Aquaman was given the "royal treatment" with his own half hour, along with the guest spots. Whether it was budgetary constraints or the fact that Aquaman was already the star of his half of the hour which prevented Filmation from adding him to the JLA, the point remains that he did have his own series at a time when the guest stars--Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman, the Teen Titans and the JLA--did not. It meant Aquaman was popular or respected enough to be the second half of the hour, and in the fall of 1968, as The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure transitioned into The Batman/Superman Hour, Aquaman was granted his own half-hour series on CBS, instead of produced episodes just sold to syndication.

He would not see that kind of individual attention until the WB Justice League cartoon in this century, so I would say as an adapted superhero, Aquaman of the 1960s was treated like an "A-List" character.

Probably because the cartoon writers thought only of Aquaman's power to talk to fish rather than strength etc., so they had trouble thinking of scenarios in which his fish-talking power would be useful, so they avoided using him much.

KING OF THE FREAKING SEVEN SEAS and over 70'% of Earth is ocean! Nuff Said. And nobody asks if that alien putz from Krypton deserves a seat or if Batman only bought his spot?

I've never seen those Filmation episodes, unfortunately, though I've seen a couple of Teen Titans episodes with Aqualad.


As far as Aquaman in the Super Friends, I thought they did a very good job with him in season 1, but not as good subsequent seasons. At that point, they sadly seemed to reduce him to "the guy who talks to fish" to paraphrase some comedian.

Some posters here have talked about the oceans being 70% of the globe. That's a good reason, in itself, to include him in the JLA.

He is a heavy hitter. If I were assembling a JL incarnation, he'd be on there. Yes, in a way, he is a "specialist". But don't we need specialists in super teams? Or anywhere?

Imagine you were setting up a hospital that you wanted to be the best. You'd want a heart surgeon, emergency doctor, neurosurgeon, etc. Now, some may, to use the neurosurgeon as an example, say something like, "But he only operates on brains!" That is true, but that's a skill you want on your team. Obviously, it means you can't put the neurosurgeon to work on someone's heart problem. Or on someone's veins/arteries. But he can certainly do some stellar work on someone's brain!

And it's not just about being a specialist, either. That neurosurgeon, to continue the example, will have other skills. Away from neurosurgery, he will no doubt help if someone collapses in the streets. He'll know CPR. He'll be able to treat someone until a paramedic arrives. During such a scenario, the "He can only operate on brains!" crowd will realise that he's an asset in many scenarios.

So, yes, Aquaman is a specialist. He's more of a specialist than a generalist, I guess. But he, like any good JLA member, is multi-faceted. And as a heavy hitter, I believe he belongs in the JLA.

I think it's a facet of superhero universes that there is a lot more random crime in general. Certainly early Silver Age Aquaman - before he regularly dealt with Atlantis and his stories became more political and fantasy based - never had trouble finding smugglers for Topo to shoot with a bow and arrow and dastardly supervillains like the Human Flying Fish.

I kind of see what you're saying, though - There's not much going on in the middle of the Atlantic. Buuut I really liked how the Wolfman/Perez Titans were all specialists in their own areas of expertise (technology, sci-fi, horror/magic, comedy, detective etc.) and they all provided unique story hooks. Aquaman does the same thing for the JLA, and I like that a lot. If you don't want 70% of the world's surface how about "human civilization tends to cluster around oceans, lakes, and rivers. It's good to have a guy who's specialty is oceans, lakes, and rivers!"