Great Classic Aquaman Collection: Showcase Presents Aquaman Volume 2

 I've been reading comics since the 1970s, and I've always loved Aquaman. That blonde, muscular, water and air-breathing, King of Atlantis, married to Queen Mera of an Ocean world from another dimension. His sidekick was Aqualad (now grown into a hero named Tempest). Aquaman had a pet Octopus named Topo, and he communicated with all sea life to get their help with situations. 

Now that I think about it, maybe that's why I like the color orange, because that's the color of his shirt. I've even dressed up as Aquaman at various Comic cons!  The picture of me dressed as Aquaman is from the Baltimore Comic Con back in 2010! 

I love these classics!!!

About this volume:  Showcase Presents Aquaman Volume 2 

More 1960s adventures of the master of the sea!  This collection has the Introduction of Queen Mera, and the Wedding of Aquaman and Mera!!  Features Aqualad in every story, and introduces the Fisherman!   

    This volume collects stories from Aquaman #7-23, World's Finest #130-133, #135, #137 and #139 and the Brave and the Bold #51  (Aquaman and Hawkman team up)!   This black-and-white reprint of the Aquaman series takes you back to the beginning.  

Rob's Movie Review: Aquaman

Mera and Aquaman

We got to see Aquaman at the movie theater and enjoyed it. Although it was full of action and the film did cover a lot of Aquaman comic-book lore, including his origin, his evil half brother, Orm the Ocean Master, and even the weird, ferocious looking creatures in "the trench," it seemed like there was too much "Star Wars" influence. That's because the sunken city of Atlantis, where people learned to breathe underwater (by a magic) , developed advanced technology so they had an army of watercraft that shot lasers and there were several battle scenes.
   Jason Mamoa was good in the role, and he's certainly built for it. However, as a long-time comics fan, I still miss my  blonde Aquaman - the one from the comics. Jason actually looked more like Conan the Barbarian underwater... but I was finally glad to see him don the Aquaman orange-colored chain mail shirt.
   The actors were all great. I really enjoyed Mera's character, and Aquaman's father's character. 

The Comic's version of Aquaman fighting Trench creatures

  Tom, who isn't a superhero fan, gave it a "B." I thought it was a "B or B plus."  I won't buy the dvd, because I likely wouldn't watch it again, but it was entertaining, and well-done. - Rob

The Aquaman Movie Gets Rave Reviews!

Aquaman Coming Dec. 21 to Theatres!

Just like the Wonder Woman film, the Aquaman movie coming out in just 2 days on Dec. 21 has
received GREAT REVIEWS. As a long-time fan of the Sea King, I'm super happy to see this. Below are some of the reviews after I tell you about Aquaman (in case you don't know him).

BIG AT THE FOREIGN BOX OFFICE! According to Variety, on Dec. 17, Aquaman already made  1/4 of a Billion dollars overseas. James Wan’s “Aquaman” just passed $250 million internationally, and a weekend haul of $126.4 million from 43 territories.

WHO IS AQUAMAN? According to his first origin story, Aquaman aka Arthur Curry was the son of Atlanna, an Atlantean princess banished from Atlantis due to her interest in and frequent visits to the surface world, and Tom Curry, a lighthouse keeper living in Amnesty Bay, Maine.
   Due to his heritage, Aquaman discovers as a youth that he possesses various superhuman abilities, including the powers of surviving underwater, communication with sea life, and tremendous swimming prowess. 
  Aquaman  can breathe underwater, swim at tremendous speeds, and telepathically communicate with sea life. Being able to withstand ocean depths, he gets bonus points on land with his superhuman strength, enhanced senses, and nearly impenetrable skin.
 Eventually, Arthur decided to use his talents to become the defender of the Earth's oceans.


ABOUT THE FILM: 
Aquaman finds himself caught between a surface world that ravages the sea and the underwater Atlanteans who are ready to revolt.

