Sea World Poster - 1976

Almost two years(!) ago, I posted an image of the live-action Super-Heroes Sea World show that was run in an issue of DC's in-house magazine, The Amazing World of DC Comics. The show featured what I believe is the first appearance of a live-action Aquaman, not to mention a live-action Mera!

I never thought I'd ever see any better shots of the show than that, but then my pal and F.O.A.M. member Brian Heiler (of the awesome blog Plaid Stallions, among other online endeavors) posted this jaw-dropping image--a full-color poster of the super-heroes in all their water-skiing glory! Holy Aquatic Acrobatics, Batman!

As soon as I saw the poster on his blog, I begged Brian to send me a version to post here, which he graciously sent me. Ye Gods, do I love this thing. Even though I never saw the show, this thing just feels like my childhood to me, with all the goofy love of super-heroes that goes with it.

Aside from that, I'm just impressed at the athletic ability on display here--I cannot imagine having enough balance to form a human pyramid, while water-skiing, while dressed up in those silly costumes! At least the guys playing Superman and Aquaman had it a little easier than the rest of them.

This show remains the only instance of a live-action Mera--at least until Amy Adams plays her in the big-budget Aquaman movie.

I can dream, can't I?

Anyway, thanks Brian!

Aquaman Meets The Black Eyed Peas!

F.O.A.M. member King Megatrip sent me an audio clip of the Black Eyed Peas song "Let The Beat Rock" which features a shout-out to Aquaman!

KM was kind enough to edit the song down to just the clip featuring Aquaman, which you can hear here:

...I wonder which of the Peas is an Aquaman fan? (I hope it's Fergie!)

The song is not on their new album, The E.N.D., but you can purchase the full mp3 here. Very, very cool, thanks Megatrip!

Adventures in The DC Universe #1 - April 1997

Comics Weekend "Now You See 'Em..." by Steve Vance, John Delaney, and Ron Boyd.

I've covered Aquaman's solo adventures in the sadly short-lived Adventures of the DC Universe previously, but he also got some "screen time" in the book as part of the JLA.

Not only is he prominently featured on the cover, but here he helps his fellow JLAers take on a whole team of super-villains:

Some armed goons--under the command of Gorilla Grodd--kidnap an energy company bigwig named McKinney. The Flash manages to rescue him, bu Grodd escapes.

In Denver, Blockbuster tries to commit a robbery of a jewelry store by Martian Manhunter. Manhunter is equally successful in thwarting the crime, but, like Grodd, Blockbuster manages to escape into thin air.

Over on the California Coast, Aquaman confronts Major Disaster:

(I like the "Sha-Mooo!" sound effect)

As you can guess, this happens over and over to the various JLAers: Parasite gets away from Superman, Cheetah with Wonder Woman, Dr. Light with Green Lantern, and Scarecrow with Batman.

The JLA all meet-up in the Watchtower, and share their experiences. Batman puts all the locations into the JLA computer, and comes up with a location as to where the energy burst needed to teleport all these bad guys is coming from: somewhere in the Southwestern Desert!

We then see all the villains, and of course they're squabbling amongst one another. The conversation is ended by a mysterious, shadowed person, who gave each of the villains they're teleportation devices. Now that they have all failed to accomplish their missions, their benefactor wants them back!

But before that can happen:

The JLAers take on their respective foes, and rather easily defeat them. But as this is going on, a giant robot emerges from a compartment, and manages to blast Superman, Manhunter, and Green Lantern! Uh-oh!

Batman hatches a plan-he has The Flash and himself distract the robot, while Wonder Woman and Aquaman pool their strength:

Superman and Manhunter, now recovered, rip open the robot to find it...empty! Well, not empty, exactly...there is a ticking bomb inside!

The JLA, with the unconscious villains in tow, clear out of the underground hideout just as the bomb goes off:

...to be continued, though not in the next issue.

Yes, instead of moving directly into part two of this story, Adventures in the DC Universe moved on to highlight its omnibus format, featuring solo stories of other DC stars (like Aquaman!).

The JLA did reappear in futures issues of the title, which we'll get to in a few weeks!

Justice League of America #112 - Aug. 1974

Comics Weekend "War With the One-Man Justice League" by Len Wein, Dick Dillin, and Dick Giordano.

