1977 Super DC Calendar

Here's something I didn't even know existed, an alternate version of Jim Aparo's striking Aquaman illustration for the 1977 Super DC Calendar! It's currently on hold as part of an online auction, which F.O.A.M.er Ilke Hincer was kind enough to send the Shrine's way.

Judging by the final version seen below, I assume that it was redone because in the above piece, the figures are so small and less impactful. If that was the case, you can see DC ultimately made the right choice. Still, any "new" Jim Aparo Aquaman art is worth seeing, thanks Ilke!

1976 Super DC Calendar

Oh man did I love these DC calendars as a kid, even if Aquaman often got swapped out in favor of Captain Marvel (it's a new year, trying to stay positive...).

That said, it's gratifying to see Aquaman leading--and closing--the month, with double birthdays for him and Mera. The whole calendar is chockablock with fun DC facts, and 2015 seemed the perfect time to run this, since the days line up exactly with 1976. Click the above image to download a full size calendar sheet which you can use for your home or office!

 

Happy 4th of July!

I usually like to post something America-ish for the annual 4th of July post, but of course Aquaman has never been one much for posing near flags, American or otherwise.

But there is this--the JLA entry (by the unbeatable team of Neal Adams and Dick Giordano) from the 1976 DC Comics Calendar, which features most of the team off an another adventure with Old Glory in the background (although what's with the magenta stripes?).

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Happy (Belated) Anniversary Arthur & Mera!

F.O.A.M. member Ray DeForest reminded me that June 27 is Aquaman and Mera's wedding anniversary, something the Shrine completely forgot to celebrate!

This image is from the 1976 DC Comics Calendar, noting the exact day of Arthur and Mera's nuptials. Now that the happy(?) couple are back together, it seems all the more appropriate to celebrate the day...even if the Shrine is a little late.

Let's hope by this time next year, Arthur and Mera will have shaken off all the turmoil and uncertainty that's dogging them post-Blackest Night, and are back on the road of wedded bliss (and a solo title!).

Thanks Ray!

Comic Book Zodiac - Aquarius

As promised, here's the other page from the Comic Book Zodiac, published by Deaver Park Press, featuring another member of the Aqua-Family.

I'm not sure why Aquaman wasn't used for Aquarius, with Mera being Pisces, but what the hey. Obviously the people behind this whole thing are pretty big Aquaman fans--who else would even think to give Mera her own page like this?

Thanks again for submitting this to our newest F.O.A.M. member, Stergios George Botzakis!

Comic Book Zodiac - Pisces

This is a page from the Comic Book Zodiac, published by Deaver Park Press. Each sign of the zodiac is represented by a superhero, culling characters from both DC and Marvel.

Aquaman is the only character who shares space on his page with a villain, in this case Black Manta of course. Amazingly, as we'll see later today, another member of the Aqua-Family makes an appearance in this publication, making it a fairly Aqua-centric piece!

The Comic Book Zodiac was pointed out to me by our newest F.O.A.M. member, Stergios George Botzakis, who saw it for sale at the Heroes Con earlier this month. Thanks Sterg!

Super Powers Calendar Page

This is an ingeniously designed page from a mid-1980s Super Powers calendar--I have forgotten where I got it from, since I don't have the calendar; all I do know is that its one of the oldest items to in "To Post" folder I have for the Shrine.

Anyway, I call it ingenious because it uses three pieces of Jose Luis Garcia Lopez stock art, and puts them together so it kind of looks like a complete sequence of Aquaman swimming away. Neat.


On an unrelated note, this piece reminds me of an assignment we had back in our third year at the Joe Kubert School. Our instructor for this one class was the legendary Irwin Hasen, and he told us to draw a house, in three separate seasons--any three of the four we chose.

It was an exercise to help us learn to consistency in what we were drawing, so all of us groaned at the thought of having to draw a boring ol' house three times, when all most of us wanted to do was draw Batman.

Anyway, the next week rolls around, and we all whip out our drawings. I sat next to my pal Dan Eaker, and was embarrassed at my effort compared to his--he drew three houses so meticulously, mathmatically perfect you could've used them as blueprints. My stuff just looked weak.

But we were both shocked at what another friend, Sean Tiffany, produced--he just drew one picture, of the same house, sliced into three panels, each showing that portion of the house during a different season. He cheated!

We were goofing on Sean and how he tried to cheat his way out of the assignment, and were sure Irwin would call him on it, especially compared to the masterful work Dan had produced.

We sat down and did a group review, and when Irwin got to Sean's, Dan and I got ready for the beat down. But Irwin took one look at it and said something to the effect of "Sean, I love what you did here, with the three panels! Brilliant!"

So not only did Sean cheat and do less work than he was instructed to do, but he complimented by the co-creator of Dondi for doing it! Sean shot us the biggest grin he could muster, and I died a little inside that day.


But please don't let my sad story take away from your enjoyment of the Aquaman piece!

