Aquaman became an A-list superhero to many through the Filmation Associates '60s "Adventures of..." television episodes. Initially matched with the Man of Steel as part of "The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure", the thirty-six story stretch converted to a repackaged, half-hour format when Kal-El's episodes joined those of Batman and Robin. (The Aquaman banner-series hosted other superheros in separate segments, including the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Atom and the Teen Titans. Ah, DC bliss...)
The fourteen-minute, '67-'70 Aquaman solo segments hold (to all who grew up with them) classic status, with remarkable pacing and colorful imagery. Each compact adventure presents the expected good-over-evil formula (similar to Adventure Cartoon/Trans Lux's "The Mighty Hercules"), but the underwater milieu distinguishes it from most other children's productions of the period, with of course, the obvious exceptions of Marvel's preceding, Sub-Mariner cartoons and Gerry Anderson's puppet-performed "Stingray".
Such associated, legendary DC names as Arthur Curry and David Hyde aren't part of the series' scheme, but that's okay. For this saga, Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas, is a viable enough label, as are Aqualad and Mera. Oh, and while we're namedropping, let's not forget their pals, Tusky the walrus and those valiant seahorses, Storm and Imp.
The stories are similar, with baddies attempting to invade Atlantis, many of whom are sea-based, with others emanating above--way above, that is, like outer space--only to be thwarted by Aquaman's exceptional, physical prowess and sweeping, telepathic command of his oceanic friends.
Among the villainy, Black Manta, Aquaman's prime antagonist, stands out. He's an aquatic Darth Vader, a decade before Vader arrived, with a demeanor as cold and hard as his menacing exterior. (Too bad more of the pirating egomaniac wasn't woven into the series, but what's there is effective and remains the incarnation to which most middle-age folks subscribe.)
Monsters (a nifty, common denominator among '60s kid-adventure shows) are faithful highlights throughout, my favorite specimen being a Venusian serpent that adapts extraordinary size when saturated by Atlantean water: a sort of submerged variant of Ray Harryhausen's "20 Million Miles to Earth" Ymir. Cool... (For the record, a group of resurrected Vikings are just as monstrous in their own weird way, rather like Buddy Baer's creepy conquistador in "Giant from the Unknown". Neato...)
To liven the characterizations, the assigned voices all hit the mark, with Marvin "Robby the Robot" Miller as Aquaman; Jerry "Adventures of Gulliver" Dexter as Aqualad; Diana Maddox as Mera; and television icon, Ted Knight, not only as the robust narrator, but as Black Manta and varied personas throughout the series' run.
Indeed, Filmation did an outstanding job with this adaptation. It deserves a look (or sentimental revisit) for anyone into superhero lore and still stands as the best representation of Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger's oceanic Arthurian king. Considering some of the spectacular (re)interpretations that have since surfaced (the James Wan blockbuster included), that's saying a lot.
Though one can catch episodes of "Aquaman" on Boomerang and samples via Dailymotion and YouTube, for a guaranteed binge of splashy fun, the entire WB/Filmation DVD (2-disc) collection can be purchased at Amazon for a fair sum:
https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Aquaman-Complete-Collection-Classic/dp/B000TSTEMS/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546551642&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=aquaman+animated+series+dvd.
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