Teen Titans Year One

I've always liked the fact that Aquaman was a founding member of the Justice League. It also made me happy to learn that Aqualad did the same thing, only with the Teen Titans! It was Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad who teamed together against Mr. Twister in Brave and the Bold #54. The next appearance by the Teen Titans took place in Brave and the Bold #60, and included Wonder Girl as part of the team. Speedy (Green Arrow's sidekick) was added to the team when the Teen Titans got their own book.

I have to say this right from the top. Why does Karl Kerschl make Aqualad (Garth) look like an inhuman cross between fish and man? I mean, it's been established in the DC Universe that Atlanteans (of which Garth is one) look like normal land dwellers (us) except they can breath underwater. We've only seen Garth for two pages so far and he looks like he does on the cover. Aquaman made an appearance and he doesn't look like Aqualad... What's going on??

And I must say that kudos go to the writer for remembering the Aquaduo met because Aqualad was afraid of fish. I just hope it's not something that is going to make the character look weaker. I'm very sensitive to underwater heroes being perceived as the literal fish-out-of-water. My hero is the most under-rated hero in the DC Universe. Everybody jokes about Aquaman's powers and his marine telepathy is the focus of a lot of it. Maybe it's just me, but if you can tell a pod of Blue Whales what to do, your powers aren't something to joke about. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. So far, Garth looks ugly, but isn't being portrayed as a joke character.

If only Aqualad looked normal...