Crisis At Sea

The first ever recorded mention of Atlantis was Plato's account of the Timaeus. From these readings we learn, that if in fact Atlantis did exist, it was more than twelve thousand years ago today. That length of time surely explains why Atlantian artifacts are rare commodities these days. What I mean by this is, just look at a golden-age comic and one can see it deteriorating before the very eyes; and that's less than a century old. Anyway, Plato's mere mention of the lost/sunken continent set off a debate of its existence for thousands of years, and like that little pink bunny...still going. Some people believe, some want to believe, some actually search for it, while others dismiss Plato's account of Atlantis to be just a fearful story made up to keep people in line or the Gods will punish them likewise. Whether it's fact or folklore, one thing is for sure, the story of this ancient race who sank beneath the ocean waters intrigued many of imaginations, including the minds of those at National Periodical Publications; today known as our beloved DC Comics.

AQUAMAN

We got our first look at DC's version of an Atlantian when Aquaman was introduced in More Fun Comics #73. From there our Atlantian hero has been in and out of more books than Melvil Dewey, the librarian who constructed the Dewey Decimal System. Aquaman might be a Sea King, but finding a title to call home for himself has been no picnic. Even out of the books that he could call his own, he hit plenty of rough water. He's been through three mini-series, a couple of specials, and now approaching what may be an end to his third ongoing series. His first series was even cancelled twice. No wonder he's so darn grumpy today.

PETER A. DAVID

The self dubbed “writer of stuff” who goes by the acronym of PAD is leaving the Aquaman title before bringing us to the big five-o. PAD was with Aquaman since before the start of his current series by doing the Aquaman mini-series Time and Tide, which went to TPB, and even before that when he redefined Aquaman's origin -- which hasn't seen print since. PAD is leaving Aquaman due to differences with Editor Kevin Dooley. It seems that fans don't want to let PAD go, with the assumption that he's the sole purpose to Aquaman's current statuesque, and nobody else is good enough. Now, I'm not knocking PAD when I say this, I know he's a good "writer of stuff" but if he doesn’t harbor the want to write for Aquaman, then let's get someone in there who does. At this point, I don't think PAD will put into the book that what he once has. My only concern here is for the next person taking his place. You know what they say about rebound guys or girls...they're just stepping stones.

JIM CALAFIORE

Jim's the current artist on Aquaman who presents his own unique style to the book will be staying. He's even expressed his own interest in writing as well. When I met Jim last summer he was at a convention at...of all places to find the artist of aquatic life...the beach. Aquaman issue #35 was the current one on the rack when I asked him what was in store for Aquaman. His exact words, I can't remember, but the gist was that the stories would be low-keyed as they geared up for the whopping #50.

I FEEL ROBBED

Although a direct continuation from the last sentence, I thought I should break off the association from Jim, it's not his fault. Jim's just the artist whom I heard it from. But, I personally think that there is no sound logic behind the theory of waiting fifteen issues for something big to happen. I realize it takes a lot of build for a good story but do we really need to wait over a year? Apparently somebody thinks so. Now, if PAD was lying low, waiting for the big five-o, then he should have taken us there. But he bailed out early. I hope the editor can pull a rabbit out of his hat.

KEVIN DOOLEY

Aquaman Editor Kevin Dooley does not seem to be the people's choice in this PAD vs. Dooley war. I don't know what their differences are, nor do I care. But, au contraire to what the people of the AOL message boards say, Kevin is not the anti-Christ of the DCU. From what I see, Dooley catches a lot of crap from people who say that they don't approve of his unorthodox editorial methods. He might have killed Hal Jordan and the entire Green Lantern Corps, and he may also have put the hook on Aquaman's hand and got rid of his orange top, but he's just trying to do his job and make these characters interesting. And he's not the only one. Let's not forget elsewhere in the DCU that Superman and Wonder Woman were killed, Superman changed his costume, and Batman got his back broken. These topics all caused great controversy and controversial stories make great reading. Although I think I like Hal Jordan better than Kyle Rayner, I'll tell you this: before Hal's cracking-up and Kyle’s introduction, the first forty-plus issues of Green Lantern were a complete bore. Now, I don't agree with everything Dooley does. In fact, some things even downright pissed me off. But the bottom line is, just because PAD is leaving doesn’t mean the Aquaman book will sink. I'm sure Kevin didn't get his position at DC by kissing @$$. He must work for it, so just because PAD is dropping the book doesn’t mean you have to. I'd hate to see Aquaman up against another cancellation. So give him a chance.

-Wallace "Wally" Frost

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