Aquaman To The Rescue!

F.O.A.M. member Nathan Archer sent in this pic of the band-aid his doctor gave him after receiving his flu shot. Nice job, Doc!

Aquaman @ 2016 East Coast Comic Con

Check it out, Aquaman (aka new F.O.A.M.er Charlie Humphries) was spotted at last weekend's East Coast Comic Con! I hope Bats let him drive around in one of those Batmobiles, getting around North Jersey is a real PITA.

Nice costume Charlie, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

(h/t: F.O.A.M.er John Trumbull)

Jesús Guerra, Aquaman Fan!

I got a very nice email the other day from Aqua-Fan Jesus Guerra, who hails from Mexico and just had a birthday full of Aquaman-related goodery. Case in point: an Aquaman cake made by his girlfriend! Jesus also wears a homemade Aquaman t-shirt and necklace he got for his last birthday, and also sent a pic of his beloved Aquaman Funko doll!

That's enough for a F.O.A.M. membership, don't you think so? I do! Jesus, welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Desmond Toussaint, Aquaman Fan!

This handsome, dapper fellow is Desmond Toussaint, son of die-hard Aqua-Fan Alexis Toussaint, who made this costume herself! Hey Alexis, can you make one in XL?

Thanks so much for the pics, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Aquaman Art Gallery: Monte Moore

This is a painting of Aquaman riding a hammerhead shark. Do I really need to say more?

Okay, I guess I do--it's by artist Monte Moore, commissioned by our newest member of F.O.A.M., Kevin Elman. Kevin has two whole sketchbooks of Aquaman art, some of which will show up here eventually.

But in the meantime, let me reiterate, this is Aquaman riding a hammerhead shark.

Atlanteans Fantasy Football

Newest F.O.A.M. member JB Burton sent in these pics of an actual fantasy (weird, putting those two words together) football team called the Atlanteans, decked out in Aquaman's colors! I don't know anything about real football, let alone the fantasy version, so I assume this is a team someone could use if they wanted? All I do know know is, they have a heated rivalry with with Milwaukee Mantas.

This is probably the only football player who would like getting doused with a bucket of cold water after the game.

Thanks JB, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Sideshow Toys Aquaman Statue

As the little card at the bottom indicates, this is the prototype for Sideshow Toys' Premium Format Aquaman Figure that was on display at the 2015 SDCC. 

We covered it over on the Shrine's Twitter feed at the time, but I'm lazy so we're just getting to it now. Thanks to newest F.O.A.M.er Michael Williamson for reminding me and for sending this pic!

Aquaman #63 by Fred Hembeck

Check out this beautiful recreation of Jim Aparo's cover to Aquaman #63 by the one and only Fred Hembeck! This was submitted by our newest F.O.A.M. member, Jim Bal, who commissioned it from Fred because it was the first Aquaman comic Jim ever read. Other than it being the final issue of the series (*sniff*), not a bad place to start!

Thanks Jim, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Summer The Aqua-Dog

F.O.A.M.er Bill Cameron's Italian Greyhound Summer is ready to make a splash!

Aquaman Family

This is the personal Aquaman Shrine our newest F.O.A.M.er, Caylee Griffin, age 11. According to her father Shane, who wrote me, Caylee has been an Aquaman fan since she was 4(!). Shane also mentioned that his twin brother Paul Griffin is an Aquaman fan, and that this was something passed down by their father who gave his Aquaman comics collection to his kids, with Aquaman #50 being particularly beloved (that book's Deadman back-up feature turned Shane into a big fan of Boston Brand, as well).

Paul runs a Twitter account dedicated to Aquaman with the handle @DCWorldAquaman, and in between Shane's first email and this post, Caylee was so thrilled to be enrolled into F.O.A.M. that she posed for this adorable picture:

This is truly an amazing story of Aqua-Fandom, spanning three generations! With fans like this, we can all rest assure that the Sea King will continue to be around for a long, long time.

Thanks very to Shane Griffin for reaching out, and Paul and Caylee Griffin, welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Aquaman Cosplay

This is cosplayer (and newest member of F.O.A.M.) Jason Mckay in one bad-ass Aquaman outfit! He wore this at the Dallas Comic Con a few weeks ago, with plans to try out other Aqua-costumes as the year rolls on. Looking forward to seeing those, Jason!

Check out more of his cosplay on Facebook, and welcome Jason to F.O.A.M.!

Matt Archibald, Aquaman Fan

These photos come from newest F.O.A.M. member Matt Archibald--that's Matt in full Aquaman regalia, wearing a wedding band engraved with a trident, and his Aqua-themed Groom's Cake! Outrageous!

Thanks for sending these in Matt, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Conor and Rick's Aqua-Birthday

I received this email and series of pics from F.O.A.M.er Jeff Petersen. Take it away, Jeff!

Greetings O keeper of the shrine! I just had a great Aquaman themed weekend with my boys that I'd like to share in the hopes of inspiring others. Well no, it's mostly about feeding my own ego if I'm going to be honest about it.

My sons Conor (7) and Rick (4), proud F.O.A.M. members both, had been looking forward to our second annual Aquaman's birthday celebration for some time now, and it turned out to be the perfect cure for the post holiday doldrums. On a Saturday morning we started the festivities with Aquaman-gifts, which included Mego style Aquaman and Sea Ghost figures, wooden boat kits, and some comics from the dollar bin. The Megos were a big hit.