Back in April, I said I was going to do an occasional Comics Weekend post on issues of Justice League of America that featured Aquaman in a participatory role (as opposed to the ones where he just sat around the satellite), and I got an inspiration to do talk about this issue by a comment made by a member of F.O.A.M. We'll get to that in a minute.

Anyway, the story opens with this grim image:

But we're getting ahead of ourselves! The story actually starts here, in the JLA Satellite, where the World's Greatest Superheroes are currently in the pit of despair: you see, they've lost most of their super powers, thanks to the super-villain known as Libra!:

(Two notes about the above panel before we move on: First, I love how Black Canary has to serve the guys food--super-powers or not, she'll still a dame! Second, I can't decide whether I hate that fish-tank Aquaman is wearing on his head because it makes him look so stupid, or that I love it so much I wish Mego had made an Aquaman doll of it)

Okay, anyway, while most of the JLA is moping, The Atom--having not participated in last issue's fight with Libra, and therefore still having all of his powers--arrives. Not only that, but he has a plan for the JLA to regain its powers!

He leads them to the JLA Trophy Room, where their foe, the robot Amazo, lies dormant. The Atom suggests that they revive Amazo, and revamp him so his body becomes a "virtual magnet, that will draw the missing molecules [the ones that contain the JLA's powers] back from the very depths of space!"

The JLA agrees to this plan, and reboot Amazo, with Black Canary even finding time to make him a new costume (man, does the JLA need another woman on the team!).

They then plant a suggestion in Amazo's mind that he is dying, and that the JLA holds the only cure. That will keep him on the move, and agitated, making him a greater magnet for the missing molecules.

They split up into teams (leaving a worried, shaken Batman behind) and teleport to Earth:

Amazo does manage to "defeat" the three heroes, but The Elongated Man manages to send Amazo thinks is his cure flying into the sky, with Amazo giving chase.

Things seem to be going to plan, except, back on the satellite, Batman makes a startling discovery:

(As you can see on this page, Aquaman has a different, heretofore unseen logo--I had completely forgotten about it until F.O.A.M.er Russell Burbage mentioned it when I did a look back at all of Aquaman's logos. Thanks Russell!)

Anyway, the object of Amazo's affection lands in the Arctic, where Superman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow are waiting.

Amazo finds them, defeats Supes and GA, and so it's up to Aquaman, in the last few moments, to send Amazo's "cure" hurtling back into the sky:

Up on the satellite, Batman continues working, sure that his friends are walking into a death-trap! Still wracked with insecurity, he hopes he's right, and continues on.

Now the small object Amazo wants travels to Brazil, into the hands of Green Lantern, The Atom, and Red Tornado:

(Speaking of logos, what's with that one for Reddy? It looks like it was designed by someone in the DC Production Department trying to shake off their five-martini lunch)

Amazo defeats GL and Reddy, and grabs a hold of what he seeks. But, as soon as he touches it, it shuts him off--a fail-safe implanted by The Atom!

Back at the satellite, the JLA prepares to sort all the super-powered molecules Amazo's body has collected. But, turns out Batman was right--instead of remaining docile, Amazo breaks from his glass tube, blasting them with his power ring, seemingly killing the JLA!

As they lay there, Amazo believes he has tricked them all--and why shouldn't he, since he now possesses the mind of the World's Greatest Detective?

Except, as he walks away, he is met by Batman, who is not dead! Not only that, but Amazo finds his powers suddenly gone!

With a quick jump and a well-aimed karate chop, its all over:

...Aquaman should thank Batman most of all, for no longer having to wear that fish-tank thing on his head anymore!

Spiral Notebook - 1975

I always like to post something school-related when the school year ends, and I'd say this relic definitely qualifies!

This spiral notebook was a companion piece to a portfolio that used the same piece of artwork. For whatever reason, I've never been able to find one for sale on eBay or at a con, but thankfully F.O.A.M. member Jon Helfenstein sent me these pics of his. As you can see, its in, um, near-mint condition.

Here's what Jon had to say about it:

"Unfortunately its not in the greatest shape as it got a lot of use, but its still in one piece. The back has got a number of Wacky Package stickers I stuck (as Wackys were the fad at the time), but fortunately I didn't put any on the front, and didn't put any on the head shots on the back."

