Taking Sides: Namor vs Aquaman

The weird thing about Namor was that he really WAS a comics mainstay for ages in the Golden Age, when presumably 'male power fantasies' weren't that different. Though maybe he was less of a dick then.

Also, when some loser Aquaman vilain and some loser Green Arrow vilain decide to switch territories and instead of doing the LOGICAL thing and just fighting the other guy's nemensis Green Arrow gets a diving helmet and Aquaman walks the streets with a fucking FISHTANK behind him.

Also, the episode of "Super Friends" where Aquaman stops a fire with a giant wave, which then goes on to become a GIANT KILLER FLOOD THREATENING THE MAINLAND!

The hooked guy? I dunno, I suppose he's allright, but as Matt pointed out, trying to make Aquaman a badass is a losing battle, there's just too much cultural baggage.

Aquaman = briefly interesting when written by Steve Skeates and drawn by Jim Aparo in the late 1960s, otherwise YAWN

Aquaman wins though because Namor was never parodied on Spongebob:
http://www.spongezone.net/mmbio.jpg

Still - "IMPERIOUS REX!" is one great catchphrase. What's Aquaman's catchphrase? "LET MY TUNA GO"? "SEMPER FISH"?

This IS really true of any character that's survived for the past 40+ years, but w/ a guy whose profile & stature is always in flux (between leaving & joining the JLA, & his series getting canned every five years), these changes are woefully blatant. Instead of changes made for the sake of "keeping things fresh", changes are made to GET the character into a position where the need to "keep things fresh" becomes a problem.

Namor, on the other hand, has always, to my knowledge, been a brooding majestic prick flying around fighting things (his conscience, his lot in life, his brother-in-law, his horn for Ms. Richards), though he's also sported THE DICKIE BETTS (thanks to paradigm-shifter Kirby-nodder John Byrne, who made Namor into Lex Luthor for a couple of years, & then took it all away).

(ha! "commemorative glass free w/ a tank of glass" - "no thanks, keep the Aquaman cup; I've got plenty of glass right here!") (I do not mock the typos; I only treasure & luv them)

Von Dutch is that label that's on all the trucker hats (Par!s H!lt0n wears 'em all the time) and accessories of the shabby-chic set.
I just read Neil Hagerty (of Royal Trux and Howling Hex fame)'s book of short stories and essays, Public Works, and there's an essay (i believe reprinted from an issue of Comics Journal!) called "I remember CAR-Toons" (CAR-Toons was Cracked for the hot rod set) and he talks about how Von Dutch was a running gag in the mag, that he was this mystical zen mechanic which all the gearheads spoke of in alternating reverence and defiance.
I think he was even a real dude.

here's the article in it's original form (or thereabouts): "GO-GO-GO Von Dutch: The strange tale of the now gone, though not much lamented, CAR-toons Magazine" by Neil Hagerty

Namor vs Aquaman vs Seaguy?

beat THAT, Namor!

"Fans have been asking for years - what does Aquaman point at helicopters with? Well you're about to find out! Nothing is ARM-LESS in the DCU next year as we sear into HELICOPTER CRISIS!! Aquaman will never be the same! And neither will Batman! And neither will their arms!"

Batman's pose in that picture begs a few questions, as well.

When one of your hands is made from healing water from the Secret Lake Of Avalon, given to you by The Lady Of The Lake and your name is Arthur (DO YOU SEE?) then those sort of details pale into insignificance.