Now That's An Interesting Change

Aquaman 0
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, artists

This Zero Issue falls in the middle of "The Others" story arc currently playing out in this title. But since that story arc is serving to give readers a glimpse of Aquaman's past in the DCnU, a Zero Issue doing more of the same seems to fit nicely. So far, "The Others" story arc has shown readers how the dynamics of the bitter feud between Aquaman and Black Manta have changed with this new reality. This Zero Issue focuses on another Aqua-villain, also setting up things to come in the next story arc.

The issue begins six years ago with a younger Arthur sitting by his dying father's bedside. This is before the Justice League, even before the Others. As Tom Curry pushes his son to seek out his mother, the lighthouse keeper's home is surrounded by reporters and curious onlookers. The mob has been drawn to the Curry home seeking confirmation of the public statements about Atlantis and Arthur's origins made by Dr. Stephen Shin, as revealed elsewhere in "The Others."

Tom Curry dies, and a deeply distraught Arthur storms out of the house, past the mob and dives into the ocean. Months pass as the young man searches in vain for the lost continent of Atlantis. Until one (forgive me) dark and stormy night when he happens upon a small two-person vessel in trouble. Arthur saves the father and daughter from crashing onto a reef in the storm, and the next morning, after sharing with them the details of his futile search, the father tells Arthur of someone else who claims Atlantis is a real place -- a man named Vulko.

Arthur seeks out Vulko, and to his astonishment, learns that Vulko has been looking for him. Arthur's mother, Atlanna, the Queen of Atlantis, is dead. Vulko explains that she had fled Atlantis when Arthur was born so she could take him to his father, Tom Curry. But then Atlanna had to return to Atlantis to prevent Tom and Arthur from being discovered. Upon her return to Atlantis, Atlanna was forced to marry and later conceived a second son, Arthur's half-brother, Orm. On Orm's 12th birthday, his father was killed, and shortly after, Atlanna died as well. Vulko believed that Atlanna died at the hands of her son, Orm, and when he spoke up, he was driven from Atlantis by loyalists of the new king. After sharing all of this, Vulko is insistent that Arthur return to Atlantis with him as the rightful heir to the throne of the undersea kingdom, a not so subtle nod to the upcoming Aquaman/Justice League crossover "The Throne of Atlantis."

Vulko has been a part of Aquaman's story for a long time as a friend and adviser to the throne. This version of Vulko appears considerably younger than the white-haired man often depicted in old DC continuity, but among his confessions to Arthur is the fact that he has been adviser to the ruler of Atlantis since the reign of Arthur's grandfather, so he must be older than he looks.

The big change is the introduction and origin of Orm, Aquaman's half-brother. In the DCnU, Arthur and Orm have the same mother, and being a full-blooded Atlantean, Orm has taken over the throne of Atlantis, quite possibly through the heinous act of patricide. In the old DCU, Orm Marius and Arthur Curry are still half-brothers but because they have the same father, Tom Curry. Some time after Arthur was born and Atlanna died, Tom Curry had another son with an Eskimo woman. Orm was always jealous that his mother was not his father's first love as well as envious of his half-brother's Atlantean heritage and abilities. That jealousy drove Orm to adopt the villainous identity of the Ocean Master, one of Aquaman's deadliest foes, second only to Black Manta.

It's not hard to imagine these two coming to blows in this reality over the right to rule Atlantis, especially if Orm is responsible for the death of their mother. I am curious to see how Vulko and Arthur's trip to Atlantis will factor into the formation of the Others. Obviously, since Arthur did not stay in Atlantis, one can assume things do not go well there. And surely Orm will play a role in the upcoming crossover between Aquaman and Justice League.