Yeah, I'd have to say this piece is a veritable time capsule of what certain kinds of kids were like in 1975--superheroes, drawing on stuff, Wacky Packages...it's all there, except maybe a Whip Inflation Now button.

Thanks Jon!

Aquaman Shotglass

This is was the single Aqua-Item I picked up a the 2009 Philadelphia Con--a shotglass with Aquaman's "A" logo on it.

The dealer had a whole array of shotglasses with various superhero emblems (from both DC and Marvel) on them. None of them had any copyright notations on them, so I can only assume they're not "official" merchandise.

Normally I don't go for homemade and/or bootleg stuff, but this struck in me just the right way as I waited to line to buy the T-shirt for Darlin' Tracy.

Classic Impulse Buy--well played, Mr. Dealer--well played.
__________________________________________________________

By the way, master designer/letterer Todd Klein has posted one of his super-cool "Logo Studies", this on Aquaman. Like I guessed it would be when I did mine, Todd's effort is tops.

Check out Parts 1 and 2 here!

AquaSketch by Tom Hodges - 2009

This was the other sketch I picked up at last weekend's Wizard World Philly Con, by artist Tom Hodges.

Tom's cartoony work has a strong sense of design to it, and he added a bit of that here--I really like the blue tone he added to the background, a touch I didn't expect and really liked when I saw it.

I always try and "discover" at least one new artist per con and get a sketch from them, and this is a fine addition to my book.

AquaSketch by Kevin Maguire - 2009

This was the awesome headshot done for me by Kevin Maguire, that was started at the 2009 New York Con and "finished" at the 2009 Philly con a few months later.

Kevin, being a master of facial expressions, had a whole table full of headshots of various DC characters like Hawkman, Blue Beetle, and Guy Gardner. And even though there's no costume detail here, this is unmistakably Aquaman--I love it, and it was worth the wait!

2009 Wizard World Philly Con Report

I spent Friday and Saturday at the Wizard World Philly con, so here are some of the highlights!

Day 1 First off, Wizard was generous enough to grant The Aquaman Shrine a press pass, so I got one of those cool little badges with my and the Shrine's name on it, and a wristband that said "Press" on it. I never get tired of that.

I arrived right at the con opened on Friday, and it was a pleasant surprise to see there was actual room to move around in:

I first made a bee-line for Artists' Alley, to see who was there. After scoping out all the people there, I saw the work of Tom Hodges, whose work was cartoony and loose, yet solid and dynamic. I asked him to do an Aquaman sketch for me, and handed him my book.

Now that I had given out my sketchbook, I felt more free to peruse the dealers' aisles, and see what was up for sale. One dealer had an amazing collection original DC and Marvel out:

...ooh, those original JLA covers! Drool.

After scoping out some of the other dealers, I ran into my friend Kevin Miller (who runs the horror collectibles website The House of Mysterious Secrets), who I hadn't seen in person in years.

We walked around and visited the autograph booths, where Kevin screwed up the courage to go talk to make-up artist legend Tom Savini:

While Kevin and Tom talked, I looked around to see who else was there, I saw con regulars like Erin Gray, Lou Ferrigno, and assorted wrestlers and cover girls.

I was pleasantly surprised to see actor Michael Hogan, who kicked butt as Tigh on Battlestar Galactica:

...I would've gone over there and thanked him for the show and told him how much I enjoyed it, but I always feel a bit like a geek (I mean, even more so) when I do stuff like that, especially when I'm not there to buy anything.

In addition to the celebrities, there were a few people in costume, like this industrious fella:

I have/had no idea what character this is (someone from Generation X?), but I admired the sheer effort and chutzpah needed to make this outfit.

Another artist there was a guy named Tommy Castillo, who had a huge booth full of vivid, dark, and exciting paintings. This King Kong one really caught my eye:

...they should've gotten him to the remake's movie poster!

I stopped back in Artist's Alley, and picked up my sketchbook from Tom Hodges (the sketch will appear here on Wednesday).

Then, a few tables town, I saw Kevin Maguire--one of my favorite artists, ever since his days on Justice League--working at his table.

Kevin was at the 2009 New York show, and I had commissioned an Aquaman head-shot from him. When he told me he wouldn't be able to finish it before I left, we made plans for him to finish it at home, and then he'd send it to me.

