After years of bouncing between More Fun Comics, Adventure Comics, Detective Comics, World's Finest (1941), and Action Comics, DC Comics' very own Aquaman was finally given his own series in 1962 after tryouts in Showcase proved positive.
His first year was groundbreaking in more ways than one. Alongside the established Aqualad, it introduced the water sprite Quisp as well as the fire-trolls, who would become some of the first recurring characters in the series' history. Aquaman then found a girlfriend in Mera, an exiled queen from Dimension Aqua with the power to control water, and they made comic book history by getting married and having a child, Aquababy, years before Reed and Sue Storm. Other supporting cast members included Vulko, Atlantis' lead scientist and vizier, and Tula, who became Aqualad's girlfriend, and the people of Atlantis as a whole became crucial parts of Aquaman's life.
But with a supporting cast came new enemies as well, including the Fisherman, a career criminal who used a rod and reel, Hila, Mera's nasty twin sister, and the Scavenger, a plunderer in a scorpion submarine. Aquaman's most famous villains also debuted during this period, including the Ocean Master, secretly his half-brother Orm Marius, and the infamous Black Manta, an old foe of his whose viciousness knew no bounds.
The series was canceled in 1971 after Aquaman The Search For Mera, a lengthy arc where Mera disappeared, but was unexpectedly revived to conclude the Death of a Prince arc, where Aquaman's son was murdered at the hands of Black Manta. After that wrapped up, it was canceled again in 1978, with Aquaman's adventures continuing in other comics. He wouldn't gain another series until Aquaman (1986), but this series and its impact continue to this day.
This comic book contains examples of:
- Aborted Arc: The last issue before the first cancellation had Aquagirl warn a citizen away from the Cave of Death, which a narration box promised would be explored in the future. It was promptly forgotten about for the entire Pre-Crisis history. (Aquaman (1994) finally revealed it was the birthplace of Kordax.)
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Aquaman's archnemesis is Black Manta, a mercenary who wears a large metal helmet that vaguely resembles said fish's shape.
- Apparently Human Merfolk: All of the Atlanteans, with the exception of small minorities of Fish People and actual Merfolk, are indistinguishable from regular humans.
- Arch-Enemy: Aquaman gained two recurring foes with an equal claim to being his nemesis; Black Manta and Arthur's own brother Orm, aka Ocean Master.
- Cerebus Syndrome: The death of Aquababy marked a permanent shift in tone from the lighthearted early years.
- Damsel out of Distress: The big plot twist in the Search for Mera arc was that Mera had escaped captivity on her own and spent her time trying to reunite with Aquaman.
- Designated Victim: Garth and Tula's adventures often ended with one or both of them nearly dying due to lack of water, and in the Silver Age they were frequent kidnap victims.
- Evil Twin: Mera's sister Hila was completely identical to her and opposite in temperament, while Quisp had a pair of nasty twin brothers who appeared once or twice.
- Goo-Goo-Godlike: Shortly after being born, Aquababy displayed reality-warping powers that got him and the family expelled from Atlantis briefly.
- Grief-Induced Split: Mera holds Aquaman accountable for their son's death, accusing him of putting his adventuring life ahead of his fatherly duties. Aquaman is asked to leave his son's funeral because of how upset his presence makes her. Their split is ultimately subverted, as Mera eventually chooses to reconcile with her husband and cope with their shared loss together.
- Mermanity Ensues: The villainous Dr. Starbuck experimented on himself and his animal troupe to breathe underwater, later using them to take over Atlantis.
- Mobile Fishbowl: Aquaman has a special suit filled with water for missions on land.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: For decades Aquababy's official name was Aquababy, and he only got properly named as Arthur Jr. shortly before he died.
- Out-of-Genre Experience:
- Aquaman #26 has Aquaman and Mera go undercover to investigate and stop O.G.R.E., an international crime cartel, in a story that's a send-up of The Man from U.N.C.L.E..
- Aquaman #54 is a moody horror story that has Aquaman trapped inside his own mind when some gangsters capture and experiment on him, resulting in a mash-up of genres—including horror, a standard action story, a detective story as the real-world police worked out what was going on, and a Western. The incident resulted in the birth of his evil mirror-self, Thanatos.
- Sadly Mythtaken: A panel in Aquaman #17 has Aquaman mistakenly call Poseidon Zeus's son instead of his brother. All other instances in the story correctly depict them as brothers, so we can assume this was an in-universe mistake.
- Story-Breaker Power: Mera's water powers tended to overshadow her husband, so early writers placed limits such as needing to gesture with her hands to make shapes, or her powers being removed with the presence of lead.
- Terrible Trio: Aquaman #24 had a villain trio literally called the Terrible Trio, consisting of the bossy, fire-haired Karla, who ordered her teammates around, the Fisherman, a returning rogue, and the Un-Thing, who was invisible while in water. While effective as a group when working together, they argued a lot and were eventually defeated.
- Thematic Rogues Gallery: Most of Aquaman's enemies are involved with water and the ocean in one form or another.
- The Usurper: A recurring problem was would-be usurpers temporarily taking the throne, most notably Narkran, who held it for an extended period of time when he arranged for Aquaman to look for the missing Mera.
- Wham Episode: The death of Aquababy, Arthur Jr., changed the tone of the stories completely and had ramifications for decades as Aquaman dealt with grief and loss, his marriage fell apart and continued to have ups and downs as Mera blamed him for the child's death, Aqualad's relationship with Arthur was strained for a period, and Black Manta became cemented as his arch-nemesis for killing his son.
- The Worf Effect: Mera was often used as a measuring stick for tough opponents—if even Mera couldn't beat the opponent it was time to flee.
