Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: aquaman, Aquaman 2

Gossip- Why Is DC Comics Not Publishing An Aquaman Comic Right Now?

A relatively poor performance for the Aquaman 2 movie was accompanied by something even more unusual: no tie-in series from DC Comics.

Published Thu, 28 Dec 2023 11:57:09 -0600

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

DC Comics skips Aquaman tie-in series despite recent movie release.
Plans for Voidsong crossover fell through due to changing movie schedules.
The Aquamen series featuring Aqualad and Black Manta was cancelled prematurely.
Tie-in one-shots exist, but a recurring Aquaman series remains absent.

A relatively poor performance for the Aquaman 2 movie was accompanied by something even more unusual: no tie-in series from DC Comics. Even Blue Beetle got one when that series was coming out. How come?

Aquaman has often had a spotty history at DC Comics but has enjoyed a number of long runs over the decades. It had a stormingly successful relaunch with Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis for the New 52 in 2011, but subsequent relaunches have taken the bloom off the underwater rose.

There had been big plans for the original Voidsong releases of Flash and Aquaman in 2022 when they were coming out back to back. Originally then-Aquaman editor Jamie Rich planned the crossover to come out day-and-date worldwide as an original graphic novel alongside the first Aquaman movie, and when Flash was still on schedule as a film to come out a month later, but got internal pushback. Writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, of The Outsiders, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Timeless, now at Marvel Comics with Timeless this week, were hired for their knowledge and connection to pop culture, to try and appeal to more mainstream audiences. DC proceeded with it after Rich left, and rushed it along, only for the Flash movie schedule to change.

Cover image for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Special — Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Special

There was also the Aqualad/Black Manta Aquamen series plan cooked up by editors Rich and Andrea Shea to try to elevate the characters alongside the movies. Black Manta being the villain, and Young Justice was planning to promote Jackson Hyde to full Aquaman status with 5G in the wings. The plan at DC was to have two miniseries, one with Black Manta and the other with Jackson Hyde, that would dovetail into the series Aquamen. Something that hadn't been done before. After Rich left, support faded, with certain people in marketing actively against it. Intended as an ongoing to expand the Aquafamily. The Lorena Marquez Aquagirl was to come back from limbo and Tempest had a major story arc. But DC then claimed it was always a miniseries and not an ongoing one when it was inevitably cancelled after sales for the first issue came in.

Then when Dawn Of DC relaunched many DC mainstay series, Aquaman was planned to be one of them… until it suddenly wasn't. Though it did have a couple of high-profile mini-series outside of continuity.

And so we have a moderately successfully Aquaman movie, with lots of posters, publicity and presence everywhere, and no comic book series to get even a modest bump, just a tie-in one-off. Will Aquaman ever return? And if so, why not now?

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