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Narrative
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"Let's face it, Aquaman basically got suck for powers. His major shtick was the whole concentric-ring-exuding fish-control thing which allowed him to draft underwater lifeforms into his own personal war, which of course required the writers of the show to work a major marine disaster into every ensemble piece."
- Lore Sjöberg, "Superfriends," The Book of Ratings
Aquaman (AKA Arthur Curry AKA Orin) is a DC Comics Super Hero with water-based powers. He exists in that strange, second-string limbo where the character is well-known yet doesn't sell many comics; he's probably best known for his Superfriends appearances, and the lame nature of that version's powers.
Aquaman's powers have varied over the years; in all incarnations, he is mainly known for his ability to breathe underwater, swim at high speeds, and communicate with sea life. He also often has something to do with The DCU's version of Atlantis.
History
Aquaman originated in the Golden Age as a Captain Ersatz of Marvel Comics' Namor the Sub-Mariner. In his earliest appearances, he was also strong and durable enough to deflect an artillery shell one-handed and outswim a torpedo. His powers were at first said to be the result of special training, but were later described as the result of his scientist father experimenting on him. Rather than communicating with sea creatures telepathically, he could speak with them "in their own language".
During The Interregnum, Aquaman was one of the few Super Heroes who remained in publication, largely due to his status as the backup feature in Superboy's title.
In the Silver Age, Aquaman's origins were revamped; now, he was a Half Human Hybrid of Atlantean and surface human, raised by a lighthouse-keeper and unaware of his royal heritage until recently. He was super-strong and tough because his body was "adapted to the sea's depths", and he could telepathically control anything that lived on or near the sea. However, he was also given a Kryptonite Factor of sorts; he could only spend one hour out of the water before succumbing to potentially fatal weakness.
This version of Aquaman became one of the founding members of the Justice League Of America. He picked up sidekick Aqualad, got married, and had a kid.
The Bronze Age lead to his comic being canceled, Un Cancelled, and re-canceled repeatedly. His child was murdered in an effort to drum up interest and provide angst, and he became the leader of the Dork Age version of the Justice League (often referred to as "Justice League Detroit").
After Crisis On Infinite Earths rolled around, Aquaman, like many DCU denizens, got a new origin. Now, he was the son of an immortal Atlantean wizard, abandoned to die for his blond hair and raised by Dolphins before being found by the lighthouse-keeper. After this, Peter David became his main writer, and revamped him; his hand was eaten by piranhas and replaced with a hook, he grew out his beard, and moved toward epic, Barbarian Hero-style adventures. This lead to a successful ongoing series for a time, but it slipped in popularity after David was removed, and was eventually canceled.
This led to yet another revamp. Atlantis was sent back in time thousands of years, its citizens enslaved by their own ancestors, and Aquaman himself was imprisoned as living water. The JLA freed them in "The Obsidian Age" storyline, but Aquaman himself was cast out as a traitor. This led to him finding King Arthur's Lady of the Lake, gaining a magical hand of living water, and going back to his original appearance. This series also involved an underwater San Diego ("Sub Diego"), whose inhabitants had become water-breathers.
This direction, while not wholly unpopular, didn't result in a high-selling series. Thus, during Infinite Crisis, Atlantis was destroyed. After the "One Year Later" Time Skip, Aquaman became Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis, going back to the Barbarian Hero adventures that had done well before. A new Aquaman was introduced, Arthur Joseph Curry, whose origin and powers were similar to the Golden Age Aquaman. He was guided by the "Dweller in the Depths", a tentacled humanoid who was implied to be Aquaman — most prominently, through having the magical water hand.
While the Dweller died at the end of the series (after being revealed as, yes, the original Aquaman, who had made a deal with the sea gods to bring Sub Diego back onto land, after the magic that allowed them to breath underwater was revoked), the new Aquaman is still the current mantle-holder in The DCU. Time will tell if he sticks around, if the original is brought back, or if DC Comics decides to finally give up on the idea.
In the Blackest Night Crisis Crossover, Orin's recently come back as a zombified Black Lantern and seems determined to show people why you don't mess with the king of the seas. He's so far ripped out a guy's heart and summoned a bunch of zombie sharks to kill people, so he's off to one hell of a start.
His appearances in other media have been a mixed bag. The devastating legacy of Superfriends is discussed above, and probably the reason why the DCAU version of the Justice League did not include him as a regular. This turned out to be rather ironic - many think that series' portrayal of King Aurthur as the regal Lord of Atlantis (not in exile, but actually ruling the place), who cut off his own hand in order to save his baby son, stormed the United Nations single-handedly to demand answers, and frequently antagonized the League until the (usually good) reasons for his actions came to light was one of the best, and deserved more attention. He also had a pretty cool animated cartoon in the 60s where he threw hard-water balls. He also appears in Batman The Brave And The Bold where he was This character's series have contained examples of:
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