Death of a Prince is the name of a serialized Aquaman saga published in the 1970s that formed the basis of Aquaman's Bronze and Modern Age characterization. It began as a back-up in Adventure Comics starting in issue #435 and continuing to #452. The stories became popular enough to revive Aquaman's initial solo ongoing in order to finish the storyline, from Aquaman (1962) #57 to Aquaman #63.
After being dethroned by his own people and sent into exile, Aquaman discovers a conspiracy in his kingdom by the evil Karshon, and after a lengthy battle, stops the Shark from keeping the throne. Rather than reclaim his birthright, he becomes a superhero full-time, but even Aquaman cannot escape tragedy as Black Manta kidnaps and kills his infant son after forcing him and Aqualad to fight to the death.
In the midst of all this, the nameless Aqualad feels betrayed by his partner and seeks to learn more about his heritage, his culture and his parents. His violent search leads him to discover his true identity and a dark secret from long ago...
This storyline is one of the most iconic and influential storylines in the Aquaman franchise, another being Throne of Atlantis. The Aqualad part of the storyline (Adventure Comics #453-455) is based on Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, to the point that Garth isn't named in this storyline (or any before; he was first named in Tales of the Teen Titans #45).
This storyline was used as a basis for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Death of a Prince provides examples of:
- Blinded by Rage: Arthur Jr. didn't die right away like Aquaman thought, and while Mera went in search of a cure and failed to save their son in time, Arthur was on a revenge quest against Black Manta and missed the whole thing, prioritizing personally killing Manta over potentially helping his son.
- Death of a Child: Arthur Jr. was infamously suffocated and killed, changing the comic for decades to come.
- Death by Origin Story: Aqualad is only an Atlantean citizen due to his father, King Thar, being killed by the Idyllists for his tyrannical nature.
- Involuntary Battle to the Death: Incurred by Black Manta between Arthur and Aqualad for Arthur Jr.
- Killed Off for Real: One of the first major examples of this with Arthur Jr. being killed off with no revival in the years since.
- Really Royalty Reveal: Garth is the prince of the Idyllists since his parents are King Thar and Queen Berra.
- Suddenly Ethnicity: Black Manta is revealed to be Black, 10 years after his first appearance.David: No, I mean exactly what I said: "my people." Or have you never wondered why I'm called Black Manta?
- Tragic Mistake: Arthur being perfectly willing to kill Garth to save his son, then charging ahead with his revenge quest, ended up nearly costing him his friendship with Aqualad and may have ensured his son's death by not helping Mera when she went alone to save him and returned too late. Mera subsequently blames him for their child's death, and Arthur can't really refute it.
- Unexpectedly Dark Episode: The storyline began innocuously as Aqualad went missing on a quest for his family. Aquaman went to find him and found Black Manta had kidnapped him, Topo the octopus, and his toddler son Arthur Jr., which wasn't unusual for the time period or preceding stories. Then Manta revealed he'd encased the baby in air to suffocate and would force them to fight to the death to save him, and even after a solution was found, Arthur Jr. died.
- 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.
