Its so frustrating being a Aquaman fan. We all know what he needs to succeed, but we will never seem to get it. Quality Creative Team is a must, Will Pfiefer and Patrick Gleason was superb, especially their last two issues. If Aquaman was appearing in the league at the same time, I think it would have boosted sales even further. I must ask why Pfiefer was taken off the book and why Arcudi was put on. When I heard Aquaman was up for another creative change, I thought DCU had decided to put a better known creative team to boost sales. After all alot of A list talent have mentioned being Aquaman fans, so I thought it was a obvious guess. But that was far from what we got, John Arcudi first issue was in my opinion poor, and the sound of the next few issues sound very unoriginal. I hoping I'm absolutely wrong and issue 26 blows the sox off me!!!But we will see.
It seems that DC has no real interest in trying to boost Aquaman's success, they seem to preoccupied with getting more people to read Batman and Superman.
Bill

I was a big comics fan in my youth, but fell out of practice... however I remember a recent (?) Aquaman reinvention in which he looked haggard and crusty and had a hook. hello? Clearly, he has problems getting a good comic going. I hope he makes a comeback.

Okay, I've already said this on Scott's (Polite Dissent) site, but I'll repeat it here: I honestly think Aquaman could use a power-upgrade. Not that everything you said about the character isn't true. But if I were going to do the book, I would play with his unusual heritage, his father being an ancient Atlantean sorcerer, his weird rivalry with his brother (part of a curse going back to ancient times) and I'd establish that part of Atlantis' problems are related to the fact that they've broken faith with ancient pacts and that's why only Aquaman can command the loyalty of sea-creatures... that he's literally monarch of the sea itself, that he can command and control the water as well as the animals. Especially if he's creative with how he controls water... I mean, imagine dehydrating a guy by causing the water to force itself out of his body?

I don't see any reason to not address this idea... to make him the mythical figure he should be by now, personally.

There's a lot to like about Aquaman, but there's also the consistent danger of falling into the pattern of "Atlantis is under attack, Aquaman reclaims throne, yadda yadda" that comes around every couple of years.
As a writer myself, I'd love to tackle Aquaman... I've been plotting it all week in my head. Still, you can go "dark Arthurian fantasy" (which would need Jae Lee art!) or you can embrace the goofiness of the character and go with "joycore madpop" with Mike Allred drawing it.
I think you can make Aquaman both cool *and* goofy, but no one cares, 'cause he wears an orange shirt and talks to fish.
Anyway, I didn't like Pfeifer's direction, and I think Sub Diego is just *too* ludicrous... and giving Arcudi a book basically dooms it right then and there, unfortunately.
If only we could get Grant Morrison...

My 10 guidelines for making Aquaman a hit with non-fans.

1. Don't stick him in his water-based kingdom all the time: he needs to be seen in action on land, too. Plus all those undersea politics are boring to non-fans.

2. Put him in typical superhero situations: we need to see him take down bank robbers, save runaway trains and fight other heroes' rogues.

3. Make him supreme in his element, the ocean: but when he IS in the sea, he ought to be as tough as Superman is in the sky.

4. Respect his fish-talk power: don't use it for comic relief like Peter David and Larsen often did. Use it seriously and really delve into its implications.

5. Don't make him dependent on sidekicks: do Batman and Superman have Robin or Krypto tagging along every issue? Aquaman shouldn't need Tempest's help for anything. Or Mera's. Or Aquagirl's.

6. Make him consistently strong: no normal human should ever give him a physical challenge, EVER. He should be much closer to Martian Manhunter's strength level than to Deathstroke's.

7. Give him his kingship of Atlantis and the Seven Seas: don't tie him to a throne, but give him veto power from afar and access to his army on his far-flung exploits. IOW, give him all his resources.

8. Don't focus on his gimmicks over his classic powers: whether hook or hydro, his hand replacement should not take precedence over his old powers.

9. Make the DCU respect him: he should never be punked in his own title. He's a king.

10. Let him have success: he should save the day much more often than he fails.

No Aqua-writer has consistently followed all ten of these, ever. They usually stick him underwater and give him big problems in that setting, violating #1 & 3. Then, when he's brought on land, everyone assumes he's weaker (not his element, after all) and we see breaks of #6, 7, 8, 9 & 10.