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Friday, April 16, 2010

Aquaman's Lament/Mark Aaron James

Through Sunday, Classics Rock! is featuring songs based on comic books in honor of Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2), taking place April 16-18.


Among the ranks of superheroes, Aquaman has always been something of a poor relation.  Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger in 1941, and periodically resurrected in various iterations since then by DC Comics, Aquaman frequently takes a ribbing for his less-than-awesome superpowers (he can breathe underwater...he can communicate with marine life...he's pretty strong...he can swim really fast...).  What must be particularly galling for him is that he even has to play second fiddle to Batman, a guy with no superpowers whatsoever.  Certainly that is the case in Mark Aaron James's song Aquaman's Lament, available on his 2008 album Just a Satellite.  In the song, a bitter Aquaman pines for the affections of Vicki Vale, a Lois Lane-type character who turns up now and then in the Batman mythos as a potential love interest for Batman and/or Bruce Wayne (she was portrayed by Kim Basinger in the 1989 film Batman).  The lyrics have Aquaman in his cups (having downed seven gin and tonics) and taking shot after shot at the Dark Knight:  Have you ever had the notion/That he's just a rat with wings/I'm the king of 7 oceans/And Vicki you're my everything.  Naturally he doesn't overlook the opportunity to call out Batman for his lack of superpowers:  Well, I could understand/If he were Superman/After all that cat can fly/But take away that Batmobile/That boat, that belt, that butler/He's just another boring guy.  Given Aquaman's perennial second-tier standing in the pantheon of superheroes, it's unlikely Ms. Vale will be moved.

1 comment:

  1. I don't agree with you : there is no way Vicky Vale could stay unmoved by Aquaman 's lament .
    =).And besides he's got a point : without his attitude and gadgets compared to him Batman
    "is just another boring guy "

    ReplyDelete