The Horror of Aquaman
Aquaman gets no love. He is made into a joke on Family Guy and his fellow members of the JLA keep humming the tune “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid whenever he is around. Hell, I only know one guy who is really into him as a character.
Mind you, Aquaman is difficult. It takes some work to determine how he can really be used, and if the adventure is on land, well, why would an author even use him?
Yet the sea affects us all, so I think that Aquaman must be more powerful then we realize. If that were true, why would he hide it? On top of that, seeing all of he beautifully ugly things that come up from the deep sea, I began to wonder, “What if Aquaman wasn’t a hero?” Oh, sure, he has done lots of heroic things, but what if he did them for terrible reasons? That’s when I started to think that maybe Aquaman, as well as the rest of the Atlanteans, were further removed from humanity than we thought, and, if so, what it would be that they really want?
Batman Vox Humana Issue #2.5 Page 8
Page 8
Aquaman: It wasn’t a mistake. You’re right. Bruce is only human and he will never be able to do what you can.
Superman: What? Okay, wait, what are you saying?
Martian Manhunter (speaking in Superman’s mind): He’s reminding you that you aren’t human.
Superman: You think I don’t know that? You think I haven’t worked hard to be accepted here?
The Floronic Man
The Floronic Man is a prime example of a person that DC just does not know what to do with. He has been a professor, an interdimensional traveler, a drug dealer, a hero (known as Floro), and a number of things in between. To me, though, he will always be a villain. When I was trying to think of a story for the Floronic Man, I thought about my nightmares and the things that would frighten me. What scares me about this interpretation of the Floronic Man is that he is indifferent to humanity. It is not that he doesn’t care about a human’s well being (he doesn’t), but that it does not affect him either way. People are just tools to be used, and those people that could be competition need to be eliminated. What also frightens me is that the Floronic Man does not attempt to communicate with people at all. By becoming a plant-human hybrid, the Floronic Man has made himself into something truly alien in mind.
