When Shin went public with the discovery, but Tom and Arthur refused to validate his claims, Shin lost everything, becoming the laughing stock of the scientific community. Stephen Shin, a doctor Tom Curry turned to when trying to help his son cope with his emerging Atlantean abilities. The explanation is discovered by Mera, after interrogating Dr. Because it was Aquaman who committed the murder that started their feud. But this time around, his mission against Aquaman was completely earned - and not the kind of origin story a superhero tends to receive. The culprit was, unsurprisingly, Black Manta. After dealing with an underwater threat, the focus shifted to old friends of Aquaman being tracked down and murdered, one by one. Taking the lead on Aquaman out of the gate, Johns delivered one of Arhur Curry's best adventures and mythology-expanding epics to date. But if we were betting, it's Geoff Johns's most recent reboot of the character that will be use as foundation for adaptation - since Johns is also leading DC Films.Įvery comic book fan was aware of how little respect Aquaman was given when the launch of the New 52 rolled around, and Geoff Johns was determined to change the conversation. It was a clever merging of several storylines in the DC Universe, and one that could be picked up if the DCEU ever receives a Teen Titans branch. He did his best to murder the boy, but with his abilities reaching full power, and with Aquaman, Mera, and Aquagirl helping him, the fight went in his favor, leaving Manta to escape and plot his next attack. Experiments were conducted upon the unborn child, granting him his superhuman abilities, and shaping him into the living, breathing reminder of the life stolen from Manta. In yet another origin story, Manta and his pregnant wife were descended upon by the Xebelians before returning to their own home. The new Aqualad fighting to continue Aquaman's legacy with the younger generation of DC heroes was no Atlantean. More at home in water than a bed, harsh "therapies" rendered him a violent, hateful killer focused on Aquaman, before the Atlantean king cured his mind (but actually didn't).Īfter some general villain-ing, a group of quasi-Atlanteans hailing from Xebel - the extra-dimensional, aquatic society from which Mera, Arthur's longtime love, also originated - to inform Black Manta that he had more than revenge to motivate him. In Aquaman #8 (2003), Rick Veitch imagined Manta's childhood as one spent at Arkham Asylum, at a time when few understood how to diagnose, let alone treat his autism. Kidnapped and pressed into service on a fishing vessel, facing physical and (implied) sexual abuse, Manta - or 'David' - grew to despise the sea and everything in it, chiefly Aquaman, who failed to hear his cries for help. In Aquaman #6 (1993) writer Shaun McLaughlin turned Black Manta into a tragic figure, revealing his own childhood trauma that devoted him to years of cruelly tormenting Arthur Curry and his family. But with regular reboots throughout the 1990s and 2000s, we have a long list of influences that James Wan can (but may choose not to) draw from. As often ill-informed as they were interesting, it's only in hindsight that the stories seem misguided, since these origin stories could have been turned into nuanced, long-lasting narratives. To say the least, the results were varied, tonally random, and more than anything. But in the years that followed, writers sought to give Manta a more complicated story and character. The time at which the comic was released can explain away the irrational debut, when a villain in a bulbous helmet was as good an enemy as any other.
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