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Description

    Ten thousand years before the birth of Christ, the kingdom of Atlantis was the first and greatest human civilization. Then, in a single day and night of misfortune, they sank beneath the waves. Before they sank, the high priests used all their powers to grant what select few they could the ability to survive underwater. The rest perished. What remained of Atlantis lived the rest of history beneath the sea, in secret.
     Some twelve thousand years later, Atlantis was torn apart by civil war. To protect it from falling into the wrong hands, the crown princess Atlanna took the Royal Trident–a devastating weapon that could control the waters of the sea itself–and fled to the surface. She was picked up by a fisherman named Thomas Curry. They fell in love, got married, and had a son named Arthur Orin Curry.
     One day, when Arthur was a young man and out on a fishing trip of his own, Atlanna’s enemies found her at last. When she refused to give up the location of the Trident, Atlanna and her husband were slain. Once Arthur found out, he swore vengeance.
     Over the course of a Year One miniseries, Arthur retrieved the Trident and returned to the sea to gather those still loyal to the throne. He waged a brutal war, but in the end he caught and punished those responsible for his parents’ deaths, and reunited Atlantis as its rightful king.
     For years Arthur ruled wisely and justly. Then, as a son of two peoples, he decided that both of his homelands could learn from each other. And so, for the first time in millennia, Atlantis and its king were revealed to the public of the world.

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     I think most comics fan know that Aquaman is actually a badass, and doesn't need to made "more cool". Still, he has that public perception problem, and it is a little weird that when he's pal-ing around with the rest of the League, there's nothing about his appearance or powers that screams "aqua". So, hydrokinesis.
     There's precedent in the comics for Aquaman getting hydrokinesis from the Trident of Poseidon, but I want to distance Atlantis from Greece as much as possible. A: the Amazons already have that covered. And B: the story of Atlantis was told by the Greeks about a different country! Greece is probably the last country it should resemble! So it's just the "Royal Trident". And I threw a harpoon on one end because I thought it would be cool.
     Although it makes no sense geographically (Atlantis being in the Atlantic) I decided this version of Atlantis would draw visually from the Pacific Islands. Hard to think of that region without immediately thinking of water, plus obviously I had Jason Momoa in the back of my mind. So I gave him some Pacific-inspired accessories, and some wave-like tats. Then I adjusted his color scheme only slightly, and gave him a leaner swimmer's build (which I'm now realizing means I slimmed down every character except Clark and Diana so far. Go figure.) Between the powers and the appearance, he came out sort of a cross between Aquaman and the Aqualads. I'm cool with it.

Description

    Ten thousand years before the birth of Christ, the kingdom of Atlantis was the first and greatest human civilization. Then, in a single day and night of misfortune, they sank beneath the waves. Before they sank, the high priests used all their powers to grant what select few they could the ability to survive underwater. The rest perished. What remained of Atlantis lived the rest of history beneath the sea, in secret.
     Some twelve thousand years later, Atlantis was torn apart by civil war. To protect it from falling into the wrong hands, the crown princess Atlanna took the Royal Trident–a devastating weapon that could control the waters of the sea itself–and fled to the surface. She was picked up by a fisherman named Thomas Curry. They fell in love, got married, and had a son named Arthur Orin Curry.
     One day, when Arthur was a young man and out on a fishing trip of his own, Atlanna’s enemies found her at last. When she refused to give up the location of the Trident, Atlanna and her husband were slain. Once Arthur found out, he swore vengeance.
     Over the course of a Year One miniseries, Arthur retrieved the Trident and returned to the sea to gather those still loyal to the throne. He waged a brutal war, but in the end he caught and punished those responsible for his parents’ deaths, and reunited Atlantis as its rightful king.
     For years Arthur ruled wisely and justly. Then, as a son of two peoples, he decided that both of his homelands could learn from each other. And so, for the first time in millennia, Atlantis and its king were revealed to the public of the world.

---

     I think most comics fan know that Aquaman is actually a badass, and doesn't need to made "more cool". Still, he has that public perception problem, and it is a little weird that when he's pal-ing around with the rest of the League, there's nothing about his appearance or powers that screams "aqua". So, hydrokinesis.
     There's precedent in the comics for Aquaman getting hydrokinesis from the Trident of Poseidon, but I want to distance Atlantis from Greece as much as possible. A: the Amazons already have that covered. And B: the story of Atlantis was told by the Greeks about a different country! Greece is probably the last country it should resemble! So it's just the "Royal Trident". And I threw a harpoon on one end because I thought it would be cool.
     Although it makes no sense geographically (Atlantis being in the Atlantic) I decided this version of Atlantis would draw visually from the Pacific Islands. Hard to think of that region without immediately thinking of water, plus obviously I had Jason Momoa in the back of my mind. So I gave him some Pacific-inspired accessories, and some wave-like tats. Then I adjusted his color scheme only slightly, and gave him a leaner swimmer's build (which I'm now realizing means I slimmed down every character except Clark and Diana so far. Go figure.) Between the powers and the appearance, he came out sort of a cross between Aquaman and the Aqualads. I'm cool with it.