Conor is very imaginative, and never pretends to be Aquaman or Batman or Luke Skywalker preferring instead to invent his own characters. I have always encouraged this, so our next activity was to create our own underwater heroes and draw them on DIY trading (index) cards complete with powers and abilities on the back.  He is particularly proud of Sea Bat and the Jellyfish.

We then watched the new Throne of Atlantis film whilst snacking on Goldfish and Swedish Fish candies. Both boys loved the movie but there favorite part by far was the Black Manta/Shark scene and they got really excited when Aquaman said "outrageous." It's a commonly uttered exclamation around here.

In the evening we went out for fish and chips, since that is Aquaman's favorite, then home for Aqua-soda floats, via the DC Heroes cookbook, for dessert. Bedtime being right around the corner, we made a bunk bed submarine, into which, the three of us crammed to read comics by the light of a small camping lantern all the while being lulled to sleep by the humpback whale lullabies right outside our bed sheet. I mean hull.

On Sunday the DC Heroes Cookbook once again came in handy as we broke our fast with Aquaman breakfast cereal, and watched a few Filmation Aquaman episodes. Then we all headed out to the NY Aquarium on Coney Island for the educational portion of the weekend. Rick, in particular, was fascinated by the walruses. He was Aqualad for Halloween in 2013, and I bought him a stuffed walrus to go with his costume. He has slept with "Tusky" ever since and was very excited to see actual walruses up close for the first time.

We then adjourned to the board walk to see the ocean and wish the Sea King a happy birthday with the Aqua-cupcakes provided by my lovely wife, Helena, who has always been a good sport, but has now graduated to fully on board with our Aqua- shenanigans. Or should that be aquananigans? No, upon further inspection Aqua-shenanigans will do nicely.

I'm not fool enough to think for one second that my kids like Aquaman for any other reason than the fact that I do, and they are still young enough to look up to me. But I have always thought that if a child shows an interest in something, you need to run with that interest and take it to its furthest reaches. My wife and I have been using Aquaman as a vehicle to explore marine biology and maritime history (which is a fancy way to say "we love sharks and anything to do with pirates and submarines is cool!" in kid speak). For that matter, Aquaman got my boys to eat something they never would have tried otherwise (granola in their cereal) and order something in a restaurant other than chicken fingers (fish and chips. Not exactly health food but it's a start.) I don't pretend to be Super Dad, but it seems to me that imagination is in short supply these days, even though It's not a difficult thing to foster in the mind of a child. 

In closing thank you for the support you provide through the shrine as both a resource and an inspiration. Thank you for F.O.A.M. which helps make little dreamers feel that they are a part of something bigger.

Fan the Flame and ride the wave!

Aquaman Bead Figurine

This adorable little Aquaman bead figurine is from the collection of newest F.O.A.M. member Michelle Hosier, who received it as a gift from her kids (it currently hangs from her car mirror, which probably gets her out of traffic tickets).

Michelle says she always wear Aquaman t-shirts to cons, and gets comments from at least another Aqua-Fan. She also sent this picture of her own personal Aquaman Shrine, which she describes as "a work in progress":

Michelle, you're off to a good start! Thanks for the email, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Aquaman's Supersea Aquarium

The Shrine posted this item many, many years ago, but at the time all I had was the box and the tank--the version I bought on eBay didn't come with the insert and little booklet, which sort of defeated the whole purpose of having the thing!

But thanks to newest F.O.A.M. member Karl Bolter, we now have these pics courtesy of another eBay auction. Quite an unusual piece, and not something you see often. Now whoever bought this baby can have their fish enjoy the classic Aquaman stock art pose by Murphy Anderson, up close and personal.

Thanks Karl, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

AquaShrines: Ben Brandt

The start of a promising Aquaman Shrine from our newest F.O.A.M.er, Ben Brandt! Though I find the corpse-like Aquaman keychain hanging from the trident a little disturbing.




Thanks Ben, welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Adventures of the AquaHoodie: Lara Quinones

These are pics of our newest F.O.A.M.er, Lara Quinones, rocking an AquaHoodie, which was a gift from her husband Erick!

It was Erick who emailed me, saying that while his lovely wife is a passionate fan of the Sea King, she is also rather shy. So while she wanted to join the hallowed halls of F.O.A.M., she could never quite bring herself to send anything in, so Erick did it for her. +10 Husband Points for that, Erick!

Not only does Lara wear the AquaHoodie at comic cons, she also commissions artists to original Aqua-Sketches, like you see here:

...now that's a fan! Lara, you are truly a Friend of AquaMan, so welcome to F.O.A.M.!

French Aquaman Covers

Courtesy newest F.O.A.M. member Chance Van Pelt come these *awesome* French editions of Aquaman comics!

Actually, to be more accurate, these are French editions of Blackhawk (hence the logo), which featured DC's Nazi-busting fighting force sharing their book with Aquaman, Firestorm, the Teen Titans, and the Legion of Super-Heroes. The first and third covers are from Adventure Comics #449 and Aquaman #63, respectively. The second is a complete mystery--I suspect it's an Aquaman panel re-drawn by someone in-house (while smoking, drinking wine, and eating a baguette, no doubt) in an attempt to turn it into a cover.

I love seeing stuff like this, thanks Chance, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!