I feel like I started reading Lord of the Rings on page 210 of The Two Towers. I just finished the first issue of the miniseries and I don’t understand who any of these characters are or their relation to each other or…well, anything, really. Did I pick a bad place to start reading Aquaman? I’ve been reading the various 80’s single character miniseries (Byrne’s Man of Steel, Perez’s Wonder Woman) to get a feel for each of the JLA characters I’m not familiar with and this one…I feel like is a bad place to start.
I’ve previously posted the reading order for the early post-Crisis Aquaman stories:
It should be a little easier to follow once you get to The Legend of Aquaman. However, I would recommend that you go back and read Aquaman #57-63 first.
• Aquaman: Time and Tide, the lead-in to Peter David’s Aquaman run
• Aquaman (1994) #1, the beginning of David’s run on the series
• Aquaman (2011-2016), the New 52 series
• Aquaman (2016-present), the current series, with a great run by Dan Abnett
Should you want to dive into Aquaman-related series that star characters in addition to/other than Arthur, there’s:
• Tempest (1996)
• Aquaman and The Others (2014)
• Mera: Queen of Atlantis (2018)
They’re all highly enjoyable series that showcase important Aquaman allies.
Where should you start reading Aquaman? How about Aquaman #1 (cover-dated Jan.Feb 1962)? Those silly, impossibly fun books are on the app. A great side-benefit of diving (sorry) into these books is the opportunity to peruse the wonderful storytelling and draftsmanship of series artist–Nick Cardy.
That’s not a bad idea in principle. I was just trying to fast-track myself to getting to know the core JLA members (like I did through Byrne’s Man of Steel and Perez’s Wonder Woman). I’ll probably give up on Aquaman for the time being and come back when I’ve finished up the dozen other runs/miniseries I’ve been trying to get through.
We are a bit spoiled for choice here and that leads to me constantly starting new series to read. I think I’m just gonna try to focus on one thing at a time.
The New 52 series that Vroom mentioned earlier is really good and, from what a recall, a great jumping on point. Don’t give up on Aquaman! He needs you!
I may give it a try when I have less on my plate but one of the reasons I read fewer modern comics is just not liking the way they look, the layouts, the compositions, the digital ink and paint. I may get to the point of reading it eventually but I found with the Green Arrow rebirth and a couple of the Batman titles that the layouts seem really “busy” and tough to follow visually.
The 1985 series, though I didn’t understand it, is absolutely dynamite in layout and presentation. I’ve always loved 80’s DC for those factors (even when I don’t necessarily love the book being presented).
If you remember, let me know what you think about new 52 Aquaman whenever you do come around to it. I could be wrong, but I think you’ll dig it. I agree with you on that Green Arrow series being “busy” with the paneling feeling cluttered a lot of times.
When you’re ready for more Aquaman, two other easy to get into options are:
● JLA (1997-2006) #'s 66-76, the lead up to, the complete story of and the epilogue to The Obsidian Age, a story that Aquaman is a focal point of.
● Aquaman (2003-2006) This series takes place after The Obsidian Age. It really starts to cook from #15 until it’s final issue (#39), where afterward at #40, it becomes Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis, also a good read.
