Ask Elle #284: What if Aquaman is Actually the Best?
Q: Why are there so many people defending Aquaman and not any other unpopular super-hero? — @Ettore_Costa
A: First off, I don’t entirely agree that other unpopular superheroes don’t have their share of defenders. There’s a loud minority of people who really, really love Cyclops, for example, and can defend him all day long. My own favorite super-hero is Boom Boom, and all you have to say to bait me into an argument is, “But isn’t she really boring except in that one Warren Ellis comic where she’s an idiot?” There are probably even people who really like Red Tornado (I have never met these people).
But each maligned hero has their particular problem, and that colors how they’re defended as much as it does how they’re attacked. Aquaman’s been around since 1941. He’s one of five DC heroes who never stopped appearing in comics between the Golden Age and the Silver Age. He’s a founding member of the Justice League. And what do people say when the criticize Aquaman? “He’s dumb because all he does is talk to fish.”