Aquaman #3 - the peopledickery continues (4 pages)

[kirke_novak]

But first! Pretty art.


Every sunrise? Dude, learn to let go.

Aquaman manages to scare the monsters away and saves a puppy but people continue being mean to him. Bloody surfacers.

Comments

[espanolbot]

Oh hai dawgie.

You know, the people of the NuDCU are doing a good job at justifying their superheroes going all Wildstorm Universe on them, ie viewing them all as corrupt nuisances at best and playthings at worst.

[kirke_novak]

Well, it is Aquaman.


SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!

[jaybee3]

I'm still wondering why DC think it needs to out-Marvel Marvel in representing normal people are unsympathetic superstitious tools. Is this the same world that had a Valhalla Cemetery just for Superheroes, that had Flash and Starman museums, that cleared WW in the Max Lord case before a criminal court in minutes? It doesn't seem so anymore. I miss a world where heroes are treated like...well, HEROES.

[leikomgwtfbbq]

That's actually why I liked DC more than Marvel--because the heroes were allowed to be heroes.

[janegray]

Motto.

[amaniwolf]

Amen to that, i really don't care for people treating them like nuisances or freaks.

[shadowpsykie]

i get what they are doing... but another issue or two of these humans being dicks to Aquaman and i am really gonna start wishing he turns into Namor and goes all Imperius Rex on them, and takes off his shirt, and puts on tiny little speedos and.... where... where was i going on this...

[icon_uk]

Your happy place?

[shadowpsykie]

one of many my friend, one of MANY :D

[akodo_rokku]

Yeah, no kidding. We get it Johns, you don't want people thinking Aquaman is lame. Of course, there's no in-universe reason for people TO think Aquaman is lame, and still harping on it three issues in is just annoying.

[espanolbot]

Chris Simms said that Johns has a habit of taking a character or group and rebuilding them from a simple concept upwards.

So JSA is about the interplay of the original generation of heroes interacting with the current one, so that series was defined as JSA = Family.

Green Lantern was about a man who uses willpower to fight a guy whose power comes from fear, so Green Lantern became about Overcoming Fear.

With Aquaman, he decided to refine the character as "People think that he sucks, but he doesn't, honest!".

[shadowpsykie]

With Aquaman, he decided to refine the character as "People think that he sucks, but he doesn't, honest!".

yeah and that works, but some how being reminded of that every issue lessens it... it felt subtler... in the other titles.

[jaybee3]

That's my problem with it as well - sure, people who know nothing about comics and still live in the Superfriends years may think Aquaman is "lame" but outside of isolated incidents over the years (which all superheroes have gotten) there's hasn't been this great wave of "Ewww, it's only Aquaman" from people within the DC Universe. If anything he's been respected since he basically ruled most of the Earth.

[mrstatham]

But Aquaman is still a bit of a joke, though. Even in the Big Bang Theory, which is a WB-owned property, they use Aquaman as the butt of a bunch of jokes. The reach of Superfriends is freaking vast, and still extends to today, basically. But.. Of course, that doesn't exactly justify Johns *telling*, not *showing* us how amazing Aquaman is as a hero.

[akodo_rokku]

Well, he has shown Aquaman being badass. The problem is that he keeps having people, including ones whose lives Aquaman has JUST saved, talking down to the guy.

Which doesn't really enforce the idea of "Aquaman's cool, really!". It just reminds us that people think Aquaman is stupid.

[thormonger]

I'm glad the Batman: The Brave And The Bold Aquaman is around to give a better portrayal of him to the world at large than did the Superfriends one. Of course, in watching old Superfriends episodes as an adult (versus watching them when I was a kid), the show really didn't do any favors to any of the heroes, really.

In regard to the comic, though, if this is set five years after the superheroes started popping up in the DCnU, it seems like Aquaman should have a fair amount of media coverage demonstrating his badassery, and should be treated better than this by now.

[kirke_novak]

Namor is not going to be happy that someone is usurping his place. This matter can only be solved in one way - NAKED MUD WRESTLING! FOR SCIENCE!

[shadowpsykie]

and of course Hercules will be there cheering along... then when some mud is accidently spashed on him, he slowly removes his garments, tossing them over to Northstar, he then leaps into the fray and....

oh... crap... i did it again... :D

[kirke_novak]

WHY DID YOU STOP?! WHO IS STOPPING YOU?! WHO IS STOPPING YOU?!?!

[shadowpsykie]

i propse we make this a "Pass the baton game" when i end, some one else pick up the baton and Rub pass it along. :D

after leaping into the fray, both Namor and Aquaman are confused, but as Hercules' godly hands press down on thier warm mud covered flesh.... :P

teehee, you must hate me ;D

[jlbarnett]

I'm willing to give a bit of a pass to Aquaman, not because he's Aquaman, but because they're not really acting like jerks towards him, they're just acting like idiots

[mrosa]

I love it how everyone knows Atlantis doesn't exist in the DCU. I mean Superman exists, Batman exists, Wonder Woman exists, but the idea that a race of ocean dwellers exists, well, that's just too outré, isn't it? Even though an ocean dweller is right in front of them.

Stupid book, stupid characters, stupid writers, and stupid readers if they like this garbage!

[kirke_novak]

...this is my favorite nuDC comic book atm.

Mod Note

[salinea]

Do not insult writers and do not insult group of people who are likely to frequent the community on scans_daily, please.

