“Save me Aquaman”
Homer Simpson Season 11 Episode 6 1999

Though Aquaman is one of the most recognizable superheroes in popular culture, more often that not his recognition is that of a punch-line.  Just take a look at Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, Entourage or Robot Chicken. But for comic fans and comic writers, interest in Aquaman runs a bit deeper than his talking to fishes.  With over 77 years of publishing history, this character has faced more re-designs and rehabilitations than most.  This year’s film adaptation is the most ambitious attempt at making Aquaman cool, a heavy task placed on the broad shoulders of actor Jason Momoa and action director James Wan. Together they reel in Warner Brothers’ most marvelous movie to date.

Ask any casual reader of comics and they would say that Batman is the D.C. superhero most likely to fit into the Marvel Universe. A more die-hard reader might say that Aquaman made that trip in reverse. Aquaman initially appeared in issue 73 of More Fun Comics (November 1941) nearly three years after Marvel, then Timely, first published Namor the Submariner in the pages of Motion Picture Funnies (April 1939).  Their similarities only begin with their bi-racial origins.  Like most Marvel characters, Aquaman was a character that tended to evolve over time, in contract to the decades long Superman and Lois and Clark love triangle, or the many questionable relationships of Batman. Aquaman’s (a.k.a. Arthur Curry) relationships led to marriage and family; his son Aquababy was born in October 1965 in issue 23. By 1978 Arthur Jr. would be drowned in oxygen by arch-nemesis Black Manta, ending the long-running series with a storyline that would be right at home in a contemporaneous Marvel comic.

 

 

Voyages Extraordinaires

Warner Bros. has been working overtime to capitalize on Hawaiian-born Jason Momoa’s cool factor since the announcement of his role in this movie and the cameos which preceded it.  It was a deft maneuver made in a moment when Hollywood was fascinated with Polynesia. In the time since Momoa’s casting, his star power has steadily moved beyond the iconic portrayal of Karl Drogo in HBO’s GAME OF THRONES. He now stars in his own Netflix series FRONTIER, currently on its second season, and the smaller action movie BRAVEN (2018), where he essentially plays himself against British colonialists and Canadian drug runners.

Joining Momoa is the Scarlet Johansson-esque Amber Heard, as Mera, a water-bending mer-princess who’s traded in fins for wedge heels. Both made appearances in JUSTICE LEAGUE (2017) and a sentence or two nods to that plot point which bears no relevance to the story present here. Australian director James Wan give a great effort to wash away any lingering memories of that unfortunate film. Largely he succeeds in presenting an admixture of epic fantasy, sci-fi design and globetrotting adventure to the breezy superhero and supervillain origin story.

James Wan is clearly having a good time with this movie. With a filmography overflowing with horror movies, he teases out his influences at a leisurely pace; H.P. Lovecraft, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and George R.R. Martin are just the literary callouts he spotlights amidst rooftop chases, fight scenes and clashing armies. Also included are seven (undersea) kingdoms, looming war, political machinations, quests for revenge, as well as lost artifacts.

Breaking away from the bleak blue and grays of BATMAN V. SUPERMAN (2016), underwater civilizations are surprisingly colorful and luminescent.  Their technology and biology is suitably alien in design. AQUAMAN does not take place exclusively under the waves and the titular character’s heroic journey includes a variety of above ground locations, reminiscent of TOMB RAIDER (2018) and such similar hunts for a MacGuffin. The hunt is for a new trident, one to replace his five-pointed predecessor, dubbed a pent-dent though more accurately a quin-dent; to be pedantic.

 

Trident or Trishula (त्रिशूल) vs. Dangpa (당파) or Hucha (虎叉)

The trident now enters the armory of iconic super-weapons alongside Captain America’s Shield, Thor’s Hammer, Elektra’s Sai and Deadpool’s Ninja-tos. Like the transformation of Batman’s batarang into shuriken in BATMAN BEGINS (2005), or the inclusion of a sword for WONDER WOMAN (2016), Aquaman’s trident is a very modern addition to the character. In the 90’s he replaced a lost hand with a harpoon, but that didn’t stick.

With a filmography that include JOHN WICK (2014), ATOMIC BLONDE (2017), THOR: RAGNAROCK (2017) and BLACK PANTHER (2018), fight chorographer John Valera has great fun finding ways to express under-water trident combat. With Wushu champion and Jet Li teammate Li Jing as fight trainer, someone on the set most likely made the comparison between Aquaman’s trident and Kung Fu’s tiger fork. There are differences to be noted but first let us look at this weapon found throughout the ancient world.

