The Most I have or ever will talk about Aquaman

Looks pretty Badass, no?

Except, well, Aquaman's not Badass.

It's nothing like that.

To me, "Badass" denotes a level of grimness and psychotic determination. Arthur isn't Cable, or T'Challa or Doom or anyone of that caliber. He simply can't be. He can't be the grim jerk of PAD's run because his perspective would be too large, too ancient and in some ways, too alien.

He's King of the SEAS. In his own mind, at least, that makes him the righful protector of the entire planet, because everything comes from water, whether it is the water to feed crops, the fish, the entire ecosystem. This guy simply can't be the methodical calculator that someone like say, T'Challa would be, because he intuitively understands the interconnections between his actions and every living creature. His perspective is a wider one than anything we've ever seen. He's understood this from the first time he hit the waves, and he's tried so hard, so frequently to communicate this to others, among his own people and among the surface dwellers, but we're too stunted and short-sighted. He gets exasperated at times, but he refuses to give up because he knows that the weight upon his shoulders is simply too large for anyone else to carry. That's why J'Onn was his best friend, because only an alien from a society of telepaths could understand that high-level systematic functioning.

That said, he's smart, and he knows that he can't convince everyone with just words and a show, so he's become a wandering warrior-poet: Prince Valiant of the waves. He's trying to lead by example, and if that means that sometimes the more stunted among us need a solid punch in the face, he'll feel really sorry that it's come to this.

To close, just look at the poster below. And then weep. I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's a Greek Tragedy that Mike Weiringo left us before he and Waid gave birth to what would have been the most awesome version of Aquaman in a generation.