Release date: December 21, 2018 (USA)

Director: James Wan

Budget: 160 million USD

GREAT REVIEWS COMING IN FROM PRE-SCREENINGS

Eric Eisenberg‏Verified account @eeisenberg

Excited I can now say how much I enjoyed #Aquaman! It's a cool adventure built on some tremendous action sequences and set pieces, with a great hero arc/performance from Jason Momoa as the glue. There's fun world building, and it looks wonderful. A great step for the DCEU.

Sean O'Connell @Sean_OConnell

Chalk up a big, wet win for DC.   #Aquaman is an epic, swing-for-the-fences adventure that plunges fans into incredibly creative worlds. Goofy in spots, but it's rollicking fun. See it on the biggest screen possible!

Queen Mera and Aquaman

Brandon Davis ✔ @BrandonDavisBD

#Aquaman is great. James Wan made a really unique super hero origin film, often crossing into fantasy-epic territory, but grounded in family and discovery. The world is visually incredible. Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry is a total bad-ass.

 

Great Aquaman Classic Comic Collection; DC Showcase Aquaman Vol.1

   DC Showcase's Aquaman Vol.1 collects classic Black and white reprints of Silver Age Aquaman
stories and guest appearances originally published from 1959 to 1962. The include stories from ADVENTURE COMICS #260-280, 282 and 284 and more! Over 500 pages highlighting classic tales of Aquaman, featuring the debut of Aqualad!
  This trade paperback came out in Feb. 2007 and is out of print. It's a great collection though. I learned that before Aquaman got his own comic book he was in quite a number of other ones. - It's a fun look back at the character and the stories reflect much simpler times when Aquaman patrolled the seas for crime instead of getting involved with royal politics of Atlantis (which he only dealt with in one story here).  -Rob

This collection includes:
Adventure Comics #260 - "How Aquaman Got His Powers!"
Adventure Comics #261 - "Aquaman Duels the Animal Master!"
Adventure Comics #262 - "The Undersea Hospital!"
Adventure Comics #263 - "The Great Ocean Election!"
Adventure Comics #264 - "Aquaman and His Sea Police!"
Adventure Comics #265 - "The Secret of the Super-Safe!"
Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #12 - "The Mermaid from Metropolis!" (starring Lois Lane, guest starring Aquaman)
Adventure Comics #266 - "Aquaman Meets Aquagiel!"
Adventure Comics #267 - "The Manhunt on Land!" (part 1 of Green Arrow crossover); "The Undersea Archers!" (starring Green Arrow, part 2 of crossover)
Adventure Comics #268 - "The Adventures of Aquaboy!"
Adventure Comics #269 - "The Kid from Atlantis!"

Aqualad and Aquaman

Adventure Comics #270 - "The Menace of Aqualad!"
Adventure Comics #271 - "The Second Deluge!"
Adventure Comics #272 - "The Human Flying Fish!"
Adventure Comics #273 - "Around the World in 80 Hours!"
Adventure Comics #274 - "Aqua-Queen!"
Adventure Comics #275 - "The Interplanetary Mission!"
Adventure Comics #276 - "The Aqua-Thief of the Seven Seas!"
Adventure Comics #277 - "The Underwater Olympics!"
Adventure Comics #278 - "Aqualad Goes to School!"
Adventure Comics #279 - "Silly Sailors of the Sea!"
Adventure Comics #280 - "The Lost Ocean!"
Showcase #30 - "The Creatures from Atlantis!"
Adventure Comics #282 - "One Hour to Doom!"
Showcase #31 - "The Sea Beasts from One Billion B.C." (see cover below)
Adventure Comics #284 - "The Charge of Aquaman's Sea Soldiers!"
Showcase #32 - "The Creature King of the Sea"
Detective Comics #293 - "The Sensational Sea Scoops!"
Showcase #33 - "The Prisoners of the Aqua-Planet"
Detective Comics #294 - "The Fantastic Fish That Defeated Aquaman"
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #55 - "The Monster That Loved Aqua-Jimmy!" (starring Jimmy Olsen, guest starring Aquaman)
Detective Comics #295 - "The Curse of the Sea Hermit"

