Not Brand Echh!

Decades before the DC vs. Marvel crossover event, here's the very first team-up of Aquaman and the Sub-Mariner, from Not Brand Echh #3!

For those unaware, Not Brand Echh! was an ongoing series Marvel published from 1967-1969, skewering their own characters and plot contrivances, many times written and drawn by the same people who were doing the "straight" superhero titles. Sure, the humor was on the sillier side, but could you imagine DC doing something like this at the time?

The panel in question is from the story "The Honest-to-Irving, True-Blue, Top-Secret Original Origin of Captain America: by Roy Thomas and Tom Sutton. Here's the whole page for context, as if that matters:

This was caught and sent in by F.O.A.M.er Mac Schafer a while ago, and I'm only posting it now because today is the birthday of the legendary Marie Severin, who was often the mad genius behind a lot of Marvel's efforts to goof on itself, both in and out of Not Brand Echh! Thanks Mac and Happy Birthday Ms. Severin!

Aquaman: The Teen Drama Exclusive Clip

The Aquaman Shrine has been derelict in mentioning that Aquaman: The Teen Drama kicked off earlier this week over on Bleeding Cool! Head on over there to get caught up with the story if you haven't already.

This clip is an exclusive, available only to certain chosen outlets; a big thanks to ATTD creator Patrick Willems for sharing it with the Shrine!

Aquaman: The Teen Drama

This little video has taken the Aquaman fan community by...um, storm, ever since it debuted last week!

Aquaman The Teen Drama is a five-part web series that will be debuting in Bleeding Cool later this month. It features the Sea King, Mera, Ocean Master, King Shark, and Aqualad as if they were dropped into Gossip Girl, something no one knew was needed until now.

Fan reaction seems to be split down the middle...some people think it's making fun of Aquaman (and it is, a little), while others thing it's very funny. I tend to fall into the latter camp, at least based on what I've seen so far. I'm generally always happy when Aquaman breaks through in weird ways like this, and rest assured the Shrine will be covering all five episodes once they air!

As an added bonus, here's a brief chat the Shrine had with creator Patrick Willems about how Aquaman: The Teen Drama came to be:

Aquaman Shrin: Where did this idea come from?

Patrick Willems: I came up with this a year-and-a-half ago when I was trying to think of possible videos I could make about Aquaman. I felt that Aquaman had a lot of untapped potential for the kind of silly internet videos I make, since he has huge awareness - even non-comic readers have heard of him - but he doesn't get the exposure of the main DC trinity or the next tier down (Flash/Green Lantern). And in terms of humor, there's nothing but the old "Aquaman is lame/useless" jokes that are just beating a dead horse at this point.

So I was thinking about this while walking along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade at sunset (which probably factored into it) and the title Aquaman: The Teen Drama just popped into my head. Right away, the image of a CW show like Gossip Girl where one of the characters is just Aquaman, and everyone acts like this is totally normal, seemed hilarious to me. It wouldn't be making fun of Aquaman, but rather the humor would come from the irony of seeing this character in this genre.

And then it took me another year to actually get around to making it.

AMS: So Aquaman was part of it from the beginning?

PW: The idea started with Aquaman, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized he's a better fit than just about any other DC character. He's Atlantean royalty, which makes him an outside and gives him a reason to associate with rich Upper East Siders. Plus, he's got an evil brother who wants to take the Throne of Atlantis away from him! And like I mentioned before, everyone knows who Aquaman is, but he doesn't have the cultural saturation of Superman or Batman. Anyway, there was already a Superman teen drama anyway, but this one has way more spandex and ocean-themed puns.

AMS: How much of an influence are the comic books and how the Aquaman Family is portrayed there?

PW: The comics were a huge influence. I've been really enjoying what Geoff Johns has done with Aquaman, Mera and the rest of the cast over the past few years, and I pulled some stuff from that, namely Mera's arc through the series. A lot of characters from Aquaman mythos, particularly Orm Marius/Ocean Master, transition perfectly into teen drama characters. The goal was to make the whole cast actual characters from the comics and retain their core characteristics so that they'll be familiar to the audience even without their usual costumes. And, of course, we tried to fit in a bunch of smaller references to the comics that fans will enjoy.


Patrick will be appearing at the this week's NYCC giving out free Aquaman: The Teen Drama t-shirts and you can follow him on Twitter @Aquaman_TTD!


The Shrine wishes Patrick and his cast nothing but good luck with Aquaman: The Teen Drama!

"How Man of Steel Should Have Ended"

A bunch of F.O.A.M.ers sent the Shrine links to this animated video, "How Man of Steel Should Have Ended." Take a wild guess who makes a cameo near the end! (The 3:15 mark if you're impatient)

Thanks to the, like, fifteen of you who sent this in!

Spongebob Comics Annual #1

Check out this swell cover to SpongeBob Comics Annual #1, drawn by Jacob Chabot. Not being a kid or perpetually high, I never really got into Spongebob, though of course I enjoyed their version of Aquaman, which has seemed to take on a life of its own. And is that a fishy Green Arrow back there? 