Australian Super Powers 2009 Calendar

Judging by this calendar, sent to me by F.O.A.M. member Kyall Coulton (creator of the awesome Wonder Woman Collectors site) it is still somewhere around 1985 in Australia.

How else can you explain that the Super Powers brand is still be used on merchandise, twenty + years after the line folded up shop?

Don't get me wrong--I wish that DC's merchandise over here still looked like this, with the classic versions of the characters, as rendered by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez and Eduardo Barretto:

...Aquaman is clearly swimming his way towards my birthday. He's diving into August 18th, and then will level out and swim toward the 16th. No, really.

Between this and the JLA Calendar I posted last week, it makes one wonder again why this cool stuff isn't available in the United States! Arrggghh!

Oh well, at least, thanks to Kyall, we got to see it. Thanks Kyall!

JLA Calendar - 2009

Since we're just starting 2009, this seems like as good a time as any to post pics of this, a 2009 Justice League Calendar!

Its a very handsome product, and features most of the big name JLAers getting their own month (Aquaman gets April, as you can see, in a nice shot drawn by Ty Templeton, I think), adorned by stock art shots by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez.

For some reason, this calendar isn't available commercially here in the States, but a copy of it was obtained for me F.O.A.M. member Russell Burbage. Thanks Russell!

If I wanted to be picky, I could complain that Aquaman should've gotten his logo on the front of the calendar, in place of, say, The Flash's (sorry Dix), but let's just be happy Aquaman got his own month in the first place, shall we?

DC Comics April 1978 Calendar Page

I've been waiting for a good time to post this, the Aquaman entry for DC's 1978 "Super-Spectacular Disasters" calendar, so why not now?

This is of course Jim Aparo doing the honors, with Aquaman taking on a villain that, come to think of it, you'd think would lend himself perfectly to fighting more often--the Weather Wizard. Hey, Arthur pretty much poached The Shark away from Green Lantern, I'm sure Barry wouldn't mind losing one of his Rogues Gallery--he's got some to spare!

DC Comics June 1978 Calendar Page

Yes, another calendar page! This is from the 1978 DC Comics Calendar, the theme being "Super-Spectacular Disasters." The sub-theme apparently was having DC heroes take on villains they don't normally face, as you can see here with Ocean Master taking on...The Metal Men??

This nifty piece is drawn by none other than Walt Simonson, who drew the goofiest yet scariest sharks I've ever seen. The dates page tells the story, accompanied by panels by Simonson and Jim Aparo.

This page--and lots of other stuff we'll see down the line--was submitted by newest F.O.A.M. member Chuck Dill. Thanks Chuck, and we'll see you at AquaCon 2008!*

*Held in Ocean City, NJ, of course.

Super Powers 1984 Calendar Page

This is from the 1984 Super Powers calendar, back when they released calendars tied in to toylines. This piece is of course by the maestro Jose Luis Garcia Lopez.

It's worth noticing that when you have all the Super Powers characters together, the fight looks a little unfair--not only is it seven against four(it would've been even worse if they hadn't left out Robin!), but two of the villains can basically taken out with one punch. I'd say Supes and Lantern could handle this by themselves, leaving the other JLAers to stand around discussing toy risiduals.

The most specific fight pictued above is Aquaman vs. Joker, a fight I would love to see in the actual comics. Arthur would take the Joker Fish really personally.

DC Comics 1977 Calendar

Courtesy newest F.O.A.M. member Vincent Bartilucci, and hot on the fins of the 1976 DC Comics Calendar, comes Aquaman's 1977 entry, this time courtesy of my all-time favorite Aqua-artist, Jim Aparo!

And you know, I think this piece even outdoes Neal Adams' one from last year, no easy trick. Just look at this thing! The sensational layout, design, use of color, and depth of field--if this had ever made it onto a comic book cover, it would've been DC's strongest-selling issue that month--I would've defied any self-respecting comic book superhero reader not to pick up a book emblazoned with this image.

And as a nice bonus, the June calendar dates come with pics and fun-facts on some of Aquaman's most fearsome villains, like (from left) Ocean Master, The Fisherman, Karshon (a relatively forgettable bad guy, but who was in a storyline in Adventure Comics at that moment), and the Scavenger, plus some memorable moments from Aquaman's life! Great Barrier Reef, this thing's awesome!

Thanks so much to Vincent for sending it the Shrine's way!

DC Comics 1976 Calendar

It's January 29! Did you know that today is Aquaman's birthday? No, neither did I!

That's according to the 1976 Super DC Comics Calendar, an item that I've wanted to get for a while but have yet to acquire.

After seeing my now-infamous photo in Entertainment Weekly, F.O.A.M. member Russell Burbage generously emailed me some images from the calendar, including Aquaman's solo shot (with awesome art by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano) plus the dates for January, which lists Arthur's big day as the 29th, and Mera's as the 31st!

That of course makes him an Aquarius, which I guess is appropriate, though Pisces mighta been better...

To celebrate, everybody read an Aquaman comic today (one of the good ones)! And many thanks to Russell for the timely scans!