Troubling Aquaman News...

According to this article at Bleeding Cool, Aquaman is in a pretty big sea change...

...that Ivan Reis will move to draw Justice League Of America, replacing Jim Lee on the comic, and keeping the Geoff Johns Aquaman team still together, but on his one of his other comics.

But it seems that, deprived of Ivan Reis on Aquaman, Geoff Johns will also be leaving that series.

Between them they have done what many saw impossible, totally and utterly revived the reputation of Aquaman in the DC Universe, away from being a joke, to a character who is taken very seriously indeed.

Noooooooo! I knew in the bottom of my heart that Ivan was going to get Justice League. I just knew it. He's an amazing artist and deserves it. But now Geoff Johns isn't going to write Aquaman either?? Not Ivan and Geoff!! That's almost too much to bear... Ivan still gets to draw Aquaman as part of the League, but it's not the same as a whole book by Ivan featuring Aquaman. Seriously bad news.

I remember wishing when Brightest Day was going on that Geoff and Ivan would get an Aquaman regular series. I had kinda hoped for 50 issues of Geoff and Ivan's great work, but it looks like all we'll get now is 17. So sad. And what about the reintroduction of Jackson Hyde, who's better known as Aqualad?

And no word on the replacements yet.

I don't envy whoever gets the task of following Geoff and Ivan on Aquaman... It's a very hard act to follow.

Aquaman Rumors

This article was found online at Bleeding Cool today:

A couple of months ago, Bleeding Cool received the news that Jim Lee would be leaving Justice League and DC were looking for a replacement both inside and outside the company. We now understand they have settled on Ivan Reis. It makes sense, he has a great relationship with writer Geoff Johns, Reis’ work can be compared to Jim Lee, and it all keeps things happy families.

I sincerely hope this is one rumor that turns out to be false. I don't know who else can do justice to Aquaman. I mean, I understand, Ivan is my favorite artist, and I know he can't stay on Aquaman forever. It does make sense he'd get a shot at Justice League (which he would be totally awesome on!), but I don't want Aquaman to degrade in artistic quality. Every month he turns in page after page of incredible layouts, great storytelling abilities, and dynamic characters!

Please be false, please be false, please be false, please be false...

Aquaman Outsells Everything at Marvel Redux

More good news for Aquaman and DC Comics! According to this article at Bleeding Cool, Aquaman sold more copies than February's Batman and Robin! So Aquaman is now the ninth top comic book in the market! Outselling all the X-Men, Avengers and even Spider-Man! And here's the proof!

Aquaman issue 6 was a spotlight on Mera issue, indicating Mera is at least as popular as her husband! Amazing! An index of 50.00 would mean that the issue sold exactly half the numbers February's Batman sold. The actual numbers will be released soon so until then we just have the index to indicate Aquaman's status!

Aquaman Outsells Everything at Marvel!

This is about a month late, but Aquaman is officially a top ten book! According to this chart at ICv2 for January 2012, Aquaman is sitting at number 10! I'm fairly certain Aquaman has never had a top ten book before, so this is a reason to celebrate! As you can see by a sampling of the chart below, Aquaman is currently selling better than everything rival Marvel Comics puts out! As a long-time DC fan who's had to put up with all sorts of abuse from Marvel and their fans, I love it!!!

Only hundreds of copies away from Batman and Robin and within ten thousand of Superman and the Flash! I think it's one of the few titles going up as retailers underestimated what they could sell and are reordering it like crazy! Even my own Comic Shop guy says he's turned lots of people on to the book just by mentioning it to non-readers and more often than not, they're sticking with it! That's crazy good! It's certainly a great time to be an AquaFan!

Geoff Johns Interview!

According to this interview, there's more Aquaman on the way!

Aquaman may be one of the most well known superheroes, but that doesn't mean he's one of the most popular. Though his fans know he's among the most powerful and fearless characters in comics, the general public has been laughing at the orange and green clad hero since his days on the 1970s Super Friends cartoons. Long derided because his main superpower seems to be his ability to "talk to fish," and due to his perceived uselessness out of the water, Aquaman is more associated with punch lines than punches.

But the hard luck hero has been steadily working his way onto the pop culture A-List over the past few years, and his new comic book series has turned into a best seller. "I really thought the character had tons of potential," says Geoff Johns, DC Comics' chief creative officer, who is writing the book. "Having Aquaman be the king of Atlantis but a joke on land, that's a great dichotomy for a character."

