That sort of began the era of the darker Aquaman. Apparently annoyed that the character had become a running joke, partly thanks to that Super-Friends iteration, DC decided it was time for an overhaul of the character. Instead of a fancy-free friend to fish who routinely surfed on the back of dolphins, the new Aquaman was going to be conflicted, violent. And have a beard. He went through a few retoolings after the whole Aquababy debacle, his origin story completely changed so he was the son of Queen Atlanna and the mysterious wizard Atlan, abandoned as a child and essentially raising himself. He spent a long time without his own series, before being given one in the early nineties. Which is when the beard happened. And he grew the rest of his hair out. And started rocking a metallic bustier sort of costume. Then a bad guy sticks his hand in a pool of piranhas, which eat it, and he replaces it with a harpoon. Until it gets remade as a magical hand made of water... Yes, all of those are very stupid.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