Detective Comics #296 - "The Mystery of Demon Island!"
Detective Comics #297 - "Aqualad, Stand-In for a Star"
Detective Comics #298 - "The Secret Sentry of the Sea"
Detective Comics #299 - "Aquaman's Secret Teacher"
Aquaman #1 - "The Invasion of the Fire-Trolls"
Detective Comics #300 - "The Mystery of the Undersea Safari"
Aquaman #2 - "Captain Sykes' Deadly Missions"
World's Finest #125 - "Aquaman's Super-Sidekick"
Aquaman #3 - "The Aquaman from Atlantis"
World's Finest #126 - "Aquaman's Super Sea Circus"
Aquaman #4 - "The Menace of Alien Island"
World's Finest #127 - "Aquaman's Finny Commandos"
World's Finest #128 - "The Trial of Aquaman"
Aquaman #5 - "The Haunted Sea"
World's Finest #129 - "The Menace of the Alien Fish"
Aquaman #6 - "Too Many Quisps"

Go See Justice League at the Movies!

Wow. What a great follow up to the amazing Wonder Woman film from this past summer. GO SEE "JUSTICE LEAGUE."  This is a film that I've been waiting for since 1974 when I first read the Justice League of America comic book in 1974. It features so many favorites. 
   - If you loved Wonder Woman, you'll really like Justice League. If you thought the film "Batman Vs. Superman" was too dark (as I did), this is a LOT lighter and has humor relief from the characters of the Flash and Aquaman. I WILL get this on disk when it comes out. I LOVED IT      5 OUT OF 5 STARS.
   So, here are my thoughts on a character by character breakdown:
   Wonder Woman has a fantastic opening scene against terrorists in London. I was almost cheering, because that was truly the way Wonder Woman should be depicted. She's a True highlight.
    Batman - Ben Affleck's Batman was a bit dark, but that's what Batman is supposed to be! Dark, brooding, and analytical. He played the character perfectly.
    Cyborg - I confess, not one of my favorite heroes, and to me he will always be a member of the Teen Titan (because that's what he was developed for in the early 80s). The characterization was flat and I didn't care about the character (although he has some cool abilities)
    Flash - Before I saw the film I thought "Barry Allen/Flash is a blonde Police CSI, super smart - so why did they pick a young dark-haired actor?" - but the actor really pulled it off. Funny, making it light-hearted and was a treat to watch.  I wanted to see more of him.
   Aquaman - Like Flash, I thought it was an unusual casting, but turned out really appealing. Arthur Curry/Aquaman is a well-groomed, blonde-haired, muscular guy without tattoos. However, the actor cast had a shaggy head of dark hair, beard and moustache, and lots of  tattoos. There was a version of Aquaman in the 1990s that had that mountain man look (and I hated it). However, the film showed off the character's strength, and even had a sense of humor, which made him more appealing. The scenes of  him in Atlantis with Mera (his later wife) were well-done. 
   SUPERMAN!!! - Yes, by now everyone knows he is resurrected. Every single scene with Henry Cavill were favorites.  (Of course, when he came back to life and was shirtless for about 5-7 minutes, Tom finally stood at attention, as I did!- Henry is HOT).   **The interaction between Lois (Amy Adams) and Clark (Henry Cavill were fantastic and will bring tears to your eyes (well, it did to me).
   The Villain "Steppenwolf" and the "Parademons" - They made for an army of bad guys to fight, and the story was good. Of course, they hinted at Darkseid (a villain I'm tired of), but he didn't show. 
   Over all- Every single character was well-done in Comic-book style. The story was fast-paced, and I can't wait to see it again. I'm sure there were things I missed.  - Rob
(Note: Tom, not a superhero fan thought it was okay to good). 
https://youtu.be/r9-DM9uBtVI