REVIEWS: In Defense of Aquaman
Aquaman’s an iconic comic character who has been around for more than 70 years, and within the last decade, became one of comic lovers’ favorite characters. He’s affiliated with the Justice League, Superman and Batman.
All my friends were fans of Superman or Batman, while I favored the overlooked superhero Aquaman. The reasoning for his low popularity was due to his powers, but ever since DC’s reboot, Aquaman’s popularity is quickly escalating. In the comic series Aquaman 2016, the writers make it clear they’ve ruined the character in the past and want to change his image.
What really makes Arthur Curry/Aquaman a flawless character is that he developed his own philosophy. Nobody forced him into protecting Atlantis, nobody told him how to think, nobody told him that he should become king. Arthur Curry has made every decision for himself and because of that he grows his own beliefs, thus making him one of the rare superheros to not be spoon-feed as a character. For example Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Spider-Man 2002 version) was told great power comes with great responsibility. Peter Parker ended up taking someone else philosophy.
Unlike other superheroes Aquaman kills whomever is a threat to Atlantis. He doesn’t give it a second thought. Superheros don’t stop and think whether someone is good or evil to be saved or die. Do you think Batman will track down people who didn’t pay their taxes? Is Superman going to stop and think if people in a burning building deserve to be saved. Authors will highlight this aspect of the superhero genre and use it for future storylines. This is not the case for Aquaman, we see him kill and kill. He is depicted as a heartless monster, but in other ways we acknowledge the fact that Aquaman is who he is because he needs to protect the people he loves. Eventually this behavior Arthur displays leads him to a life of pain, misery, and suffering from Black Manta.
It’s common for superheroes to appear in other comics, yet everytime Aquaman gets involved, it’s just a bloody beatdown. He nearly choked Batman to death, He also went to war with Wonder Woman, defeated Vixen, Commander Steel, Lobo, Martian Manhunter, allied with Black Adam to kill Gorilla Grodd, and the greatest feat of all, he won his fight against Superman.
The only DC character to defeat Aquaman is Swamp Thing. Within the DC universe there is a source of power called Elemental Force. The power separated into several elements that make up life and Earth, these are The Blue, The Green, The Red, etc. Swamp Thing’s powers come from The Green, being able to manipulate and control all of Mother Nature’s creation. The fight between Swamp Thing and Aquaman was a clash of Mother Nature’s force. Swamp Thing won his fight because he honed and matured his power to its full potential, thus overpowering Aquaman.
Aquaman is a badass. Superman is suppose to be this almighty being yet when we read/watch the character he’s mindlessly punching his enemy, while other times he’ll struggle. Inconsistency, and that’s something you’ll never get from Aquaman. Aquaman is a well-written character. At last, Aquaman is undoubtedly the strongest among the DC universe.
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