Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis is an Aquaman run that ran from 2006 to 2007 for 17 issues, following from Aquaman (2003) and starting with Sword of Atlantis #40. It was written by Kurt Busiek and Tad Williams and illustrated by Jackson Guice, Daniel Brown, Todd Klein, Phil Winslade, Pete Pantazis, Ricardo Villagran, Shawn McManus, Walden Wong, and Guy Major. It stars Aquaman... though not the one readers were familiar with.
Arthur Joseph Curry was born premature, and scientific advancements gave him the power to breathe underwater. Raised in a tank all his life by his overprotective father, Phillip Curry, "Artie Joe"'s life was simple and stagnant...until one day a storm at sea changed everything, plunging him into an ocean of unfamiliarity.
With his father gone, Arthur was mentored by the mysterious Dweller in the Depths, whose prophecy foretold a life for the young hero that was extremely similar to the original Aquaman, who'd died recently. Burdened with a responsibility he doesn't want and can barely understand, Arthur nonetheless tries to fill the shoes of a hero, making friends and enemies, new and old, along the way. But the truth behind his birth and survival may change everything.
Once this series wrapped up, Arthur made sporadic appearances until the original Aquaman was restored in the events of Blackest Night, with his story continuing in Brightest Day.
This comic contains examples of:
- Action Survivor: Arthur spends a good fourth of the series surviving encounters by the skin of his teeth as he slowly comes into his own.
- Amulet of Concentrated Awesome: Unable to understand sea creatures naturally, Arthur initially uses a magic amulet to talk to the fish before it and its powers are absorbed into him.
- Ax-Crazy: Black Manta happily chats about his weapons while attempting to kill Arthur and company, and nearly succeeds in executing him.
- Back from the Dead: Narwhal turns out to be the thought-dead Koryak, who was resurrected by a cult and sent to kill the Dweller in the Depths.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Years after the story arc in which he debuted, Calvin Durham is seen as Mayor of Sub Diego.
- The Human Flying Fish makes his return 47 years after his debut.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Krusivax and the Clownfish were set up as major rogues, but haven't been seen since this series. Topo II also disappeared.
- Corporate-Sponsored Superhero: The Human Flying Fish is a villainous example where his uniform is decked out with Tri-Dent decals. It makes him look even sillier than normal.
- Cosmic Plaything: Artie Joe got dragged into worldspanning adventures and mythology just because he shared the same name as the original Aquaman and happened to be near where King Shark was being attacked.
- Depending on the Artist: Depending on who's drawing him, Arthur looks anywhere from his late teens to being middle-aged, with the only concrete evidence of his age being "younger than the first Aquaman."
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": After learning the truth about about his origins, Arthur goes by "Joseph" as he feels he stole the name "Arthur" from the original Aquaman.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Arthur's eyes are completely black like a fish's when underwater to distinguish him from the first Aquaman.
- Genre Shift: A twofold example. The first half of the series was High Fantasy, which was unusual for the Aquaman franchise, while the back half of the work shifted genres to science fiction and more traditional hero fare.
- It Was with You All Along: The Dweller in the Depths turned out to be the missing Orin, who suffered amnesia.
- Just a Kid: Arthur is younger than the original Aquaman and villains frequently make disparaging comments about his youth, skinnier build, and lack of experience.
- Legacy Character:
- Arthur is the replacement for the original Aquaman, which is noted in-story.
Arthur: Is that it then? So long old Aquaman, say hey to the new Aquaman, let's get a move on?- A very dark example with long-time Aquaman rogue the Fisherman. He's puppeteered by his helmet, which is a parasite. None of the main characters realize this, and the poor Fisherman is only able to fight back just before dying, after which his helmet takes off to find a new host.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: The Dweller in the Depths is murdered by Narwhal.
- Mythology Gag: Arthur's origins are a throwback to Aquaman's origin story in the Golden Age.
- Named After Somebody Famous:
- Arthur was named after the original Aquaman in-universe.
- Topo is named after the original Aquaman's octopus sidekick since his real name is unpronounceable by humans.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: The Human Flying Fish has a silly name and costume and is only in it for money, but proves dangerous enough to defeat and capture Arthur, and he's never actually defeated, instead fleeing when he realizes his employers were serious about destroying the world.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Black Manta is enraged when he hears someone else killed the original Aquaman first, as he believes it should've been him.
- Portal Network: Topo knows about "hatches", which act as portals across the oceans and allow for fast traversal.
- Soul Fragment: Arthur ended up with a fragment of Orin's soul when he was born, which activated when the latter became the Dweller in the Depths.
- Supporting Protagonist: Arthur was ultimately a player in Orin's story as the keeper of his soul fragment and disappeared once his role was fulfilled and the original Aquaman returned.
- Take Over the World: Krusivax forged an alliance with Vandal Savage, who had a plan to sink a good portion of the populated Earth and rule over the people who would be forced, via genetic engineering, to live underwater.
- Taught by Television: Arthur lived in a tank for most of his life and learned about the world via TV.
- Tragic Dream: The Fisherman's helmet parasite endlessly seeks its masters despite no evidence they know where it is or can hear it. It's last seen futilely calling for them.
- Troperiffic: The series' premise is set up very much like an RPG, with Arthur getting powers he doesn't understand from a mysterious mentor after his 'hometown' was destroyed, but his father may still be alive. He proves himself by fighting some low-level enemies that gains him an ally, he meets the former ruler of a vast kingdom who asks for his help, challenges a rival early, and nearly has a Hopeless Boss Fight before a Heroic Second Wind. The second half of the series shifted genres to more traditional superhero fare, which had its own set of related tropes and acted like the second half of an RPG that shifts to science fiction.
