The Adventures of Aquaman - The Complete Collection is the 2nd DVD release from The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. Despite the name, the series contained adventures of numerous DC characters, including Superboy, with "guest" episodes featuring the Flash, Hawkman, the Atom, Green Lantern, the JLA, and the Teen Titans.
Back in the 1990's the series was shown as The New Batman/Superman Adventures, where I caught all these episodes and hoped that someday they would be released on home video. In June, the Superman episodes were released as The New Adventures of Superman, and I was pleased to hear Aquaman was next.
Aquaman is King of the Seven Seas, the hero from the deep who protects the sea from any foes who threaten the tranquility of his undersea kingdom. The series is set in the lost city of Atlantis, where Aquaman is joined by his sidekick Aqualad, along with Aqualad's pet walrus, Tusky - plus Aquaman & Aqualad's sea horses, Storm and Imp. At the time of his series, Aquaman didn't have much of a Rogues gallery, but Black Manta and Ocean Master are among the villains, along with smugglers, deep sea monsters and space aliens who want to shrink and collect ocean life samples.
Growing up, I was a fan of the Super Friends; however, Aquaman didn't do much during that series run. In this DVD release, you get all 36 of Aquaman's seven-minute adventures. The series was produced by Filmation and its writers did right by "the king of the seven seas" by setting his series in his domain. In this series, he's treated as a powerful hero rather than a second stringer or "fish out of water" as he’s portrayed in his other appearances.
There is one special feature on this DVD set:
"Aquaman: The Sovereign of the Seas" - this is a very cool retrospective featurette which details Aquaman's comic book evolution. Numerous people contribute to the retrospective, including DC historian Mark Waid; Vice President - Executive Editor Dan Didio and Dwayne McDuffie, writer for the Justice League animated series and current writer for the Justice League of America comic. The featurette also goes over Aquaman's various TV incarnations, which include his appearances on Super Friends, Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League. It also covers his live action appearances, including HBO's Entourage and his guest spots in Smallville, which lead to a TV pilot as a companion show that was ultimately never picked up. The featurette is very well done and hits upon the highs and lows of Aquaman's career.
Article comments
1 - Chris McVetta
My Peter Pan complex may be showing, but The Superman/Aquaman Adventure Hour blew away The Super Friends - from what I remember as a kid. Nice review!