Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Top 10 Aquaman Covers of the 1980s

10) Adventure Comics #475 (September, 1980)

Honestly? I expect better than this from Bolland, as it's kind of bland. Weird concept, too. Makes the trio seem like a loser squad.

9) The Best of the Brave and the Bold #3 (December, 1988)

Fantastic Aquaman and Ocean Master, as expected from Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, but too much Batman.

8) Justice League of America #242 (September, 1985)

Nice idea, but it comes off kind of stiff and staged.

7) Aquaman #4 (May, 1986)

A dramatic image, but between the pentagram and the new costume, barely registers as Aquaman. Great Ocean Master, though.

6) Aquaman #5 (October, 1989)

Command those fishies, sir!

5) Adventure Comics #478 (December, 1980)

Old school split decision cover, with a cameo by Black Manta and the complimentary art stylings of Dick Giordano.

4) Aquaman #4 (September, 1989)

Damned creepy, and it foreshadows the dark fantasy of the current series while calling back to the moody covers of the 1960s.

3) The Legend of Aquaman #1 (1989)

Curt Swan might not have been the ideal choice to launch a successful Aquaman series by 1989, but this is still a snazzy image that landed on some merch.

2) Aquaman #1 (June, 1989)

This is a badass art school project, but it seems a bit out of place applied to a guy commanding fishies. Careful that oar doesn't bean our hero!

1) Aquaman #1 (February, 1986)

It may be one of his shortest-lived looks/costumes, but this Aquaman cover composition is one of the best loved and memorable of all.

Their Top Covers of the 1980s

4 comments:

The Irredeemable Shag said...

Great choices! I agree with nearly all of these as the best of the 80s. Some really gorgeous covers in there. Those Craig Hamilton covers are to die for! Wish I had some of those as posters.

The only one I would definitely ditch is your #6 (Aquaman #5). Never liked that cover. I would replace it with Justice League of America Annual #2 (the first appearance of the JLD).

Again, great list!

The Irredeemable Shag

The Irredeemable Shag said...

I forgot to mention that I really dig the Blue costume!

The Irredeemable Shag

Diabolu Frank said...

I like the costume that Craig Hamilton drew better than how Hamilton drew the classic costume. Hamilton drew a great costume, but no one else but Hamilton could draw the damned thing. That awkward phrasing was meant to both both applaud and caution against further use of Icecapades as inspiration in heroic design.

Between you and me, I included Aquaman #5, and at a relatively high ranking, out of a sense of obligation. That image appeared on a postage stamp and some other odds and sods. It's also a decent representation of a unique power employed on a large scale. That said, I never much liked it either. Looks like he's sending waves of vibration from stress on his sphincter. Plankton is like cement in the colon, I hear. There might also be a psychological element related to that giant purple shaft he's standing on. Aquaman did spend time in prison, after all.

The Irredeemable Shag said...

LOL!

And agreed about the Icecapades costume. I have the action figure and it's desperately looking for a Dorothy Hamill figure to join him.

Shag