barring that, classic Aquaman. I never liked the water hand (too much complicated back story for the character) and the "new" Aquaman is also confusing. I liked him when Busiek was writing him, but lost interest.
ReplyDeletePersonally I just love the "hook-hand" Aquaman... the first dozen or so issues that Peter David did in that series were just dynamic... a much needed rebirth of the character... making him relevant and something more than the joke... one notch above Snapper Carr on the food chain... the fact that he suddenly could defeat foes mightier than The Fisherman or oversized plankton... great stuff! I wish I had been in time to vote, but that's my stand.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I love the blue suit version, I know it'll never make a permanent comeback. Next up is the classic look, as well as the retro-classic look (seen in 15-39 of the last series)
ReplyDeleteAs long as he's the Aquaman that was a founding member of the Justice League, married to Mera, and had a son, Arthur Jr.