10 Most Messed Up Moments In DC Comics

All fun and talking to seahorses aside, Aquaman once totally watched his only son suffocate to death. Slowly. (It’s a little more hardcore than you’d expect from an old Aquaman comic.)

Admittedly, it is exactly this that appears to have solidified Black Manta as Aquaman’s arch nemesis from this point onwards, as the scheme of making Aqualad and Aquababy fight to the death to save the life of his son is some fairly nefarious stuff. It results in a dead kid, a traumatised Aqauman, and causes basically the deaths of his mentorship with Aqualad and relationship with Mera.

No drama is spared, either – the whole slow drowning process is shown, complete with a lifeless Aquababy shown in his mother’s arms. The whole thing kind of makes you wonder how Batman became the notoriously edgy one, and not King Arthur Curry himself.