But months past and I never received it, and I had no way of contacting him, so I thought I'd go over and see if he remembered to do the piece. I introduced myself, and after just a few words out of my mouth, Kevin's face lit up and he reached down, and pulled out the piece!

He had lost my contact info, and therefore had no way of getting a hold of me. He brought it with him, figuring that if I went to the NY show I might be going to the Philly one. Nice call, Mr. Maguire!

I really loved the piece, and told him so--it was worth the wait (it will appear here tomorrow).

By that point, I wanted to head home, and save a little money for Saturday.


Day 2 I met up with my old pal and fellow Kubert School grad Dan Eaker and we went to the show together. I don't see Dan as much as I'd like, so it's always cool to take trips like this together.

While there was a bigger crowd than yesterday (this being Saturday, traditionally the biggest con day), perhaps the torrential downpour outside kept the crowds from getting too thick:

We took another trip through Artists' Alley, but most everyone who I might have wanted a sketch from looked busy, so we headed into the dealers' aisles.

While Dan looked for stuff for his two kids, I made sure to snap pics of some of the best costumed fans in attendance:

There were some others (like a particularly alluring set of women, dressed as The White Queen and Harley Quinn), but hands down my favorite was this fella, Aquaman's #1 nemesis, Black Manta!!:

I thanked Manta for the great suit, and he touched a control panel on his belt, issuing a "Thank you" in that classic weird-ass Black Manat voice. Awesome!

It wasn't until later, and we saw him again, that Dan pointed out I should give him one of my Aquaman Shrine business cards. So I went up to him, handed him the card, and once he got a look at it, Manta clenched his fists and let out a guttural "Arrrrgghhh!!" My favorite moment of the con.

Dan and I walked around some more (somehow never running into my pal and F.O.A.M. member George Rears, who was also at the show), and I--with Dan's help--found a great little item for my M*A*S*H blog.

I then bought t-shirt for Darlin' Tracy (a powder-blue top with Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Batgirl on it), and Dan and I decided to call it a day. We headed back out into the rain (we've had virtually nothing but rain since April---did I move to London and not realize it?) and then had lunch back in Jersey.

I never end up finding any Aqua-Merch at these shows, since I have almost everything there is to have, but I keep hoping some day I'll spot some weird, unrecognizable little orange and green thing on some table somewhere... (although this time I did find one tiny little piece, which we'll see later this week)

All in all, a fine show--the staff was friendly and courteous, and the aisles were not overfilled so as to make walking the floor a Battan Death March-like experience.

My thanks to the kind folks at Wizard World for giving the Shrine a press pass!

The Legend of Aquaman #1 - 1989

Comics Weekend "The Legend of Aquaman" by Keith Giffen, Robert Loren Fleming, Curt Swan, and Eric Shanower.

This book has been sitting on my shelf for years, and for whatever reason I never got around to doing a post on it for Comics Weekend. But since Aquaman's run in Action Comics ended yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk about an one-off Aquaman story, and this fit the bill!

After the 1986 Aquaman mini-series and the subsequent one-shot special, Aquaman was homeless yet again. Having undergone a facelift in the mini (and the having that partly walked back in the special), DC decided to move ahead with another one-shot special and mini-series, this time putting the Sea King a major, from-the-ground-up revamp:

We see the young man as he essentially raises himself under water, learning to feed himself, survive, and then even become part of the family of sea creatures who also share the oceans.

One day he runs across a lighthouse keeper while he's fishing, and they engage in a fight. The lighthouse keeper decks the young man, knocking him out. Feeling guilty, he takes him inside.

Later, the young man wakes up, and the lighthouse keeper--having heard legends of a "Fish Boy"--dumps him back into the water.

Over the next few weeks, the Fish Boy keeps reappearing, leaving fish on the lighthouse keeper's door as a way to say thanks. Even though he is initially not interested in having food given to him, he takes a shine to the boy, and starts to teach him basic human behavior, like reading and writing.

Years passed, and one day after the young man had been gone for a few hours, he returned to the lighthouse and found:

The young man finds the lighthouse keeper's journal, where he reveals that in the last few weeks, he has seen a race of underwater people lurking nearby. He is sure they are looking for the young man (whom he now calls "son"). He leaves him a gift--since the young man never had a name, he can now have his father's--Arthur Curry.

