Respect the Fish, Man

As a little boy growing up in West Texas, I always enjoyed the summer days when my brother and I would walk the six or seven blocks to our local public swimming pool (which, of all things, was called “The Swimming Hole” ... and yes, that's actually a picture of it) to join dozens (it seemed like hundreds!) of other kids in the pool. As one of the youngest, I always stayed and played in the shallow end while my brother dove off the high dive. Not because I wasn’t able to swim (I was alright at it), but because I didn’t want to get caught up in the rough-housing of the older and bigger kids. I just wanted to put my goggles on and go under the surface … so I could look at everybody else underwater.

At the age of twelve, my mother worked a massive amount of overtime so that she could dig a pool in the family’s backyard … something that, in retrospect, probably put the family well into debt. I don’t think she particularly cared. I sure didn’t. We had a pool!

When you take an imaginative twelve year old boy and give him a pair of goggles and sixteen thousand gallons of water on a hot summer’s day … well, so long as he didn’t drown, you had a full-time babysitter. I was always a bit of a loner … I didn’t need friends my age to play with … I had a pool!

Ask anybody who was once a young boy who put on the goggles, went underwater and pushed off the side of the pool … cutting a path gracefully in the water … and they will tell you one thing: Aquaman is pretty cool!

Those of you who read or follow what is going on in comic books these days knows that Aquaman is going through something of a popularity resurgence thanks to Geoff Johns, who made Green Lantern and the Flash interesting in recent years. Those of you who do not follow comic books still know who Aquaman is though. He’s one of the most popular and well-recognized superheroes in history. Unfortunately, for the past couple of decades, he’s been something of a joke.

We can thank Saturday morning cartoons in the ‘70s and ‘80s for that. Why, in the ‘60s Aquaman had one of the best action cartoons around … following in the footsteps of The New Adventures of Superman and then joining the world’s greatest and most popular superhero in The Superman-Aquaman Hour of Adventure. But the ‘70s rolled in and in 1973 there was a new take on Aquaman … as one of the Superfriends!

For the next dozen years Aquaman shared his adventures with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and (in later years) a number of other Justice League of America superheroes. Thanks to some unimaginative writing and to the show’s focus on being child-friendly, Aquaman got the short-end of the stick. Unless an adventure took our heroes underwater, Aquaman was stuck riding shotgun in Wonder Woman’s invisible jet and standing around asking things like, “What do we do now, Batman?”

But as much as we might joke about a hero who’s biggest contribution to saving the world is often “talking to fish,” I think we all identify with Aquaman. I think we laugh because we relate to him. Aquaman may be the King of Atlantis, but on the surface, he’s just like us. Think about it: here is a hero with a strong sense of right and wrong and with abilities that are very specific, yet very fantastic. He’s not as smart as Batman, can’t fly like Superman and isn’t as strong as Wonder Woman … heck, even Robin the Boy Wonder has better gadgets in his belt … yet in his element, he is something special! He’s just along for the adventure … just like you and I in this world … and waiting for the opportunity to contribute. On top of all of that ... he has a family ... a wife and (for a time) a son ... not something touched on by his other Super Friends.

He is the ultimate underdog among superheroes … and that’s what makes him more human and more relatable than the rest of his Super Friends. He has the doubts and insecurities that you and I have … but he also has an amazing talent and skill ready for display. He rides a giant seahorse, for crying out loud!

So laugh at Aquaman! He can take it. Make him the butt of your jokes. That’s okay. But next time you’re in a body of water, take a deep breath and go under … push off and glide through the waves … and I promise, when you come up for air you’ll remember … Aquaman is pretty cool!