Dan Raspler Looks Back at Aquaman's Aesthetic History

There is only one true King. — ZackSnyder (@ZackSnyder)February 20, 2015

Last week's big news in the comic world was centered around a photo tweeted by director Zack Snyder of Aquaman's new getup. Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo of Game of Thrones fame) is attached to the role of the king of the sea in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice film. The new character design, featuring scale tattoos and scaled armor, feels like a proper update. But to get some perspective on the history of Aquaman's outfits, I turned to Dan Raspler, who has edited many standout comic runs including Batman: The Killing Joke, Superman: Birthright, Kingdom Come (for which he won an Eisner Award), and many more.

I'll let him take it from here:

I haven't worked in comics in years, and I haven't done something like this for public consumption in quite a while. I hope all the people who loved me then, love me still. And I hope those who didn't have mellowed as much as I have.

This, to me, is the best Aquaman costume of them all. The orange and green help him stand out from the constant blue background of his undersea kingdom. The essential black trunks root his outfit firmly in the realm of super-heroes. It also includes the iconic "A" belt buckle and the Captain American–style scales on his tunic. I'll add that there is something essentially open about the crew neck. Turtlenecks are cool for hep cats, but superheroes have nothing to hide.

This one was a really gorgeous, but ultimately impractical re-design (by the late Neal Pozner, I believe). Unfortunately, no two artists could draw Aquaman the same way. The exquisite color scheme and asymmetrical wave-action details on this one just made Aquaman vanish into the ocean depths. It's no accident that familiar comic book elements—like Aquaman and the sea, or Flash and his Rogues' Gallery—were originally designed to be instantly distinguished with the old unreliable newsprint technology.

The long hair and beard made for a nice change in this one… And that seems to be something most artists and fans often agree upon. It ties him in to Aquaman's classical roots (images of Poseidon/Neptune spring to mind). It was at this time that the decision was made to turn friendly ol' Aquaman into more of an angry character, righting wrongs perpetrated on the sea, etc… Peter David had recently finished the Chronicles of Atlantis and the long-term plan (I believe) was to retro-fit various conflicting continuities into a more coherent path with this series.

To me, this new costume always hearkened back to Namor's black/sleeveless outfit… Though, I felt the seashell headband was a nice crown-like element for the Sea King. Either way, this one was a dignified and well-designed new costume. Which brings us to the chopped-off hand. I guess it taps into Captain Ahab, maybe? As for the unfortunate choice to stick a harpoon on his arm (a weapon which, above all other weapons in human history, symbolically represented the depredation and exploitation of the ocean), I believe the idea was for him to "own it" on behalf of all whales (or something). A hero losing his hand has various literary antecedents, so I understood that. And giving his new fake hand new powers (electricity, a grappling hook, etc…) is perfectly in line with traditions in comics. But the harpoon as harpoon always bugged me.

Full disclosure: I commissioned this particular series and edited it for several months. I think Rick Veitch came up with the "telekinetic water hand" idea, which felt like a respectful update to the harpoon. Obviously, Aquaman still had the long hair and beard at this stage, but I'm not 100 percent sure about his costume. It might have been that asymmetrical outfit with the straps and harness, or it might have been a return to the classic orange and green. I forget.

This one's written by my old pal Tony Bedard, but I can't say I've ever seen this costume before. The color and haircut makes him look kind of like Aqualad from Young Justice… I don't think men over the age of 40 should cut their hair like that because it makes them look sort of fascistic. In fact, the whole get-up makes him look pretty villainous. Frankly, I think comics fans these days want their heroes to look a little villainous. That's why S.H.I.E.L.D. in the movies wear black-on-black and Hawkeye is never caught dead with even a splash of purple. It's sad to me, but I'm not the market.

Written by another old friend, Geoff Johns. I haven't read this one, but the costume looks like he's back to basics, including that regal trident. Except he is missing his essential black trunks! And they've given him that military/fascistic high-collar. Me, I like my heroes looking more open and super-heroic. Once you remove the black trunks (or the red trunks on the new Superman), super-characters are in danger of looking like you're supposed to take them seriously. When, of course, we all know deep down that all super-heroes are glorious kid stuff, and we love them because they make us nostalgic for an age where we adored them all unabashedly. Now, I think, we second-guess ourselves, in hopes that non-comics fans will pick us earlier when choosing sides for kickball.

Don't get me wrong, though… Jason Momoa's new costume is pretty elaborate and cool. I love that Aquaman doesn't look like someone you should mess with. But, once again, he's wearing black-on-black and sort of looks like a villain. Or maybe that's just the photo? I hope there's a little green on the costume somewhere. I know it's hard to translate the clean, primary colors of classic super-costumes to film. But I just wish they picked colors other than black.

Still, how great is it that Khal Drogo will be king of the sea instead of just horses? Super awesome.

As told to Giaco Furino. Follow Giaco on Twitter.