Who wants to see Aquaman naked? I do, I do! Oddly enough DC Comics has already obliged with their Time and Tide mini series from 1994, which shows a teenaged Aquaman completely naked! Below is a sample page from issue 2. Of course, there's no frontal nudity, but they don't shy away from showing his bare bum. Yet, this is a standard, general audience, news stand comic book! Such a comic could never be published today, at least not without a mature audience rating and limitations on where the comic could be sold, as our society has become so much more prudish in this regard. These days, nudity has been so sexualized in our culture that it's typically regarded as being the same as sexual activity or porn, even though it's neither of those. Ironically, the cover of this issue none the less includes an "Approved by the Comics Code Authority" logo. Priceless!
This comic presents Aquaman's origin story, which is why he is shown in his birthday suit. The story is essentially the same as Tarzan's origin story, only it takes place in the sea rather than in a jungle. Instead of the orphaned baby being raised by Apes, the baby is raised by Dolphins. And just like Tarzan, as the young Aquaman grew up away from civilization he had no need for clothing and was oblivious to the fact that he was even naked. Frankly, I think it only makes sense to be naked while you're swimming, I wish that our society wasn't so uptight in that regard. (Surprisingly, swimming naked at indoor pools was the commonly accepted practice in society during the 50's, though boys and girls were segregated.) However, this issue of Aquaman does raise an interesting question. Could you imagine if they showed this much nudity in an issue of Teen Titans from the same period with Aqualad, or Robin or Kid Flash? I wonder if such a Teen Titans comic would have gone by under the radar the way this Aquaman comic seems to have done? In any case, I think it's really cool that DC Comics published this risqué Aquaman comic series!!!
