Aquaman Isn't Useless

[history79]

Comments

[dr_archeville]

Hunh, I just saw a comic showing the opposite sentiment.

[janegray]

Gotta say, I like this one much better. If only because "lol Aquaman is useless" really grates on me.

[crinos]

Yeah, my interpretation is that Aquaman is the jack of all trades of the JLA.

He's super strong, a trained fighter, a telepath, he's not as strong as Supes, as good a telepath as J'onn, or as skilled a fighter as Bruce or Diana, but he has a diverse enough portfolio he can fill any niche.

He's basically the Bard of the Super hero world.

[icon_uk]

His powers are very useful, though his telepathy is a mite... over specific to be comparable to most other telepaths, unless you use Grant Morrison's (somewhat irritating IMHO) addition of affecting humans because of us having marine life somewhere in our evolutionary past.

[silicondream]

It's not just Morrison; he did birds and the occasional human or Millennium Giant in his own book. Morrison's the only one who actually explained it, though--and come to think of it, did Morrison have him do it on humans, or just on Martians who also had marine ancestors?

[lieut_kettch]

Well, it makes as much sense as him being able to communicate with both fish and sea mammals, seeing as a whale or a sea lion's brain is a lot more similar to a human's than it is to a halibut's or great white shark's.

[silicondream]

Aquaman's also had a fairly unique advantage in many phases* of his life, in that he was a monarch and could call on the magical/technological resources of the largest nation on Earth. Most superguys do everything by their lonesome and can't summon up that kind of people power, and it dovetails nicely with his ability to command all the nonhumanoids of the sea as well.


*though I'm not sure whether he's on the throne or not right now, and whether Atlantis is thriving or wrecked.

[kamino_neko]

I'm most of a year behind (sort of semi-officially dropped it, I guess), but last I saw, he was officially in charge, but mostly hands off. And Atlantis was in pretty good shape for a country that had just been through two wars.

[liliaeth]

me too, it's not like he's only got his powers while he's in the ocean. The notion that he's useless seems rather silly when you put him right next to Batman, who's only real quality is that he's good at preparing and strategy.

[alicemacher]

Heehee, "Mysteriously wet billionaire Bruce Wayne."

[sagrada]

That was my favourite part, too. Very nice touch.

[thanekos]

One of those arguments where both sides end up making you think " Yeah, yeah, yeah, you got anything new? "

[sagrada]

That's just the thing, though. All characters are equally likely to be useful as useless, depending on the story's context. The sole reason Aquaman's had his speciation become such a meme is because the people writing him keep forgetting that stuff happens that is not on land. I mean, piracy, smuggling, attempted naval sabotage, saber-rattling that goes too far, hijackings, spills and illegal dumping of hazardous waste, poaching and so on, all those are things that just happen most often at sea, regardless of all the other crimes and wrongdoing that can happen on both land and water. That's not even getting into all the stuff writers can just make up.

In short, the biggest threat to any character's viability and versatility is their author being lazy. People aren't lazy about figuring out ludicrous things for Batman to do with the power of $implausible. And Namor is just like Aquaman except for a different attitude(and no psychic powers), and he's perfectly viable for all kinds of stupid crap.

You know, all things considered, I wonder why Braniac doesn't try to steal Paradise Island or Atlantis? Those are way more unique than Metropolis.

[his_spiffynesss]

I think the "Aquaman is useless" meme originated with the Superfriends cartoon, or at least with everyone's memories of the cartoon. The only powers he was ever shown to have was the swimming and talking to fish. Though he did prove useful in just about every episode.

[lizard_of_aus]

Can't help wondering where it's going to end. There's definitely a pushback from writers everywhere, but the millennials are being raised to believe it's funny- and justified -to call Aquaman useless over and over again.

[q99]

They weren't allowed to punch or be punched in that cartoon :)

[fredneil.livejournal.com]

Now that you mention it, you'd think someone who comes from an island would be nicer to Aquaman.

"Hey, Diana, it's really weird how everything that dies in the ocean ends up on the beaches of Paradise Island. It must really be starting to smell around there.Bet you're getting a lot of flies and vermin, too. I see what I can do about it."

"What are you talking about? That isn't... oh."

"And Clark, After I take care of that, I'll find out why there are so many sharks around the Metropolis beaches all of a sudden."

"Oh, and Bruce... Nah, you've got enough issues already. Don't worry about it."

[night4345]

I'm pretty sure Aquaman can't send things to Paradise Island. But if he could: "You know how angry goddesses get when you pollute their protected people's island. I'm sure those disasters will pass eventually."

"Don't worry about the sharks I just cooked them with my heat-vision and fed the sharks to the homeless. I'm really sorry about those errant heat-vision blasts. It must be killer on the sea life."

"I assure you Arthur, that whoever in Wayne Enterprises is dumping toxic waste into the ocean will be stopped."

[icon_uk]

Diana - "Yeah, Arthur... about that. You know you're the 'King' of the Sea? Meet the GOD of the Sea... who owes me a few favours....

