- Audience-Alienating Era: Cullen Bunn's run. The story is generic pulp fiction which Bunn himself even admits did not suit the character. At the same time, it also did its best to undo all the work the Johns and Parker runs did before it. Arthur is now hated by Atlanteans again despite the entirety of Johns' run focusing on his gaining acceptance. Mera is now hunting Arthur, destroying all the development their relationship went through in both previous runs, particularly Parker's. Literally none of the supporting cast return, not even Tula, who had been consistently used since being introduced. Arthur now has weird powers like teleportation thanks to Poseidon, who literally no Atlantean before this run made mention of, and who Arthur outright denied the existence of over in JLA. The reveal that Mera has an evil twin sister is laughed at for its incredible soap drama-esque nature. The mere cover of the first issue pissed fans off for very obviously trying to incorporate aspects of the movie design in with Arthur's classic look, the result being an incredibly ugly costume. One of the only redeeming factors of the entire thing was introducing the Post-Flashpoint version of Garth (though this also ignores Johns' run which mentions him being a newborn), and even then, Bunn didn't do anything with him, and this was likely Executive Meddling since DC began pushing the original Teen Titans at this time (complete with their own miniseries), meaning anyone could've done it. The other is Mera breaking out on her own and declaring that she doesn't need to be saved by Aquaman, but will gladly fight by his side. The backlash to Bunn's run was so strong that Bunn wanted to leave the book before his first issue even shipped, and was convinced to at least finish his arc by his editor.
- Broken Base: In the Dan Abnett run, Mera adopting the identity of Aquawoman and wearing a version of Arthur's outfit. Some think it removes her identity and reduces her to a Distaff Counterpart to Aquaman, and doesn't fit the character. Others think it's a good look for her and it'll allow her to move beyond being just a supporting character for Arthur. Abnett seems to be aware of it, as Mera and Arthur themselves think the name is lame, and they admit to it being a marketing gimmick, albeit one that surface-dwellers seem to like. She ditches the costume by the Rebirth series and even calls it embarrassing.
- Easily Forgiven: Atlanna is let off the hook a little too easily for almost killing her son during his visit to her isle who had no intention of fighting her, even saving her life from Karaku, not even apologizing for what she did. She is however consumed by sorrow.
- Jerkass Woobie: Atlanna. She was forced to leave her beloved husband and infant son, marry an abusive dickhead and have his child. Her second husband told her he had tracked down and had Tom and Arthur murdered. Believing that she had no reason to stay in Atlantis, she faked her death and fled to a hidden island with a handful of outcasts and undesirables, only to years later learn that Arthur and Tom had not been killed and she could have gone back to them. She initially refuses to believe Arthur is who he says he is and tries killing him multiple times even though he came in peace and even saved her from the Volcano God Karaku, her island's main occupant because that means admitting that it was All for Nothing and she missed out on decades with him.
- Nightmare Fuel: The Trench are humanoid fishlike monsters who eat some surface humans and capture others as food sources, speak an incomprehensible language, and are resistant to Aquaman's telepathy. Worse, it's eventually revealed the species Was Once a Man before biological mutations and centuries of isolation set in. Based on the Deep Ones from Lovecraftian mythos—a horrifying combination between human and anglerfish with bulging black eyes—and migrating up the water column to feed at night (like creatures of the Twilight Zone do in real life), they evoke fears akin to The Wild Hunt. You wouldn't want to be lost at sea at night with these things lurking just beneath you.
- Tear Jerker: After the chaos of Throne of Atlantis and reluctantly claiming his throne, Aquaman sends a wide-range telepathic call to all the nearby sea life and apologizes for not being there when they needed him.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: In "Death of a King", Murk and Tula venture into the surface, hoping to free Orm from his prison and restore him to power. Unfortunately, after much build-up, this plot goes nowhere: As soon as the two reach Belle Reve, they receive a distress call from Atlantis, causing them to immediately abandon their operation and return home.
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Atlanna had good reason to be wary of Atlanteans finding her hidden isle, but that does little to excuse her multiple attacks on her son Arthur, who came in peace to finally reconnect with her. She doesn't even apologize for nearly killing him, even though he saved her from the Volcano God Karaku.
- Vanilla Protagonist: While Geoff Johns' run is generally well-received, Arthur Curry himself is a rather unremarkable character (lacking interesting qualities such as the Hair-Trigger Temper and Guile Hero tendencies of his pre-crisis self, the edgy appeal of his '90s Anti-Hero version, or the Crazy Is Cool appeal of his Batman: The Brave and the Bold incarnation), surrounded by far more interesting and fleshed out supporting characters in Mera, Orm Marius and Black Manta.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Ymmv/Aquaman2011
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