Appropriate for the challenge match that makes up this movie’s Mer-Man melee, the trident accompanies a weighted net for the retiarius class of Roman gladiator. Pitted against the secutor‘s shield and gladius (short sword), a victory for the retiarius  would surely honor the god Neptune, whose eponymous planet is also symbolize by the trident. Predated by the Greek Poseidon, both were considered god of the world, land and sea. The three-pronged weapon symbolizing the three realms ruled by the gods, Zeus (or Jupiter) in the heavens and the underworld, or afterlife, ruled by Hades (Pluto in Rome). It was Triton, son of Neptune who was exclusively god of the seas, though such distinctions have since washed away.

Further east this weapon is called the Trishula by worshippers of the Hindu god Shiva. Sometimes short-handled and often more ornate its three prongs are more likely to be double-sided blades rather than the barbed spearpoints essential for catching fish below the water. The warrior goddess Durga also brandishes one in her many arms; along with the Chakra (a sharpened throwing disc or ring), Gada (picture a hardened training stick), Scimitar (more curved than a dao), Shield, Bow and Arrow. While Atlanteans ride seahorses and sharks, Durga is often seen astride a tiger but does not make an appearance in this film.

Numbering among an alternate set of six weapons is the Dangpa of Korea. Sometimes carved entirely of wood then coated in metal, the dagnpa is listed in the Compendium of Several Martial Arts, the Muyejebo (무예제보) alongside the spear, two-handed sword, staff, shield, sword and the utterly bizarre thorned spear (Nangseon 낭선 狼筅).  This 17^th century text was intended to be the Korean equivalent to Qi Jiguang’s (戚继光) New Manual on Military Efficiency (紀效新書) but would take a few generations to reach completion.

Having fended off pirates from the East China Sea before moving north to defend the wall from Mongols one might wonder if Qi Jiguang hunted tigers along the way. Kung Fu’s Tiger Fork (Hucha 虎叉) is a mainstay of giant traditional weapons, Bak Mei and Hung Gar are just two of the linages which include a Tiger Fork in their curriculum. Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine published The Fighting Method and Key Points of the Tiger Fork by Frank Yee and Pedro Cepero Yee with Saunders Elmore in last summer’s issue. Before that Hunting the Hunter: Kung Fu's Tiger Fork by Williy Pang saw print in the March+April 2012 issue. Load them on your phone for easy refence when it’s time to point out what moves were and weren’t legit.

 

 

Three Different Points: Tip, Target & Tail

Make no mistake, the Atlantean trident is a super-weapon akin to Wolverine’s claws. In the world of the movie-going audience, the Kung Fu Tiger Fork is the next best thing. One can imagine some ancient farmer transformed into local hero for good use of an improvised pitch fork. Maybe it was Bak Mei himself who formalized those techniques. But for the purposed of winning free drinks after the movie, let’s say there are three points which differentiate the Tiger Fork from the Trident

 

1. Like a fishing hook or harpoon the trident commonly has barbed tips. The usefulness is obvious to anyone who’s gone fishing, but that tip could easily find other uses. Bi-spoked examples can be found throughout medieval Europe, used to unhorse riders or detain the unruly. The English man-catcher of the 1500’s features spring-loaded barbs.

2. Meant for maintaining some distance from its target, the three prongs of the Tiger fork are widely spaced. Vaguely similar to the Japanese Magari yari or winged spear or the Italian Corsesca whose points are less forward facing. As a fishing tool the trident’s three prongs are more closely spaced to offset the refraction of the water while aiming for a smaller target.

3. Aquaman’s trident features the same stylized “A” or Ʌ which he wears on his belt, consider it the logo for Atlantis similar to Superman’s S or Batman’s bat, with or without a yellow spotlight. As a tool for fishing, the trident typically would end with a loop or lanyard - some means to affix a rope or chain for retrieval when one has speared a submarine. The tail of the Tiger fork is blunt instead, useful for stepping on in hopes of securing once you’ve got a tiger stuck on the other end.

 

AQUAMAN is a welcome departure from D.C.’s previous grim and gritty offerings. Aquaman is still a bro, but more of a sensitive bro, there’s a sincerity Momoa’s portrayal of the somewhat reluctant hero that offers a glimpse of the potential role-model. It’s a stark contract to the cynicism on display in SUICIDE SQUAD {2017), despite its Oscar. Forthcoming D.C. movies are likely to overcompensate towards the funny until the highly-anticipated WONDER WOMAN 1984 makes her appearance. Until then, there is no real talk of an AQUAMAN sequel though the pieces are in place for more revenge, political intrigue, deep old ones, but perhaps an Aquaman-led Justice League Detroit might be worth a try.