As part of a relaunch of DC Comics' entire line this fall, Aquaman was given a solo series for the first time since his last book was cancelled in 2006. Ironically, that was just as his mainstream image makeover was beginning. A guest appearance on Smallville (played by American Idol semifinalist Alan Ritchson) in the fall of 2005 was a hit with fans, and on HBOs' Entourage main character Vincent Chase got his big break starring in a (fictional) blockbuster Aquaman movie directed by James Cameron. More recently the sea king became the breakout star of Cartoon Network's Batman: The Brave and the Bold thanks to an unabashedly jolly (while still plucky) reinterpretation of his personality.

Still, Johns felt that the new Aquaman comic needed to address the hero's laughingstock history. "You have the fans, like myself, who always root for the character, and you're always on the defensive immediately," says the author, who has previously rebooted other dusty DC franchises, like the Justice Society, Teen Titans and Hawkman. "And I wanted to take that approach in the book, that he's the ultimate underdog of superheroes. He becomes much more human and relatable by being underestimated." In the first few issues, police officers have mocked him to his face, and in a recent issue of Justice League of America (also written by Johns) Green Lantern, on meeting him for the first time, says, "I thought Aquaman was a sketch on Conan O'Brien."

This honest take on the character has won raves from old fans — and brought in new ones. The first issue has sold more than 100,000 copies (an impressive number by today's standards) and with issue No. 4 going on sale this Wednesday — in comic book stores and online — the book ranks in the Top 20 for sales, according to Diamond Comic Distributors. Still, a recent cameo in an SNL Digital Short illustrates what he's up against. "It's going to take a long time to make Aquaman the coolest superhero there is, but I love fighting against that tide," says Johns, who confesses that water-themed puns are inevitable when talking about the character.

Given that much lesser known heroes like Iron Man, Thor and Green Lantern have turned into Hollywood stars, could a screen-version of the King of the Seas be far off? "You will see Aquaman in a lot of different things beyond comics," Johns promises, but, "that's all I can get into now."

One place where he could conceivably show up is Cartoon Network's upcoming DC Nation programming block, a partnership with Warner Bros. Animation and DC Comics slated to launch in 2012. Sandwiched in between shows like Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series will be animated shorts showcasing DC's enormous library. "Some are reinterpretations of characters that we know," says Johns, "some of characters that we never thought we'd see animated."

That DC Nation block does look interesting. I think a regular Aquaman series in the top 20 is a darn good Christmas gift for this fan!

Movember

It's finally over! People said I looked like Freddie Mercury... I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

Aquaman Sales Figures!

According to this article at The Beat, Aquaman issue 1 sold more than 100 000 copies!

18 - AQUAMAN
09/2011: Aquaman #1 -- 80,302 [108,545]
10/2011: Aquaman #2 -- 79,156 (-1.4%)

First-month sales are holding level, while Aquaman #1 sold another 28,243 units in its second month — more than any other “New 52″ debut issue apart from Justice League #1. This seems to be one of the titles that retailers underestimated the most.

Underestimate Aquaman? People have been underestimating him for years! Phenominal! Even the second issue drop really isn't that bad. (Although, why would anyone want to drop such a good book??) I wonder if issue 2 will see reorders like issue 1? I guess we'll find out in a month. In the meantime, it looks like Aquaman will be around for a while! In the Top 20! Whoooo-hoooo!

Baby Dolphin Update

A while back I posted on my Google+ account a link to pictures taken of a female baby dolphin who was found with her umbilical cord still attached, but no mother. It looks like she's getting along ok! The people caring for her have an incredible opportunity. Can you imagine being able to raise this sweetie to adulthood? But I imagine as soon as she's big enough, they'll introduce her to other dolphins so she can learn from her own kind. I would hope, anyway. I don't know what the protocol would be here.



Enjoy!

UGO Aquaman Interview!

UGO has a great interview with Geoff Johns and all he talks about is Aquaman! I especially liked this part:

Before he disappeared into the crowd of people at New York Comic Con, Johns briefly talked about scenes that we'll be seeing in upcoming issues, including a touching scene of Aquaman remembering his father on the ocean's shore. Aquaman's father was a lighthouse keeper, who fell in love with an Atlantean and Aquaman was the result of that forbidden relationship. Once separated, he on land, she in the sea, he promised to go to the same spot on the shore every day and wait for her. Aquaman recalls his father going to the beach every day to look for a "whale," he says, that just never comes. Touching stuff for a superhero everyone has slammed over the years.

I'm so glad Aquaman is finally getting his due! Reviews of the first issue have been largely favorable. In fact, I haven't read a bad review yet!

NYCC Aqua-News!

According to this link from CBR,

Switching to "Aquaman," Johns brought series artists Ivan Reis and Joe Prado to show off pages from issue #5. "He's fighting in an airplane and he falls out…and when he looks up he's in the middle of a desert," said Johns as the audience gasped. John also said that issue #6 would be a Mera issue.

Well, that explains issue five's cover! And Mera spotlights are always welcome!