The Untold Truth Of Aquaman

Everybody knows that Aquaman's from Atlantis, but in his first appearance in 1941's More Fun Comics #73, that wasn't the case at all. As he relates in flashback in that story, his father was a world-famous undersea explorer and researcher. Aquaman's mother died when he was a baby, and his father took him to live under the sea, in a water-tight building that was part of a long-abandoned city under the sea that he'd found. Using the ancient science of that forgotten civilization, he raised Aquaman to live comfortably under the sea, down to breathing water and talking to sea life. So this version of Aquaman isn't Atlantean at all, although he was raised in a deserted city that might have once been Atlantis. It was only later stories that made Aquaman first Atlantean and then the heir to the Atlantean throne. In the 1940s he was simply too busy fighting Nazi U-boat captains to have that complex a backstory. Fighting Nazis gave a huge number of costumed heroes plenty to do, but once that battle was over, the superhero craze started to die down.

Even though Aquaman didn't disappear and have to be rebooted like so many other DC heroes of the time, he still got a new origin, and by extension a new identity. Adventure Comics #260 established that Aquaman was the son of a lighthouse keeper named Tom Curry and a mysterious woman who came from the sea named Atlanna. On her deathbed, Atlanna revealed herself as an exile from Atlantis, and that their son Arthur had inherited her aquatic powers. Thus Arthur Curry became Aquaman, and Aquaman, in a larger sense, became Arthur Curry for the first time.

Later stories would establish that Atlanna was a Princess of Atlantis, making Arthur Curry the heir to its throne. In 1989's Aquaman Special #1, this origin was revised again so that Aquaman was born to Atlanna in Atlantis, left to die in the open ocean as an infant, and later adopted by the lighthouse keeper after being cared for by dolphins for several years. In 1990's The Atlantis Chronicles, Peter David and Esteban Maroto introduced the ancient Atlantean wizard Atlan, who turns out to be Aquaman's biological father.

Exactly who Aquaman's parents were and how he was raised has changed quite a few times over the decades, but the basic idea that he came from the sea and was raised by a lighthouse keeper has stuck to the character pretty strongly since Adventure Comics #260 in 1959.

You've almost certainly seen the cover to The Brave and the Bold #28, the first appearance of the Justice League of America. It features Green Lantern, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and of course Aquaman, all fighting a giant starfish who the cover copy identifies as Starro the Conquerer. Now here's what you might not know: that first Justice League cover where they're fighting Starro is the first time Aquaman ever appeared on a comic book cover.

Sure, Aquaman had been around for nineteen years, but he'd never had his own comic. Superboy had been the cover feature on Adventure Comics for as long as he and Aquaman had been featured in the book. Before that, Aquaman was overshadowed by Green Arrow in the pages of More Fun Comics. Being a minor hero whose adventures were mostly at sea, Aquaman had never joined the Justice Society of America, DC's first superteam.

By the time that team was revamped with a new name, however, Aquaman had survived for so long that his veteran status made him a shoe-in for the new team. Making him an active part of the DC Universe—as opposed to the 1940s, where he never met another superhero—increased his popularity to the degree that he finally got his own solo comic starting in 1962.

Once Aquaman and Queen Mera were married it was only a matter of time before they produced an heir. Arthur Curry Jr., usually called Aquababy, was born in Aquaman Vol. 1 #23. Upon his birth he had dangerous destructive powers that threatened Atlantis, but those soon faded and the royal family of Atlantis was happy.

Franklin Richards over at Marvel wouldn't be born until three years later in 1968. Other than those two, superheroes having children wouldn't be a thing until much, much later. Now Superman and Batman both have sons, but that didn't happen until this century. In the 1960s Aquaman was breaking new ground just by settling down and starting a family. Of course, he was also among the earliest superheroes to rule his own kingdom. Aquaman had always stood apart from other heroes due to the aquatic nature of his adventures, so it made sense for his stories to evolve along their own path instead of following the usual superhero tropes.

Lots of superheroes were getting new looks in the 1980s. Wonder Woman got her now-famous "W" insignia to replace the eagle her costume had always had before. The Fantastic Four uniforms went from blue to black, and the Hulk went from green to gray. Comics art was becoming increasingly sophisticated with the passage of time, and it felt like time to revisit a lot of the design aspects of long running characters. Aquaman had been around for four decades, and his costume had never made all that much sense. Why would a guy whose whole thing is water dress in bright orange? Wouldn't it make more sense if his costume actually suggested water?

That's the idea behind the new Aquaman costume designed by Neal Pozner, which debuted in Aquaman Vol. 2 #1. Trading in the orange, green, and yellow for light blue, dark blue, black, and white, the costume features an asymmetrical wave pattern that's designed to make Aquaman blend in with the sea as he swims. The biggest problem, of course, is that Aquaman shouldn't blend in. As a character going on a mission, he might want that, but from a real-world perspective the orange is a lot better because on a comic book page it makes him pop and draw the reader's attention in contrast to his watery world. Beyond that, the costume costume was iconic by the 1980s and this blue one didn't even have an "A" on it. Fans were not impressed, and after the four-issue story in which it was introduced, the blue costume was abandoned.

Aquaman has had his share of animated appearances, starting with The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure in 1967, which featured him and Aqualad having undersea adventures, which alternated with unrelated Superman stories. He was also a regular on Superfriends, from its beginning in 1973. He made a single appearance in an episode of Superman: The Animated Series and a few appearances on Justice League. He was a recurring character on Young Justice, as the mentor of that show's version of Aqualad, who was a series regular. He's also in quite a few of DC's direct to video animated features, most notably Justice League: Throne of Atlantis.

His most interesting animated appearance, however, is as a regular guest star on Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Voiced by John DiMaggio, this version of Arthur Curry is bombastic, loud, and brash. He's supremely confident in his abilities as a hero and adventure, and not shy about sharing his confidence. Unlike other versions of Aquaman, who are often moody, this Aquaman is endlessly upbeat and fun.

Interestingly, the Aquaman of the 2017 Justice League film, played by Jason Momoa, has a bit of Brave and the Bold Aquaman to him. He's a more serious character, but he also has the brash confidence and daredevil attitude that made his animated counterpart such a success. These traits, added to Momoa's substantial personal charisma, make the character far more likable than many comics incarnations have been. Hopefully this bodes well for the Aquaman movie, which is set to come out on December 21, 2018.