"Poseidonis? You named one of your cities after me? How... cute?"

[sagrada]

Ehhhhhhhh. Personally I'd prefer it if Aquaman was just shown as competent and a benefit. Say by helping stranded or shipwrecked people reach home, or if they're women who have none Paradise Island, rather than it being a total gamble.

Super-pissing contests are never any fun except in the most mean-spirited way. Nobody needs to be put down for another to stand up.

[q99]

I will note... Diana has the ability to talk to animals too.

[janegray]

Thank you.

[junipepper]

"Namor is just like Aquaman"

Namor can fly, right? Or am I mistaken about that? Can Aquaman fly? (Of course, from the posted scan, apparently Batman can also fly...)

[sagrada]

Yes, Namor can fly, that is another superficial difference. But at base levwl they're nigh-identical, the real dissimilarity is, so far as I can see, how they're portrayed rather than what their "powers" are.

[nyadnar17]

I love that Batman is casually fist fighting Brainianc in midair.

[dr_archeville]

Ah, thank you! I've been trying to figure out who that was up there with Bats & GL.

[reveen]

Oh ho ho, Aquaman's power suck(nope)! But you know what?

Superman has to get up and go to work.

Bruce Wayne has to get up and go to the shareholder's meeting.

Green Lantern has to get up and fly to Oa and listen to a bunch of weirdos with big heads whine at him about anal retentive bullshit.

Aquaman get's sleep in if he wants to because he's a friggin' king, and if anyone doesn't like that they can talk to his giant army of dudes with magic tridents riding giant seahorses and shit.

[sagrada]

We need a "Guardians of the Universe Doing Good" day. I would rub my hands in anticipation for how slim those pickings would be.

I wonder what it says about superhero comics that they frequently denigrate the idea of outside authority dictating peoples' lives or morals, yet almost constantly have their characters becoming or acting as inviolable authorities who constantly dictate peoples' lives and morals.

[cainofdreaming]

Question, if I may? Has anyone seen history79 post a single word on the board? Any comments or forewords to the scans? Anything? Is he/she a person or an automated scan service?

I just find the whole thing a little weird. Bit creepy even.

[sagrada]

According to their profile they have never posted any comments. I think maybe a few forewords, but that's it. The keep their own counsel type.

[glprime]

I actually had to point out when their amalgam scans were overlapping stuff I'd already posted and were violating the 1/3 rule. They don't ever seem to tag stuff much either.

[beyondthefringe]

At least they post interesting stuff, whatever their true nature and motivation. It gives me something to read. :)

[reveen]

Somebody should look at these comics closely, make sure they all don't combine to form a message from the Illuminati or something.

[cainofdreaming]

Hopefully it's just that. If the scans start moving and whispering eerily to me when I look at them I'm calling Ghostbusters on history79.

[thanekos]

Alternatively, it's coded communication.

" Remember, if I post Green Arrow #36, we're good to go- if it's Green Lantern, we're no-shows. "

[skemono]

They've mentioned trigger warnings & NSFW warnings above the cut of some of their posts.

Mod Note!

[icon_uk]

If a poster chooses not to comment, that's really their own business, and not something that we would ever insist upon.

They have certainly always been responsive to Mod Notes and the like.

[kd_the_movie]

im actually sure that he/she is a real person as alotta of their scans last year overlappped some way in theme to some of the notable news headlines (which i thought was pretty cool and brought some relevant discussions).

[stubbleupdate]

Everybody who has read The Martian will know that this isn't the biggest problem with Aquaman

[halloweenjack]

Since when is Metropolis land-locked in canon? Being an aquatic superhero/villain never stopped Namor from, say, invading Manhattan.

[icon_uk]

I don't think anyone says Metropolis is land-locked, only that it's "on land".

[drtechnobabel]

So... is Batman flying in the 5th panel? Because it sure looks like he is, and there's no green aura that would be there if Green Lantern was helping him.

Food for thought.

[lonewolf23k]

When you think about it, Aquaman's possibly one of the busiest superheroes in the Justice League. He patrols the Oceans of the world, which is about 70% of the planet's surface. He manages his own kingdom, which is scattered across multiple oceanic city-states. And he does that ON HIS OWN.

He doesn't care about being snubbed by the landlubber heroes, He's got a full plate on his hands.

Honestly, if anything, he should be building a league of Aquatic heroes to help him. Like he did when Peter David was handling his title, during the hook-hand days.

[wtfomfg2]

I'm now imaging a reverse of the whole "lol Aquaman is so useless" meme where he's pissed off that they keep calling him for help: "Come on you guys, again?! You already have a telepath and someone with super strength on your team. Do you really need me?? I have an ENTIRE kingdom to run!"

[junipepper]

Shades of Kingdom Come, there.

[chrys]

LOL. Great one.

[lieut_kettch]

You just need this one image to silence the "Aquaman is useless" crowd: