"Aquaman's a hero!" said Chris Rock.

In the 90's, at the height of my comics buying, the characters seemed to be an afterthought. Writers and artists' egos would be assigned to the comics of The 90's. In the 90's, I bought nearly every issue of Peter David's run on Aquaman. I liked it then. Today? Well... today, I can only view it as "Peter David's Aquaman."

To quote Rage Against The Machine, "Anger is a gift." Displaced anger is a waste. David's Aquaman is full of displaced anger. What I once perceived as character development, I now see as caricature. Aquaman seemed to be going through one big tantrum. This wasn't the Aqauaman that I knew. Anger and outrage are things to be used in times of crisis. No one handles a crisis better than Aquaman. No one. In the 80's, when the founding members of The Justice League of America all but abandoned the team who called them to the carpet, disbanding the team? Who rebuilt it after finding members who would pledge their allegiance to the original mission statement of The Justice League? That was the Aquaman I knew. A born leader.

One need look no further for that Aquaman than writer Will Pfeifer's brilliant yet under-appreciated run on Aquaman. When an earthquake rocks San Diego, dumping parts of it into the ocean, The King of The Seven Seas is the first of the superhero set to respond to the tragedy. In the space of two issues, he returns Aquaman to his former glory. He brings back Aquaman's familiar orange and green costume. While politicians play games and give speeches, Pfeifer has Aquaman survey the devastation, looking for survivors. Upon finding them, he alerts The Red Cross to the needs of these special survivors, doing this alongside his new sidekick, Lorena, The Aquagirl. After walking amongst the living who've seen the dead bodies lying in the streets of "Sub Diego," he knows that in order for these people to survive, they need leadership. Strong leadership. He will be there to provide that and whatever else they need.

That is someone I want to read about. A hero.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!
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Please read this week's JLA #118. Please.