It’s no secret that Aquaman gets it rough from the general populace, so I invited one of his biggest fans to answer a few questions regarding the hero as a viable character. That fan is Benton Grey from Freedom Reborn and maker of the DCUG mod for FFvTTR. If you’re interested in hearing his craziness, click the tag. Just a note, it’s a long read, so have a pillow handy. Oh, and like all “Highlight On…” posts, there are a few links to some Aquaman related goodies.

1. Aquaman is usually seen as a big joke thanks to a common misconception that he can only speak to fish. What makes you like him as a character and why do you think the “joke” perception of Arthur has stuck around for so long?

Well, this is really one of the key points in the whole Aquaman question, isn’t it? Basically, Aquaman started out as a pretty awesome concept. He embodies one of man’s oldest and most enduring fantasies. What would it be like to be totally at home under the water? We can swim around in the ocean a little way, maybe cross it in a boat here and there where we are totally at the mercy of the weather and utterly helpless against its fury, but we are, in the end, out of our element. Here on our own planet we are pretty much locked out of 75% of what we call “our” world. Yeah, we can peak into it here and there with a SCUBA tank, or go a little deeper wrapped up in a metal shell, but these endeavors are always dangerous. Aquaman is free from all of these constraints. Not only can he breathe under water, which is, in and of itself pretty darn cool, but he is the ultimate master of his realm in a way that surpasses even our mastery of the surface world. Not only can he travel to any depth, explore every mystery, and tread in places man has never even dreamed of, but he he can also command everything that lives and breathes beneath the sea. That’s an important distinction too, he doesn’t “talk” to fish, except as a terrible decision in the Peter David run which I’ll discuss later. He commands them completely and utterly. Add to that super strength (he could throw your car over your house), super speed (able to keep up with the Flash when the speedster is running on water), and a toughness so profound that he’s pretty much bulletproof, and you’ve got one bad “a” hero, in or out of his domain. The concept appeals to me especially, I suppose, because I’m a coastal boy. I grew up on the Gulf Coast, and I love the sea. Despite that love I’ve had her treat me badly enough, often enough, that I have a healthy respect, a healthy fear of her. Here is a man who has no fear of the most dangerous place on earth, and I can appreciate that.

Why has this stuck so long? Two words, “Super Friends.” It crippled him. They didn’t know what to do with him because they didn’t understand the character, and DC never stepped in and said, “hey wait, this guy can do a lot more than talk to fish!” See, that’s Aquaman’s real problem, not a lack of power, or even a lack of talent on his book (for the most part), but bad management. DC has spent the last…let’s say twenty years pretty much trying to drive what was once one of their most successful properties into the ground. I don’t know why exactly it started, but it likely had to do with the focus on the Big Three during the lean years of the 80′s. Eventually though, the kids who grew up watching his awful portrayal on “Super Friends” found themselves running the company. Instead of realizing that DC had made a mistake back then, and damaged one of their characters, they compounded the error. They have openly derided one of their OWN properties, and regarded him as a lame duck, despite various successes achieved with Aquaman over this same time period.

2. Every franchise character in comics has seen a bad run, but what would you recommend to people who really want to find out the truth about Aquaman? What would you consider the worse run in Aquaman’s history?

Well, there are some REALLY excellent runs with Aquaman, and I’ll be happy to point anyone towards them, but they are hard to find. Here again we see the DC curse, even Aquaman’s most popular, most sought after tales (and believe it or not, there are a few) have NEVER been collected in a trade. He got one DC Archive and a few Showcase collections, but that’s it. Thus, if you want to get your hands on an unequivocally good Aquaman story, you’re looking at some expense to pick up a book from the 60′s or early 70′s. I’m speaking of the legendary SAG run on Aquaman’s own title. Writer Steve Skeates, artist Jim Aparo, and editor Dick Giordano were some of the first to REALLY get the character, and take him from just another of DC’s generic stock of heroes into a really unique personality. Taking over the book in 1968 with #40 they tell really engaging adventure stories set in one of Earth’s last frontiers, the sea. However, they also show that Aquaman can handle himself out of water as well. They develop his supporting cast, his villains, and under their hands the book became a success for the first time since the early Silver Age. All of this happens in just 16 all too short issues. When Editor Dick Giordano left the book at issue #56, despite the success, DC canceled it instead of replacing him. That was their first real blow against their character, and perhaps the most inexplicable.