SpongeBob Comics Annual #1 comes out June 19!


(h/t: Shrine Correspondent Russell Burbage)

Superhero Speed Dating

I thought we'd kick off the week with something fun and silly...and this qualifies! Here's Aquaman and a bunch of other superheroes (plus one on-the-make creator) doing some Speed Dating. Some of the jokes in this midly-NSFW video are a little cliche, but I still laughed quite a bit, because the characterizations are pretty spot on...especially when poor Aquaman discovers a few of his pals have met a bad end.


(h/t: F.O.A.M.er Craig McGinnes)

The Super Friends in Austin, Texas!

This super fun, super friendly (see what I did there?) cover to the 1/4/13 edition of The Austin Chronicle is by artist Jason Stout, featuring our heroes participating in presumably Austin-like activities (I say "presumably" because I don't live there, though at times I wish I did).

I'm not sure Aquaman would ever cook one of his lobster pals, and do so gleefully, but I don't think we can take any of this too seriously. Rather, let's just be impressed by Stout's spot-on parody of the original, classic Alex Toth illustration, and the fact that the paper published it in the first place! Having toiled in this field for over a decade, I can tell you how rare it is that this parody was executed so faithfully, from the DC Bullet to the Comics Code. Nicely done all around!


This piece was unashamedly stolen from F.O.A.M.er (and my pal) Max Romero's blog Great Ceasar's Post. Thanks Max!

Gutters #300: Aquaman #1 Cover Parody by Nick Cardy

(Editor's Note: Shrine Correspondent Joe Slab wrote this post months ago, and for whatever reason I just kept forgetting to finish it off and schedule it, so now it's even more overdue than it was when Joe wrote it! My apologies--rob!)


We've been meaning to get to this one for awhile! The Gutters ("A series of standalone pages that parody the comic book industry and the heroes and characters that dwell within") recently celebrated their 300th "issue" with a cover parody of epic proportions--a Nick Cardy re-do of Aquaman #1 from 1962! The original cover was done by artist Howard Purcell and we think it was a stroke of pure genius to have Cardy pay homage to it (even in this tongue-in-cheek manner).

Gutters EiC Jeff Moss kindly took a few minutes to speak with us about how it all came about:

AMS: Who had the original idea to parody Aquaman #1?

JM: We've always liked to mark our "Milestone" issues by parodying a famous cover. Our 100th issue was Action #1 by Darrick Robertson, #200 was Fantastic Four #1 by Mike Norton and so on. So as we approached #300, the discussion of which cover to parody came up. There were lots of "iconic" covers on the table, Detective #27, Amazing Fantasy #15, all the usual suspects. But Aquaman #1 had so much going on in it, so much fun stuff that we knew would make a great page that it became the obvious choice

AMS: Are there any Aquaman fans on the Gutters staff?

JM: I have always harbored a secret Aquaman love, LOL. To the point I asked for one of my site avatars to be me as Aquaman. But the "modern" Aquaman stories with hook hands and bushy beards didn't really do it for me. I am absolutely loving what DC is doing with him now though. Finally!

AMS: How did Nick respond to your request -- was he excited?

JM: We wanted someone established in the industry to do the page and reached out to several of the top names working at Marvel, DC and Image. While we were working things out with them, it was suggested that we ask Nick Cardy. It was a bit of a shock, as I was sure he had retired! But we got in contact with him and Nick, ever a pro even at 92, got started on it that day. It took him about 4 days to complete the inked page and he went out and scanned and delivered it right on time. Many "pros" a third his age can't do that!

It was an absolutely wonderful experience for us to work with Nick on this page, and it's become one of my personal favorites of the 300 we've done. It's a special page and I am really proud and excited to have it in our arsenal.

Attached are a few of the stages of the page as it was put together. Our colorist, Ed Ryzowski really nailed the silver age look of the page and Rus Wooton our letterer crafted all the different elements absolutely brilliantly.

AMS: Thanks for the scoop Jeff! You can see the original page along with Jeff's commentary and buy a print of it as well here!

The Super Force!

"Hanging teenagers is fun...if they've committed a crime."

Super Golden Friends

Something like eleventy-billion Aqua-Fans have emailed the Shrine in the last twenty-four hours, asking if we've seen this yet. The answer is, officially, yes.

Maybe if someone actually does this show, they can get Quentin Tarantino to do a guest spot on it as well.

Spongebob Comics - FCBD Edition

Comics Weekend "Squiadward and the Golden Clarinet" by Derek Drymon, Gregg Schigiel, and Ramona Fradon.

Since Aquaman doesn't appear at all in the newest issue of Justice League (#9)--the only JLer absent--I thought we could skip a recap of that book and talk about something a little more fun. Namely, Spongebob Squarepants!

