Comic Book / Aquaman (2011)

aka: Aquaman New 52

Aquaman is a 2011 ongoing comic book by DC Comics, written by Geoff Johns with art by Joe Prado and Ivan Reis, as part of the New 52 relaunch.

Taking place after the events of Flashpoint, the series is a reboot of the Aquaman mythos, and follows the adventures of Aquaman and Mera. The series tackles such themes as the idea of Aquaman being a joke character, the politics of Atlantis, and Atlantis' relationship with the surface world.

The series makes a few notable changes from the pre-Flashpoint continuity, including Aquaman not having yet married Mera, and his rivalry with Black Manta having long ago started over accidentally killing the latter's father.

In 2013, the series was part of a Bat Family Crossover with Justice League (2011), also written by Geoff Johns. The event, called Throne of Atlantis, received a loose animated adaptation in 2015. Elements from this arc also served as the basis for Aquaman (2018), which featured many characters introduced during the New 52 run.

Johns left the book after the twenty-fifth issue, as he shifted his attention to writing Forever Evil (2013) and Batman: Earth One. He would be succeeded by Jeff Parker (issues #26-40), Cullen Bunn (#41-47) and Dan Abnett (#48-53).

The series ended with issue #53, though it was immediately followed up by Aquaman (2016), with Abnett still on writing duty.

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Aquaman (2011) provides examples of:

• 0% Approval Rating: Not many among the Atlantean populace were all that happy to have a half-breed surface born king on the throne. Even after taking back his birthright, he still wrestles with their superstition and hate-fueled paranoia towards the land above.
• Aborted Arc: The series ended with a big one. Nereus, the former fiance of Mera (Aquaman's love interest), had tracked down Orm, Aquaman's Anti-Villain brother. Orm had apparently come to partly accept the surface world, staying with a human woman and her son during and after the Forever Evil event. Nereus tells Orm that he had found the lost kingdoms of Atlantis, and that he and Orm should take their rightful place besides them as kings. There's even a "to be continued" down the bottom that says the story will continue in an event crossover with Johns' Justice League run titled "Rise of the Seven Seas". Yes, it even got a name. Johns would later be forced to limit his comics output to two monthly titles at a time, and that quota was filled without Aquaman. Years later, Johns would say it was being worked on, and even later would say it was being worked on with then-current Aquaman writer Dan Abnett, but nothing has come of it. Eventually, the plot point of Orm and his surface family returned in a spin-off, Mera: Queen of Atlantis, although his motivations have changed. He instead decides to return to Atlantis after hearing of Arthur's supposed death.
• Alas, Poor Villain: The Dead King is given a sympathetic backstory, in which his descent into madness is revealed to be a result of his xenophobic brother Orin simultaneously stealing his throne and ordering the murder of his family..
• Altar Diplomacy: Many of the under sea kingdom elopements are done out of political arrangements, largely to better tie political powers with its military.
• Another Dimension: Just as popular in the reboot as it was in previous run. The new take on Aquaman's story is rife with Alternate Universes, Eldritch Locations and Lost Worlds adjacent to Atlantis and the mainstream DC Comics Continuum.
  • Xebel: Once penal dimension turned thriving hidden colony at the heart of the Bermuda Triangle. It is home to a race of water crafting merfolk whom all bear a significant hatred against the Atlantean culture.
  • The Maelstrom: An island danger zone filled with all manor of Alien Animals which exhibits a Genius Loci all its own. Home to a dangerous volcanic entity whom inhabitants must constantly sacrifice to for maintaining the peace.
  • Thule: Parallel malevolent fairy land lorded over by an evil order of dark mystics who ruled Old Atlantis from the shadows, a Pocket Dimension created through foul magics when King Atlan threatened their power on earth.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Arthur deposed his half-brother Orm in order to retake his title as King of Atlantis. Beating him in the middle of a war no less, singlehandedly halting the advance of Atlantean forces with four simple words.
• Balance of Power: Aquaman does his best to maintain this and establish a peaceful cohabitation between both worlds, for if it were ever to fall apart a world war would break out threatening the destruction of the Surface and the Seas.
• Belief Makes You Stupid: It does with the people of Atlantis. Years of hatred, arrogance, bigotry and paranoid delusions have made them believe just about anything and everything horrible about the surface world and its people. A mystic cabal from a separate dimension used this in their attempt to overtake the main DC universe by turning the people and the Atlantean army against their king.
• Cain and Abel: Downplayed, as Orm isn't portrayed as outright evil, and him and Arthur actually get along pretty well, but once Orm decided to attack the surface, it became this. The reboot also made it a case of We Used to Be Friends, where the two are portrayed as having been very close as teenagers.
• The Chew Toy: It's revealed that everyone in the DC Universe feels entitled to openly berate the "guy who speaks with fishes", married "Aquawoman/Aquawife" (whom they believe to be a mermaid that turns into a woman when dry), broke because of a lack of employment, wearing a ridiculous shirt and useless if compared with the rest of the League.
• Class Reunion: Arthur attends his in issue #28. He's reluctant about it, having bad memories of his time at school (like Power Incontinence, his father dying, and getting publicly outed), but all-in-all it turns out better than expected.
• Create Your Own Villain: Black Manta pursues his vendetta against Aquaman because Arthur killed his father.
• Culture Justifies Anything: How many in Atlantis view the surface world's transgressions and intrusions into their domain, the fact that Aquaman is surfaceborn and their roundabout belief in prophecies provides yet another excuse for their isolationist, bordering genocidal views.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Every person Aquaman meets has apparently watched the Superfriends and taken it for a documentary, and his abilities are constantly and openly doubted and he's asked insulting questions about mockable aspects of the character that, in the comics universe, have now never been the case. In the first few issues alone, it's stated outright that the population of the DC Universe consider him a joke just as much as comic book fandom does. Meaning he's had to build up his reputation pretty much from scratch.
• The Exile: The assassins and conspirators who were supposed to be put to death for trying to kill Mera were instead exiled to a place near the Antarctic to start a new colony.
• Faking the Dead: Atlanna faked her own death in order to escape Atlantis.
• Fallen Hero:
  • Atlan, the Dead King. He wanted to unite various races and welcome them into Atlantis, prompting his treacherous, xenophobic brother to kill his family and attempt to murder him. He sank Atlantis in response.