On to more recent books, the Sub Diego run was quite solid, with tons and tons of potential, but somewhat hampered by a sadly unsteady and constantly changing team. This story takes place between issues #16 and #39 of Aquaman’s fourth ongoing series. While the characterization for Aquaman was a bit heavy handed and rage driven, this was his first good series in years. Unfortunately what was a promising mystery and an intriguing situation (an American city inexplicably sunk, with a third of the population suddenly able to breathe water) was once again crippled by DC with the fallout from their 52 special event.

As for the worst run…well sadly, there are more than a few contenders. As Aquaman is constantly being booted around by DC, even a good writer is usually hidebound by bizarre, illogical, and often contradictory editorial mandates. I suppose that the worst might be the awful mini-series with the blue camo suit, although there are some who regard it as one of the best. I don’t even know exactly when it came out, but it perpetuated the “idiotic hothead” persona that has stuck to Aquaman for far too long.

On the other hand, there is the strange creature that is Peter David’s run on the character. It made him successful for a while, and it showed Aquaman as powerful and sometimes heroic. At the same time, it also did a lot of things that aren’t quite so beneficial. PAD rocked the very foundation of the character by altering his origin. Aquaman had originally been Arthur Curry, son of a lighthouse keeper and an Atlantian princess, archetypal beginnings to say the least. This created in him the basic conflict that was, when he was written well, the very essence of his character. He was a man torn between two worlds, and compelling so. We all have responsibilities and dreams that don’t mesh too well together, and I certainly found it moving that he was a man driven to be a hero of not just a city, but two entire worlds, when all he wanted was to live in peace with his family. There is much more I could say, but I won’t go into all of it. Suffice to say that PAD’s success seems to me a fevered strength, good for a while, but damaging in the long run, if only because others could not carry the tale with as much facility as he. It should be said in his defense that some of the more ridiculous parts of the run were forced on him by DC, as par for the course.

3. New Aquaman vs. Old Aquaman: Having no real knowledge on the new one, how does he compare to the classic version?

Ahh, well, the new one is NOW a somewhat worthwhile substitute, but originally he was less than worthy….well…much less. You see, Kurt Busiek came in and said “I’m going to fix Aquaman” (a rather popular saying around the DC offices apparently). The sales were slipping on the book, at least partially because of unstable creative teams and the fact that DC’s interference had muddled what started out as a successful run, and Busiek thought he could overcome these things. Now, don’t get me wrong, I generally love his work, and I was even really excited about the concept when I heard about it. The idea was Conan under water, which would have worked after a fashion….the problem was that DC mandated that Aquaman himself had to go. The creative team couldn’t use him. DC forced the squid-faced thing on him, and eventually forced his death as well. Busiek couldn’t keep up with the book and left it, so instead of a year of unresolved plotlines, we now had a year and a HALF of unresolved plotlines, completely unrelated to one another.

Enter Tad Williams, a competent writer who really loved the character and did his best with what he was given. The Sword of Atlantis experiment had failed, and this new Aquaman, at the time whiny, insecure, and unrespected, was widely unpopular. Williams came into the book with the understanding that he would quickly restore the original and start wrapping up the dozen or so dangling plotlines, but DC struck again. After taking on the assignment he found himself inexplicably forbidden from restoring the original Aquaman, and forced to kill him off instead. What’s more, they hobbled the book further by providing an artist who’s work was, while carefully and conscientiously done, still utterly inappropriate for the title. It was cartoonish, silly, and undermined the fairly dynamic and serious stories Tad was trying to tell. Despite this, Williams managed to make this new kid relatively likable, and when the book was canceled without warning, he managed to do what his predecessors could not, or would not. He wrapped up almost all of the dangling plotlines, and delivered what was, all in all, a rather good run. So, in short (yeah right), the new Aquaman eventually turned out alright, but there aren’t many people who don’t want the original back.

4. When compared to Namor, Arthur usually gets the worse reputation. Why do you think this is and do you think it’s capable of being fixed?

One word, DC. Marvel doesn’t abuse their Namor property. Although he hasn’t had an ongoing for a while, he’s never really allowed to slip too far below the radar, and when he begins to, they give him a miniseries in which he takes on some heavyweights and shows what he can do. DC, in the meantime, is too busy telling writers that Aquaman needs to lose a hand, turn squidfaced….or dead….because replacing the star always helps a book sell, right?