At last week's Free Comic Book Day, one of the freebies was a double-sided book with Bongo's Simpsons Comics filling one half, and Spongebob the other:

In this issue's story, Spongebob dives into the newest issue of Mermaid Man, a character very familiar to any Aqua-Fan. But this is no regular issue of Mermaid Man--no, this one is drawn by the legendary Ramona Fradon!

Now I think I'm just going to get out of the way:

Whoever had the idea to get Ms. Fradon to do this deserves a raise--what a delightful treat for everyone involved who picked up this book! If you're a kid, you just enjoy the swell artwork. And if you're an old school Aquaman Fan, you're delighted to see her illustrating the Sea King (or at least a close relative) one more time.

I am ashamed to say I didn't pick up this book during FCBD, and had no idea Ms. Fradon was part of it. But a few days ago, the Shrine received a package from F.O.A.M.er Derek Tague containing the comic (and some other stuff) and man what a wonderful surprise that was.

The Shrine extends an extra-special thanks to Derek for his generosity and thoughtfulness!

Oh Boy, Here We Go...

The Robot Chicken DC Comics Special.

An SNL Digital Short: "Batman"

The one time I don't watch Saturday Night Live, and Aquaman doesn't just get mentioned--he makes an appearance!!

During the 12/3/11 edition of the show, host Steve Buscemi played Commissioner Gordon in the "Digital Short" segment, who gets increasingly annoyed by the Dark Knight Detective's lack of boundaries. And during one visit to Gordon's house, Bats brings a friend, Aquaman (as played by SNL Featured Player Paul Brittain)!

Click here to watch the sketch (NSFW) on hulu. I thought it was pretty funny, and of course thrilled the Sea King made a cameo. Thanks to all the various FOAMers who wrote in with the tip!

Aquaman Bun Toons

Aquaman works through some issues, courtesy Ty Templeton's 10/1 installment of Bun Toons!

"Aquaman is Suddenly Cool?"

Nerds will live, nerds will die, and nothing will ever be the same...except Batman.

"Cher Homme d'Aqua"

At the 8:00 mark, see Aquaman take questions from The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson viewers while the show visits France!


(h/t: newest F.O.A.M.er Alex Mohalek!)

Aquaman in "Monty"

Several F.O.A.M.ers sent in a link to the July 31, 2011 edition of the comic strip Monty, which as you can see features an appearance by an orange-shirted man from the sea.

I can't post the whole thing here without squeezing it down to Atom-ish size, so just head over to GoComics where you can see the whole strip!

Aquaman on Jimmy Kimmel Live - 6/28/11

Aquaman "appeared" on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, as part of a panel of judges for the JKL Pedestrian Belly Flop Competition. You can see the whole episode here; Aquaman shows up around the 12:00 mark. He was tough, but fair!

Thanks to long-time commenter--but newest F.O.A.M. member--Joseph Brian Scott for the tip!

Wonder Woman Loves...

F.O.A.M.er Joe Mello sent me this pic a week or two ago, which he posted on his Tumblr site: Wonder Woman looking for romance!

The question is, what's the timing of this photo? Is Barry the first JLAer Diana is considering calling, or is he the "winner"? In either case, nice to see Arthur got put in the mix, even if Mera would have something to say about it.

Thanks Joe!

Superman 50th Anniversary Special - 1988

The Superman 50th Anniversary Special aired on CBS in 1988 and was produced by, of all people, Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live.

As you might guess from that, the special takes a humorous approach to the life of the Man of Steel, using a mockumentary format and featuring a bizarre cross-section of people in different segments: Dana Carvey, Peter Boyle, John Byrne(!), Jimmy Breslin, Brian Doyle-Murray, Hal Holbrook, Kirk Alyn, future senator Al Franken, Jan Hooks, Noel Neill, Carol Leifer, Robert Smigel, and Lou Reed!

I remember watching this when it aired and enjoying it thoroughly, thinking it was pretty funny. The only problem I had with it was it was the only celebration of Superman's half-century mark outside of the world of comics, which seemed woefully inappropriate, and kind of only underscored the belief that comic books--and the characters that spring from them--aren't worthy of any sort of serious evaluation or reflection.

Having only seen it once, I didn't remember the Aqua-connection, but F.O.A.M.er Marc Tyler Nobleman did. There's a live-action scene featuring a big party for Superman, and several of his superhero pals show up:

...its Aquaman, making his live-action debut! Wow!

Unfortunately, this is all we see of the Sea King, and there is no credit listed on the show's IMDB page, so we have no idea who played him. Considering the fact he has no lines and is basically just background, I think its safe to assume it was not an actor but a model who would fill out the suit. My inquiries regarding this to Michaels' company, Broadway Video (who produced it), were unsurprisingly not returned.

And as silly as this segment was (that's The Amazing Kreskin holding the bullhorn, so you can guess at the level of silliness this thing was operating at), I still think its kinda cool they made the effort, trident and all.

Thanks for the flashback and screencaps Marc!