“Paul is so incredibly pro, and very patient with me as I’m the one who has to synch up with the team. It feels like a perfect time to be experimental,” Parker said. “First, we’re going to bring in some new foes, reinvent some from the distant past. Praising Pelletier, who joined the book last year, the writer also promised readers will see more of Pelletier’s design work as the two create new and redesign returning classic characters. Keeping Paul Pelletier in the art seat does a lot, in my mind. “They’re very proud of the book and want to keep the quality nice and high, so we’ve all been pretty thorough about staying on track. “Geoff’s juggling a lot of plates, so Matt Idelson and Chris Conroy have been helping me with that, mostly,'” Parker said. While the “Seven Seas” story set up in the last pages of issue #25 will primarily cross over into Johns’ “Justice League” in 2014, Parker worked closely with the “Aquaman” editorial team on handling the December creative transition, coordinating exactly how involved the series will be in the larger story.

They don’t care about the politics, they just know someone is looking out for them - much the way his dad did as a lighthouse keeper.” “Aquaman’s reputation is growing among regular folks, particularly those who have been rescued by him. “You don’t see the Atlanteans, you just know they’re down there with military forces able to surface at any time.”īut though Aquaman the King might represent a political and military threat, Arthur Curry is still, first and foremost, a hero. By his very nature, many people can’t relate to him, and most people in charge assume he has an agenda,” Parker explained. government is also trying to reconcile the sudden emergence of Arthur Curry as sovereign king of a mysterious underwater nation with Aquaman the superhero. This tension between Atlantis and the land-lubbing world goes both ways as the U.S.

“They don’t seem to get that he functions as their ambassador to the surface, otherwise they’d be treated as a completely hostile nation.” “We do continue to see him doing good work up on land, which doesn’t sit well with most Atlanteans,” Parker said. Parker promises to give readers plenty of the king fighting bad guys above the waves even as he contends with detractors below. He tries mightily to do it all, but you know what happens when you try to please everybody.”Īnd Aquaman won’t be the only one doing a balancing act. “The surface world needs him, they need him. “As one of the few people who understand both worlds, he’s the perfect person to be in that role - but it’s just too demanding a role. As for how Arthur will manage his superhero work/Atlantis responsibilities balance, “He’s realizing that he needs to make changes as king, and that Atlantis needs to learn to deal with the rest of the world and stop thinking of itself as so different,” Parker explained.

Aquaman, Volume 5 by Jeff Parker