  • Hercules shows up in the same can as an evil threatening Atlantis was sealed in. He performed a Heroic Sacrifice to ensure the evil was sealed away but spent the interim centuries fighting for his life with monstrous beings eventually becoming Brainwashed and Crazy by a monstrous siren who convinced him he was deliberately used and sacrifice to suffer. Arthur manages to seal him in a labyrinth dimension hoping to help him one day.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Mostly due to fear cultivated over the centuries, Atlanteans hate the surface world. Note that most people didn't even know there was an Atlantis until it went to war. Orm himself actually pities them and only has a mild dislike until then. Though he reconsiders his prejudices somewhat after escaping Belle Reve and taking residence with a human woman and her son during Forever Evil, protecting them.
  • Many Atlanteans weren't too happy with the fact that their newest king was a half-born who descends from surface world heritage. A lot of them still aren't by Arthur's own words. Orm on the other hand, while still somewhat fearful of the surface and yet tolerant of them nonetheless, was elated to have a brother despite his mixed background, openly admitting to have wept out of fear and sorrow over having found out he was trapped on the surface world and opting to save him from it.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: In-universe, Aquaman was a laughing stock among the general populace, who saw him as a weakling with the very unflattering power of "talking to fish". This changes after the Atlantean invasion, which exposes the world to his people's technology and cunning, turning him into one of the world's most feared meta-humans.
• Genius Loci: The spirits and memories of the dead become part of Atlantis, so when they don't accept him as a ruler, the land itself quakes.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Black Manta's status as an evil mercenary is highlighted by three equidistant diagonal scars he has running across his face, implicitly from Aquaman's trident.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: The series established Arthur as this: the superhero everyone laughed at. That all changed after Atlantis invaded and flooded the east coast, but now the bad publicity exists because many fear Aquaman.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: A sentiment shared by most if not all Atlantean people. In particular, Murk of The Drift bears much more than simple racism towards the surface dwellers. Something happened to him in the deeply rooted past which he'd rather not disclose as of late.
• In a Single Bound: Being fully adapted to live in the pressure of the deepest sea trenches, Aquaman and Mera, while on the surface, are both able to leap miles at times through the air, with Hulk-like jumps.
• Interplanetary Voyage: Arthur has ventured to a planet afflicted by the Thule's incursion, and visited another world by accidentally stumbling upon the mystery of Dead Water.
• It Runs in the Family:
  • Mera notes that Atlanna's good looks and superpowers pass from generation to generation.
  • In Xebel's case, one marries into the power as well as the crown. Whenever the last king of the colony passes, both their title as monarch and the hydromancy of the royal bloodline passes over to their next marital successor.
• Loafing in Full Costume: In the first issues, Aquaman is quickly established to not really have much of a secret identity, to the point of going to a seafood restaurant with his girlfriend in full costume, to the extreme embarrassment of the restaurant workers.
• Love Before First Sight: Mera meeting with Arthur in Secret Origins Vol 3 #5. While initially poisoned by Xebelian propaganda, she came to adore Aquaman intently eventually becoming his loyal bride.
• Memetic Loser: Discussed In-Universe at the start of Geoff Johns' run, where everyone treats Aquaman as a complete joke despite his valiant efforts in repelling Darkseid's invasion. An insensitive blogger even directly asks him how it feels to be nobody's favourite hero.
• Missing Mom: Atlanna, Orm and Arthur's mother, died before Arthur got to meet her. And then he finds out her body was removed from its grave later on.
• Mordor: The mystically conceived alternate dimension of Thule erected by a cabal of mystics was equivalent to this until its destruction.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Black Manta states Mera is the linchpin in Arthur's dark world, and if he ever lost her, the weight of being sea king would crush him indefinitely. This is an accurate description of Flashpoint Aquaman's Start of Darkness.
  • Issue #10 features Black Manta's collection of nautical memorabilia, including Arthur's Hook Hand and the original Black Manta helmet. What makes it this is that as far as can be seen, Arthur never lost his hand in current continuity, and never met Manta before he wore his current helmet.
  • Hook Hand Arthur, complete with beard, shows up in an Imagine Spot of one of Arthur's classmates in Aquaman #28.
  • Issue #29 has Arthur borrowing his Batman: The Brave and the Bold's counterpart's catchphrase while berating himself for letting his trident be stolen: "Outrageous!"
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Black Manta. As some Belle Reve guards learned in issue #14, "the guy who loses to Aquaman" can kill you with his hands tied.
• Of the People: A clear and glaring problem about the people of Atlantis and other undersea nations is their strict isolationism and surface-hating culture. Many of them chose mainly to steer clear of the humans and the world above, other less enlightened minds have a tendency to think cleansing the surface is the only way to protect themselves.
