THOSE WHO UNDERESTIMATE AQUAMAN do so at their peril. This hot-headed monarch commands a kingdom that covers three-quarters of the Earth’s surface and extends from the wave crests to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Although he is, at present, a king in exile, his royal bearing is plain for all to see. Like many legendary kings, Aquaman’s royal birthright was obscured by his upbringing as a commoner.The son of Queen Atlanna and a demigod, the spirit of ATLAN, Orin was born with blond hair and the ability to communicate with sea life. These qualities sentenced the child to death by exposure on Mercy Reef, for the Atlanteans believed they were signs of the curse of KORDAX, a legendary monster.
FATHER FIGURE Arthur Curry helped raise the young Atlantean, though he is no longer a presence in
Aquaman’s life.
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND Found and raised by the dolphin Porm, Orin believed himself to be a misshapen dolphin until lighthouse-keeper Arthur Curry took him in. Absorbing some of the language and
culture of the surface world from his adoptive parent, the boy took the nameArthur Curry and traveled north. He unknowingly fathered a child with an Inuit woman, Kako, then became the prisoner of Atlantean soldiers. Arthur befriended a fellow prisoner Vulko and escaped, wearing his prisoner’s garb of orange-scaled shirt and green pants. He soon stumbled into a wave-top battle between the PRANKSTER and the second FLASH (Barry Allen).The Flash convinced Arthur to return with him to the U.S., where promoters dubbed him Aquaman.
OLD SCHOOL Orin’s dolphin family were perfectly suited for life underwater, but Orin kept pace by learning how apply his opposable thumbs.
RETURN OF THE KING Arthur found adapting to surface life hard, but discovered a kindred spirit in the MARTIAN MANHUNTER. Like him, he became a founding member of the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA.Now a famous super hero, Aquaman returned to Atlantis to claim the throne. He made Vulko his regent and led his realm into a golden age.The exiled boy Garth became Aquaman’s surrogate son, fighting threats to the kingdom as Aqualad. MERA then arrived from an alternate dimension and became Aquaman’s queen. Aquaman defeated threats to the realm from super-villains including BLACK MANTA, FISHERMAN, SCAVENGER, and his own half-brother OCEAN MASTER. Aquaman and Mera eventually produced an heir—Arthur Jr., sometimes called Aqua baby. The future of Atlantis looked bright.
PLUNGE INTO THE DEPTHS Shockingly, Black Manta killed Arthur Jr., setting off a string of tragedies that unraveled Aquaman’s life. Mera blamed her husband for their son’s death and abandoned him. An alien invasion shook the Justice League and Aquaman tried to reform it as a leaner, Detroit-basedsquad, but several new members died in the line of duty. A school of piranha later chewed off Aquaman’s left hand in a confrontation with the terrorist CHARYBDIS, and Arthur’s illegitimate son KORYAK (product of his liaison with the Inuit Kako) took control of Atlantis. Aquaman fought back from the brink of despair with the love of the adventurer DOLPHIN and the advice of Aqualad, now known as TEMPEST. Outfitted with a harpoon in place of a hand, Aquaman eventually won back rulership of Atlantis and defeated the sea god Triton, son of Poseidon.
IMPERIEX WAR Intergalactic conqueror IMPERIEX, attempting to hollow out the Earth, chose Atlantis as one of his battlefronts (see Great Battles, pp. 320–1). Aquaman battled one of Imperiex’s probes and seemingly died in battle, while Tempest used his magic to shift Atlantis more than 3,000 years back in time to the Obsidian Age of its ancient past.The other members of the JLA traveled back to restore Atlantis and find their lost teammate, Aquaman. Transformed into a water wraith by the evil sorceress Gamemnae, Aquaman
merged with the entire ocean to re-sink Atlantis and restore it to its proper place in the timeline.
A NEW CALLING Although Aquaman succeeded in restoring Atlantis to the modern era after its stint in
the Obsidian Age, not all Atlanteans were grateful for what they viewed as a sudden loss of power. Aquaman’s efforts to free the city and its people from the control of the sorceress GAMEMNAE resulted in
him being branded an outcast. Left on Traitor’s Reef to die, Aquaman found new life in the Secret Sea controlled by the LADY OF THE LAKE. Exchanging Aquaman’s harpoon for a hand made of enchanted water, the Lady has appointed him her “Waterbearer” and set him against supernatural perils, including the THIRST.
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