I think that this is definitely something that can be fixed, and relatively easily. Aquaman just needs to get respect from his own company. They need to support their own property. We are beginning to see SOMETHING resembling this with the new Batman show. While I’m not an unqualified fan of the show or their treatment of Aquaman, the King of the Seven Seas is there, powerful, and shown in a halfway decent light. We’re starting to raise a generation of kids for whom Aquaman will be cool, and not that joke from Super Friends. That’s a good thing, but DC needs to build on it.

5. Aquaman is typically seen as big part of the JLA, but he’s been surprisingly missing from a few incarnations. Do you see this as a mistake?

Well, given the quality of a few of those incarnations, it might be a good thing that Aquaman was absent! Seriously though, I think that Aquaman is a vital part of the League, as a concept and as a team. When he’s written correctly he brings a lot to the team both power wise, and in terms of perspective. After all, he has a fairly unique view of humanity, being pulled in two different directions by his heritage and calling. He also has a completely unique view of heroism, being part adventurer, part reluctant hero, and part driven champion. I would say that every version of the League should have Aquaman in it, whether DC realizes it or not, he’s a pillar of their universe. There is a reason the idea just won’t go away.

6. What would you say is your favorite take on the character? Silver age? Grim and Dark? Sword and Magic? Etc.?

Well, there are elements of many of them I can appreciate, but I think the one that got Aquaman the most “right” was the late Silver Age. This is after the goofiness of the early sixties, when the stories started getting more serious and the character developed a personality that was distinct from the rest of the heroes. Right up until they had his son killed, and things just went downhill from that. If I had my way, I’d start Aquaman over with a clean slate, and make sure that story is never told again. It just ruined the character, even if that was mostly due to the fact that no-one knew what to do with a hero who had a murdered son. The fact that his son’s killer was still running around out there causing him trouble…well…there was something about the whole thing that painted Aquaman as weak and left him utterly depressing for a long time.

7. Many people only know of Aquaman from the toons he’s appeared in such as Superfriends, Justice League, or the new Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon. Which would you say had the best portrayal and why?

Well, the original Filmation Aquaman cartoon, while filled with plenty of Silver Age goofiness was actually a very solid version. I recently picked up the DVDs, and I was surprised by how well the animation (what there was of it) held up. The stories are only light adventure fare, but they are fun. Super Friends…well…the less said about that the better. Aquaman would be better off if it were forgotten! JLU, on the other hand, is a bit of an odd duck. Every time they showed Aquaman on screen I found myself saying, “dang!” He’s ripping the turrets off tanks, going toe to toe with villains that slap Superman around, and even taking Wonder Woman down in a fight. In short, he is awesome in action. He was always portrayed as powerful, dangerous, and regal, but his personality was reduced to the PAD version, which has been dubbed Namor-lite. He is suspicious of “surface dwellers,” hot tempered, and generally combined some of the worst elements of his portrayal over the years. Still, there were moments of pure heroic greatness that just about made up for all of that. When he cuts off his own hand to save his son…well…that made me LIKE the whole hook angle, and I’m a die hard orange and green fan. That is ultimately Aquaman, stoically enduring unbelievable suffering and willing to sacrifice anything for his family and his homes, both of them.

The new Batman toon…well, once again Aquaman looks great in action, he is powerful, capable, and heroic. In fact, he is much more heroic, in the true nature of heroism, than he was during much of JLU. I really love the carefree adventurer angle they took with him, but they continue to play him as just plain dumb. The thing I keep saying about this show is that it lacks subtlety. They want the audience to understand that Aquaman is impetuous and bold, but they seem to think that the only way to do that is to make him dumber than a pile of kelp. Still, the show is young, and I am hopeful that it will improve in this, and other ways.

8. Finally, if you could name at least three stand out traits about the character you think others might enjoy, what would they be and why?

He is a hero with powers, but not one that is too powerful, like Superman, to the point where you can’t really relate to him.

He is the complete master over the sea, and if you can’t imagine that being cool, then obviously you’ve let the world beat too much of the imagination out of you.

He is ultimately human, especially in the most extraordinary, and at the same time utterly ordinary, conflict of interests at the heart of his life.

And that’s that. Why don’t you show Aquaman a bit of respect and add him to your game with a great skin or mesh? And for those looking for variety: More meshes and skins.