• Pet the Dog: Orm is noticeably less evil than before Flashpoint, but he regards land-dwellers with disdain. When the prison he's kept in is destroyed, he leaves, but not before murdering one of the guards who was nice to him as thanks (which he does seem to regard as a mercy considering the man was wounded and likely was going to die a more painful death at the hands of the prisoners). He meets a woman, Erin, on the way to the sea, whose son is being attacked by escaped prisoners. He disregards her and tells her that when he was Tommy's age, 8, he had learned to defend himself, and it's her fault for not teaching him. He leaves and goes back under the sea, before returning to help them while admitting that 8 is too young an age to die. Later, it is revealed that he stayed with them through the Crime Syndicate's invasion of Earth.
• Psychic Nosebleed: In the story arc "Death of a King", it's established that the monstrously giant squid-like Sea Monster Topo is too intelligent to be influenced by Aquaman's telepathy. When Atlantis is attacked by Scavenger's army, Arthur tries to summon Topo in a desperate effort to repel the invaders. Though he succeeds, the strain causes him to start bleeding profusely from his nose, then fall into a coma.
• Pyrrhic Victory: At the end of the Throne of Atlantis story arc, Aquaman has become ruler of Atlantis and stopped the war against the surface. Unfortunately, he's now looked at with fear and mistrust both by humans and his own kingdom.
• Prongs of Poseidon: Takes much more prominence in this comic run than it did in the last. Usually those who hold a trident, scepter or some form of polearm carry an entitlement to superintendency, for possession of which regularly stands as a symbol of leadership in these instances. In rarer cases, they're the prerequisite of royal blood largely within Atlantean based cultures.
• Rescue Romance: Atlanna saved Tom Curry from drowning when his lifeboat capsized. They fell in love, begetting Arthur Curry as a result.
• Samaritan Relationship Starter: Mera falls for Arthur after seeing what a good person he is.
• Sanity Slippage: Atlan has a mental breakdown after his wife and kids are killed by his treacherous brother. Upon returning to Atlantis, he murders the traitor without saying a single word and, in a fit of rage, sinks the nation he spent his entire life building. His mental state continues to degenerate throughout the "Death of a King" arc: Witnessing the Xebelians abandon him, the Atlanteans refuse to acknowledge him as their ruler, and the Trench fight alongside Arthur, Atlan tries to destroy Atlantis with his scepter, while madly rambling that he has been betrayed by everyone again.
• Series Continuity Error:
  • In issue #6, an ancient Atlantean log recounts how a group of soldiers was killed by the Trench while pursuing the man who wanted to sink the continent. This contradicts Atlantis' backstory as revealed in issue 24, since it's stated that the Trench are the degenerated form of one of the Atlantean races, meaning they could only have come into existence after Atlan sank the kingdom.
  • In issue #25, Aquaman retrieves the Atlantean Scepter from a treasure trove and states he had hidden it there since the events of Throne of Atlantis. This contradicts previous events from the same arc, since the Dead King is clearly seen wielding said weapon during his first appearance up until his first confrontation with the protagonist at Xebel.
• Sinister Stingrays: Black Manta carries a manta theme is very ruthless.
• Time Skip: In issue #23, after falling into a coma after straining his powers trying to control Topo, Arthur wakes up six months later.
• Under City: The seven hidden kingdoms of Atlantis thrived under King Atlan's rule, but following the coup d'etat and subsequent sinking of the continent, they've been forgotten to history.
  • The Trench: a ravenous cavern dwelling race of subhuman water breathers who adapted to living in the sea floor.
  • Xebel: Secessionist clan of criminals exiled from Atlantis to a cosmic Alcatraz within the Bermuda Triangle, occupied by water bending merefolk.
  • Ninth Tride: The slums on the ocean floor, home to the dregs of Atlantean society.
• Ungrateful Townsfolk: Aquaman is openly bashed on by the Atlanteans for being a surface-born, and by regular humans for being associated with the race that conducted a series of terrorist attacks on Boston, Gotham and Metropolis.
• We Used to Be Friends: Arthur and his brother Orm are portrayed as having been very close as teenagers, and when Arthur left the throne, Orm grudgingly took his place. The relationship deteriorated when Orm attacked the surface world in Throne of Atlantis, forcing the Justice League into action, thus forcing Arthur to pick a side (he was talking both sides down). Afterwards, once Orm is imprisoned, they still don't particularly hate each other, but it's just the way it has to be.
• We Would Have Told You, But...: Nereus, the king of Xebel, was dispatched by the Dead King Atlan to discover the whereabouts of the other four out of seven kingdoms of Atlantis. He returns, stating he could not find any of them. Turns out he was purposefully withholding his findings, though he tries to make a deal with Orm to seek out their locations together.
• Wham Line:
  • The reader is made to believe that Aquaman is seeking revenge on Black Manta for the death of his father. The twist, as revealed by Dr. Shin, is that it's actually the other way around: "In a fit of rage, seeking revenge, Aquaman killed Black Manta's father."
    "In a fit of rage, seeking revenge, Aquaman killed Black Manta's father."
  • The connection between the Dead King Atlan and Arthur changes the protagonist's entire perception of his own heritage. Vulko tells Aquaman that "Atlan was once a great hero of the world... and your ancestors were the villains".

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