Young Arthur Curry heads back out into the world, looking to learn about the world. He wanders into New York City, stealing basic clothes and food, always heading back into the sea.

One day, though, he makes an amazing discovery:

But he gets too close for comfort, and two Atlantean guards grab him and drag him inside, putting him in prison, where he is forced to wear the standard prison uniform--orange tunic, yellow belt, green trunks.

Arthur decides the best thing he can do with his time is, while staring at the Atlantean passersby, is find his mother.

One day, he spots a woman who he is sure is her. Soon after, he meets a professor named Vulko, who takes it upon himself to teach the young man the Atlantean language. He spends so much time with Vulko the other inmates think of him derisively as a "teacher's pet", and come up with a name for him: "Aqua-man."

Another year passed, and Arthur sees a funeral procession go by. Realizing this is his mother's funeral procession, Arthur feels no longer compelled to stay in prison, and finally unleashes on the guards who have treated him so poorly:

When Aquaman returns to Atlantis, he is determined to find his old friend Vulko and free the people of Atlantis who are also wrongly imprisoned just for being "different", as Arthur was.

But Arthur is pleasantly surprised to learn that, in the intervening years, Vulko has become a powerful figure in the Atlantean government.

Vulko is happy to see Aquaman, and tells him they have been keeping track of his exploits on the Surface World all these years. He introduces Aquaman to the King, who grants Aquaman full citizenship of Atlantis.

Later, in the Atlantean hall of records, Aquaman and Vulko make an amazing discovery:

The King insists that Aquaman is the rightful heir to the throne, and that as a baby he was spirited away--because of his "deformities"--to protect the monarchy. Aquaman's mother was told he was a crib death, and she mourned her son all her life.

Aquaman reluctantly accepts the crown, in a grand ceremony. But of course, that was just the beginning:

...I remember reading this special when it first came out, and I was utterly confused: this wasn't Aquaman's origin, so what did all this mean? Who was this Aquaman?

If I have to point to one moment where Aquaman as a character really went off the rails, it was here. After years of different creative teams pulling Aquaman in one direction and the other, this special erased the basic underpinnings of the character.

Reading it again, I now think its not a bad alternate origin, but since the original is so basic, so primal, so iconic, there was no reason to supplant it with this one. To me, it left Aquaman a character more confused than ever. Basically, this is Aquaman's Hawkworld.

This special was artist Eric Shanower's second piece of work with Aquaman (here as an inker, the first as a penciller for the JLA's ret-conned origin in Secret Origins #32). He was a superb choice as artist for the character, too bad he hasn't drawn more Aquaman stories.
_________________________________________________________

With Summer officially here, I thought it was the perfect time to kick off a brand-new week (+1) of posts over at my black and white magazine blog, All in Black & White For 75 Cents. Go check it out, mag fans!

Action Comics #540 - Feb. 1983

Comics Weekend "Water-War One" by Bob Rozakis, Alex Saviuk, and Joe Giella.

Aquaman ends his run as the back-up in Action Comics with this issue, with he and Mera fighting V'Lana, a woman bent on usurping the throne of Xebel, Mera's home planet:

While Aquaman is unconscious, Mera and V'Lana fight inside her throne room. V'Lana admits that once she had a taste of power, she can't bear to give it up. She assumes Mera has the same feelings, and won't listen when Mera tries to assure her it's because Mera can no longer live on Earth.

V'Lana has an octopus grab Mera and try and subdue her, but suddenly it lets go, seemingly for no reason. Mera then offers to fight V'Lana mano a mano, and creates a hard water ring with just the two of them inside.

Mera and V'Lana engage in hand-to-hand combat, with Mera finally knocking V'Lana's crown right off her head:

...not to be continued!

A rare happy ending for Aquaman, this would be his last solo strip until his 1986 mini-series. In between, he (with Gerry Conway's help) would take control of the JLA and lead that book through its biggest changes ever.

DC must have felt that Action Comics didn't need a back-up strip anymore, for this was not only the last Aquaman feature, but the last back-up in the book entirely.

As I've said before, this was a nice strip, well written by Bob Rozakis and nicely drawn (if inconsistent because of the constantly-changing inkers) by Alex Saviuk. I was fortunate enough to get an Aquaman sketch from Mr. Saviuk a few years ago, and it's one of the nicest ones in my collection. He served the Sea King well!