In the traditional version of his origin, he was Arthur Curry, the son of Tom Curry, a human lighthouse keeper, and Atlanna, an outcast from Atlantis. Recent comics, however, depict Aquaman as an orphan of purely underwater heritage who was raised for a brief period of time by a lighthouse keeper named Arthur Curry. In either case, Arthur eventually learned about his origins and powers, and vowed to defend the Earth's oceans and its inhabitants.
Standing 6'1" and weighing 325 lbs, Aquaman's most noteworthy powers are his ability to breathe underwater, communicate (via telepathy) with and command all forms of sea life, and swim at fast speeds. In some depictions, Aquaman also possesses limited degrees of superstrength and invulnerability, sometimes said to derive from his ability to withstand the high pressures found in the depths of the ocean, and his telepathy has occasionally been depicted as working on land creatures including humans, albeit to a greatly reduced degree.
Aquaman was a minor but durable hero during the Golden and Silver Ages of comic books, appearing in short adventures featuring other superheroes or in a supporting role to them. He eventually became a founding member of the all-star Justice League of America.
Aquaman's personality was traditionally that of a fairly amiable and friendly person. However, recent comics have usually portrayed Aquaman as a surly and hot-headed anti-hero.
A noteworthy aspect of the 1950s and 1960s Aquaman comics was that the primary artist for his adventures was Ramona Fradon, one of the few women superhero comic artists of the period.
Aquaman is often criticized by some in comics fandom for having limited superhuman abilities. However, he also has his fair share of vehement fans.
History
Golden Age Aquaman
In his Golden Age appearances, as seen in his first appearance in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941), Aquaman was presented as the son of a human scientist who gave him the ability to survive and breathe underwater, but had no other powers whatsoever.
This version of Aquaman was, in later years (after the establishment of DC Comics' multiverse) described as being the Aquaman of Earth-Two, an alternate Earth. The only appearances of the Golden Age/Earth-Two version of Aquaman after the Golden Age were in All-Star Squadron #59 and #60, just before he was retroactively eliminated from existence due to the changes wrought to DC's history by 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths.
In 1946, Aquaman's adventures moved from More Fun Comics to Adventure Comics, where he remained through the rest of the 1940s, the 1950s and early 1960s as a backup feature to the book's star, Superboy.
Most of Aquaman's adventures in the 1940s and 1950s consisted of Aquaman dealing with various criminals, pirates, and so forth, as well as threats to aquatic life and sailors. The first recurring supporting character Aquaman gained was Topo, his pet octopus, in Adventure Comics #229 in October 1956.
Silver Age Aquaman
Starting in 1959, Aquaman saw his first major revisions to his mythos since the Golden Age, with various new supporting characters and adjustments made to to the character.
In Adventure Comics #260 and subsequent Silver Age comics, it was revealed that Aquaman was Arthur Curry, the son of a human lighthouse keeper named Tom Curry and his mother Atlanna, an outcast from the lost continent of Atlantis. Due to this heritage, Aquaman soon discovered as a youth that he possessed various aquatic abilities, including the ability to survive underwater, communicate with sea life, and tremendous swimming abilities. Eventually, Arthur decided to use his talents to become the defender of the Earth's oceans and its inhabitants, starting a career as "Aquaboy." As Aquaboy, he eventually met Superboy (Earth's only other superpowered superhero at the time) on one occasion (Superboy (volume 1) #171). Eventually, Arthur grew up and changed his name to "Aquaman."
In 1960, Aquaman became included in the Justice League of America comic, appearing with the team in its very first appearance in Brave and the Bold #28, and later revealed to be a founding member (as shown in flashback in Justice League of America #9). Aquaman took part in most of the 1960s adventures of the superhero team.
Around this time, Aquaman also began gaining his familiar cast of allies and enemies, starting in Adventure Comics #269 (February 1960), which introduced Aqualad, an outcast orphan youth from Atlantis whom Aquaman takes in.
Aquaman gained his own comic for the first time in 1962, which saw further additions to Aquaman's mythos, including the introduction of Mera (in Aquaman (volume 1) #11, September-October 1963), the queen of an aquatic world in another dimension; eventually, Mera and Aquaman became wed (in Aquaman (volume 1) #18, November-December 1964), with the two having a child together (named Arthur Jr. or "Aquababy").
The 1960s also saw the introduction of enemies such as Ocean Master and Black Manta, would-be conquerors of the sea.
A noteworthy story of this era is Adventure Comics #452 (July-August 1977), in which Black Manta (as part of a trap) killed Aquaman's infant son.
In the early 1980s, Aquaman disbanded the Justice League, and reformed the team with a group of younger members, as well as relocating the team to headquarters in Detroit, Michigan; this new version of the team, however, proved short-lived, and was disbanded during the events of the 1986 miniseries Legends.
Modern Age Aquaman
In 1986, following Crisis on Infinite Earths, a four-issue Aquaman miniseries was published, featuring Aquaman in a new costume. The series failed to stir much interest, however, and was soon forgotten. In 1989, Aquaman received notice again with that year's The Legend of Aquaman special, which was soon followed by a five-issue miniseries. The following year saw the publication of The Atlantis Chronicles, which revived interest in the character. In 1991, a 13-issue Aquaman comic was published.
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