Remember Aquaman? You know, that guy who lived underwater and fought people who would dump hazardous waste in the ocean or people with big helmets named the Black Manta. No, not Charlie the Tuna. Let’s try this description. He’s King of Atlantis and has giant muscles and was a very popular super hero. Namor, the Sub-Mariner? *sigh* He’s the one who sat behind the desk feeding the Justice League information cause simply he had nothing else better to do. Oh Aquaman, quite right. Well he had his own cartoon show in the late 60’s that ran for a couple of years with the Superman/Aquaman hour of Adventure (which incidentally only ran half an hour). It featured Aquaman, Aqualad, and a vast array of exciting characters like Tusky the Walrus. I’m not making this up.
Ever sit in a cartoon show and wonder why you keep having a sense of deja vu? The series wasn’t so bad, it was quirky and sported the classic 60’s superhero feel. The good guys are just spending another day at the office which happens to be the ocean and the evil guys come and mess it up. Biff, bang, boom the bad guys are defeated and the world is good again. But it suffers heavily from using the same frame of animation over and over again. It’s no Batfink but it’s not very far off. Another thing that Aquaman did was borrow heavily from Batman, the live action show. If I hear “Holy Haddock” one more time or watch as Aqualad act as a complete copy of Robin complete with rather homo-erotic tendencies, I think I might scream. Outside of that, the stories while simple aren’t so bad and it is one of those things that is fun; just in small doses.
Video
Since this is on TV, we can only expect that it gets the fullscreen 1.33:1 treatment. This show (if you believe the special features) was the best animated show of its time. It’s pretty but is one that suffers from feeling dated. There is pixelation throughout but it isn’t terrible. Colors are fairly decent and it’s just not that bad. Decent job Warner Bros!
Audio
While video wasn’t bad; audio is severely lacking. The sound is presented in Dolby Digital Mono and is what you would expect. Wind tunnel, dialed in to full blast. It stays in the center channel and feels like a radio transmission. Subtitles are thankfully provided in English as well.
Special Features
Disc Two
- Automatic Trailers: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5.
- Aquaman: The Sovereign of the Seas (Retrospective Featurette) 26:10: An excellent and lengthy featurette that goes into the history and how Aquaman has changed over time in the comics and on television. It even goes into the popular Aquaman tv pilot that surfaced on I-Tunes. The comic stuff I found most interesting as it went into very good detail of how Aquaman started out this blonde and clean cut superhero into a dark and reclusive King of Atlantis who hated humans and beings who would poison his ocean.
- Trailers: Smurfs Season 1 and Tom & Jerry Spotlight Vol 3.
Final Thoughts
Aquaman will be thought of by many as a support character. A guy that Superman, Wonder Woman or even the Green Lantern will come to when they need somebody with expertise in the water. However, at one time in history he was more than that. He was a mainstream super hero and to this day he even has his own comic book. The thirty six episode show wasn’t half bad even if it was plagued by re-use of animation and cliche sayings. This is something that any comic fan whether Marvel or DC should look into as a picture of their childhood. Just in small doses. So a slight recommendation, and the next time you hear Aquaman in a booming voice with a mispronounced Aqua; you will smile and perhaps watch for the next 6-7 minutes.
Episodes
Disc 1:
• Menace of the Black Manta/The Rampaging Reptile Men
• The Return of Nepto/The Fiery Invaders
• The Sea Raiders/War of the Water Worlds
• The Volcanic Monster/The Crimson Monster From The Pink Pool
• The Ice Dragon/The Deadly Drillers
• Vassa, Queen Of The Mermen/The Microscopic Monsters
• The Onslaught Of The Octomen/Treacherous Is The Torpedoman
• The Satanic Saturnians/The Brain, The Brave and The Bold
• Where Lurks the Fisherman/Mephisto’s Marine Marauders
Disc 2:
• The Trio Of Terror/The Torp, The Magneto And The Claw
• Goliaths Of The Deep Sea Gorge/The Sinister Sea Scamp
• The Devil Fish/The Sea Scavengers
• In Captain ‘Cuda’s Clutches/The Mirror Man From Planet Imago
• The Sea Sorcerer/The Sea Snares Of Captain Sly
• The Undersea Trojan Horse/The Vicious Villainy Of Vassa
• Programmed For Destruction/The War Of The Quatix And The Bimphabs
• The Stickmen Of Stygia/Three Wishes To Trouble
• The Silver Sphere/To Catch A Fisherman
Screenshots
Other Coverage & Reviews
- DVDVerdict.com: “I have fond memories of The Adventures of Aquaman on TV as I was growing up.”
- News about the Aquaman TV Pilot, one of those things that will probably be long forgotten in a year unfortunately.
