Probably the most treasured comic book in my entire
collection
Aquaman #0 from 1994, part of Peter David's fantastic run on the title.
This issue was the gateway drug that led to thirty years of comic book
collecting.
I'd been a fan of Aquaman from the day my parents dressed in
a pair of Aquaman Underoos and sat me down in front of the television on
Saturday mornings to watch Super Friends. Dude lived underwater and could
talk to fish. That sounded great to
me. But I never branched out from there,
never actually read any of the comic books.
I was also a huge fan of the Incredible Hulk. A bit
frightened, but very thrilled by Lou Ferrigno television show, a lover of the Stan
Lee narrated cartoons, and I even took meals on an Incredible Hulk TV
tray. I love the color green. And Hulk
was green! But again, I never actually
bought any of the comic books.
Over the years I would hear stories about what had happened
to certain movie or cartoon characters in their comics. Did you know
that Robin died? It's true. The Joker killed him. What? Or in the Lost Boys there’s that discussion
about comic book continuity. Red Kryptonite? What’s that? I found these bits of information intriguing
and often wondered what other cool stuff was happening in the comics. But
I never went out and bought any books.
Then one day my older brother, Mark, said something like,
"You ever read any comics? They're kind of cool. Did you know
that Aquaman got his hand chopped off and he jammed a spear in the stump?
He's got long hair and beard now, too." And that did it. I had to see this for myself.
Aquaman lost his hand? And he replaced it with a harpoon? What? And the issue number was ZERO? Off I went to the nearest Hastings to check
their newsstand.
The cover of issue #0 was even better than what I'd pictured
in my head. That image by Marty Egeland was so cool. I bought the comic book. I read
it. And I loved it. Then I tracked down all the Aquaman books I
could. When that was done, I thought I'd check out my other favorite
character, The Incredible Hulk. And guess what! The same guy who
wrote Aquaman had been writing the Hulk title for years. So I tracked all
of those down. To this day, I'm still
buying comic books.
My Aquaman #0 is now signed by Peter David. My younger
brother, Ric, who followed me into comic collecting, tracked down Mr. David at
the San Diego Comic Con and got the autograph for me. But the signature
is not the reason this is my most specialest of comic books. No. Ric had heard a story about a fan who’d
approached Peter David for a signature, was confused about writers versus
artists, and insisted that Peter David drew the X-Men comic book and wanted
a drawing of Professor X. After several attempts to explain to the
fan that he was the writer, not the artist, Peter David finally relented, drew
a circle with two dots for eyes, put an X on the forehead, and handed it back. Once this story got out, Peter received many more
requests to draw Professor X.
When handing my copy of Aquaman #0 over to Peter David, Ric
said, "So I hear you draw a pretty mean Professor X." According
to Ric, Peter seemed like he was a little tired of being asked to draw the
professor, his demeanor shifting into an “uggh, not this again” mode. My
brother finished with, "I was wondering if you'd like to try your hand at
Aquaman." Ric’s use of the word "hand" in this sentence
was very intentional. Peter David is a known lover of word play, and
grinned, body language now indicating that he was intrigued. Possibly delighted. He drew this on a backer board:
And this backer board is bagged with my signed copy of
Aquaman #0. This is why it is the most cherished comic book in my
collection. I have never posted this image anywhere. I didn't want
Peter David to get sick of being asked to draw it over and over again. And
maybe I liked the idea of being the only one with a Peter David drawn
Aquaman. I did toy with the idea of
coloring it, maybe with crayon, and send it to Peter. Not the original of
course. A nice color copy, maybe. But I never got around to it. After
buying the Aquaman by Peter David Omnibus recently, I told my daughter the
story, and sent her a picture of the backerboard. She sent me back this:
And that’s about as perfect as it can get.
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