Re: Mod Note

[shadowpsykie]

oh hey i was right...

[shadowpsykie]

Stupid book, stupid characters, stupid writers, and stupid readers if they like this garbage
i think this is dangerously close to inflamatory language....

im not a mod, but i do feel one will be by shortly...

[auggie18]

Seriously? It's a fun book. Sure, there's one part of it that isn't great, but that doesn't make the rest of the book any less fun.


But, really, thanks for calling a bunch of people stupid for having different tastes than you. That's just swell.

[mrosa]

But, really, thanks for calling a bunch of people stupid for having different tastes than you. That's just swell.

You're right, it was uncalled for. I get very upset because of bad writing. I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

[crabby_lioness]

So far DCNU reminds me most of early-60s DC: pretty art and shoddy stories.

[mrstatham]

And yet the vast majority of pre-reboot DCU was complained about in exactly the same way. 'Nice art, shitty stories' encompasses everything from Robinson's JLA to Rise of Arsenal and numerous other stories.

Frankly, I think properties like Batman and Wonder Woman are in far better places than they were before. Same for Action Comics and quite a few others, like Animal Man, Swamp Thing, etc.

[mrosa]

But in that case, was a reboot really necessary?

[mrstatham]

Yes, because it's clearly done something for a number of properties that might've sunk like so many of Marvel's new releases as of late. Launching stuff like Animal Man, Swamp Thing and others on the back of DC's biggest deal in over twenty years was a great idea, because people will pay as much attention to them as Batman or Superman.

[crabby_lioness]

IOW, they were doing annoying things with most of their titles, and decided to go even further in that direction. Some improvement.

Time was, they knew how to improve their problematic titles without messing up their entire universe

[turtlefu]

The worst part about this writing is how juvenile this is. I mean, this is not writing for an 18-35 year old. This is aiming WAY lower. It's so simplistic. Nobody talks like that! I feel like we are going into manga territory, where everyone says what they are feeling/doing/thinking without any subtlety.
I've never been a Johns fan, but I felt like even Green Lantern had a little more nuance than this.
That being said, this is exactly as advertised: good, dumb, cool, superhero fun. Check your brain at the door.

[zyriex]

Oy, I think you're taking a bit far.

There are plenty of manga series with much better writing than this

[janegray]

Nice generalizations, there.

[turtlefu]

About what? I was talking about this comic specifically. Unless you mean the manga comparison. Yes, there are nuanced manga out there. But the majority of shounen manga (the Japanese equivalent of superhero comics in terms of content and demographics) are not nuanced.

[janegray]

Yes, I meant the manga comparison.

I know very well what shounen manga are, but you did not specify that you were referring to shounen manga.

Shounen is a genre, not the whole medium. It's like saying that the majority of books are about unrealistic love stories with rape overtones because so many romance novels are like that.

[turtlefu]

I guess I just thought it was obvious, because if we're talking about comparing superhero comics to manga it makes no sense to compare them to Jousei books or whatever.

[big_daddy_d]

People being dicks and bullies...*sigh* a trend I tire of seeing in these comics lately. Makes me unsympathetic towards them.

[suzene]

Yeah. I mean, I get comics are largely about relating to and admiring the heroes and doing the right thing in the face of all odds, but I also like to be able to at least give a damn whether or not the common folks get saved (not least of all because they're supposed to represent me).

[hyperactivator]

I'm reminded of alot of modern horror movies. You don't really care if the characters die because they are so unlikable.

[silverzeo]

.... would it make me a loser of nerddom if I say I want to see Aquadog now?

[mrosa]

Shouldn't Aquaman have a dolphin, or a manta ray, or a giant octopus as his super-pet? I'd love to see a costumed ray kicking ass with its tail.

[pyrotwilight]

He has had a pet octopus named Topo in the past.

[icon_uk]

And IIRC he and Aqualad had giant sea horses they could ride around on. Aquaman's was named IIRC Stormy.

Also, Tusky (?) the walrus

[sharky_chan]

I don't really follow DC, but I remember one time he was riding a narwhal. And as everyone knows, narwhals are super rad!

[sir_mikael]

Narwhals are the Jedi of the sea.

[sir_mikael]

A manta ray could be a bit awkward since one of his arch enemies is manta themed...

[crabby_lioness]

The way Arthur's being treated, it'll be the only way he gets a friend.

[mrosa]

Maybe Topo, Stormy, the walrus and the narwhal (this is beginning to sound like a bad Lewis Carroll poem) should just dump Aquaman and start the Justice League of the Seven Seas. There seems to be enough members for it.

[writeofway]

Though the "humans are dicks to Aquaman" is starting to wear thin, it hasn't completely soured on me to watch Arthur just do what he wants to do like a boss.

I love this book, to be honest.

[eyz]

Those buncha "surface dwellers"... °__° *rolls eyes*

[junipepper]

I really am liking this book, although I'll grant that the stupid humans condescending to Aquaman and dissing his accomplishments (which happen right the fuck in front of them) is getting tiresome. I really love that Arthur has this expression on his face like he's continuously horrified. I don't know if it's even intentional. But the art is beautiful, and Mera rocks.

Now that's interesting. The stupid Mozilla spell check system accepts that "dissing" is a known word, but not "Aquaman." Which has been in the language longer, I wonder. Well, I don't really wonder because I actually know, but it's mildly interesting. To me, anyway.