Imagine, if you will, an inner-city schoolyard in the late 1970s. A group of young children form a noisy circle. At its center, a single boy clutches a placid-looking yellow-haired doll. The crowd closes in around their chosen target, laughing, taunting, waving their own more luridly colored plastic totems in the air. Insults are hurled, gender is challenged, the confrontation escalating by the moment. The child at the center of the circle bites his bottom lip, turns on his attackers to blurt out a question that still echos decades later:
“If Aquaman is so lame, then why does he have an action figure?”
It’s more than just a good question. In a way, it’s irrefutable evidence Aquaman is in fact pretty cool. I know, I know — in spite of the fact he is clearly “one of us,” mocking Aquaman is just something everyone does. It’s like shooting fish in a b… err, it’s just too easy to resist is what I’m saying. It’s like shouting FREE BIRD at a rock concert — in spite of the fact it’s beyond hokey, some moron is always going to do it, and some other moron is always going to laugh. But there are certain ideas we as a culture need to let go of, and one of those ideas is that Aquaman is some kind of a wimp.
Okay, so tow-headed ol’ Arthur Curry here is not the fiercest-looking hero in the Mego gang. I don’t think anyone would dispute that. But you know what? That’s okay. There was a different aesthetic back then. Superman, Captain America, Tarzan — Hell, even Batman featured a smiling head sculpt. It wasn’t until 1976 that Mego would break away from the need to make their sculpts “kid friendly” and give us a Thor and Conan who looked mean enough to pee bees. The thing is, those two characters were already depicted as being pretty fierce, but Aquaman? Not so much. But contrary to popular thinking, Aquaman does not need to do this to be cool:
Sheesh, how does he pick his nose with that thing? (A momentary pause) I’ve just been informed the correct response is “very carefully.” As that sounds more like a punchline than an actual answer, we’ll just move on. The important thing to take away from all of this is that Mego was confident enough to make Aquaman one of their earliest Official World’s Greatest Super-Hero offerings. Alongside Superman, Batman, and Robin, DC’s King of the Seas rode that first wave of popularity all the way until the line’s ignominious end in 1982. But that’s getting ahead of the story.
Considering the wealth of characters available to Mego upon acquisition of the DC license, it may seem odd that it was Aquaman who got the nod for the action figure treatment. There are a few theories as to why, and all of them seem to revolve around the character’s animated incarnations. For a start, Aquaman was already a known quantity to TV viewers thanks to reruns of the old Filmation Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure cartoon. This clear advantage helped Aquaman get his finned foot in the door, and it was smooth sailing from there on thanks to his inclusion on a new ABC Saturday morning cartoon series with the unlikely title The Super-Friends. 
While the show has gone on to become a well-revered piece of pop culture in its own right, the initial success of Super-Friends was a surprise to all parties. It also proved quite the coup for Mego. Featuring four out of five of the team’s core members in its debut line of World’s Greatest Super-Hero figures meant Mego’s new product enjoyed a solid hour of free advertising every Saturday morning. It was a perfect storm, and Aquaman found himself the calm at the center of it all.
Unlike the other DC heroes, Aquaman was issued no complementary foe. Superman had Mister Mxyzptlk; Batman and Robin had the Joker, Riddler, and Penguin; but Aquaman? He was the loner, the wild card, the guy who couldn’t decide whether to fight beside you or crush you with the might of his (admittedly imaginary) kingdom. He was an enigma and we liked him that way. Not that he would have turned down a Black Manta or Ocean Master, mind you. It’s just that Aquaman never pushed things because he knew he had it so good. And hey, sometimes if he was really lucky, Batman would let him pity-fight the Penguin!
Packed two-to-a-case of 24 figures, it could be argued that Aquaman was essentially filler and kids treated him that way. Sure, given a choice you’d rather have ol’ Finny here than Tarzan, (okay, you’d rather have anyone but Tarzan. What they Hell was Mego thinking?), but both characters were a long way from anyone you really wanted. Still, Aquaman’s inclusion provided diversity to early cases and some color variation to a gang of otherwise red or blue heroes. His lack of accessories or villains meant Aquaman was free to do what he did best: swim.
If it was possible for a toy manufacturer sell a literal “devil on your shoulder” to children, then Mego would have been brought up on charges. Much like that kid down the a street your mother didn’t like to see you playing with, Mego figures inspired childhood delinquency. Heedless of the consequences, I’d sneak them into school, church, anywhere they were expressly forbidden. And while Spider-Man or Captain Marvel were my go-to guys for super-crime during the rest of the year, come summer it was Aquaman who became my constant accomplice.
Sun and chlorine bleached, almost albino due to paint loss and fading, Aquaman and I hit the beach, the river, the pool — anything wet. That’s how you roll when you’re with the King of the Sea. Sure, with the right equipment G.I. Joe could swim, and Superman could hold his breath (yawn), but beneath the waves it was Aquaman who was the “normal” one. Other Megos can be as nasty as they wanna be on the surface, but under water? You’re in my house now! Can, uh, I get you a soda or some chips?
It was a good run, but all summers come to an end. A series of poor business decisions lead to Mego Corporation declaring bankruptcy, and, in 1982, the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes finally vanished.
Almost.
Shortly after the company called it quits, a number of red and yellow-carded Mego figures appeared at retail. Known as “kitchen-sink figures” due to being cobbled together from remaining stock, these toys often had mismatched body parts, sometimes even sporting colored or glow-in-the-dark hands. And who was in this motley group? Riddler, Batgirl, and Green Arrow. Oh, yeah — and Aquaman.
In spite of never reaching the popularity of Superman or the Dynamic Duo, Aquaman is still fondly remembered by most die-hard Mego collectors. His mere presence ensured him a place in our memories that other, more popular heroes can never know. The Flash? He never happened. Green Lantern? The only place a Mego collector ever saw him was on the back of the Hall of Justice playset. But Aquaman? In spite of his short-packed status the guy was ubiquitous — everyone you knew had him. He was classic, he was legendary, he was Visa, baby, everywhere you want to be! Thanks for reading!
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