Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis, #43, August 2006
Butch (Jackson) Guice and Tony DeZuniga could not have possibly drawn a page in 2006 that is more counterintuitive to their specific art styles than this one-of-a-kind opening splash featuring Aquaman as originally seen in the 1967 CBS cartoon. (“Tusky” the walrus is along for the ride.)
It’s part of a yet another revamp of the character that happened mid-stream when Aquaman became Aquaman, Sword of Atlantis a few issues earlier. Without getting too bogged down in the editorial minutiae, this page is self-aware, as it is a flashback for our protagonist recalling the little he knows about the Aquaman character.
September was typically the roughest time of the year for most kids with school days replacing summer break, but the new cartoon season helped salve the wounds — a bit, anyway. (I didn’t care that much about Aquaman, but Filmation managed to sneak some Justice League and Teen Titan cartoons into the show’s mix. And I thought that was the greatest thing since…. well, I was a little kid, so probably since… anything. At least until the next big thing came along.)
Fun Fact: The original art featured an outline for a title page logo that was ultimately not used in the published version.
